Topf and Sons designed and built the crematoria at the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchenwald, Belzec, Dachau, Mauthausen and Gusen. At its height sixty-six Topf triple muffle ovens were in operation – forty-six of which were at...
It is generally assumed that the military reforms which propelled Russia into the modern world were due solely to the genius of Peter the Great. In fact, his reforms were built upon changes that had taken place during the previous 200 years, since...
In the centuries following the first expeditions down the great rivers of northern Russia by Viking traders and adventurers, the foundations for a new state were laid. Many influences combined in this colourful culture which grew up first around the...
Immediately following the end of World War I, amid the collapse of the German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires, bitter fighting broke out in the Baltic region as Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania struggled for their independence,...
The great powers of medieval Europe fought continuously in the Italian peninsula between the 12th and 14th centuries as they sought to expand their territory. Invading armies from Germany - the Holy Roman Empire - saw the creation of the defensive...
By 1920 the Red Army of Russia fielded an overwhelming array of armored cars, armored trains and tank detachments. These armored units played an important part in consolidating the newly won Bolshevik empire in the early 1920s; as a consequence of...
When the nuclear-powered submarine USS Triton was commissioned in November 1959, its commanding officer, Captain Edward L. Beach, planned a routine shakedown cruise in the North Atlantic. Two weeks before the scheduled cruise, however, Beach was...
Ever since its introduction in the late 1950s, the B-52 Stratofortress has been the United States' primary heavy bomber and a powerful symbol of its immense military might. Its powerful electronic countermeasures equipment (ECM) was thought to make...
In late 1917, the Russians, despite the revolution, were still willing to continue the war against Germany. This is an account of Operation Albion, the highly successful sea borne operation launched by the Germans to change their minds. The...
The Battle of the Somme was one of history’s bloodiest campaigns. Over the course of a year, a series of offensives left more than 1 million men dead or injured. By all accounts, the devastating confrontations at the battles of Verdun and the...