Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives

The selection of over 150 rare wartime photographs in this volume in Pen eSword's Images of War series offers a graphic visual record of the dramatic and bloody battles fought for the Crimea during the Second World War. They show every grim aspect of the fighting and reflect in many ways the ruthless character of the struggle across the entire Eastern Front. The German-led Axis forces took eight months to conquer the Crimea in 1941-2 - the Soviet defenders of the fortified city-port of Sevastopol held out against repeated assaults for 250 days. In 1944, after the course of the war had turned against the Wehrmacht and their allies, the city was liberated by the Red Army, but only after over 120,000 Axis troops had been evacuated across the Black Sea. Naval operations involving the Soviet Black Sea Fleet and the Romanian Royal Navy are covered in the book, as is the battle in the air between the Luftwaffe and the Red Air Force. But perhaps the most memorable photographs give an insight into the ordinary soldiers' experience of the fighting and show the enormous material damage the conflict left behind. AUTHOR: Anthony Tucker-Jones is a former defence intelligence officer and a widely published expert on regional conflicts, counter-terrorism and armoured and aerial warfare. He is the author of over twenty books He is security and terrorism correspondent for intersec ? The Journal of International Security and has freelanced for Channel 4 News. For further information his website can be found at www.atuckerjones.com. SELLING POINTS: ? Graphic account of the struggle between the Red Army and the Wehrmacht for control of the Crimean peninsula between 1941 and 1944 ? Focuses on the sieges of the fortified city of Sevastopol in 1941 and 1944 ? Photographs of the Axis and Soviet forces in action across the peninsula ? A contemporary record of the military equipment and the weaponry used by both sides 160 illustrations