Peter Hart

Focusing on the decisive engagements of World War I, the author explores the immense challenges faced by the commanders on all sides, looking at the changing weapons and tactics and offering his own assessment on what brought about the war's outcome.

A Combat History of the First World War

The Great War

"First published in Great Britain in 2011 by Profile Books"--T.p. verso.

Gallipoli

Nigel Steel

Death in the Grey Wastes (Cassell Military Paperbacks)

Jutland 1916

The Great War was the first truly global conflict, and it changed the course of world history In this magnum opus, critically-acclaimed historian Peter Hart examines the conflict in every arena around the world, in a history that combines cutting edge scholarship with vivid and unfamiliar eyewitness accounts, from kings and generals, and ordinary soldiers. He focuses in particular on explaining how technology and tactics developed during the conflict - and determines which battles were crucial to its outcome. Combatants from every corner of Earth joined the fray, but their voices are rarely heard together. This is a major history of the conflict whose centenary is fast approaching. Published in paperback for the anniversary of the conflict, this is a pioneering and comprehensive account of the First World War, comparable to Anthony Beevor or Max Hastings.

The Great War: 1914-1918

The battle for Gallipoli was officially described as one of the world's classic tragedies, and in this book the participants tell the full story of this failed offensive. The bitter campaign against the Turks was ill-conceived, inadequately equipped and never likely to succeed.

Defeat at Gallipoli

One of the bloodiest battles of modern warfare—a military tragedy that would come to define a generation On July 1, 1916, the British Army launched the “Big Push” that was supposed to bring an end to the horrific stalemate on the Western Front between British, French, and German forces. What resulted was one of the greatest single human catastrophes in the history of warfare. Scrambling out of trenches in the face of German machine guns and artillery fire, the Allied Powers lost over twenty thousand soldiers that first day, but this “battle” would drag on for another four deadly months. As the oral historian at the Imperial War Museum in London, Peter Hart has brought to light new material never before seen or heard. The Somme is an unparalleled evocation of World War I’s iconic contest—the definitive account of one of the most harrowing battles of the twentieth century.

The Darkest Hour on the Western Front

The Somme

By August 1918, the outcome of the Great War was not in doubt: the Allies would win. But what was unclear was how this defeat would play out - would the Germans hold on, prolonging the fighting deep into 1919, with the loss of hundreds of thousands more young lives, or could the war be won in 1918? In The Last Battle, Peter Hart, author of Gallipoli and The Great War, and oral historian at the Imperial War Museum, brings to life the dramatic final weeks of the war, as men fought to secure victory, with survival seemingly only days, or hours away. Drawing on the experience of both generals and ordinary soldiers, and dwelling with equal weight on strategy, tactics and individual experience, this is a powerful and detailed account of history's greatest endgame.

Endgame on the Western Front 1918

The Last Battle

Named one of the Ten Best Books of 2013 by The Economist World War I altered the landscape of the modern world in every conceivable arena. Millions died; empires collapsed; new ideologies and political movements arose; poison gas, warplanes, tanks, submarines, and other technologies appeared. "Total war" emerged as a grim, mature reality. In The Great War, Peter Hart provides a masterful combat history of this global conflict. Focusing on the decisive engagements, Hart explores the immense challenges faced by the commanders on all sides. He surveys the belligerent nations, analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, and strategic imperatives. Russia, for example, was obsessed with securing an exit from the Black Sea, while France--having lost to Prussia in 1871, before Germany united--constructed a network of defensive alliances, even as it held a grudge over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine. Hart offers deft portraits of the commanders, the prewar plans, and the unexpected obstacles and setbacks that upended the initial operations.

Shortlisted for the 2023 Military History Matters Book of the Year Award The only way to truly understand what it was like to fight in the Second World War is to listen to the experiences of those men who were there. And often, there was nowhere more dangerous than on the ground. In Footsloggers, Peter Hart reconstructs one infantry battalion's war in staggering detail. Based on his interviews with members of the 16th Durham Light Infantry, Hart bears witness not only to their comradeship, suffering, dreadful losses and individual tragedies, but also their courage and self-sacrifice as they fought their way across North Africa, Italy and Greece. This is a human look at the inhuman nature of war from the author of At Close Range and Burning Steel.

An Infantry Battalion at War, 1939-45

Footsloggers

Winner of the Military History Matters Book of the Year Award 2019 By August 1918, the outcome of the Great War was not in doubt: the Allies would win. But what was unclear was how this defeat would play out - would the Germans hold on, prolonging the fighting deep into 1919, with the loss of hundreds of thousands more young lives, or could the war be won in 1918? In The Last Battle, Peter Hart, author of Gallipoli and The Great War, and oral historian at the Imperial War Museum, brings to life the dramatic final weeks of the war, as men fought to secure victory, with survival seemingly only days, or hours away. Drawing on the experience of both generals and ordinary soldiers, and dwelling with equal weight on strategy, tactics and individual experience, this is a powerful and detailed account of history's greatest endgame.

Endgame on the Western Front, 1918

The Second World War is vanishing into the pages of history. The veterans were once all around us, but their numbers are fast diminishing. While still in their prime many recorded their memories with Peter Hart for the Imperial War Museum. As these old soldiers now fade away their voices from the front are still strong with a rare power to bring the horrors of war back to vivid life. The South Notts Hussars were the pride of Nottingham. A territorial artillery unit made up of a strange mixture of miners from Hucknall, the clerical classes working in Nottingham and some of the richest families in Nottinghamshire. They went to war as a widely disparate group. Their service in North Africa was dramatic in the extreme. Trapped in Tobruk for six months their 25-pounder guns helped keep Rommel's panzers at bay. By the time they moved forward to take up their positions at Knightsbridge in the Gazala Lines in the Spring of 1942 they had been welded into a real band of brothers proud of their proven fighting ability. Caught without infantry or tank support in the Cauldron they were ordered to fight to the last round. This is their story.

The South Notts Hussars The Western Desert, 1940-1942

What is it like to be in the IRA - or at their mercy? This study explores the lives and deaths of the enemies and victims of the County Cork IRA between 1916 and 1923.

Violence and Community in Cork, 1916-1923

The I.R.A. and Its Enemies

Find out what type you are, then discover what is involved in most of the major careers, with case histories from the people who know. Look at related jobs, and see how to prepare a CV or tackle an interview.

The Smart Girl's Guide to Your Dream Job

A detailed portrayal of life in the 2nd Norfolk regiment 1940-45, told by the fighting men themselves. Taken from hundreds of hours of taped history with veterans, conducted by the Imperial War Museum Sound Archive.

The 2nd Battalion Royal Norfolk Regiment, 1939-1944

At the Sharp End

The Second World War is vanishing into the pages of history. The veterans were once all around us, but their numbers are fast diminishing. While still in their prime many recorded their memories with Peter Hart for the Imperial War Museum. As these old soldiers now fade away their voices from the front are still strong with a rare power to bring the horrors of war back to vivid life. The 2nd Norfolk Regiment were a proud old regular battalion honed in the pre-war traditions of spit and polish at their Britannia Barracks in Norwich. Sent to France they sold their lives to gain time for the retreat to Dunkirk when surrounded by an SS Division at Le Paradis in May 1940. Over 100 of the survivors would be brutally massacred. Back in England they reformed from ordinary drafts of men called up from all over the country. A new battalion was born. Sent to India they met the Japanese head on in the bloody fight for Kohima against the Imperial Japanese Army. As the fighting raged in the jungle the Norfolks were once again right at the very sharp end of modern war. This is their story.

From Le Paradis to Kohima

The 2nd Norfolk Regiment

A Tank Regiment at War, 1939-45

Burning Steel

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting

Since emerging from tabloid-television infamy as the former host of Inside Edition, Bill O’Reilly has taken his brand of provocative rhetoric to the next level: from shock-TV to the No Spin Zone. Despite his outspoken support for Bush’s tax cuts and a war with Iraq, and his attacks on everything from National Public Radio to "welfare mothers," O’Reilly fashions his program, The O’Reilly Factor, as "without an agenda or any ideological prejudices." Presenting opposing viewpoints and likely to express views that occasionally diverge from the conservative orthodoxy, O’Reilly has styled himself as a straight-shooting man of the people, wary of the conservative label with which liberals would tag him. In The Oh Really? Factor, brimming with examples of O’Reilly’s error, contradiction, and hard-right political tilt, Hart exposes the No Spin Zone as little more than clever marketing. The Oh Really? Factor reflects hundreds of hours of research, fact checking, and analysis of the same evidence O’Reilly uses to support his claims. In this concise and compelling analysis of O’Reilly’s views, Hart underscores this pundit’s masked partisanship; adversarial stance toward unions, Blacks, immigrants, and gays and lesbians; and his kid-gloves treatment of the Right. Forming an important corrective, The Oh Really? Factor snags O’Reilly in his own spin.

Unspinning Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly

The Oh Really? Factor

The Second World War is vanishing into the pages of history. The veterans were once all around us, but their numbers are fast diminishing. While still in their prime many recorded their memories with Peter Hart for the Imperial War Museum. As these old soldiers now fade away their voices from the front are still strong with a rare power to bring the horrors of war back to vivid life. The 16th Durham Light Infantry were supposed to be just an 'ordinary' battalion. But their experiences as they fought their way up through Italy show that there is no such thing as 'ordinary'. They struggled to break out from Salerno, then across the countless rivers and mountain ranges that seemed to spring up to bar their way to victory. They learnt their military skills the hard way facing determined German opposition every step of the way. These were no 'D-Day Dodgers' but heroes in their own right. But there was another battle being fought as they struggled to maintain their morale day by day, as their friends died and their seemed to be no end in sight. This is their story.Peter Hart was born in 1955. After attending Liverpool University he has worked as the Oral Historian at the Imperial War Museum since 1981, He is responsible for interviewing veterans of all conflicts from the Great War to the present day. His previous books include 1918: A Very British Victory, The Somme, 1916, Aces Falling: War Above the Trenches, 1918 and Jutland, 1916. His Voices from the Front series with Pen & Sword includes, The 16th Durham Light Infantry, The 2nd Norfolk regiment and the South Notts Hussars. He is married with two children and lives in North London

The 16th Durham Light Infantry in Italy, 1943–1945

A major new history of the most infamous battle of the First World War, as described by the men who fought it. On 1 July 1916, Douglas Haig's army launched the 'Big Push' that was supposed finally to bring an end to the stalemate on the Western Front. What happened next was a human catastrophe: scrambling over the top into the face of the German machine guns and artillery fire, almost 20,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers were killed that day alone, and twice as many wounded - the greatest loss in a single day ever sustained by the British Army. The battle did not stop there, however. It dragged on for another 4 months, leaving the battlefield strewn with literally hundreds of thousands of bodies. The Somme has remained a byword for the futility of war ever since. In this major new history, Peter Hart describes how the battle looked from the point of view of those who fought it. Using never-before-seen eyewitness testimonies, he shows us this epic conflict from all angles. We see what it was like to crawl across No Man's Land in the face of the German guns, what it was like for those who stayed behind in the trenches - the padres, the artillerymen, the doctors. We also see what the battle looked like from the air, as the RFC battled to keep control of the skies above the battlefield. All this is put in the context of the background to the battle, and Haig's overall strategy for the Western Front, making this the most comprehensive history of the battle since Lyn MacDonald's bestselling work over 20 years ago.

In the autumn of 1917, after years of stalemate at Ypres, the British and French armies launched a massive offensive to take Passchendaele Ridge. Following an intensive bombardment, the Allies began their attack, but the low ground between the lines had been churned into a quagmire, and the attack was literally bogged down. All surprise had been lost, and the German defence in depth was well organised. For the first time the Germans used mustard gas, while German planes flew low to strafe the British infantry with machine guns. After two and a half months the British finally took the ridge they had been aiming for, but at the cost of over 300,000 Allied lives. German losses in the offensive were estimated at 260,000. Based on the archival holdings at the Imperial War Museum, this book gathers together a wealth of material about this horrific offensive. A history to appeal to the scholar and the general reader alike.

Peter Hart

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