Illustrated History

The Caledonian Steam Packet Co. was founded in 1889 by the Caledonian Railway and in 2014 is 125 years old. It originally sailed from Gourock but came to encompass many of the Clyde coast piers and resorts, from Girvan to Argyll. At one time in competition with the Glasgow & South Western steamers and those of the North British Railway, by 1948 and the nationalisation of the railway companies, the steamers of these companies had all come under the auspices of the Caledonian Steam Packet Co. By 1973, the fleets of David MacBrayne and the CSP were amalgamated. The CalMac fleet comprises the third volume in this series on Clyde and West Coast steamers. This follow-up to Alistair Deayton's David MacBrayne history tells the story of the other constituent company of CalMac, whose vessels, with their blacktipped yellow funnels, once flourished on the Clyde, sailing to Ayrshire, Renfrewshire and Argyll.

The first truly total war, the 'war to end all wars', shocked the world with its scale and brutality. Men from both sides went to war in August 1914 expecting to be home by Christmas, but on the Western and Italian Fronts troops became locked in a grim stalemate of trench warfare. For the first time, advances in both agricultural and industrial production had made it possible to equip and sustain mass armies for years in the field. The Illustrated History of World War I describes a conflict that began with a naval arms race in the early 1900s, and ended in 1918 with the deaths of nearly 23 million soldiers of all nations. As many more would die in the influenza pandemic that raged after the fighting had ceased. The war brought great social, political and military change. The innocence of the Victorian world was gone, replaced by an era of uncertainty. With the aid of more than 250 black-and-white photographs and full-colour artworks, The Illustrated History of World War I recreates the battles and campaigns that raged across the surface of the globe, on land, at sea and in the air. Including full colour maps of specific actions and campaigns and feature boxes explaining important events and personalities involved in the conflict, The Illustrated History of World War I provides a graphic and compelling account of the first truly modern war.

The military engagements and campaigns of World War II are emblazoned on mankind's memory: from the Blitzkrieg attacks that smashed the Polish army in 27 days, and conquered Norway in a day, through the savage and sustained fighting of Operation Barbarossa on the Eastern Front, to the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The previously unknown level of destruction made possible by Robert Oppenheimer's scientific breakthrough brought the war to an end, and in its wake came the full revelation of the horror of the Holocaust. With the aid of 300 black and white and colour photographs, The Illustrated History of World War II tells the full story of the war and the individuals who led it — Hitler, Stalin, Churchill, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Mussolini, Togo, Rommel, Montgomery and De Gaulle, among many others. In addition, the book examines life beyond the frontline: the Holocaust, living under occupation, refugees, the Blitz and evacuations, the changing role for women, and food. Full-colour maps complement the lively text and pictures, leading the reader through many of the principal engagements on land, sea and air.