A presentation of over 270 images of bayonets and an explanation of their development and use throughout World War I.

Bayonets before Bullets is the first comprehensive institutional and operational history of the Imperial Russian Army during the crucial period of its modernization, 1861-1914. Bruce W. Menning surveys the development of organization, doctrine, and strategy from the aftermath of Russia's defeat in the Crimean War through the wars against Turkey in 1877-1878 and Japan in 1904-1905, to the eve of World War I. Describing how the Russian army organized, trained, and armed itself to fight during a critical era of change, Menning weaves analysis of reforms in technology and military art with lively accounts of combat operations and portraits of the personalities involved. Enhanced by superb battlefield maps, operational diagrams, and rare photographs of the leading Russian military commanders, Bayonets before Bullets provides a fascinating account of how the Imperial Russian Army struggled to modernize in a Darwinian world that dealt harshly with those who failed to adapt to changes in technology and military art.

The image is indelible: densely packed lines of slow-moving Redcoats picked off by American sharpshooters. Now Matthew H. Spring reveals how British infantry in the American Revolutionary War really fought. This groundbreaking book offers a new analysis of the British Army during the “American rebellion” at both operational and tactical levels. Presenting fresh insights into the speed of British tactical movements, Spring discloses how the system for training the army prior to 1775 was overhauled and adapted to the peculiar conditions confronting it in North America. First scrutinizing such operational problems as logistics, manpower shortages, and poor intelligence, Spring then focuses on battlefield tactics to examine how troops marched to the battlefield, deployed, advanced, and fought. In particular, he documents the use of turning movements, the loosening of formations, and a reliance on bayonet-oriented shock tactics, and he also highlights the army’s ability to tailor its tactical methods to local conditions. Written with flair and a wealth of details that will engage scholars and history enthusiasts alike, With Zeal and with Bayonets Only offers a thorough reinterpretation of how the British Army’s North American campaign progressed and invites serious reassessment of most of its battles.

This book recounts the organization and deployment of one of the most important fighting armies of World War II. Australian divisions made a large and distinctive contribution to victory both in the deserts of the Middle East and the jungles of the South-West Pacific,earning for the second time a unique reputation for aggressiveness, endurance and independence of spirit. The text is illustrated with original wartime photos from all fronts; and with full colour plates showing a wide range of uniforms and gear, together with the complex and colourful Australian system of unit insignia.

This book follows in the footsteps of many past conflicts from around the world and introduces the reader to the many different types of automatic/machine gun weapons used in those conflicts. Having travelled around the world visiting museums and battle sites and actually seeing, touching and in some cases firing some of the weapons included in this book provided me with some solid insights into their service through many different theatres of war. In most cases, you will find references to the weapon's history, their service period and specifications, as well as other interesting information that I have collected over the years.