Thomas Sopwith's Books

FLYING FURY: Five Years In The Royal Flying Corps [Illustrated Edition]

By: James Thomas Byford McCudden VC DSO & Ba, MC & Bar MM

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FLYING FURY: Five Years In The Royal Flying Corps [Illustrated Edition]

By: James Thomas Byford McCudden VC DSO & Ba, MC & Bar MM

Illustrated Edition – contains 30 photos The highest scoring British Air Ace reveals his daily life at the front, in the air and in combat with the Germans above the Western Front. In the muddy trenches of the Western front few rankers would have considered that they would achieve field rank of major and international celebrity. In the skies above the shell-torn landscape, any man with enough talent, daring and skill could hope to become a ‘Flying Ace’ by claiming five or more victories over enemy aviators. Such an adventurous warrior was James McCudden; born in 1895 in Kent, he enlisted in the Royal Engineers in 1910 as soon as he could. But he was smitten with the service in the air after a flight in his brothers plane in 1913 and transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. However he was only an engineer in 1914, but once in France despite his modest rank he was allowed to go up with his squadron and act as an observer in a two seater plane. After much good service as an observer his superiors put him forward for pilot training in 1916. McCudden’s tally of the enemy over the next two years would rank him among the greatest of the World War One Aces; he claimed some 57 enemy aircraft even three in a single day in 1918. His exploits in the air were legendary, surviving an attack by the Red Baron himself, he pioneered new tactics that enabled him the edge of his enemy by using his engineering skill to fine tune his aircraft. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, DSO with Bar, MC with Bar and a Military Medal and the French Croix de Guerre for his daring, bravery and skill. It is with a sad irony that it was not his German foe that eventually ended his outstanding military service but a flying accident in 1918. He was only 23 at the time. His own exploits, adventures, tactics and escapes are best left to him in his own words, but suffice to say despite his modest retelling of his life in a day-by-day fashion remains both dramatic and engaging.

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Page Count

420

Publisher

Pickle Partners Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1782892168

ISBN 13

9781782892168

The Baby Killers

German Air Raids on Britain in the First World War

By: Thomas Fegan

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The Baby Killers

German Air Raids on Britain in the First World War

By: Thomas Fegan

Just over a decade after the Wright Brothers triumph of powered flight, the conduct of war was changed for ever. Until the Kaisers Zeppelins raided British cities and towns, it had been unthinkable that civilian populations and property hundreds of miles from the battlefield could be at risk from sudden death and destruction.In the first section of The Baby Killers Thomas Fegan charts the precise chronology of the air raids on Britain in this most thorough and fascinating work. From the start-point of the doom-laden prophecies of HG Wells and others, he describes the development of the German threat and the desperate search for answers to it. He analyses public reaction and assesses the effectiveness of the campaign as it progressed from airships to Gotha heavy bombers and, later, Giants.The second part of this superbly researched book features a gazetteer to the places bombed. The extent of the list, which includes Edinburgh, Hull and Greater Manchester, will almost certainly surprise most readers. Helpfully there are also comprehensive lists of memorials and relevant museums. The Baby Killers provides a chilling insight into an aspect of The Great War which is all too often overlooked. Yet, at the time, these raids, while modest compared with those of the Second World War Blitz, shook nationalmorale and instilled great fear and outrage. This is an important and highly readable work.

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Page Count

361

Publisher

Pen and Sword

Published Date

ISBN 10

1473818923

ISBN 13

9781473818927

The Attack on Taranto

Blueprint for Pearl Harbor

By: Thomas P. Lowry,John Wellham

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The Attack on Taranto

Blueprint for Pearl Harbor

By: Thomas P. Lowry,John Wellham

On November 11, 1940, 21 slow, canvas-covered British warplanes, launched from the carrier Illustrious, attacked the harbor at the Italian port of Taranto and put most of the Italian navy out of commission. This all-but-forgotten operation, the authors argue, deserves historical recognition as an inspirational precedent for the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor 13 months later. Taranto demonstrated that battleships in a shallow, heavily defended harbor could be sunk by a handful of torpedo-bombers. That lesson Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, commander-in-chief of the Japanese fleet, learned well-while the American military virtually ignored it. "By this single stroke the balance of naval power in the Mediterranean was decisively altered." -Winston S. Churchill

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Page Count

180

Publisher

Stackpole Books

Published Date

ISBN 10

0811726614

ISBN 13

9780811726610

Striking the Hornets' Nest

Naval Aviation and the Origins of Strategic Bombing in World War I

By: Geoffrey L Rossano,Thomas Wildenberg

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Striking the Hornets' Nest

Naval Aviation and the Origins of Strategic Bombing in World War I

By: Geoffrey L Rossano,Thomas Wildenberg

Striking the Hornets’ Nest provides the first extensive analysis of the Northern Bombing Group (NBG), the Navy’s most innovative aviation initiative of World War I and one of the world’s first dedicated strategic bombing programs. Very little has been written about the Navy’s aviation activities in World War I and even less on the NBG. Standard studies of strategic bombing tend to focus on developments in the Royal Air Force or the U.S. Army Air Service. This work concentrates on the origins of strategic bombing in World War I, and the influence this phenomenon had on the Navy’s future use of the airplane. The NBG program faced enormous logistical and personnel challenges. Demands for aircraft, facilities, and personnel were daunting, and shipping shortages added to the seemingly endless delays in implementing the program. Despite the impediments, the Navy (and Marine Corps) triumphed over organizational hurdles and established a series of bases and depots in northern France and southern England in the late summer and early fall of 1918. Ironically, by the time the Navy was ready to commence bombing missions, the German retreat had caused abandonment of the submarine bases the NBG had been created to attack. The men involved in this program were pioneers, overcoming major obstacles only to find they were no longer needed. Though the Navy rapidly abandoned its use of strategic bombing after World War I, their brief experimentation directed the future use of aircraft in other branches of the armed forces. It is no coincidence that Robert Lovett, the young Navy reserve officer who developed much of the NBG program in 1918, spent the entire period of World War II as Assistant Secretary of War for Air where he played a crucial role organizing and equipping the strategic bombing campaign unleashed against Germany and Japan. Rossano and Wildenberg have provided a definitive study of the NBG, a subject that has been overlooked for too long.

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Page Count

313

Publisher

Naval Institute Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1612513913

ISBN 13

9781612513911

RAF Little Rissington

The Central Flying School 1946 - 76

By: R. Deacon,A. Pollock,M. Thomas,R. Bagshaw

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RAF Little Rissington

The Central Flying School 1946 - 76

By: R. Deacon,A. Pollock,M. Thomas,R. Bagshaw

In the three decades between 1946 and 1976, the Central Flying School which was based at Little Rissington, produced over 6000 fledgling Qualified Flying Instructors and continually endeavoured to monitor and improve the wider Royal Air Force's standards of flying, based on its sound, proven instructional methods and a wealth of tradition extending back to Upavon in 1912. With the cessation of hostilities in 1945, the station's role took on a new dimension with the arrival of the Central Flying School (CFS) from RAF Upavon in the following year. The main function of CFS was to fulfil RAF requirements and assist some Commonwealth air force requirements for flying instructors. RAF Little Rissington became CFS's important focal base for the next thirty years. The book covers the 1946 to 1976 period and has been drawn from from the records at the National Archives, the RAF Museum, the Central Flying School Archive, and from published sources. Anecdotes and recollections from over 100 service and civilian personnel, ranging from Air Marshals to AC2s, who were once based at Little Rissington bring these unfolding years to life.

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Page Count

335

Publisher

Pen and Sword

Published Date

ISBN 10

1844153819

ISBN 13

9781844153817

The World's Most Powerful Military Aircraft

By: Thomas Newdick

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The World's Most Powerful Military Aircraft

By: Thomas Newdick

Ever since man first took to the air, combat aircraft have been at the cutting edge of aviation technology, resulting in some of the greatest and most complex designs ever built. The World’s Greatest Military Aircraft features 52 of the most important military aircraft of the last hundred years, including everything from biplane fighters and carrier aircraft to tactical bombers, transport aircraft, multirole fighters, strategic strike aircraft, and stealth bombers. Each entry includes a brief description of the model’s development and history, a profile view, key features, and specifications. Packed with more than 200 artworks and photographs, this is a colorful guide for the military aviation enthusiast.

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Page Count

230

Publisher

The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc

Published Date

ISBN 10

1499465912

ISBN 13

9781499465914

Battle For Air Supremacy Over The Somme: 1 June-30 November 1916

By: Lt-Col Thomas G. Bradbeer

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Battle For Air Supremacy Over The Somme: 1 June-30 November 1916

By: Lt-Col Thomas G. Bradbeer

Much has been written about the Battle of the Somme. From July through late November 1916, British, French, and German armies fought one of the costliest battles of the twentieth century. Well over a million casualties and only a few miles of ground gained by the Allies were the result when the battle ended. Little, however, has been written about the second battle which occurred simultaneously, this one in the skies above the Somme, where for the first time in the history of warfare a deliberate attempt was made to control the sky. The British Royal Flying Corps, under the resolute command of General Sir Hugh Trenchard, fought to gain air supremacy from the German Air Service. Trenchard believed that the best way to support the ground force was to dominate and control the sky above the battlefield. This air campaign was critical because of its impact on the doctrine and theory of air warfare which followed it. This study examines the efforts of the Royal Flying Corps to gain air supremacy against the German Air Service before and during the Battle of the Somme.

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Page Count

194

Publisher

Pickle Partners Publishing

Published Date

ISBN 10

1782896031

ISBN 13

9781782896036

The World's Greatest Military Aircraft

An Illustrated History

By: Thomas Newdick

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The World's Greatest Military Aircraft

An Illustrated History

By: Thomas Newdick

Military Aircraft features 52 of the most important military aircraft, from biplane fighters to tactical bombers, transports, multirole fighters and stealth bombers. Packed with over 200 illustrations, each entry includes a description of the model’s development and history, a profile view, key features and specifications.

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Page Count

330

Publisher

Amber Books Ltd

Published Date

ISBN 10

1782742778

ISBN 13

9781782742777

Sevengate

The Harvest

By: Clive Thomas

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Sevengate

The Harvest

By: Clive Thomas

“Thursday’s Child,” aka Peter Tobin – foundling, drover, shearer, horse-breaker, soldier, and pastoralist – travelled far and wide throughout the Australian outback in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The legacy of his widely scattered seed is gathered up in this tale of fatal misunderstandings, murder, and altruism, spanning the years 1910 to 1974. Like the Peter Tobin memoir “Thursday’s Child” that precedes it, the author gives a respectful nod to history pedants and reminds them this is a work of fiction.

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Page Count

485

Publisher

Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency

Published Date

ISBN 10

1631358626

ISBN 13

9781631358623

Homebush Boy

By: Thomas Keneally

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Homebush Boy

By: Thomas Keneally

In this playful and poignant memoir, Thomas Keneally returns to his adolescence in the suburbs of Sydney in 1952. At sixteen, the red-haired teenager idolized the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins and had aspirations of becoming a star on the track or rugby field. He also dreamed of wooing the beautiful and alluring Bernadette Curran until the day she announces her desire to become a nun. For the first time, Keneally started to consider priesthood himself. An insightful portrait of the transition from childhood to adulthood, Homebush Boy affectionately captures the awkwardness, grace, and all the contradictions of being a teenager.

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Page Count

198

Publisher

Open Road Media

Published Date

ISBN 10

1504038088

ISBN 13

9781504038089

Leave No Man Behind

The Saga of Combat Search and Rescue

By: George Galdorisi,Thomas Phillips

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Leave No Man Behind

The Saga of Combat Search and Rescue

By: George Galdorisi,Thomas Phillips

Beginning with the birth of combat aircraft in World War I and the early attempts to rescue warriors trapped behind enemy lines, Leave No Man Behind chronicles in depth nearly one hundred years of combat search and rescue (CSAR). All major U.S. combat operations from World War II to the early years of the Iraq War are covered, including previously classified missions and several Medal-of-Honor-winning operations. Authors George Galdorisi and Tom Phillips (both veteran U.S. Navy helicopter pilots) highlight individual acts of heroism while telling the big-picture story of the creation and development of modern CSAR. Although individual missions have their successes and failures, CSAR, as an institution, would seem beyond reproach, an obvious necessity. The organizational history of CSAR, however, is not entirely positive. The armed services, particularly the U.S. Air Force and Navy, have a tendency to cut CSAR at the end of a conflict, leaving no infrastructure prepared for the next time that the brave men and women of our armed forces find themselves behind enemy lines. The final chapter has not yet been written for U.S. combat search and rescue, but in view of the life-saving potential of these forces, an open and forthright review of U.S. military CSAR plans and policies is long overdue. Beyond the exciting stories of heroic victories and heartrending defeats, Leave No Man Behind stimulates debate on this important subject.

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Page Count

656

Publisher

Zenith Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1616732253

ISBN 13

9781616732257

The Flight of the Mind

Virginia Woolf's Art and Manic-Depressive Illness

By: Thomas C. Caramagno

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The Flight of the Mind

Virginia Woolf's Art and Manic-Depressive Illness

By: Thomas C. Caramagno

Most valuable, to my thinking, is Caramagno's demonstration of the interrelationship between Woolf's literary brilliance and her devastating depressions and creative highs, and his insights into the creative process itself."—Ronald R. Fieve, M.D., author of Moodswing "This book is a knockout. After reading it, Woolf scholars (like me), and everyone else, are going to have to rethink everything we think we know about Virginia Woolf. I expected yet another predictable book on Woolf's madness . . . and instead came away thoroughly impressed."—Jane C. Marcus, Distinguished Professor of English at The City College of New York and Coordinator of Women's Studies at the CUNY Graduate Center "Caramagno's powerfully revisionist account of Woolf's life and work traces her courageous attempt to record and understand her own mental illness. His book throws a flood of light on the relentlessly honest self-scrutiny of her autobiographical writing as well as on the deliberate discontinuities of her fiction."—Alex Zwerdling, author of Virginia Woolf and the Real World

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Page Count

388

Publisher

Univ of California Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0520072804

ISBN 13

9780520072800

Book's by Thomas Sopwith

FLYING FURY: Five Years In The Royal Flying Corps [Illustrated Edition]

FLYING FURY: Five Years In The Royal Flying Corps [Illustrated Edition]

The Baby Killers

The Baby Killers

The Attack on Taranto

The Attack on Taranto

Striking the Hornets' Nest

Striking the Hornets' Nest

RAF Little Rissington

RAF Little Rissington

The World's Most Powerful Military Aircraft

The World's Most Powerful Military Aircraft

Battle For Air Supremacy Over The Somme: 1 June-30 November 1916

Battle For Air Supremacy Over The Somme: 1 June-30 November 1916

The World's Greatest Military Aircraft

The World's Greatest Military Aircraft

Sevengate

Sevengate

Homebush Boy

Homebush Boy

Leave No Man Behind

Leave No Man Behind

The Flight of the Mind

The Flight of the Mind

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