The USAAF's Tuskegee Experiment, designed to prove that African-Americans were not capable of flying combat aircraft, ironically resulted in the creation of one of the USAAF's elite units. Crewed by highly-educated and exceptionally motivated men, the 332nd were able to boast 111 aerial kills, 150 strafing victories and even the sinking of a German destroyer by the war's end.

Formed with the best available fighter pilots in the Southwest Pacific, the 475th Fighter Group was the pet project of Fifth Air Force chief, General George C Kenney. From the time the group entered combat in August 1943 until the end of the war it was the fastest scoring group in the Pacific and remained one of the crack fighter units in the entire...

Gregory Fremont-Barnes examines the lives of the American Bomber Crewmen of the Eighth Air Force, "The Mighty Eighth," who crewed, maintained and repaired the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and the B-24 Liberators that flew from the airfields of Norfolk and Suffolk and other counties of England. He highlights the physical and psychological strain placed on these brave men.

Small arms and light weapons are the primary weapons of most armed conflicts. International responses have been shaped by the view that they are abundantly available and easily accessible to all on a global illicit market. This book argues that the arming of conflict is complexly structured and highly dynamic. It uncovers and describes the construction...