Лучшие книги Ангуса Констама

Перед вами рассказ об основных этапах истории морского пиратства - от Античности до наших дней. Читатель познакомится с пиратами, буканьерами, флибустьерами и приватирами, узнает, как они грабили суда Испании, Англии, Франции и других стран в погоне за добычей - золотом, рабами, ромом и пряностями. Автор постарался лишить этих разбойников романтического" ореола и представить их такими, какими они были на самом деле, - жестокими и безжалостными преступниками, короткая жизнь которых заканчивалась либо в яростном абордажном бою, либо на виселице. Подробно повествуется о наиболее ярком периоде, который называют золотым веком пиратства" (конец…

Пиратство возникло в те времена, когда люди впервые стали выходить в море. При этом истинные реалии мира пиратов захватывают гораздо больше, нежели литературные и голливудские мифы.

Видный эксперт по истории пиратства Энгус Констам рассматривает многовековую историю морского разбоя, начиная с бандитов, отравлявших жизнь древних греков, и заканчивая современными пиратами Сомали и Филиппин. Освещены все значимые вехи пиратства: от набегов викингов и берберских корсаров до пиратов Дальнего Востока, и конечно же во всей красе предстает знаменитый золотой век пиратства, во время которого моря бороздили такие колоритные фигуры, как Черная Борода и капитан Кидд. Всеобъемлющий и подробный рассказ, основанный на солидных источниках, снабжен роскошными красочными иллюстрациями и уникальными картами.

«Одна из задач, которую я ставил перед собой, берясь за написание этой книги, — объяснить, что же на самом деле означало пиратство. Мы рассмотрим всю историю пиратства со времен египетских фараонов до сегодняшнего дня. Здесь рассказывается о реальных исторических личностях: людях, для которых кораблекрушение, голод, болезнь и насильственная смерть были каждодневной угрозой и чья карьера обычно измерялась не годами, а лишь месяцами. Я искренне хочу понять, что сподвигло их сделать такой выбор и встать на путь разбоя и осознавали ли они возможные последствия своего выбора.
Если после прочтения этой книги вы сможете чуть лучше узнать этих людей, понять, как они жили и что ими двигало, я буду считать свою миссию выполненной». (Энгус Констам)

Пираты, буканьеры, флибустьеры и приватиры - безжалостные разбойники, свирепствовавшие на морских просторах на протяжении нескольких столетий. Биографии знаменитых буканьеров и пиратов - Генри Моргана, Олонэ, Бартоломью Робертса, Кидда и других, их кровавые злодеяния и "подвиги", вызывающие восхищение и ужас. Интереснейшие подробности пиратского быта, символика, кодексы поведения, принципы формирования "берегового братства". Захватывающие описания грабительских рейдов за вожделенной добычей - испанские галеоны, груженные золотом и серебром, английские и французские суда, перевозящие пряности и табак, и города на островах Карибского…

Самым мощным кораблем Кригсмарине нацистской Германии был линкор "Бисмарк", который мог кардинально изменить соотношение сил в войне на море в пользу Третьего Рейха. Задача уничтожения этого монстра стала первостепенной для британского флота. В ходе сражения "Бисмарк" потопил линейный крейсер "Худ", но и сам погиб, получив повреждение руля и утратив способность маневрировать. Книга, иллюстрированная многочисленными уникальными фотографиями и картами, адресована читателям, интересующимся историей военно-морского флота и Второй мировой войны.

Пираты появились в давние времена и до сих пор разбойничают на морских просторах. Безжалостные, не знающие пощады! Автор прослеживает историю от истоков до наших дней. Более 70 старинных и современных карт, на которых проложены маршруты пиратских кораблей Архивные фотографии и рисунки из собрания Национального морского музея Великобритании и других коллекций. Подробные пояснения к картам, представленным в хронологическом порядке. Живое изложение, легкий язык, историческая точность. Совершенно новый взгляд без налета романтики!

Poltava marked the demise of Sweden as a European great power and the rise of Russia. In 1707, the seemingly invincible Charles XII led his army deep into Russia. It was to prove his undoing - the long march eroded the fighting strength of the invaders; a vital supply convoy was lost; and the winter of 1708/9 was the worst in living memory. Drawing upon primary source material previously unseen in the west, Angus Konstam recounts the events, looking in particular at how this battle led to the destruction of the Swedish Army,

Во время Семилетней войны 1756-1763 гг. Российская империя выступала союзником Австрии; в разное время к этой коалиции примыкали Франция, Швеция и многочисленные германские государства Священной Римской империи. Русская армия не уступала прусской, и

Во время Семилетней войны 1756-1763 гг. Российская империя выступала союзником Австрии; в разное время к этой коалиции примыкали Франция, Швеция и многочисленные германские государства Священной Римской империи. Русская армия не уступала прусской, и это оказалось важнейшим фактором, заставившим Фридриха пойти на мирные переговоры. Русская армия оказалась способной отразить войска Фридриха Великого, доказав, что она достойна своего основателя Петра Великого. Книга А.Констама посвящена истории пехоты русской армии во время Семилетней войны. Текст сопровождается уникальными иллюстрациями. Цветные рисунки подготовлены на основании документов…

На протяжении всего XVI столетия Средиземноморье оставалось полем ожесточенной битвы между христианами и мусульманами. Решающее сражение, в котором с обе сторон сошлись крупнейшие галерные флоты в истории, определило дальнейшую судьбу стран средиземноморского бассейна. В октябре 1571 г. османские флотилии столкнули с уступающим им в численности христианским флотом Священной лиги. В ходе продлившегося около четырех или пяти часов боя христиане одержали убедительную победу, наголову разгромив турок. Лепанто суждено было стать одной из самых ожесточенных в истории морских битв. В предлагаемой вниманию читателя книге подробно прослеживается ход…

The 50 years before the American Civil War saw a boom in the construction of coastal forts in the United States of America. These stone and brick forts stretched from New England to the Florida Keys, and as far as the Mississippi River. At the start of the war some were located in the secessionist states, and many fell into Confederate hands. Although a handful of key sites stayed in Union hands throughout the war, the remainder had to be won back through bombardment or assault. This book examines the design, construction and operational history of those fortifications, such as Fort Sumter, Fort Morgan and Fort Pulaski, which played a crucial part in the course of the Civil War.

Packed with illustrations, this is a new history and analysis of how the Royal Navy's most important fleet operated and fought the German Navy in the crucial first years of World War II.

Throughout its history, the Royal Navy's most powerful fleet has been the one guarding home waters. In this book, naval historian Angus Konstam explores the fighting power, the roles, and the battles of the Home Fleet, in the crucial first years of World War II when it was Britain's most powerful fighting force, anchored in the northern bastion of Scapa Flow.

He explains the complex responsibilities of the fleet, charged simultaneously with preventing the powerful German Navy from breaking out into the Atlantic; preparing to challenge any cross-Channel invasion force; and attacking German naval operations in the North Sea. Home Fleet actions included the loss of HMS Hood, the sinking of the Bismarck and countering the invasion of Norway, Germany's biggest amphibious operation of the war.

Packed with striking new artwork and 3D diagrams and maps, this book offers a detailed portrait of the Home Fleet during these most crucial years of the war, from the capabilities of the warships to logistics and intelligence-gathering, to how the fleet was organized and commanded, and how and why it fought as it did.

Superbly illustrated with original artwork throughout, this book explores the ironclad warships that fought the little-known battles of South America's War of the Pacific.

In the late 19th century, a war erupted between Chile and Peru, the catalyst for which was control of guano-rich Chincha islands. Given the geography of the two countries, with a narrow, arid land border and long exposed coastlines, it was inevitable that the War of the Pacific would predominantly be a naval war.

It was a unique episode of military history, fought by two newly emergent South American states, using the latest technology – ironclad, steam-powered warships – and involving more naval battles than in the American Civil War, including a blockade, the capture of key warships, and bombardments of ports. Chile's navy was larger and more modern, while Peru's trump card was the small but powerful ironclad Huáscar.

In this book, naval expert Angus Konstam offers readers an essential guide to this little-known naval war, illustrated with detailed profiles of the key ironclads, spectacular original artwork of the battles and a cutaway of Huáscar. He briefly covers the strategies of the warring powers as well as exploring all the key points of the naval campaign and the details of the warships involved, as a handful of ironclads fought for naval supremacy in South America.

This new account explores the most notorious pirates in history and how their rise and fall can be traced back to a single pirate haven, Nassau.

Angus Konstam, one of the world's leading pirate experts, has brought his 30 years of research to create the definitive book on the Golden Age of Piracy. Many of the privateers the British had used to prey on French and Spanish shipping during the War of the Spanish Succession turned to piracy. The pirates took over Nassau on the Bahamian island of New Providence and turned it into their own pirate haven, where shady merchants were happy to buy their plunder. It became the hub of a pirate network that included some of the most notorious pirates in history: Blackbeard, 'Calico Jack' Rackam, Charles Vane and Bartholomew Roberts.

The growth of piracy led to a major surge in attacks in the Caribbean and along North America's Atlantic seaboard. With the fragile maritime economy of the Americas threatened with collapse, major ports were threatened and trade brought to a standstill, the British government finally declared war on the pirates. The Pirate Menace draws on extensive research, as well as a wide range of first-hand accounts, to produce a new history of the heyday of historical piracy.

An illustrated history of the American-built destroyers and frigates supplied to the Royal Navy under Lend-Lease, which played a crucial role in Britain's war in the Atlantic.

As U-boat attacks on Britain's vital sea lanes increased in ferocity, and Royal Navy warship losses mounted, the United States passed the Lend-Lease Act, the cornerstone of America's wartime role as armourer to the Allies.

Naval historian Angus Konstam here offers an account of the Royal Navy's Lend-Lease destroyers and escorts. The first batch were 50 World War I-era 'four-stacker' destroyers, in a deal sealed by the transfer of several global British bases to the USA. These warships were immediately recrewed, refitted and pressed into service in the Battle of the Atlantic. These ageing destroyers were followed by over a hundred more Lend-Lease warships, many of which were built especially for British service in American shipyards. Their arrival helped tip the balance in the hard-fought war against the U-boats, while others were used to fulfil other crucial wartime missions.

With detailed ship profiles of the major classes, a cutaway of HMS Campbeltown (of Saint-Nazaire raid fame) as it appeared in 1941, and superb battlescene artwork, this is a comprehensive look at a crucial aspect of the Battle of the Atlantic.

A highly illustrated introduction to some of the greatest battles in world history, from the iconic encounters of the Ancient World such as Thermopylae and Cannae, through to the major clashes of the 20th century epitomized by Stalingrad and Khe Sanh.

This concise study by renowned military historian Angus Konstam examines one hundred of the most famous battles from world history. It includes great naval engagements such as Salamis, Trafalgar, Jutland and Midway; pivotal land battles that decided the fate of nations, such as Hastings, Yorktown, Gettysburg and the Somme; and the impact of the new dimension of aerial warfare in the 20th century at Pearl Harbor, in the Battle of Britain and in the skies over Hiroshima.

This highly illustrated book features over 200 full-colour battlescene and other artworks from Osprey's comprehensive archive and is the ideal introduction to the battles that changed the course of history.

A superbly illustrated new account of how Germany's High Seas Fleet was built, operated and fought, as it challenged the world's most powerful navy in World War I.

Seven years before the outbreak of World War I, the Imperial German Navy rebranded its Home Fleet as the Hochseeflotte, or High Seas Fleet. It was a force designed to take on the Royal Navy, then the world's most powerful, and for the next four years the North Sea would be their battleground.

Drawing on extensive research, Angus Konstam offers the reader a concise, fully illustrated account of how the entire High Seas Fleet was designed and built, how it operated, and how it fought. The fleet was a modern, balanced force of dreadnought battleships, battlecruisers, cruisers and torpedo boats, using Zeppelins and U-boats for reconnaissance. The ultimate test between them came in May 1916, when they clashed at Jutland.

Packed with spectacular original artwork, maps, 3D diagrams and archive photos, it explains how and why the fleet was built, its role, and how and why it fought as it did. From fighting doctrine and crew training to intelligence, logistics, and gunnery, this book is an essential guide to the Kaiser's audacious bid for naval glory.

The first ever illustrated study of the largest and most significant clash between the Royal Navy and the Italian Regia Marina.

The Battle of Matapan witnessed the first use of decisive new technologies to bring about a stunning British victory over the Italian Navy. The Allies had tapped into the Ultra coded messages sent by the Axis powers, and the battle witnessed the use of radar and carrier-based air strikes to bring about a critical night action. The result was the most decisive engagement of the Mediterranean naval war.

Written by renowned naval historian Angus Konstam, this book offers for the first time a unique and fully illustrated exploration of the battle. It also examines why, despite the emphatic and decisive Royal Navy victory, the Allies failed to capitalize on the strategic advantage earned in the months that followed. Battlescene artworks bring to life the cruiser clashes early on 28 March off Gavdos, the Fleet Air Arm attacks on the Italian fleet, and the 28/29 March night action that resulted in the destruction of Admiral Carlo Cattaneo's ships – Italy's worst naval defeat. The progress of the action from the initial Operation Gaudo sweep by Italy's powerful battle fleet towards Crete (aimed at disrupting Allied convoys) to the events of the climactic battle itself is revealed in detailed maps.

The history of the Royal Navy flagships that led the fleet through the Cold War, ensured victory in the Falklands War, and saw action in Iraq and the Balkans.

In 1945, at the end of World War II, the Royal Navy's carrier fleet proved essential to the post-war world. Royal Navy carriers fought in the Korean War with the UN fleet, in the debacle at Suez, and in British operations in the last days of Empire, in Malaya, Borneo and Aden. But most famously, they were the key to the Royal Navy's victory in the Falklands campaign, and they went on to fight in the two Iraq wars.

Illustrated throughout with new profiles of the key carriers and their development, as well as a cutaway of HMS Victorious and superb new illustrations of the carriers in action, this book explains how the Royal Navy's air power changed throughout the Cold War and beyond. Renowned naval historian Angus Konstam explains how the World War II carriers were rebuilt in a pioneering modernization that allowed them to operate a new generation of naval jets. As carriers became more expensive to operate, the Royal Navy had to scrap its conventional fast jets and introduce a new generation of light carriers designed for the innovative Harrier 'jump jet'. When the Falklands War broke out, it was one of these new carriers and one veteran carrier from World War II that gave the Task Force the fighters it needed to defend itself in hostile waters and retake the islands.

Covering a period of dramatic change for the Royal Navy, this book is a history of the Royal Navy's most important ships throughout the Cold War, the retreat from Empire, and the Falklands and Iraq wars, up to the moment Royal Navy fixed-wing air power was temporarily axed in 2010.

The Convoy represents a fresh approach to the story of the Battle of the Atlantic. It is also the first to deal with the more spectacular story of HG-76, a major turning point in the naval war.

HG-76 sailed from Gibraltar to Britain in December 1941 and was specially targeted by the Germans. A wolfpack of U-boats was sent against it, and the Luftwaffe was heavily committed too in a rare example of German inter-service cooperation. German intelligence agents in Gibraltar and Spain also knew every detail of HG-76 before it had even sailed, seemingly stacking the odds in favour of the Kriegsmarine.

Despite this the convoy fought its way through. Improved radar and sonar gave the convoy's escorts a slight edge over their opponents, while the escort group was led by Commander Walker, an anti-submarine expert who had developed new, aggressive U-boat hunting tactics. Previous Gibraltar convoys had been mauled by Luftwaffe bombers operating from French airfields. This time, though, HG-76 would be accompanied by HMS Audacity, the Royal Navy's first escort carrier – a new type of warship purpose-built to defend convoys from enemy aircraft and U-boats.

Following seven days and nights of relentless attack, the horrors of which are brought home through a series of first-hand accounts, the convoy finally reached the safety of a British port for the loss of only two merchant ships. Its arrival was seen as the first real convoy victory of the war. Brought to life by expert naval historian Angus Konstam, The Convoy combines the story of the technical and tactical developments that won the Battle of the Atlantic for the Allies along with a narrative that reveals both the terror and the stubborn determination that defined the experiences of those that served on convoy duties.

A fascinating account of an often overlooked naval action of World War II, and one of the bloodiest chapters in the history of the Royal Navy.

In April 1941, following the Axis invasion of Greece, the British Mediterranean Fleet was ordered to evacuate Allied survivors, many of which were taken to Crete. The Luftwaffe established itself in airfields on the Greek mainland, and formed plans to invade Crete by air and sea, under the cover of 500 fighters and bombers of the Luftwaffe's Fliegerkorps VIII. Facing them were a small and scattered garrison on the island, a handful of under-strength RAF squadrons and the hard-pressed warships of the Mediterranean Fleet. What happened next was a costly, but ultimately inspiring, naval battle, in which Royal Navy crews were placed under intense strain.

Using period photographs, stunning battlescene artworks, detailed maps and an authoritative narrative, world-leading maritime historian Angus Konstam tells the fascinating story of how Allied ships failed to repulse the Axis invasion convoys bound for Crete, before successfully evacuating troops from the island, all the while under relentless Luftwaffe attack. Offering a fresh insight into this strategically important battle, this work shows how it marked a turning point in the naval war for the Mediterranean, and also witnessed the first use of new elements in naval warfare: the mass use of aircraft to contest control of the sea, and the use of Ultra intelligence to forestall the Axis invasion of Crete. Despite a heavy butcher's bill of dozens of Royal Navy ships lost and damaged, and hundreds Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed, the Royal Navy Mediterranean Fleet would live to fight another day.