Kirjahaku

In 1962, when air-travel was in its infancy, a nineteen-year-old boy who felt trapped in Melbourne, Australia, made up his mind that he was going to return to his homeland in the United Kingdom. He was prevented from doing so by both lack of documentation and the funds required.Putting an idea to work without the thought of losing his life, he became the first person in history to fly for nearly five days in a crate across the Pacific Ocean.

When the British invaded Afghanistan in 1878, forty years after the first attempt, it was to scotch Russian influence and to install a friendly government. This book accounts various questions such as why it was fought, why it was necessary, who was responsible and what it achieved.

This is a study of the little known Third Anglo-Afghan War and the subsequent campaign in Waziristan. It is based on original official and private papers backed up by contemporary photographs and specially drawn maps. The British deployed virtually the full panopoly of military technology - artillery, machine guns, trench mortars, armoured cars, mechanical transport and aircraft and when the Indian infantry proved unable to cope with the tribesmen, there were even calls for use of poison gas. Yet in the end it all down to the infantry with rifle, bayonet and grenade and the book gives tales of sacrifice and gallantry as well panic where generals jostled with soldiers in a panic to find a way out. The author brings out the vital nature of the RAF's contribution and of the gallantry of the pilots flying obsolescent and unreliable aircrat over difficult mountaineous terrain in hot weather and with the raid on Kabul, strategic bombing could be said to have arrived.

The Third Afghan War has some claim to be the least-known of all British imperial conflicts - even among military historians. Illustrated with maps and contemporary photographs, this title is an account of this important and fascinating chapter in British history.

When the British invaded Afghanistan in 1878, forty years after the first attempt, it was to scotch Russian influence and to install a friendly government. This book accounts various questions such as why it was fought, why it was necessary, who was responsible and what it achieved.