Benjamin Lai is an expert on the modern Chinese military and the author of The Dragon’s Teeth. In light of Liu Xiaobo’s recent death, here he discusses the merits of other Chinese dissidents. The opinions expressed in this article are Benjamin Lai’s and not of Casemate Publishers. In the last two weeks, the Guardian… Read More »China’s Dissidents: Heroes or Traitors?
The following extract is taken from Running a Big Ship, the guide book to how to run a Second World War Battleship. Written by Captain Rory O’Conor, it is now seen as one of the most important documents we have to understand the role and function of a World War Two Battleship commander. In… Read More »Leadership Lesson: How Should a Ship Commander Appear to his Crew?
Mick Mannock was the most successful British fighter ace of the First World War and the inventor of many fighter plane tactics still used today. The following extract is taken from the Casemate Short History book Fighter Aces by John Sadler and Rosie Serdiville. After Alfred Ball’s death in 1917, Britain had no von… Read More »Mick Mannock: The Genius Above the Western Front
The ‘Tommies’ of World War One was a nickname given to the British soldiers who fought in the trenches of the Western Front. What had started as a relatively small army in 1914 had soon increased to well over a million men from all walks of life. Their bravery and sacrifice in this war has… Read More »The Lost Generation of 1914-1918: 9 Facts you (Probably) Don’t Know About Tommies
During both world wars, the devastating firepower of artillery resulted in a huge number of casualties, killing and maiming hundreds of thousands of people. How did the gun become such a powerful weapon of war? Here are ten facts about the origin of guns you (probably) didn’t know, taken from the Casemate Short History book Big… Read More »From Firecrackers to Mortars: 10 Facts you (Probably) Don’t Know About the Development of Artillery
Benjamin Lai is an expert on modern Chinese military and the author of The Dragon’s Teeth. Here, he explains how the United States use the concept of ‘Freedom of Navigation’ to exploit their naval dominance. Last month, the Pentagon lambasted the Chinese for an ‘unprofessional’ interception, when an American reconnaissance plane strayed a bit… Read More »How the United States Bypass International Law to Maintain Naval Dominance
Three weeks ago, President Xi Jin-ping hosted one of the biggest gatherings of world leaders in Beijing the inaugural meeting of OBOR “One Belt One Road”, China’s plan for global trade. So far 68 countries and international organizations have signed up for the mega infrastructure project. So far OBOR has initiated $US1.3 trillion worth of… Read More »OBOR: The Chinese Economic Agreement Threatening to become the World’s Most Powerful Union
Written by guest-blogger and author Fred Bridgland Fred Bridgland, the author of The War for Africa recalls his time spent reporting on Southern African conflicts, and how his investigating led to some shocking revelations about Jonas Savimbi and Winnie Mandela. I stumbled unwittingly upon the first and only Cuba-South Africa war, fought entirely upon the… Read More »Seeking Hidden Truths in War and Peace from Angola to South Africa
Above: Randall Nicol, winner of Best First Book. Our partners Helion & Company have won the top two accolades at the ‘Oscars’ of British military history publishing – the Templer Awards. Helion and Company, which has also celebrated its 20th anniversary, published both the best book on British military history and the best first… Read More »Helion Scoop Major Awards
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