Andris Kursietis has been a researcher of military history for over forty years, using resources that span the globe. This latest book, "The Last Tsar's Warriors" represents his largest project to date. The book provides information about the military careers of over 6,400 Imperial Russian generals and admirals that served the last Tsar, Nikolai II, during his reign 1894 - 1917, and also lists the order of battle of the Russian armed forces during those years. Included in Volume II of this bo...

In April 1988, the Vatican authorities provided a small sample of the Turin Shroud for carbon-14 dating of the alleged burial cloth of Jesus Christ. In October of the same year, coordinator Michael S. Tite presented the conclusion of the university labs of Oxford, Zurich and Tucson (Arizona) to the entire world press: the miraculous imprint of Jesus’ resurrected body on the shroud dated to 1260-1390 CE…

Even if we accept that the Turin Shroud indeed is a cloth from the 13th or 14th centur...

In guerrilla warfare such as the Indonesian War of Independence, intelligence is critical for achieving military success. No wonder, then, that the Netherlands and the Republic of Indonesia waged a grim intelligence war from 1945-1949 by means of espionage, infiltration and other – often extremely violent – methods, including the interrogation of prisoners. In addition, both Dutch and Indonesians set up – with varying degrees of success – an extensive alarm system to warn their own tr...

'Revolutionary Worlds' looks at the Indonesian revolution (1945-1949) from a local and regional perspective. In several contributions, Indonesian and Dutch researchers bring to life the revolutionary world from widely differing perspectives. The authors explain how Indonesian, Chinese, Indian and Eurasian civilians, fighters, farmers and officials experienced and shaped the chaotic period between 1945 and 1950. The book focuses on survival strategies, mobilization, and the use of force agains...

Tipping the Balance was inspired by love for the author’s birth-place, Warnsveld in Gelderland’s De Achterhoek; the seasons, small farmlets with golden fields, the leafy lanes and rivers flowing slowly through the landscape. Jenneken’s life is shattered when she learns that her mother Alida’s knowledge and use of herbal remedies is considered to be witchcraft and that she must undergo a weighing trial in Oude- water. Jenneken fears also for her own safety as she has followed her mothe...

Met mijn proefschrift vergelijk ik Holocaust en slavernij-onderwijs om inzicht te krijgen in hoe we in Nederland betekenis geven aan de herinnering van sensitieve geschiedenis. Hierin ligt de nadruk op het gebruik van beelden en verhalen in onze collectieve en culturele herinnering. Wat drukken die uit? Wat bevestigen we ermee en wat missen we? Zijn er wellicht overeenkomsten in de manier waarop verhalen worden verteld en beelden worden doorgegeven, als je het slavernijverleden met het Holoca...

Heinrich Schliemann, a successful trader and amateur archaeologist who excavated Troy and Mycenae, kept multilingual diaries during his many travels around the world. In 1864, he set aside his trading business and embarked upon a year-long trip around the globe. This volume contains the portion of this trip in China and Japan, from April 1st to June 30th, 1865. Schliemann’s visit came at a curious time, when both China and Japan were going through tectonic shifts, very recently begun to ope...

In the summer of 1941, the German attack on the Soviet Union, code-named Operation Barbarossa, began with a surprise attack. Huge armies mobilised for the largest campaign ever.

Stalin’s armies were positioned very west of the German army, which offered the opportunity to encircle them. This could have decided the war at an early stage.

The army group north (Heeresgruppe Nord) also had to attack quickly in depth and destroy the Red Army before the river Düna. It would turn out differently....

Even before Amsterdam there was a dazzling North Sea port at the hub of the known world: the city of Antwerp.

Antwerp was sensational like nineteenth-century Paris or twentieth-century New York, somewhere anything could happen or at least be believed: killer bankers, easy kisses, a market in secrets and every kind of heresy. For half the sixteenth century, it was the place for breaking rules - religious, sexual, intellectual.

In Antwerp, things changed. One man cornered all the money in the c...