{"id":7769,"date":"2024-03-14T09:48:03","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T09:48:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/?post_type=product&p=7769"},"modified":"2026-02-13T13:02:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T13:02:27","slug":"military-history-matters-139","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/product\/military-history-matters-139\/","title":{"rendered":"Military History Matters 139"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

It is sometimes said that if the Waffen SS had been manning the German defences that guarded the beaches of Normandy on 6 June 1944, the outcome of D -Day might have been very different.<\/p>\n

As it was, when the Allied invasion force hurled it self against Hitler\u2019s so – called \u2018Atlantic Wall\u2019 80 years ago this summer, the resistance that it encountered was in many instances a far cry from what had been feared.<\/p>\n

In our two-part special feature for this issue \u2013 the first of two devoted to the events of the Normandy Landings \u2013 we look at some of the reasons for this. First, Taylor Downing uncovers the brilliant deception operation which fooled the Germans as to where and when the invasion would take place; then, Graham Goodlad examines the German defences themselves, to understand why the Atlantic Wall was always likely to crumble.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, we travel further back in time with Richard Abdy, lead curator of Legion: life in the Roman army, an acclaimed new exhibition at the British Museum, who reveals the role played by arms and armour at the height of the Roman Empire.<\/p>\n

Also in this issue, Stephen Roberts analyses Richard I\u2019s last campaign to understand whether England\u2019s \u2018Crusader King\u2019 deserves his reputation as a martial genius; while Fred Chiaventone looks at the Battle of Beecher Island, a desperate last stand fought out on America\u2019s Great Plains in 1868.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

And finally, Tim Newark examines the bloody li fe of Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, and recalls his bizarre mission to create a barbarian empire in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution.<\/p>\n

We hope you enjoy the issue!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In this issue:<\/strong><\/p>\n

– D-Day 80 years on: Hitler\u2019s Fortress Europe
\n– Empire of violence: Roman arms and armour
\n– The Lionheart in winter: Richard I\u2019s last campaign
\n– \u2018Looking death in the face\u2019: Beecher Island, 1868
\n– Barbarian fantasy: the ghost of Genghis Khan<\/p>\n

Plus: War Classics, Book Reviews, Museum Review, War on Film, War Culture, Back to the Drawing Board, Listings, and more.<\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":7770,"template":"","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[60],"product_tag":[29],"class_list":{"0":"post-7769","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"product_cat-back-issue-military-history-matters","7":"product_tag-military-history-matters","8":"product_shipping_class-back-issue","9":"desktop-align-center","10":"tablet-align-center","11":"mobile-align-center","12":"ast-product-gallery-layout-first-image-large","13":"ast-product-gallery-with-no-image","14":"ast-magnify-disabled","15":"ast-product-tabs-layout-distributed","17":"first","18":"instock","19":"taxable","20":"shipping-taxable","21":"purchasable","22":"product-type-simple"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cover-1000px-1-5.jpg",1000,1305,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cover-1000px-1-5-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cover-1000px-1-5-230x300.jpg",230,300,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cover-1000px-1-5-768x1002.jpg",768,1002,true],"large":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cover-1000px-1-5-785x1024.jpg",785,1024,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cover-1000px-1-5.jpg",1000,1305,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cover-1000px-1-5.jpg",1000,1305,false],"woocommerce_thumbnail":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cover-1000px-1-5-300x400.jpg",300,400,true],"woocommerce_single":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cover-1000px-1-5-600x783.jpg",600,783,true],"woocommerce_gallery_thumbnail":["https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-content\/uploads\/Cover-1000px-1-5-100x100.jpg",100,100,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Gaetane Levesques","author_link":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/author\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"In this issue: - D-Day 80 years on: Hitler\u2019s Fortress Europe - Empire of violence: Roman arms and armour - The Lionheart in winter: Richard I\u2019s last campaign - \u2018Looking death in the face\u2019: Beecher Island, 1868 - Barbarian fantasy: the ghost of Genghis Khan Plus: War Classics, Book Reviews, Museum Review, War on Film,…","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product\/7769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/product"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"product_brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_brand?post=7769"},{"taxonomy":"product_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_cat?post=7769"},{"taxonomy":"product_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/currentpublishing.com\/shop\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product_tag?post=7769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}