Gift&TradeSpring2026

111 WORLD WAR I • SPECIAL OPERATIONS ISBN 978-0-7643-7081-6 ISBN: 978-0-7643-7081-6 $29 99, £2799, 42 99 CAD hardcover • 248 pp • 6" x 9" (152 x 229 mm) 40 color and b/w photos and maps AVAILABLE APRIL 2026 Combat Historian Collecting and Writing Army Special-Operations History from Desert Storm to Afghanistan (1991–2002) By Col. (Ret.) Richard W. Stewart Richard Stewart was the chief historian of the US Army from 1998 to 2015. From 1990 to 1998, he was the command historian of US Army Special Operations Command. In this capacity, he deployed to cover special forces during Operation Desert Storm (Saudi Arabia and Kuwait), Task Force Ranger (Somalia, "Black Hawk Down"), Operation Uphold Democracy (Haiti), Operation Joint Endeavor/Guard (Bosnia), and Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan). This work is both a history of Army special operations and their missions during that era and a first-person account of experiencing conflict through the very specific lens of the combat historian. ISBN: 978-0-7643-7082-3 $34 99, £31 99, 48 99 CAD hardcover • 304 pp • 6" x 9" (152 x 229 mm) 50 b/w and color photos AVAILABLE APRIL 2026 The Africa Ship Ludwig Bockholt, Zeppelin L 59, and the Most Daring Rescue Mission of WWI By Dominic Etzold ISBN 978-0-7643-7082-3 Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, who commanded imperial German forces in East Africa during the First World War, is widely regarded as one of the finest military leaders of the war, on either side. He and his men managed not only to evade capture or destruction, but to truly instill fear within their primarily British opposition. This was despite being not only vastly outnumbered but also nearly impossible to resupply from Europe. The Royal Navy smothered East Africa with an incredibly effective blockade, while the Allied forces on the ground controlled all major rail lines. In late 1917, the German navy devised a desperate plan to resupply von Lettow-Vorbeck's army via airship. The plan called for a lone airship, L 59, to be piloted by Captain Ludwig Bockholt and an all-volunteer crew from Bulgaria directly to the East African colony. There was no consideration of a return journey; L 59 would be disassembled for supplies and her crew would join the fight on the ground. This work details the planning, execution, and eventual failure of this ambitious operation, along with the sad fate of L 59 and her crew. Dr. Richard W. Stewart retired as chief historian of the US Army in October 2015 after 28 years of civilian service. He received his PhD from Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, in 1986. His historical works include War in the Persian Gulf: Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, August 1990–March 1991 , The United States Army in Somalia, 1992–1994 , Operation Urgent Fury: The Invasion of Grenada, October 1983 , and U.S. Army in Afghanistan: Operation Enduring Freedom, October 2001 to March 2002 . He served as the general editor of the two-volume American Military History and was coauthor with Brig. Gen. (Ret.) John S. Brown of American Armed Forces and Battles in the Pacific: World War II for the American Battle Monuments Commission. He also served for 30 years as an Army officer, including deployments to the Persian Gulf for Desert Storm, Somalia in 1993, Bosnia in 1997, and Afghanistan in 2002, retiring as a colonel in June 2002. He lives in the Washington, DC, area. Dominic Etzold holds a degree in history and politics from Drexel University. His first book, Reaping the Whirlwind , was published by Schiffer in 2023. He lives in New Jersey.