{"product_id":"the-last-stand-besieged-and-surrounded","title":"The Last Stand: Besieged and Surrounded – WW2 Military Ebook","description":"\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eFive battles. Five encircled forces. Five desperate struggles to survive when escape was almost impossible.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eIn the second volume of \u003ci\u003eThe Last Stand\u003c\/i\u003e military-history series, Martin Swan examines five remarkable battles in which British and Commonwealth forces found themselves surrounded, isolated and facing enemies determined to destroy them.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eFrom the mountains of nineteenth-century Afghanistan to the jungles and ridges of Burma during the Second World War, \u003ci\u003eBesieged and Surrounded\u003c\/i\u003e explores what happens when an army loses its freedom of movement and must survive with the men, weapons and supplies it still possesses.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eDiscover the stories of:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul type=\"disc\"\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eJellalabad, 1841–1842\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e — an isolated British and Indian garrison fighting for survival as the First Anglo-Afghan War collapsed around it.\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eMafeking, 1899–1900\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e — 217 days of bombardment, shortages, improvisation and endurance during the Second Boer War.\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eTobruk, 1941\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e — Australian, British and other Allied troops holding the vital North African port against Axis forces.\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eThe Admin Box, 1944\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e — British and Indian troops turning Japanese encirclement tactics against their attackers through armour, artillery and aerial resupply.\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;\"\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eKohima, 1944\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e — the brutal struggle in the mountains of India where fighting around a tennis court became one of the defining episodes of the Burma Campaign.\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eRather than treating these battles simply as heroic last stands, Swan examines \u003cb\u003ewhy the defenders survived\u003c\/b\u003e: preparation, leadership, terrain, logistics, firepower, innovation and the vital assistance that came from beyond the perimeter.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eThe book also considers the experiences of civilians and the contributions of Indian, Australian and other Commonwealth forces while distinguishing documented history from the legends that grew around these famous sieges.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;\"\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eSurrounded did not always mean defeated. Sometimes the most important objective was simply to hold for one more day.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; line-height: normal;\"\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003eThe Last Stand: Book Two — Besieged and Surrounded\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;\"\u003e is an accessible military history for readers interested in the British Army, Commonwealth forces, siege warfare and the battles that shaped modern military history.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Swan Military Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58591542149464,"sku":null,"price":1.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1016\/8693\/5896\/files\/THELASTSTANDbook2Image.png?v=1790679113","url":"https:\/\/swanmilitarybooks.myshopify.com\/products\/the-last-stand-besieged-and-surrounded","provider":"Swan Military Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}