Panem et circenses, “bread and circuses”. Juvenal’s expression denouncing the Roman plebs whose only ambitions were the distribution of free wheat and a passion for games gives a rather good idea of Roman society’s rather special character in the days of the first emperors. But you mustn’t be taken in: the picture of the Circus Maximus holding gladiator fights is sheer fiction. Except for chariot races and athletics competitions, the only fights held there involved men in arms equipped with helmets and swords (bestiarii)and hunters with spears (venatores) against ferocious beasts in the context of the venationes. The Forum was the circus during the Republic. This public space – reorganised for the occasion – was used as the showcase for the first gladiator fights well before the amphitheatre in Pompeii was created. Later, the amphitheatre was to become the inescapable symbol of town urbanism, like the Coliseum in Rome. This book offers the reader almost 800 years of history, from the “proto” ethnic gladiators (4th Century B.C.) to the imperial gladiator fights organised under Augustus, from hunting in the circus (mid 3rd Century B.C.) to the various arena shows, from the gladiator emperors to the Christian authors denouncing the amphitheatre’s sacrileges. Based on archaeological documentation (terra sigillata, baked earthen lamps, painted coatings, graffiti, glasswork, lapidary elements, etc.) and on solid literary sources, this study provides the most recent historical research on the subject so as to offer a more original study of this prodigious social phenomenon.

If there’s one conflict that was remarkable from a lot of points of view, it was the American Civil War, better known in France as the War of Secession. In this war the armies of the South opposed those of the North – the Union – of the almost hundred-years old republic of the United States of (North) America; it remains in the annals as the last classic war – in certain aspects the heir to the Napoleonic wars – and the first real modern war of the 20th Century in which “state of the art” technologies were used for the first time on a massive and intensive scale. This bloody conflict was the result of a long chain of political, economic and ideological compromises between two civilisations which barely concealed the differences opposing them. The ferocious appetites of the North against the principles of independence of the Southern States could only lead to an explosion. Four years of relentless, bloody and total war during which Johnny Reb gave no quarter to his brother Billy Yank. Everything has been said and written about this war: the joie de vivre of the South, its elegance, its chivalrous spirit, its attachment to secular traditions including slavery, facing the North’s industrial war machine, its humanist values, its small-minded courage, but also its avidity and its implacable spirit of organisation. From Gone with the Wind to Birth of a Nation, all the clichés have been used. This book gives you as large a panorama as possible of the uniforms worn by the belligerents during this conflict. The most characteristic silhouettes and the principles of basic organisation, as circumstances dictated, are shown in the now celebrated form of Heimdal’s books.

Here is an unpublished work about the Wallonie Legion and its members engaged on the Eastern Front in the uniform of the Heer from 1941 to 1945. Here the reader will dive into the archives and documents still mostly unpublished to this date, including previously unedited stories and also tales of the legionnaires. It offers biographies of most of the officers. One will also find rare and previously unseen archives of newspapers and propaganda for the Wallonie Legion, shedding light on its development and international reputation, so important to the morale of the Legionaries and the families of these men. This work is rich in both written and photographic documentation along with previously undisclosed information about the activities and services LW. It will provide researchers and amateur historians of the Legion many details and clarifications about the"uses and customs," service organisations and actions both inside and outside the LW.

Face au peloton d’exécution qui allait le fusiller le 17 août 1946 à 7 h 05 à Alençon, Bernard Jardin, très pâle, prononçait d’une voix assez faible ses derniers mots : « Vive le national socialisme », puis avant que les balles ne fusent, il ajoutait « Et vive la France quand même ». À notre connaissance, Bernard Jardin demeure le seul auxiliaire de la Sipo-SD en Normandie à proclamer jusqu’au bout son adhésion au national-socialisme. Pourquoi ce jeune homme commis boucher choisit-il délibérément le camp nazi ? L’appât du gain l’amène d’abord à monter des affaires de marché noir. Repéré par Hildebrandt, le chef roué et manipulateur de l’antenne ornaise du Sipo-SD, Bernard Jardin devient d’abord agent de renseignement avant de prendre la responsabilité d’opérations contre la Résistance ornaise ; en quelques mois, lui et son équipe, portent des coups très durs à celle-ci. D’abord enquêteur, Jardin frappe et torture ses victimes avant de devenir un assassin.

In 1984, Editions Heimdal brought out their very first divisional history : the 9.SS-Panzer-Division. Written by the late Herbert Fürbinger, a former Hohenstaufen soldier, this book made its mark and is one of the best references on the subject. Today the two top specialists on the Waffen-SS, Pierre Tiquet and Charles Trang have come together to create its indispensable supplement. Almost 800 photos, mostly unpublished, almost 200 documents, numerous eye-witness accounts as well as biographies of the main officers in the division.

In 1796, the Directoire decided to hit the Austro-Hungarian Empire hard. Two armies had failed in Germany whereas the little Army of Italy, under the command of Bonaparte, thrashed the Austrians in a vigorous, marvellous campaign. In less than twelve months it smashed four Austrian armies, captured a part of the Piedmont, founded two republics, conquered Northern Italy and on 7 October 1797, signed the Treaty of Campio-Formo with Austria. Napoleon Bonaparte had covered himself in glory. After the Battle of Arcola, the legend was born; after the Battle of Rivoli, the Hero of a whole country had arisen… This book reveals various aspects of the final months of the campaign. The initial chapters describe the battles and the manoeuvres, with the tactical import of the victories as well as the strategic value of Bonaparte’s vision. The second part deals with technical aspects and uniforms of the units on both sides. The third looks more closely at the “booty” picked up by the young general, and deals with the cultural, economic and political dimensions of Bonaparte’s first successful campaign. In his account, the author insists on the daily life of the va-nu-pieds (barefoot soldiers) in the Army of Italy and the important role they had in creating the myth. With this first book describing one of the future Emperor of France’s most incredible campaigns, Editions Heimdal paints the first strokes on the canvas of the Napoleonic legend to come.Language : French

In France, there are not many books on runes. Ever since the “Introduction to Runology” by Lucien Musset in 1965, very few works have been published on this subject, which is nonetheless very rich. This new work enables the various opportunities of research on the appearance of the runes in Northern Europe to be analysed and understood. The author deals with all the theories that have been voiced and gives a novel analysis to runic inscriptions. He details the main epigraphic sources in old Fuþark of the German Iron Age and places them in their historical context. This work also offers an interesting analysis of the symbolism of the different types of inscriptions, like “ALU”, “LAUKAZ” or “OTA”. Understanding these recurrent inscriptions throughout Northern Europe enables one to revive the mental universe of these ancient Germans.

From the Capture of Algiers to the disbanding of the REP, through the Carlist Wars in Spain, Camerone, the Great War, Bir-Hakeim or Indochina, this book retraces the history of the most famous corps in military history over the last two centuries.

The Simca 1100 was brought out a little more than fifty years ago. Although it was less famous than the emblematic Aronde or the endearing 1000, it did represent an important step in the big automobile adventure. It opened the way for more compact, family cars, just as at ease in the towns as they were in the country, en route to holiday resorts just as much to the supermarkets; it was the pioneer of the modern compact car. It became France’s most purchased car in 1972 and is still today the last to to have reached this summit not counting the Peugeots or Renaults This book proposes to retrace the story of the Simca 1100 from the drawing board to the end of its career in France, taking a walk in time, illustrated with more than 400 period documents from all Europe and North America, a lot of which are unpublished.

Former captain of the paratroopers of the Luftwaffe, the author went on to earn his degree during the 60’s, and became a historian.This is the first volume three, each detailed history is close to 400 pages each. The first volume is dedicated to the operation against Tito’s troops in Yugoslavia, the second to the engagement in the Baltic States and the third to operations in Hungary, in the Ardennes, and at the bridgehead of the Oder Front. The whole, dedicated to this SS-Fallschirmjager Battalion 500/600, will offer more than a thousand photos.

This book offers a meticulous study of the fighting at Fontenay-le-Pesnel and at Rauray to the west of Caen, between 25 and 29 June 1944. Both authors, Frédéric Deprun and Baptiste Flotté, wanted to give a precise account of this episode of the Battle of Normandy, starting with Operation Martlet, on the flank of Operation Epsom. Extremely detailed research concentrates on the lynchpin at Rauray and its armour confrontations. A precise chronology has been made of the destruction of the Panther tanks in front of Fontenay by the assaults by the Polar Bears and the 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division until they broke through the German defensive line held by the Panzer-Lehr-Division and the 12.SS Panzer- Division “Hitlerjugend”. By the precise localisation of unpublished photographs and an account of the operation from both sides, this three-part study pays particular attention to the relics of the fighting and the testimonies which go with each of the different acts of the battle. Text in French.

La première édition de cet album historique, référence incontestable et pratiquement introuvable, est enfin rééditée, revue, corrigée et augmentée. L’ouvrage offre avec un luxe d’informations, de détails et de photos un panorama exhaustif de l’intervention de la chasse allemande dans le ciel de Normandie et de l’Île de France puis en Provence, après le débarquement allié sur les côtes méditerranéennes.

Thanks to albums belonging to one of the sailors aboard U-30 and then U-110, the author has been able to reconstruct the path taken by Kapitänleutnant Fritz Lemp and his crew, including the sailor Willi Brohm, and the fate of these submarines, with texts and also pictures. We begin the story with the sailor’s enrolment in 1936 at Cuxhaven, then aboard U-30. Then we take a look at a little-known page of history : the engagement of U-Boots in the Spanish Civil War, after 1937, with photos taken at Cadiz, Seville, Ceuta, Tetuan and the Canary Islands. It was then the beginning of the war with a good report on the U-30 under Captain Lemp. Aboard this submarine, Lemp carried off a series of successes (17 kills) which earned him the Ritterkreuz which he received on 14 August 1940, one of the first awarded to the U-Boot arm. His first engagement and success however were marred by a tragic mistake when he sank the liner Athena causing the death of civilians, including 22 Americans. He was then transferred aboard U-110 whose second patrol ended in tragedy. The submarine was attacked on 9 May 1941 in the North Atlantic. The U-boot was damaged and surfaced; most of the crew evacuated it including the sailor Willi Brohm. Captain Lemp remained aboard, probably intending to scuttle U-110, but British sailors from HMS Bulldog had time to get hold of the Enigma machine the submarine used, which had a considerable effect on the outcome of the war. Fritz Lemp disappeared with his submarine in the waters of the Atlantic. As for Willi Brohm, we follow him into captivity to Canada, with very rare and exceptional photos. A fantastic, historic album gathering together more than 200 photos and documents of which 160 photos from our own archives ; various documents are unpublished. Text in French.

This book tells a very beautiful and magnificent adventure, that of a young Frenchman humiliated by the 1940 defeat who fled aboard a Breton crayfish boat to carry on the fight for freedom. The diary of Jacques “Jaco” Andrieux tells very simply, quickly and always with emotion, the discoveries, the apprenticeship and the daily life of a Free Frenchman transplanted to England, in Fighter command. The unceasing combats he fought in the RAF squadrons, the risks, the kills, the loneliness of the hunter, the camaraderie, the fraternity, life, are all written in a simple tone, lively and effective with the impression of being in the heart of the action. Each page breathes its lot of pictures, sounds, smells but also the feelings, doubts, joys where death and life exist alongside each other simply. General Andrieux relates his combats above the Channel, Dieppe, the Normandy Landings, and in the skies of France which was being freed and above Germany in its death throes. The story of this man is part of History itself. This tale full of panache is breathtaking through and through with the breath of life, that of the Magnificent Jaco. Text in French.

A few days before Christmas, on 21 December 1793, Jean- Antoine de Beauvalet, the Lord of Durécu, was found dead in a bedroom at Valognes where he had sought refuge after being locked up in the Fort de la Hougue by the Revolutionaries. Thus passed away the last male scion of the noble line of the Beauvalets, ennobled in 1702 by Louis XIV, and who in 1686 founded a the little domain at Durécu, which did not at the time bear that name. For three generations, the Beauvalets struggled using their wealth to hang on to this so dearly acquired nobility. The Lord of Durécu's grand-daughter, Caroline Avice de Sortosville, inherited the Durécu domain, and during the Terreur, married a young Republican officer, François Clément Boyer de Choisy, who came from a typically old noble family, since it had always been devoted to serving in the army. The Boyer de Choisys fortified the Saint-Marcouf Islands then improved their domain, but they also took an active part in public life, the first as Mayor of Saint-Vaast during the Empire and the Restoration, and the second, his nephew who inherited the domain, as Mayor during the Second Empire. Finally in 1918, Augustin Vallette, an entrepreneur from a very old Saint-Vaast family of merchants and chandlers, acquired this very beautiful property. After three years' research in the National, Civil and Military, Departmental (departments 50, 57, and 76), Municipal and Family archives, Edmond Thin here brings to life a true family saga spread over four centuries, based on the totally unpublished story of the Durécu domain; the story of three families, country gentlemen or simple citizens, not forgetting their spouses – women who were often remarkable and just as involved in the social fabric of their times.

Following his book on the role of the 1st Marine Division in the battle of Iwo Jima, Charles Trang hs written an encyclopedic study of the Marines in the Pacific 1941-1945. Each camplaign is treated in detail individually accompamied by first-hand accounts and photos, many previously unpublished. Corregidor, Wake, Midway, Guadalcanal, Makin, Bougainville,Rabaul, Tarawa, Marshall Islands, Cape Gloucester, Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, bloody, pitiless battles where the Marines forged their rerputation for tenacity, implacability and professionalism rarely equalled during the Second World War. This book looks at all the various units of the USMC, orders of battle, command stuctures and profiles of all the recipients of the Medal of Honor.