Close Quarter Combat

Despite the development of deadly long-range weapons during the twentieth century and a substantial increase in the killing power of all weapons, modern soldiers have continued to fight the enemy at close range. Close Quarter Combat is an anecdotal history that brings to life the fear, intensity, and raw courage of close-quarter combat in chilling detail, including first-hand accounts of waging war among the ruins of Stalingrad, fighting in tunnels during the Vietnam War, springing an ambush, and even fighting with axes on the Eastern Front during World War II. Close Quarter Combat contains accounts from U.S., British, German, and French servicemen and covers both world wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Falklands campaign.

Roger Ford was the author of several books on military history and technology, including The Grim Reaper, a history of the development of the machine gun. He lived in southern France. Tim Ripley has been fascinated by the conflicts of the former Yugoslavia since 1992, when he submitted his first report on the airlift to the besieged city of Sarajevo. He has since reported extensively on the activities of UN and NATO peacekeeping troops in Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia and Kosovo.