Visual Friendlies, Tally Target: Surges continues the story of the role of forward air controllers (JTACs) and Close Air Support (CAS), picking up in 2006 and continuing through 2013. This volume covers the evolution of Joint Fires through the colloquial "second phase" of the War on Terror—the "surges" of Iraq in 2007 and Afghanistan in 2010–2011. The narrative is supported by the individual accounts of US Air Force, Army, Marine close air support specialists, as well as UK, Canadian, Danish and German coalition forward air controllers. Vol. II recounts the evolution of air power during the rising counterinsurgencies, as well as the psychology and mental makeup of these exclusive tribes. Notable accounts include the recovery mission of EXTORTION17, the first withdrawal from Iraq, previously unreported missions against insurgent strongholds, and multiple instances where the situational awareness and decision-making of forward air controllers prevented civilian casualties and fratricide.The story carries with it a continuation of the strategic lessons learned from America’s longest war: where tactical successes and innovation failed to achieve a strategic outcome amidst ambiguous grand strategy, flawed policy and a failure to understand the new battlefields of the 21st century, as recounted by the men whose air power tribes went into the breach again and again. Volume II concludes as the "War on Terror" nominally ended in 2013, as the final phase of the post-9/11 wars transitioned to the "Train, Advise, and Assist" missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A new addition to the University of Pittsburgh Press Culture Politics & the Built Environment series

A new addition to the University of Pittsburgh Press Science and Culture in the Nineteenth Century series.In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries—a period that marked the emergence of a global modernity—educated landowners, or “gentlemen,” dominated the development of British natural history, utilizing networks of trade and empire to inventory nature and understand events across the world. Specimens, ranging from a Welsh bittern to the plants of Botany Bay, were collected, recorded, and classified, while books were produced in London and copies distributed and used across Britain, Continental Europe, the Pacific, Asia, and the Americas. Natural history connected a diverse range of individuals, from European landowners to Polynesian priests, incorporating, distributing, synthesizing, and appropriating information collected on a global scale.In Reading the World, Edwin D. Rose positions books, natural history specimens, and people in a close cycle of literary production and consumption. His book reveals new aspects of scientific practice and the specific roles of individuals employed to collect, synthesize, and distribute knowledge—re-evaluating Joseph Banks’s and Daniel Solander’s investigations during James Cook’s Endeavour voyage to the Pacific. Uncovering the range of skills involved in knowledge production, Rose expands our understanding of natural history as a cyclical process, from the initial collection and identification of specimens to the formal publication of descriptions to the eventual printing of sources.

In the 5th millennium BCE, the first farming societies in the Western Alps developed unique burial practices characterized by Chamblandes-type graves. These box-shaped graves, constructed from stone slabs or wooden planks, have intrigued archaeologists since the 19th century, particularly around Lake Geneva and the Upper Rhône Valley. This study delves into the origins, spread, and distinctive characteristics of these graves, especially their transalpine significance with an extensive focus on previously under-researched areas like the Italian Aosta Valley or the German-speaking part of Switzerland. By significantly increasing the number of available radiocarbon dates, as well as comprehensively analyzing the grave goods and the treatment of human remains in the context of funerary practices, the study provides new insights into the chronology and regional variations of Chamblandes-type graves. This research reveals the contemporaneous emergence of the use of these graves in several Alpine valleys and the southern shore of Lake Geneva around 4800 BCE, as well as providing evidence for the process of their subsequent spread and sharp decline in use after 4000 BCE.The findings reveal shared practices among these early farming communities, yet also indicate distinct funerary customs between inner Alpine valleys and the Swiss Plateau. Highlighting that local prehistoric societies in the Western Alpine region reacted similarly to the death of an individual within the community, as expressed by grave architecture and the treatment of human remains. Demonstrating additionally, that the Alps should not be understood as barriers, but as a conduit for social exchange and interaction across valleys and mountain passes more than 6000 years ago. This nuanced understanding is essential for future research, setting the stage for studies on the social structure, mobility, and diet of these Neolithic populations through paleogenetic and isotopic analyses.

"Houghton systematically unpacks Beijing's strategy in the Gulf…. Persistent rivalries and conflicts across the region will ensure that this work remains timely and relevant for years to come." —Robert Mogielnicki, Arab Gulf States InstituteChina's foreign and security policy in the Gulf region has been characterized by the cultivation of strong positive relationships with all of the Gulf states, irrespective of their domestic politics and the ubiquitous rivalries between neighbors. Has this "hedging strategy" proven fruitful? Or has it had negative consequences? Addressing this issue, Benjamin Houghton explores the contours of China's hedging strategy in the Gulf from the time of the 1979 Iranian revolution through early 2024.

The modern discipline of archaeology developed in tandem with the expansion of European imperialism in the 19th and 20th centuries. Cyprus, ruled by Britain between 1878 and 1960, is a fascinating example of how archaeology was practiced and developed in a specific colonial context. This volume explores the mechanisms, the institutions and the characters who contributed to the development of Cypriot archaeology, often within a fraught political environment. The 23 papers in this volume address aspects such as the role of local agents within a colonial environment; changing attitudes towards and interpretations of cultural heritage; the export of excavated materials and their onward journeys; the development of legal frameworks to prevent looting, and their practical application; co-operation and competition between different nation-states at the peak and decline of empires; the conflicts caused by economic priorities; and the impact of institutions and individuals who attempted to support or control rights over the heritage of the island. Through the lens of British-period Cyprus they trace the evolution of institutions and practices that remain important for archaeology in Cyprus to this day.This volume will be of interest to archaeologists, cultural heritage practitioners, museums, and anyone with an interest in the history of Cyprus.

"Impressively melds together a vast array of material to show the direction in which Israel is moving and how it is by turns similar to and distinct from other countries. This is a book that can profitably be understood and discussed on many levels."—Paul Scham, University of Maryland"An important and timely look at Israel's democratic backsliding under the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu. ... Oren's comparative perspective on populist and antidemocratic trends and practices is especially welcome." —Gregory Mahler, Earlham CollegeDiscussions of democratic backsliding typically include examples from Hungary, Poland, Turkey, and even the United States, but rarely a mention of Israel. Neta Oren asks: Should scholars include Israel in this list? Should Benjamin Netanyahu be considered a populist leader? Are there lessons about populism and democratic decline to be learned from the Israeli case? Answering yes to each of these questions, Oren analyzes the related phenomena of populism and the erosion of Israel’s democracy during Netanyahu’s long tenure as prime minister. Her book contributes to an enhanced understanding of not only contemporary Israel, but also democratic backsliding and populism overall.

The main goal of this volume is to look at social groups involved in economic activity other than members of the palace-based institutions and “elites” in Late Bronze Age Mycenaean Greek societies. The palaces and elites are the usual subject of studies of ancient economies, often from a top-down approach, but here we consider a fuller range of the members of a society, their organization, their institutions, and their contributions to the economies of those societies from bottom-up approaches.The traditional model of a highly centralized, redistributive based economy controlled by a palace and its officials is no longer viable. Non-palatial components, institutions, and individuals and how those might be organized are increasingly recognized as major components in economic activity in the Mycenaean world. In this volume we examine the various scales and of actors and institutions in Mycenaean economic activities outside palatial control, including the individual, the household, larger groups such as House societies, and markets. The possibility of Firms in the institutional economic sense is also addressed.In addition to theoretical and methodological chapters, we present several case studies involving craft production, especially of ceramics. The results of these case studies show how economic organization in the Mycenaean world varies greatly in scale, independence of palatial control, and adaption and resilience to change.The papers in this volume demonstrate that the economy in Mycenaean states was a complex web of institutions, organizations, and actors, and invites closer comparison to the economy in other ancient and archaic states.

The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most important works of art in the world. Even without visiting the tapestry itself in the museum dedicated to it, we are all familiar with at least one illustration drawn from one of the 58 scenes that compose it. Visitors to the tapestry are often surprised by its length, its vivacity and its colours. It inspires passion in everybody who sees it - nobody can remain insensitive to a 950 year old story told in pictures accompanied by a Latin text.

This second volume chronicles aerial warfare in the South Pacific for the two crucial months of March and April 1942 when a deadly struggle for Port Moresby played out. It can be read alone or as part of a trilogy that culminates in the Battle of the Coral Sea in May 1942. The period begins with the stunning 10 March US Navy carrier strike against Lae and Salamaua, which caused the Japanese to pause their advance until their own carriers were available. Instead, they tried to grind the Allied forces at Port Moresby into submission through an unrelenting air assault by their Betty bombers and superlative Zero fighters. After a long wait, Allied land-based fighters finally arrived in the form of Royal Australian Air Force No. 75 Squadron Kittyhawks. These were backed up by a growing collection of United States Army Air Force bombers, including A-24 Banshees, B-17 Flying Fortresses, B-25 Mitchells and B-26 Marauders (the latter two types making their worldwide combat debut over the skies of New Guinea). Together, this motley force took the fight to the Japanese, resulting in a complex aerial campaign that saw units from both sides reach exhaustion. Never before has such a detailed chronicle of this air war been published, and for the first time the authors match Allied accounts with Japanese records. The result is both thrilling and surprising, with the resulting dispositions of the air forces of both sides setting the scene for the Battle of the Coral Sea in May.

The Pacific Profiles series presents the most accurate WWII aircraft profiles to date of Japanese aircraft in the “South Seas” theatre. Volume One illustrates, by unit, Japanese Army Air Force fighter aircraft operating in New Guinea and the Solomons from December 1942 to April 1944. In this theatre numerous different aircraft types and their variants were assigned to eleven fighter regiments which formed the 4th Air Army. Unit insignia, camouflage and command markings varied from unit to unit, giving a wide variety of colour and markings. The profiles, based on photos, Japanese documents, Allied intelligence reports and post-war wreck investigations, are accompanied by brief histories of the relevant units and explanations of their role in the theatre. The author, Michael Claringbould, is world-renown for his expertise in respect to wartime Japanese aviation. These profiles accurately portray Japanese Army Air Force fighters during this fascinating and esoteric component of the Pacific air war.