When it was launched in 1918 the Hood, flagship of the Royal Navy, was the largest, fastest warship afloat and a symbol of British power, earning the nickname “The Mighty Hood.” Her mere appearance on the horizon was enough to intimidate would-be aggressors.

But for all the Hood’s might, she had one fatal flaw: armor had been sacrificed for speed. In her first major engagement she confronted the almost legendary German warship Bismarck in a battle for supremacy of the Atlantic. A salvo from the enemy penetrated to the Hood’s ammunition magazine, destroying and sinking the British ship in an awesome fireball, killing all but three of her crew of 1421 men and violently ending Britain’s mastery of the seas. But it inspired Winston Churchill’s vow to sink the Bismarck, and in time that vow was fulfilled.

In The Mighty Hood Ernle Bradford, naval man and acclaimed author, takes us through the birth and death of one of the greatest ships of all time.

For a full selection of Bradford’s thrilling military histories and biographies visit his author page.

Constantinople, jewel of the East, whose Roman emperor embraced Christianity and transformed a fanatic cult into the most powerful religion the world had ever known. The city became itself a center of art, culture and commerce and the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Yet, when the forces of Islam swept the Holy Land and captured Jerusalem, the avenging Christian Crusaders set their eyes on Constantinople, attacked and sacked it. The war pitted Christian against Christian, severing Rome’s Eastern capital from its Western one. The Fourth Crusade spelled the decline and ultimate doom of the Holy Roman Empire. In The Great Betrayal, Ernle Bradford, author of the bestselling The Great Siege, brings to life this powerful tale of envy, greed and betrayal.