Books – Robert Lyman

Korea: War Without End
Published May 2025 by Osprey Publishing
Korea: War Without End examines the stand-off between East and West in Korea that ultimately defined the second half of the 20th century. It provides a critical analysis of the lack of preparation by the West for war; the results of the North Korean invasion in June 1950; the...
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Korea: War Without End
Victory to Defeat
Published Sep 2023 by Osprey Publishing
A compelling history of the decline of an army from the triumph of victory in 1918 to defeat in 1940 and why this happened. A salutary warning for modern Britain.
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Victory to Defeat
The Reconquest of Burma
Published Jul 2023 by Osprey Publishing
The Allied reconquest of Burma was not part of Allied Grand Strategy in 1944 and 1945. It happened despite it – in particular, because of the dramatic failure of the Japanese invasion of India (Operation U-Go), which ended ignominiously for the Japanese Empire in August 1944. The reconquest was one...
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The Reconquest of Burma
The English Colonel
Published Apr 2023 by Independently published
From the pen of the man who would become one of Britain's greatest generals of the Second World War.
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The English Colonel
A Close Shave
Published Apr 2023 by Independently published
From the pen of the man who would become one of Britain's greatest generals of the Second World War.
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A Close Shave
The General Wondered Why
Published Apr 2023 by Independently published
From the pen of the man who would become one of Britain's greatest generals of the Second World War.
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The General Wondered Why
Operation Jericho
Published May 2022 by Osprey
In 2022 Osprey are publishing Robert’s new book, ‘Operation Jericho’, which tells the story of the remarkable Mosquito raid on Amiens Prison on 28 February 1944. Early 1944 was a time of massive intelligence activity across northern France in advance of D-Day, and in pursuit of the launching...
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Operation Jericho
A War of Empires
Published Nov 2021 by Osprey
A War of Empires is an exciting new military history of the war between Japan and the British Empire in Burma and India between 1942 and 1945.
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A War of Empires
The Rise of the Third Reich
Published Dec 2018 by Amberley Publishing
The Rise of the Third Reich is a poignant and powerful portrait of the years 1939 to 1941, which witnessed the march towards the greatest manmade catastrophe the world has ever experienced. The narrative follows events from 3 September 1939, when Britain and France declared war on Germany, to Pearl...
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The Rise of the Third Reich
Under a Darkening Sky
Published Dec 2018 by Pegasus
A poignant and powerful portrait of Europe in the years between 1939 and 1941--as the Nazi menace marches toward the greatest man-made catastrophe the world has ever experienced--Under A Darkening Sky focuses on a diverse group of expatriate Americans. Told through the eyes and observations of these...
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Under a Darkening Sky
Among the Headhunters
Published Jun 2016 by Da Capo Press
Flying the notorious "Hump" route between India and China in 1943, a twin-engine plane suffered mechanical failure and crashed in a dense mountain jungle, deep within Japanese-held territory. Among the passengers and crew were celebrated CBS journalist Eric Sevareid, an OSS operative who was also a Soviet double...
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Among the Headhunters
The Real X-Men
Published Sep 2015 by Quercus
The thrilling and true story of the development and operational deployment of human torpedoes - 'Chariots' - and 'X-craft' midget submarines in British naval service during WWII, and of the extraordinary men who crewed these dangerous vessels. The commando frogmen who rode the Chariots and operated as divers from the X...
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The Real X-Men
The Jail Busters
Published Jul 2014 by Quercus
In the new year of 1944 the French Resistance in northern France was on its knees. Relentless attacks on its diverse and disorganised networks by the Gestapo and the Abwehr had put many of its best operatives in prison, or worse. But in the lead up to Operation Overlord, 'D...
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The Jail Busters
Into the Jaws of Death
Published Jul 2013 by Quercus
It is the night of 28 March 1942. Royal Navy and British commandos are poised to assault the German-held port of Saint-Nazaire in what will be one of the most audacious and daring raids of the Second World War. The plan is simple: to drive an old destroyer...
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Into the Jaws of Death
Operation Suicide
Published Feb 2012 by Quercus
At nightfall on December 7 1942, twelve British canoeists arrived by submarine off the coast of France, tasked with infiltrating the dockyards of Bordeaux, and wreaking havoc with the German shipping they found there.
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Operation Suicide
Japan's Last Bid for Victory
Published Sep 2011 by Pen & Sword Military
Robert Lyman’s deep knowledge and understanding of the war in Burma, and the great battles at Kohima and Imphal in 1944, are well known. In this book he uses original documents, published works and personal accounts to weave together an enthralling account of some of the bitterest fighting of...
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Japan's Last Bid for Victory
Bill Slim
Published Jul 2011 by Osprey Publishing
Bill Slim was one of the greatest British generals of World War II. In a career that stretched from 1914 until 1958, Bill Slim's greatest triumphs came in India and Burma in the long war against the Japanese. Thrust into a desperate situation, he orchestrated the longest retreat in...
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Bill Slim
Leading from the Front
Published May 2011 by Corgi
In 2010 Robert helped Lord Dannatt write his autobiography.
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Leading from the Front
Kohima 1944
Published Oct 2010 by Osprey Publishing
In March 1944 the Japanese Army launched Operation U-Go, an attack on Assam in India intended to inspire a rising against British rule. A month earlier the Japanese had launched Operation Ha-Go, which was intended as a feint to draw British attention away from the Imphal area. But...
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Kohima 1944
The Longest Siege
Published May 2009 by Macmillan
Beginning on 10th April 1941, and lasting for 240 days, the siege of Tobruk is a mesmerising tale of human endurance and heroism. It is an epic story of extraordinary resilience as the Libyan port’s 24,000 defenders met increasingly desperate attempts by Rommel’s Panzer divisions to break...
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The Longest Siege
The Generals
Published Jun 2008 by Constable
From General Yamashitas blistering capture of Singapore in early 1942 to the final decisive victory by General Slim at Rangoon four years later, this scintillating account of war in Asia analyses the effectiveness of the Japanese, British and American commanders who lead their forces in defeat and victory during...
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The Generals
First Victory
Published May 2006 by Constable
It is commonly held that Montgomery's 1942 victory at El Alamein was the turning point in Britain's fortunes during the Second World War - that it was 'the end of the beginning' (Churchill). However, Robert Lyman reveals here how in the summer of 1941, beleaguered British forces put together...
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First Victory
Iraq 1941
Published Feb 2006 by Osprey Publishing
The events in Iraq in 1941 had crucial strategic consequences. The country's oil reserves were a highly coveted prize for the Axis powers, and its location provided a corridor in the defence of Palestine and the Suez Canal. Had Iraq fallen to the Axis powers, Britain could have lost...
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Iraq 1941
Stilwell the Patriot
Published Jul 2005 by Greenhill Books
David Rooney – Foreword by Robert Lyman
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Stilwell the Patriot
Slim, Master of War
Published Jun 2005 by Robinson
General W J Slim achieved something no one believed possible. Appointed to lead what was soon to become the famous 'forgotten' 14th Army in 1943, at a time when British units in the Far East were defeated and demoralised, within six months he had dealt the first death blow to...
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Slim, Master of War
The Challenges of High Command
Published Dec 2003 by Palgrave Macmillan
Chapter 7: 'The Art of Manoeuvre at the Operational Level of War' by Robert Lyman
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The Challenges of High Command
Possibilities of 'Humanitarian War'
Published May 1997 by Strategic and Combat Services Institute (SCSI)
Possibilities of 'Humanitarian War' by the International Community in Bosnia-Herzegovina Between 1992 and 1995
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Possibilities of 'Humanitarian War'