Military History Books

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Book SynopsisFrom the bestselling author of The Dressmaker's Gift. She's spent a lifetime searching for him. Is this her last chance to find the truth?Philly Delaney risked everything during the war. From flying planes for the Air Transport Auxiliary corps, aka the Attagirls', to working with the Bletchley Park codebreakers, and life-or-death missions as an SOE agent in France, she and her colleagues pushed their courageand their luckto the limits. Joining biographer Kendra and her family on the stunning, sun-drenched Île de Ré, Philly is ready to reveal her extraordinary life story. But she has another reason for being there: she's never given up searching for her beloved pilot husband, Ben. Shot down during a dangerous mission, this is the only place left where she might discover what happened to him. Listening to Philly's war stories, Kendra's young son Finn decides to use his own unique skills in maths, logic and persistence to track down Ben's final resting placeand the answers that Philly longs for. Can they solve the decades-long mystery of Ben's disappearance together? Because sometimes, lost people are still out there, just waiting to be foundA wonderfully immersive, atmospheric and moving story of wartime resilience, hope, lossand the enduring power of love.

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Book SynopsisHailed by George Bernard Shaw as ''useful [corrective] to the romantic conception of war'', R.C. Sherriff''s Journey''s End is an unflinching vision of life in the trenches towards the end of the First World War, published in Penguin Classics.Set in the First World War, Journey''s End concerns a group of British officers on the front line and opens in a dugout in the trenches in France. Raleigh, a new eighteen-year-old officer fresh out of English public school, joins the besieged company of his friend and cricketing hero Stanhope, and finds him dramatically changed. Laurence Olivier starred as Stanhope in the first performance of Journey''s End in 1928; the play was an instant stage success and remains a remarkable anti-war classic.R.C. Sherriff (1896-1975) joined the army shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, serving as a captain in the East Surrey regiment. After the war, an interest in amateur theatricals led him to try his hand

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its new range of best-loved, essential classics.Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.Focusing on the principle of outsmarting a foe before resorting to battle this treatise by Chinese general, strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu is a masterpiece of military strategy. His timeless advice to know yourself, your enemy, your sparring ground and to prioritise diplomatic solutions has been influential since its creation.Written during the sixth century BCE, to this day The Art of War has guided leaders for thousands of years and remains to this day a touchstone not only for generals, but for CEOs, athletes and anyone facing their own battles of cunning and tact.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewGerman writer Norman Ohler's astonishing account of methamphetamine addiction in the Third Reich changes what we know about the second world war .. Blitzed looks set to reframe the way certain aspects of the Third Reich will be viewed in the future -- Rachel Cooke * Guardian *A huge contribution... remarkable -- Antony Beevor * BBC RADIO 4 *Blitzed is making me rethink everything I've ever seen and read about WWII. It emotionally and technically makes sense of previously unexplainable aspects of that war. It makes me want to revisit other books on it with the hindsight of knowing these newly exposed truths. It was terrific! -- Douglas CouplandThe picture he paints is both a powerful and an extreme one... gripping reading -- Anna Katharina Schaffner * Times Literary Supplement *Remarkable... energetic... retells the history of the war through the prism of the pill... it has an uncanny ability to disturb -- Roger Boyes * The Times *Very good and extremely interesting - a serious piece of scholarship very well-researched -- Ian Kershaw author of Hitler and To Hell and BackThe most brilliant and fascinating book I have read in my entire life -- Dan SnowNorman Ohler has succeeded in a remarkable scoop, by studying in detail the notebooks of Hitler's personal doctor and demonstrating that Hitler was a far worse junkie than we had ever imagined. He has also unearthed the way that the German army did not march on its stomach, but on methamphetamine. The supposedly clean-living Nazis, who accused the Jews of corrupting German youth, were the real pushers. The book, written with delightful irony, is an eye-opener. -- Antony Beevor * Guardian *This book transforms the overall picture * Hans Mommsen *Sensational * Daily Mail *Bursting with interesting facts * Vice *Norman Ohler has written an illuminating account of the gobsmacking extent to which military strategy in the Third Reich relied on drugs. ... What you'll learn: Never trust a coked-up Nazi * ShortList *A fascinating, most extraordinary revelation * BBC World News *The Nazis were all on drugs! So far, so sensationalist but German writer Norman Ohler's absorbing new non-fiction book, Blitzed, makes the convincing argument that the Nazis' use of chemical stimulants... played a crucial role in the successes, and failures, of the Third Reich * Esquire *An audacious, compelling read * Stern *Enthralling * Mitteldeutsche Zeitung *A revelatory work that considers Hitler's career in a new light. 'Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich' is that rare sort of book whose remarkable insight focuses on a subject that's been overlooked, even disregarded by historians * The San Francisco Chronicle *Blitzed is a fascinating read that provides a new facet to our understanding of the Third Reich * Buzzfeed *It's as breezy and darkly humorous as its title. But don't be fooled by the gallows humor of chapter names like 'Sieg High' and 'High Hitler': This is a serious and original work of scholarship that dropped jaws around Europe when it was published there last year * Mashable *A juicier story would be hard to find -- The WeekDelightfully nuts, in a 'Gravity's Rainbow' kind of way. -- The New YorkerTransforming meticulous research into compelling prose, Ohler delves into the little-known history of drug use in Nazi Germany * Entertainment Weekly *[A] fascinating, engrossing, often dark history of drug use in the Third Reich * The Washington Post *This heavily researched nonfiction book by a German journalist reports that the drug was widely taken by soldiers, all the way up the ranks to Hitler himself, who received injections of a drug cocktail that also included an opioid * Newsday *

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Book SynopsisFollowing his experiences as a militiaman in the Spanish Civil War, the author brings to bear all the force of his humanity, passion and clarity, describing with bitter intensity the bright hopes and cynical betrayals of that chaotic episode: the revolutionary euphoria of Barcelona, the courage of ordinary Spanish men and more.

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Book SynopsisIsolatedCommand Post Keating - one of the most vulnerable US army bases in Afghanistan. Located at the bottom of a deep valley, soliders are exposed. The Taliban can see every move and attack is imminent.OutnumberedJust before sunrise on 3 October 2009, hundreds of Taliban insurgents open fire from all angles. Red Platoon and the Black Knight Troop are pinned down. They hear the message over the radio: Enemy in the Wire. The Taliban are inside the camp.But never outgunned. This is the heart-stopping, awe-inspiring true story of the platoon's brutal struggle for survival, told by the man who fought to defend his men, and who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary bravery.Trade ReviewA brilliant, wrenching book about war … it’s more intense and horrifying than you could imagine * London Evening Standard *Utterly gripping from start to finish … unflinchingly honest about the realities of war. * Bookbag *Awe-inspiring … Utterly gripping from start to finish * CGA Bookclub *Brilliant, wrenching * i *I read the first half of Red Platoon in one sitting and that night had such intense combat dreams that I actually thought twice about picking the book up again. In addition to being a superb soldier, Romesha is an utterly irresistible writer. I'm completely overwhelmed by what he has done with this book. The assault on Camp Keating is a vitally important story that needs to be understood by the public, and I cannot imagine an account that does it better justice that Romesha's. -- Sebastian JungerRendered hour-by-hour and sometimes second by second, here is battle narrative the way it's supposed to be written. Gritty, plangent, and unflinching, Red Platoon is sure to become a classic of the genre. Through his courageous and no doubt painful act of remembrance, Romesha has done his comrades, indeed all of us, a great service—leaving an epitaph that will live through the ages. -- Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers and In the Kingdom of IceRed Platoon is riveting. Like many who were in either Iraq, Afghanistan, or both, I often read books about the wars reluctantly, because it is hard to capture the essence of the experience. In my view Red Platoon is a brilliant book. Had Clint Romesha depicted the soldiers at Keating as a collection of steely-eyed warriors, their feat would have been impressive. Because he captures the reality of a collection of personalities as diverse as America itself, their courage is truly inspiring. -- General Stanley McChrystal, U.S. Army, RetiredRed Platoon celebrates the most crucial aspect of military operations: the team. Clinton Romesha and the men of Black Knight Troop faced harrowing conditions and a determined enemy during the Battle for COP Keating, and in the process discovered exactly who they are. This account is an important tribute to everyone who fought, and especially to the eight Americans who on that day made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. -- Mark Owen, author of No Easy DayThe book is riveting in its authentic detail, right down to the determined attempts to recover American bodies before the Taliban could. Romesha ably captures the daily dangers faced by these courageous American soldiers in Afghanistan. * Kirkus *Red Platoon exemplifies the courage and resiliency our country was founded on. Clint is a true brother and a man that I look up to. -- Dakota Meyer, Medal of Honor Recipient and author of Into the FireA visceral, heart-pounding account of men in close-quarter combat that is simply impossible to put down. Astonishingly intimate and beautifully written. A word of advice: don't start this book if you're planning on doing anything else for the next few hours. -- Scott Anderson, author of Lawrence in ArabiaThe men of Red Platoon and their actions at COP Keating deserve to be known. Clint Romesha's story takes hold from page one and makes you feel every inch of the battle, but it is the bond between soldiers that will stick with you. Red Platoon is on my list of the best books about the Afghan war. -- Kevin Maurer, bestselling co-author of No Easy Day

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Book Synopsis16 MILLION COPIES SOLD'A book to read, to cherish, to debate, and one that will ultimately keep the memories of the victims alive' John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped PyjamasA prominent Viennese psychiatrist before the war, Viktor Frankl was uniquely able to observe the way that both he and others in Auschwitz coped (or didn't) with the experience. He noticed that it was the men who comforted others and who gave away their last piece of bread who survived the longest - and who offered proof that everything can be taken away from us except the ability to choose our attitude in any given set of circumstances. The sort of person the concentration camp prisoner became was the result of an inner decision and not of camp influences alone. Frankl came to believe man's deepest desire is to search for meaning and purpose. This outstanding work offers us all a way to transcend suffering and find significance in the art of living.Trade ReviewRemarkable...It changed my life and became a part of all that I live and all that I teach.An enduring work of survival literature. * New York Times *A book to read, to cherish, to debate, and one that will ultimately keep the memories of the victims alive -- John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped PyjamasI have loved this book for so many years, and I think every human being should read it. -- Simon SinekViktor Frankl...one of the moral heroes of the 20th century. His insights into human freedom, dignity and the search for meaning are deeply humanizing, and have the power to transform lives. His works are essential reading for those who seek to understand the human condition.

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Book Synopsis''Brilliant and disturbing'' Stephen Spender, New York Review of BooksThe classic work on ''the banality of evil'', and a journalistic masterpieceHannah Arendt''s stunning and unnverving report on the trial of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann first appeared as a series of articles in the New Yorker in 1963. This edition includes material that came to light after the trial, as well as Arendt''s postscript directly addressing the controversy that arose over her account. A major journalistic triumph by an intellectual of singular influence, this classic portrayal of the banality of evil is as shocking as it is informative - an unflinching look at one of the most unsettling issues of the twentieth century.''Deals with the greatest problem of our time ... the problem of the human being within a modern totalitarian system'' Bruno BettelheimTrade ReviewA touchstone in the 20th century's thinking about morality and politics * The New York Times *Quite astonishing . . . her indictment of Eichmann reached beyond the man to the historical world in which true thinking was vanishing -- Judith ButlerDeals with the greatest problem of our time . . . the problem of the human being within a modern totalitarian system * The New Republic *

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Book SynopsisThe former head of Lockheed''s SKUNK WORKS reveals the amazing story of the secret aircraft that changed the course of history - from the U-2 to the Stealth Fighter. A must-read for anyone interested in aviation, advanced technologies, Cold War history, and thrilling true stories.SKUNK WORKS is the true story, told for the first time, of America''s most secret and successful aerospace operation. As recounted by Ben Rich, the operation''s brilliant boss for nearly two decades, the story of Lockheed''s legendary Skunk Works is a high-stakes drama of Cold War confrontations and Gulf War air combat, of extraordinary feats of engineering and human achievement against fantastic odds.SKUNK WORKS is dramatic and immediate. Direct from the cockpits of these astonishing aircraft - U-2 spy-plane, SR-71 Blackbird and F-117 Stealth Fighter. It is a tribute to genius in the unrelenting contest for mastery of the skies.Trade ReviewDynamite - the true story of one of America's crown jewels! * Tom Clancy *

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Book SynopsisThe forgotten story of a group of British mavericks who took on impossible missions with a daring and fearless approach.

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Book SynopsisFor two and a half thousand years The Art of War has been the core text of military strategy and planning, providing leaders with enduring insights into tactics, psychology, discipline and the nature of power. Favoured by countless great generals and military tacticians throughout history, over the last century the book has found a new lease of life, inspiring business leaders, politicians and sporting figures, and offering a profound understanding of such diverse topics as managing others and outwitting competitors.Trade ReviewAbsorb this book, and you can throw out all those contemporary books about management leadership. * Newsweek *

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Book SynopsisIn August 1941 Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt met secretly on HMS Prince of Wales, moored just off the coast of Newfoundland. H. V. Morton was invited to accompany the Prime Minister and his entourage and this is H. V. Morton's account of the trip, now re-published to commemorate the seventy-fifth anniversary of the event.

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Book SynopsisUnforgettable' IndependentFresh and gripping' TelegraphTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLEROn April 30, 1980, six heavily armed gunmen burst into the Iranian embassy on Princes Gate, overlooking Hyde Park in London. There they took 26 hostages, including embassy staff, visitors, and three British citizens. A tense six-day siege ensued as millions gathered around screens across the country to witness the longest news flash in British television history, in which police negotiators and psychiatrists sought a bloodless end to the standoff, while the SAS hitherto an organisation shrouded in secrecy laid plans for a daring rescue mission: Operation Nimrod. Drawing on unpublished source material, exclusive interviews with the SAS, and testimony from witnesses including hostages, negotiators, intelligence officers and the on-site psychiatrist, bestselling historian Ben Macintyre takes readers on a gripping journey from the years and weeks of build-up on both sides, to the minute-by-minut

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Book SynopsisA prominent Viennese psychiatrist before the war, Viktor Frankl was uniquely able to observe the way that both he and others in Auschwitz coped (or didn't) with the experience. He noticed that it was the men who comforted others and who gave away their last piece of bread who survived the longest - and who offered proof that everything can be taken away from us except the ability to choose our attitude in any given set of circumstances. The sort of person the concentration camp prisoner became was the result of an inner decision and not of camp influences alone. Only those who allowed their inner hold on their moral and spiritual selves to subside eventually fell victim to the camp's degenerating influence - while those who made a victory of those experiences turned them into an inner triumph. Frankl came to believe man's deepest desire is to search for meaning and purpose. This outstanding work offers us all a way to transcend suffering and find significance in the art of living.Trade ReviewAn enduring work of survival literature * New York Times *If you read but one book this year, Dr Frankl's book should be that one. * Los Angeles Times *His works are essential reading for those who seek to understand the human condition. * Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks *A poignant testimony...a hymn to the phoenix rising in each of us who choose life before flight. * Brian Keenan, author of An Evil Cradling *One of the most remarkable books I have ever read. It changed my life * Susan Jeffers, author of Feel the Fear And Do It Anyway and Embracing Uncertainty *

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Book SynopsisA Sunday Times and FT Book of the Year When a rising power threatens to displace a ruling one, the most likely outcome is war. In this razor-sharp analysis, Harvard scholar Graham Allison examines the phenomenon known as Thucydides’s Trap, which is currently playing out between the world’s two biggest superpowers: the US and China. Through uncanny historical parallels, Destined for War shows how close we are to the unthinkable. Yet, stressing that war is not inevitable, Allison also reveals how clashing powers have kept the peace in the past — and what painful steps international leaders can and must take to avoid disaster.Trade Review‘[Destined for War] sounds a useful, even important warning call.’ -- Max Hastings * The Sunday Times *‘I hope people like Jeff Bezos read this timely book and resolve to build the political forces we need.’ -- Dominic Cummings * The Spectator *‘Graham Allison is one of the keenest observers of international affairs around. He consistently brings his deep understanding of history’s currents to today’s most difficult challenges and makes our toughest foreign policy dilemmas accessible to experts and everyday citizens alike. That’s why I regularly sought his counsel both as a senator and as vice president. In Destined for War, Allison lays out one of the defining challenges of our time—managing the critical relationship between China and the United States.’ -- Joe Biden * former Vice President of the United States *‘Thucydides’s Trap identifies a cardinal challenge to world order: the impact of a rising power on a ruling power. I read the book with great interest. I can only hope that the US-China relationship becomes the fifth case to resolve itself peacefully, rather than the 13th to result in war.’ -- Henry Kissinger * former United States Secretary of State *‘Can the US avoid confrontation with China? That is the geopolitical question of our age. In most cases, Thucydides was right: when a new power arises in the world, it results in a clash with the dominant power. This important and fascinating book extracts lessons for how we can avoid such a confrontation.’ -- Walter Isaacson * author of Steve Jobs and The Innovators *‘You can bet that China’s leaders will read Allison’s warnings about Thucydides’s Trap. I only wish I could be as sure about America’s leaders. But every informed citizen should buy a copy.’ -- Niall Ferguson‘One of the most insightful and thought-provoking books I have ever read on the most important relationship in the world: the US and China. If Graham Allison is right—and I think he is—China and the US must heed the lessons in this superb study in order to build a strategic relationship that avoids a war which neither side would win.’ -- General (Ret.) David Petraeus * Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, former Director of the CIA, and former Commander of US Central Command *‘A provocative thesis on one of today's most pressing foreign policy issues and a page turner of the first order, Destined For War is a must read. Professor Allison writes with the propulsive narrative drive appropriate for such an immediate and danger-fraught topic. I can only hope that all senior policy experts read this timely book to prevent our country from falling into the trap Professor Allison so ably warns us against.’ -- Christopher Reich * bestselling author of Invasion of Privacy *‘Do China and America want war? No. Might they be compelled into conflict by severe structural stress? Yes. Thankfully, Allison charts an essential course to avoid a catastrophic collision. Destined for War will be studied and debated for decades.’ -- Kevin Rudd * former Prime Minister of Australia *‘An important new book.’ * Financial Times *‘Graham Allison has written a gripping book that decision-makers and citizens alike must read, digest, and act upon.’ -- Samantha Power‘For policymakers, scholars, and citizens on both sides of the Pacific Ocean, Destined for War is essential reading.’ -- Ash Carter‘Graham Allison has written the most important foreign policy book of our time.’ -- Sandy Winnefeld‘Graham Allison is the Paul Revere of the nuclear age. In his brilliant book, Allison provides us with a heart stopping look into a future that may end as abruptly as the past began.’ -- William Cohen‘Essential, even indispensable reading for every diplomat—and financier or businessman — that contemplates China and its relations with the world.’ -- Kurt Campbell‘Destined for War is a must-read for anyone concerned about US-China relations. A gifted combination of scholarship with truly accessible writing.’ -- Amitai Etzioni‘Reading Destined for War and drawing from its lessons could help to save the lives of millions of people.’ -- Klaus Schwab‘If any book can stop a world war, it is this one. This gripping book is a must read for policy makers in both nations as well as the general public.’ -- Sam Nunn‘Graham Allison has been a source of inspiration for me as a student and diplomat. As with Essence of Decision, Destined for War again provides us with his penetrating insights into global politics in the 21st century and beyond.’ -- Ban Ki-Moon * former Secretary General of the United Nations *‘Surely another classic in the making, Destined for War is a brilliant example of ‘thinking in time,’ which — as the author shows — is against us.’ -- Brendan Simms * author of Europe: The Struggle for Supremacy *‘Thought-provoking and very readable.’ * The Sunday Times *‘As a single volume on the shape of the gathering rivalry and co-operation between the United States and China, this book is to be highly recommended. It is clearly written with a popular audience in mind. As such it can join the ranks of a number of such books that explain a wide range of complex concepts and historical episodes in a way that the layperson can readily engage with.’ * NZ International Review *‘[A]rgue[s] persuasively that adjusting to this global power shift will require great skill on both sides if conflagration is to be avoided ... helpfully illustrated with maps and charts...with wide-ranging, erudite case studies that span human history ... this fine book show[s] that China intends to evict the United States from Asia in order to restore its dominance over what it considers its historic spheres of influence. Unfortunately, Washington is poorly prepared to deal with a China that strategises in terms of the symbolic undercurrents and sensitivities illuminated so dramatically by Allison.’ -- Judith Shapiro * The New York Times Book Review *‘[A] brief but far-reaching book in which potted history is incisively deployed ... One of the many strengths of Destined for War is the restoration of the late Samuel Huntington’s 'Clash of Civilisations' theory, disparaged in the mid-1990s but subliminally gaining force by the day. Mr. Allison approvingly paraphrases Huntington’s notion that 'the Western myth of universal values' is 'not just naive but inimical to other civilisations, particularly the Confucian one with China at its centre.’ -- Robert D. Kaplan * The Wall Street Journal *‘Hugely influential.’ -- Niall Ferguson * TLS *

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Book Synopsis_______________ THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER _______________ 'A powerful love story spanning generations… Full of ambition and humanity' - Sunday Times 'One of the strongest and most affecting works in Allende's long career' - New York Times Book Review _______________ On September 3, 1939, the day of the Spanish exiles’ splendid arrival in Chile, the Second World War broke out in Europe. Victor Dalmau is a young doctor when he is caught up in the Spanish Civil War, a tragedy that leaves his life – and the fate of his country – forever changed. Together with his sister-in-law, the pianist Roser, he is forced out of his beloved Barcelona and into exile. When opportunity to seek refuge arises, they board a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda to Chile, the promised ‘long petal of sea and wine and snow’. There, they find themselves enmeshed in a rich web of characters who come together in love and tragedy over the course of four generations, destined to witness the battle between freedom and repression as it plays out across the world. A masterful work of historical fiction that soars from the Spanish Civil War to the rise and fall of Pinochet, A Long Petal of the Sea is Isabel Allende at the height of her powers. _______________ 'A masterful work of historical fiction about hope, exile and belonging' - Independent Online 'A defiantly warm and funny novel, by somebody who has earned the right to argue that love and optimism can survive whatever history might throw at us' - Daily Telegraph 'A grand storyteller who writes with surpassing compassion and insight. Her place as an icon of world literature was secured long ago' - Khaled Hosseini 'A novel not just for those of us who have been Allende fans for decades, but also for those who are brand new to her work: what a joy it must be to come upon Allende for the first time' - Colum McCann 'Allende's style is impressively Olympian and the payoff is remarkable' - Guardian ‘Epic in scope, yet intimate in execution’ - iTrade ReviewAllende has everything it takes: the ear, the eye, the mind, the heart, the all-encompassing humanity * New York Times *Isabel Allende is a grand storyteller who writes with surpassing compassion and insight. Her place as an icon of world literature was secured long ago. She will be celebrated, by readers and writers alike, for generations to come -- Khaled HosseiniA historical saga that sweeps from the Spanish Civil War to the rise and fall of General Pinochet -- Highlights for 2020 * Daily Telegraph *Although this is fiction, Allende’s epic is deeply rooted in fact, and often reads like a biography – of her homeland not least . . . [The characters] are brought alive by Allende’s generous imagination and brisk, vivid prose * Daily Mail *A decades-spanning tale of war, exile and belonging . . . Grounding the novel is the love story between Victor and Roser, all the more touching for being unconventional . . . The book is all-encompassing, both in its sweep through history and the sheer number of lives crammed into it . . . The writing is unadorned but affecting, shot through with sad details * Sunday Telegraph *Her latest novel, A Long Petal of the Sea, is built on a recurring theme in Allende’s work: the displacement of people . . . It is difficult not to see this novel as a reminder of the endless recurrence of history, or half a million Franco refugees fleeing Spain with many interned in harsh camps in France – of people fleeing from countries in which refuge is now sought * Irish Times *Allende marries the fictional and the historical in lush, sprawling epics. A Long Petal of the Sea takes its place in the unparalleled canon she has created, exploring the sacrifices we make for the sake of those we love, and the love we sacrifice for the sake of our families -- Jodi PicoultAllende's stories are delicate, their images akin to poetry -- Barbara KingsolverIf Allende's life depended on her narrative gifts, she'd not only survive, but reign * Los Angeles Times *In this stunning historical novel, Allende traces one couple’s escape from the Spanish Civil War to Chile . . . A powerful story about love and belonging – and how displacement doesn’t have to mean defeat * People *Allende transcends the ordinary * Tatler *A gripping novel for our times, this confirms – again – that Allende is a consummate storyteller . . . Historical fact is exquisitely interwoven with personal stories as families are displaced by war, torn apart and reunited. A stunning portrayal of love, courage and hope -- Book of the Month * Woman & Home *Both an intimate look at the relationship between one man and one woman and an epic story of love, war, family and the search for home, this gorgeous novel, like all the best novels, transports the reader to another time and place, and also sheds light on the way we live now. Isabel Allende is a legend and this might be her finest book yet -- J. Courtney Sullivan, author of 'Saints for All Occasions'Allende has everything it takes: the ear, the eye, the mind, the heart, the all-encompassing humanity * New York Times *Like many of Allende’s books, it features strong women, displaced people and a powerful love story spanning generations . . . Allende identifies closely with the experience of upheaval that her characters endure . . . The theme of belonging runs deeper than just a sense of nationality. It is also a sense of belonging to a family, a spouse, a group of friends * Sunday Times *This is a novel not just for those of us who have been Allende fans for decades, but also for those who are brand new to her work: what a joy it must be to come upon Allende for the first time. She knows that all stories are love stories, and the greatest love stories are told by time -- Colum McCann

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Book SynopsisAn exhilarating hour-by-hour portrayal of an iconic battle, drawing on the eye witness accounts of those who fought it

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Book SynopsisRory Stewart served in the UK Cabinet as Secretary of State for International Development, and before that as Prisons Minister, Minister for Africa, Minister for Development, Environment Minister and Chair of the Defence Committee. He ran against Boris Johnson for the leadership of the Conservative Party in 2019. Earlier in his career he was briefly in the British Army, before serving as a diplomat in Indonesia, the Balkans and Iraq, establishing and running a charity in Afghanistan, and holding a chair at Harvard University. His other books include Occupational Hazards, The Marches and Politics on the Edge, which was an instant Sunday Times bestseller.Stewart is now the president of the non-profit organization GiveDirectly, a visiting fellow at Yale's Jackson School and the co-host, with Alastair Campbell, of the UK's leading podcast The Rest is Politics. He tweets at @RoryStewartUK.

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Book Synopsis** THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER **''Extraordinary'' DOMINIC SANDBROOK, SUNDAY TIMES An epic thriller . . . droll, moving, with a cinematic eye and not a boring line in it'' OBSERVER Fascinating . . . gripping'' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH ''Excellent . . . a fresh, unexpected take on the liberation of Paris'' JULIAN JACKSON, author of France on TrialFrom the Sunday Times-bestselling Patrick Bishop comes a heart-stopping countdown narrative recreating the liberation of Paris in 1944, one of the great and most dramatic hinge moments of WW2.When the Germans marched in and the lamps went out in the City of Light the millions who loved Paris mourned. Liberation, four years later, triggered an explosion of joy and relief. It was the party of the century and everybody who was anybody was there. General Charles de Gaulle seized the moment to create an instant legend that would take its place alongside the great moments in French history. After years of oppression and humiliation Parisians had risen to reclaim their city and drive out the forces of darkness or so the story went.This fresh new account of the liberation, packed with revelation, tells the story of those heady days of suspense, danger, exhilaration and vengeance through the eyes of a range of participants, reflecting all sides of the conflict: Americans, French and Germans; resisters and collaborators. Among them are famous names like Ernest Hemingway, J.D. Salinger and Pablo Picasso, but also some fascinating unknowns including a medic turned Resistance gunwoman, an androgynous Hungarian sculptor and a French bluestocking who quietly set about saving the nation's art treasures from the Nazi looters.Paris '44 looks behind the mythology to tell the real story of the liberation and expose the conflicts and contradictions of France under the occupation the shame as well as the glory. This gripping war-time narrative will enthral anyone who has a place for Paris in their hearts.

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Book SynopsisAs gripping as any spy thriller, Hastings's achievement is especially impressive, for he has produced the best single volume yet written on the subject' Sunday TimesAuthoritative, exciting and notably well written' Daily TelegraphA serious work of rigourous and comprehensive history royally entertaining and readable' Mail on SundayIn The Secret War, Max Hastings presents a worldwide cast of characters and extraordinary sagas of intelligence and Resistance to create a new perspective on the greatest conflict in history. The book links tales of high courage ashore, at sea and in the air to the work of the brilliant boffins' battling the enemy's technology. Here are not only the unheralded codebreaking geniuses of Bletchley Park, but also their German counterparts who achieved their own triumphs and the fabulous espionage networks created, and so often spurned, by the Soviet Union. With its stories of high policy and human drama, the book has been acclaimed as the best history of the secTrade Review‘As gripping as any spy thriller. Hastings understands, better than any previous historian, that this is as much a story about human nature as it is about the mechanics of code-breaking or spycraft … he has the novelist’s eye for the telling detail … this book works because Hastings is simply a very fine writer who is not afraid of making judgements … Hastings’s achievement is especially impressive, for he has produced the best single volume yet written on the subject’ Lawrence Rees, Sunday Times ‘A total thriller with a full cast of killers, swashbucklers and beautiful adventuresses. The best history of war intelligence yet’ Simon Sebag Montefiore ‘This is his war and he writes with an easy assurance, scatter-gunning opinions … Hastings is on form. He has set out to provide thought and discussion and, with his familiar robustness, shotgun at side, he has succeeded’ The Times ‘Authoritative, exciting and notably well written’ Daily Telegraph ‘A serious work of rigorous and comprehensive history … royally entertaining and readable’ Mail on Sunday ‘Vintage Hastings: a vivid cast of characters, social observation and opinions forcefully expressed … Given the national fixation with spies and special forces, Hastings’s book is a very necessary corrective’ Evening Standard ‘Lively and entertaining … a rich gallery of rogues, eccentrics and brainstorming professors which … Hastings can manipulate with wonderful deftness’ Observer ‘A compendious, crisply argued and witty assessment’ Financial Times ‘[Hastings] writes with infectious relish … a magnificent parade of crooks, alcoholics and fantasists … [he] has drawn fascinating fresh material … A book that pulses along, yet is filled with acute insight into human ingenuity, frailty, and the ironies of evil’ Spectator ‘Magisterial … an author at the top of his game’ Country Life ‘Hastings deploys a formidable arsenal to tell his human stories, plus a refreshing degree of scepticism’ Daily Telegraph

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLERTHE BOOK BEHIND THE HIT BBC SERIES SAS: ROGUE HEROES, STARRING CONNOR SWINDELLS, JACK O''CONNELL, ALFIE ALLEN AND DOMINIC WESTFrom the secret SAS archives and bestselling author Ben Macintyre: The first ever authorized history of the SAS.''A master at setting the pulse racing'' Daily Mail________________In the summer of 1941, at the height of the war in the Western Desert, a bored and eccentric young officer, David Stirling, has a vision for a new kind of war: attacking the enemy where they least expect it - from behind their own lines.Despite the intense opposition of many in British High Command, Winston Churchill personally gives Stirling permission to recruit the toughest, brightest and most ruthless soldiers he can find. And so begins the most celebrated and mysterious military organisation in the world: the SAS.With unprecedented access to the SAS secret files, unseen footage and exclusive interviews with its founder members, SAS: Rogue Heroes tells the remarkable story behind an extraordinary fighting force, and the immense cost of making it a reality.________________''Thorough and highly entertaining. It would be nigh on impossible to praise it too highly'' Daily Express''Impeccably researched, superbly told - by far the best book on the SAS in World War II'' Antony Beevor''Told with deceptive brilliance . . . one the finest books of its kind'' Evening StandardSunday Times bestseller, April 2017Trade ReviewThis book has many strengths but perhaps its greatest is how thought-provoking it is -- Laurence Rees * Sunday Times *Macintyre provides a riveting history of a revolutionary fighting force . . . A ripping good read * Washington Post 10 Best Books of 2016 *The sharp style and sly wit reveal some pretty acute insights into the politics of the nation's favourite undercover boys * Evening Standard Books of the Year *So good and so much more than the boys own adventure you might think it will read like. Ben is a brilliant writer * Dermot O'Leary *

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Book SynopsisThe bestselling author of STALINGRAD and BERLIN: THE DOWNFALL on the Spanish Civil War, drawing on masses of newly discovered material from the Spanish, Russian and German archives.The civil war that tore Spain apart between 1936 and 1939 and attracted liberals and socialists from across the world to support the cause against Franco was one of the most hard-fought and bitterest conflicts of the 20th century: a war of atrocities and political genocide and a military testing ground before WWII for the Russians, Italians and Germans, whose Condor Legion so notoriously destroyed Guernica.Antony Beevor''s account narrates the origins of the Civil War and its violent and dramatic course from the coup d''etat in July 1936 through the savage fighting of the next three years which ended in catastrophic defeat for the Republicans in 1939. And he succeeds especially well in unravelling the complex political and regional forces that played such an important part in the orTrade ReviewFascination lies in the human drama, superbly captured by Beevor ... a vivid chronicle of a dreadful time and place -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *In many ways it's his most impressive book to date because he coolly makes sense of such a complicated story: the narrative sweep is consummate, the seamless use of so many sources masterful, and the eye for details makes it a superb read -- Simon Sebag Montefiore * Mail on Sunday *An admirably clear-sighted account ... a great achievement -- Miranda France * Daily Telegraph *A moving masterpiece of the indictment of war -- Felipe Fernández-Armesto * Times Literary Supplement *A gripping, revelatory account * Sunday Telegraph *This is an enthralling book. The narrative is masterly, wonderfully clear as a guide through the labyrinth. It is even-tempered and full of good sense ... It is admirable * Literary Review *It is an admirably clear-sighted account. What Beevor does so well is to place the war in the context of Spanish history and world politics ... Beevor's understanding of warfare and tactics is second to none ... This is a great achievement * Daily Telegraph *A very different book, which displays all Beevor's exceptional narrative skills and literary flair. The story he tells is grimly familiar, but he presents it with a freshness, an eye for detail and a degree of detachment that makes this one of the best accounts to date of the Spanish crisis * Evening Standard *Antony Beevor's revised history of the Civil War, which vividly anatomises a state and a society in the process of disintegration, is a tract for our times ... Above all, he has Beevorised the book, given it the richness of detail and the narrative drive that made Stalingrad such a success * Guardian *For the big picture of the war, all the more powerful for its blending of narrative intensity with emotional restraint, there is no rival to Antony Beevor's masterly The Battle for Spain * Independent *The Battle for Spain looks likely to become the standard account of the conflict for at least the next generation * London Review of Books *exhaustive and admirably clear account. * THE SUNDAY TIMES *the definitive book on the subject. * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *

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Book SynopsisA magisterial work of gripping history, City of Fortune tells the story of the Venetian ascent from lagoon dwellers to the greatest power in the Mediterranean - an epic five hundred year voyage that encompassed crusade and trade, plague, sea battles and colonial adventure. In Venice, the path to empire unfolded in a series of extraordinary contests - the sacking of Constantinople in 1204, the fight to the finish with Genoa and a desperate defence against the Turks. Under the lion banner of St Mark, she created an empire of ports and naval bases which funnelled the goods of the world through its wharfs. In the process the city became the richest place on earth - a brilliant mosaic fashioned from what it bought, traded, borrowed and stole. Based on first hand accounts of trade and warfare, seafaring and piracy and the places where Venetians sailed and died, City of Fortune is narrative history at its finest. Beginning on Ascension Day in the

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Book SynopsisJames Holland (Author) James Holland is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning historian, writer, and broadcaster. The author of a number of best-selling histories including most recently Brothers In Arms and Normandy '44, he is also the author of ten works of fiction and a dozen Ladybird Experts.He is the co-founder of the annual Chalke Valley History Festival which is now in its twelfth year, and he has presented - and written - many television programmes and series for the BBC, Channel 4, National Geographic and the History and Discovery channels.With Al Murray, he has a successful Second World War podcast, We Have Ways of Making You Talk, which also has its own festival, and is a research fellow at St Andrew's University and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He can be found on Twitter as @James1940 and on Instagram as @jamesholland1940.Al Murray (Author) Al Murray's alter ego, The Pub Landlord, is

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Book SynopsisWilliam L. Shirer ranks as one of the greatest of all American foreign correspondents. He lived and worked in Paris, Belin, Vienna, and Rome. But it was above all as correspondent in Germany for the Chicago Tribune and later for the Columbia Broadcasting System in the late 1930s that his reputation was established. He subsequently wrote The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which is hailed as a classic, and after World War Two he was awarded the Legion d'Honneur. In the post-war years he wrote in a variety of fields, and in his seventies he learned Russian, publishing a biography of Tolstoy at the age of 89. He died in 1994. His Berlin broadcasts were published posthumously by Hutchinson in 1999.Trade ReviewThe standard work by which all others on the subject are still measured . . . Erudite, comprehensive and detailed, always lively and readable, it is the model of what a popular narrative history should be. * Guardian *One of the most important works of history of our time. * New York Times *In this political season, William L. Shirer’s mammoth history of Hitler’s Germany seems a useful guide to how a skilled demagogue can seize and destroy a great nation. * Chicago Tribune *A splendid work of scholarship, objective in method, sound in judgment, inescapable in its conclusions. * New York Times Book Review *A work which everyone should read. -- Hugh Trevor-Roper

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Book SynopsisImagine that you are deep behind enemy lines. Your plane was shot down or perhaps you have just escaped from a prisoner of war camp. The enemy is hunting you, seeking to throw you behind barbed wire for the duration of the war. What will you do? Do you have a plan, and the skills, to make it to friendly territory?During World War II, the Germans and Japanese held over 306,000 British and 105,000 U.S. service members as prisoners. The number of successful evaders and escapers, both U.S. and British, exceeded 35,000. Many of these were aircrew, who received intense training because of the high risk that they would have to evade or escape. This book relates how they fared in enemy hands or managed to remain free.This book provides a complete overview of U.S. and British escape and evasion during World War II. It tells the story of the escape and evasion organisations, the Resistance-operated lines, and the dangers faced by the escapers and the evaders in a logical and compelling narrative. Heroism, betrayal, sacrifice, and cowardice are all elements of this fascinating part of the rich tapestry of World War II.Trade ReviewSimkin has produced a fine, workman-like examination of all aspects of enlivened by colorful evasion or rescue stories gleaned from veterans’ reminiscences. * Journal of America's Military Past *This very readable account covers a lot of different subjects within it's 200 pages. … [T]his is an excellent book for someone starting out on the subject. * History Book Chat 30/11/2022 *Table of ContentsChapter 1 - Introduction Chapter 2 – Allied Escape Organizations Chapter 3 – Essentials and Escape Devices Chapter 4 – POW Camp Organization Chapter 5 – German POW Camps Chapter 6 – Japanese POW Camps Chapter 7 – The Comet Line Chapter 8 – The Rome Escape Line Chapter 9 – The Shelburne Line Chapter 10 – The Indragiri River Line Chapter 11 – China Escape Lines Chapter 12 – Colditz to England – Small Group Assisted Chapter 13 – Corregidor to the U.S.A. – Single Unassisted Chapter 14 – Singapore to Australia – Mass Escapes/Evasions Assisted Chapter 15 – Corregidor to Australia – Mass Escapes/Evasions Unassisted Chapter 16 – Liberation! Chapter 17 – Conclusion

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Book Synopsis''Fascinating . . . Shot through with fresh insights . . . No previous biography has attempted anything so comprehensive.'' ObserverNelson is a thrilling new appraisal of Horatio Nelson, the greatest practitioner of naval command the world has ever seen. It explores the professional, personal, intellectual and practical origins of one man''s genius, to understand how the greatest warrior that Britain has ever produced transformed the art of conflict, and enabled his country to survive the challenge of total war and international isolation. In Nelson, Andrew Lambert - described by David Cannadine as ''the outstanding British naval historian of his generation'' - is able to offer new insights into the individual quality which led Byron rightly to celebrate Nelson''s genius as ''Britannia''s God of War''. He demonstrates how Admiral Nelson elevated the business of naval warfare to the level of the sublime. Nelson''s unique gift was to take that which other commanders found complex, and reduce it to simplicity. Where his predecessors and opponents saw a particular battle as an end in itself, Nelson was always a step ahead - even in the midst of terrifying, close-quarters action, with officers and men struck down all around him. ''Excellent . . . Worthy of the stirring events [it celebrates].'' IndependentTrade Review"'It addresses Nelson's career with energy and good sense.' Max Hastings, Sunday Telegraph 'Good on the influence of sea power on history, and also examines in some detail the two controversial episodes of Nelson's life: his treatment of his wife, Fanny, after leaving her for Emma Hamilton, and his alleged betrayal of the armistice given to the defeated Jacobin rebels at Naples, followed by the execution of the Neapolitan officer Francesco Caracciolo.' Evening Standard 'No previous biography has attempted anything so comprehensive... fascinating' Observer"

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Book SynopsisOn April 21, 1971, hundreds of Vietnam veterans fell asleep on the National Mall, wondering whether they would be arrested by daybreak. Veterans had fought the courts for the right to sleep in public while demonstrating against the war. When the Supreme Court denied their petition, they decided to break the law and turned sleep into a form of direct action. During and after the Second World War, military psychiatrists used sleep therapies to treat an epidemic of "combat fatigue." Inducing deep and twilight sleep in clinical settings, they studied the effects of war violence on the mind and developed the techniques of brainwashing that would weaponize both memory and sleep. In the Vietnam War era, radical veterans reclaimed the authority to interpret their own traumatic symptoms-nightmares, flashbacks, insomnia-and pioneered new methods of protest. In Fighting Sleep, Franny Nudelman recounts the struggle over sleep in the postwar world, revealing that sleep was instrumental to the development of military science, professional psychiatry, and antiwar activism. Traversing the fields of military and mainstream psychiatry, popular and institutional film, documentary sound technology, brain warfare, and postwar social movements, she demonstrates that sleep-far from being passive, empty, or null-is a site of contention and a source of political agency.Trade ReviewPraise for John Brown's Body: Slavery, Violence, and the Culture of War:"John Brown's Body explains the enormous role of Brown's martyrdom in the visual and literary rhetoric of the Civil War" -- Adam Gopnik * The New Yorker *Praise for John Brown's Body: Slavery, Violence, and the Culture of War:John Brown's Body critiques the long-held idea, from Richard Slotkin forward, that violence must be the price of profound social change -- Jane E. Schultz * The Journal of American History *Praise for John Brown's Body: Slavery, Violence, and the Culture of War:John Brown's Body is a cultural history of great originality and depth. By interweaving histories and literatures that have often been kept separate, it sheds new light on the meaning of the devastation of the Civil War and, more generally, on violence as a form of cultural expression. -- Karen Flood * The North Carolina Historical Review *Sleep seems to mark a realm wholly separate from public affairs, but Sleeping Soldiers reveals its methodical colonization by the US national security state and its surprising centrality to Cold War American politics and culture. Moving deftly between film and public protest, military psychiatry and veteran experience, documentation and reality, Franny Nudelman charts a fascinating pathway from the CIA mind-control experiments and the "brainwashing" scare of the Korean War era to the troubled sleep of the traumatized veteran, the endless wakefulness of the POW, and the emergence of a veteran's movement focused on the right to sleep in public. -- Timothy Melley, author of The Covert Sphere: Secrecy, Fiction, and the National Security State (Cornell 2012), Professor of English and Director of the Miami University Humanities Center.In this lucid and moving cultural history of the US from the end of WW2 through the Vietnam War, Franny Nudelman explores the problematic status of sleep for soldiers damaged by the trauma of warfare. Writing against the instrumental logic of sleep as the recuperation necessary for a return to service and combat, she poses the passivity and vulnerability of sleep as an interval of refusal, of healing, or of oblivion in relation to the imperatives of a militaristic society. A revelatory book. -- Jonathan Crary, Author of 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of SleepIf you've never thought of sleep as direct action, Franny Nudelman's marvelous tale of the struggles over soldiers' sleep will awaken you to the mundane tactics of peaceable assembly in the face of the nightmares of militarism. A riveting re-imagination of antiwar activism for our post-traumatic times. -- Michael Denning, author of Noise Uprising and The Cultural Front[Insurgent Empire] sets out to celebrate the political agency of colonised peoples, its importance in bringing an end to empire and the impact it had on metropolitan liberal and radical thinking. -- Matthew Reisz * Times Higher Education *Haunting and lovingly researched. -- Benjamin Reiss * Los Angeles Review of Books *Fighting Sleep shows that interpreting trauma by ourselves is vital to resisting the violence committed in our names. In a world of war, inequality, repression, and environmental degradation, we must explore our discomfort and question our role in this violence. -- Joey Mitchell * Mobilization *

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Book SynopsisBorn into a Jewish ghetto in Hungary, as a child, Elie Wiesel was sent to the Nazi concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. This is his account of that atrocity: the ever-increasing horrors he endured, the loss of his family and his struggle to survive in a world that stripped him of humanity, dignity and faith. Describing in simple terms the tragic murder of a people from a survivor's perspective, Night is among the most personal, intimate and poignant of all accounts of the Holocaust. A compelling consideration of the darkest side of human nature and the enduring power of hope, it remains one of the most important works of the twentieth century.Trade ReviewA slim volume of terrifying power * The New York Times *Through his eyes, we witness the depths of both human cruelty and human grace—and we're left grappling with what remains of Elie, a teenage boy caught between the two. I gain courage from his courage * Oprah Winfrey *Through his eyes, we witness the depths of both human cruelty and human grace—and we're left grappling with what remains of Elie, a teenage boy caught between the two. I gain courage from his courage * Oprah Winfrey *

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Book SynopsisThe Falklands War, which may prove to be the last ‘colonial’ war that Britain ever fights, took place in 1982. Fought 8,000 miles from home soil, it cost the lives of 255 British military personnel, with many more wounded, some seriously. The war also witnessed many acts of outstanding courage by the UK Armed Forces after a strong Task Force was sent to regain the islands from the Argentine invaders. Soldiers, sailors and airmen risked, and in some cases gave, their lives for the freedom of 1,820 islanders. Lord Ashcroft, who has been fascinated by bravery since he was a young boy, has amassed several medal collections over the past four decades, including the world’s largest collection of Victoria Crosses, Britain and the Commonwealth’s most prestigious gallantry award. Falklands War Heroes tells the stories behind his collection of valour and service medals awarded for the Falklands War. The collection, almost certainly the largest of its kind in the world, spans all the major events of the war. This book, which contains nearly forty individual write-ups, has been written to mark the fortieth anniversary of the war. It is Lord Ashcroft’s attempt to champion the outstanding bravery of our Armed Forces during an undeclared war that was fought and won over ten weeks in the most challenging conditions.

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Book Synopsis'A compelling, beautifully written story of resilience, friendship and survival.' Heather Morris, author of The Tattooist of AuschwitzThe thrilling story of how nine young women, captured by the Nazis for being part of the Resistance, launched a breathtakingly bold escape and found their way home.As the Second World War raged across Europe, and the Nazi regime tightened its reign of horror and oppression, nine women, some still in their teens, joined the French and Dutch Resistance. Caught out in heroic acts against the brutal occupiers, they were each tortured and sent east into Greater Germany to a concentration camp, where they formed a powerful friendship. In 1945, as the war turned against Hitler, they were forced on a Death March, facing starvation and almost certain death. Determined to survive, they made a bid for freedom, and so began one of the most breathtaking tales of escape and resilience of the Second World War. The author is the great-niece of one of the nine, and she interweaves their gripping flight across war-torn Europe with her own detective work, uncovering the heart-stopping escape and survival of these heroes who fought fearlessly against Nazi Germany and lived to tell the tale.---------'A truly extraordinary tale, beautifully written, one that chills and excites, [A] work of rare passion, power and principle' Philippe Sands, author of East-West Street and The Ratline'Utterly gripping' Anna Sebba author of Les Parisiennes'The Nine is poignant, powerful, and shattering, distilling the horror of the Holocaust through the lens of nine unforgettable women...' Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code and The Alice NetworkTrade ReviewA compelling, beautifully written story of resilience, friendship and survival. The story of Women's resistance during World War II needs to be told and The Nine accomplishes this in spades. -- Heather Morris * Author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz *The Nine is a triumph of the imagination... Strauss read memoirs and toured Europe in search of relatives to give the women literary immortality... It is an ingeniously constructed book... -- Christina Hardyment * The Times *This haunting account provides yet more evidence not only of the power of female friendship but that the often unrecorded courage and resilience of ordinary women must be honoured and celebrated. It's a most inspiring read, occasionally the horrific ordeal seems unbearable but then there's a moment of laughter. Utterly gripping. -- Anna Sebba * author of Les Parisiennes *The Nine is poignant, powerful, and shattering, distilling the horror of the Holocaust through the lens of nine unforgettable women. Banding together in the hellscape of Ravensbruck, the nine resistance fighters turned prisoners make a desperate bid for escape in the chaos of the war's end, embarking across battle-ravaged Germany toward home. Gwen Strauss melds a poet's pen and a decade of research into a tale of friendship, courage, and indomitable will. -- Kate Quinn * New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code and The Alice Network *I love this book. It delivers beauty, grace, horror, and suspense-an important work that also happens to be a hell of a read! -- Anthony Swofford * author of Jarhead *At this moment of worldwide chaos and despair, this is a book that reminds us about what is important, and about finding strength and purpose during the worst of times. Highly recommended. -- Goldie Goldbloom * author of Paperbark Shoe and On Division *It's high time we got our Band of Sisters, and there could be no better author to tell their story than the riveting and rigorous Strauss. Equal parts exhilarating, devastating, and inspiring. -- Lauren Sandler * author of This is All I Got *Strauss, niece of one of the nine heroines and third-generation 'Witness of the Witnesses', answers questions and challenges with great finesse. In a writing of rare historical accuracy and deep empathy, a woman of today tells the stories of yesterday. -- Agnès Triebel * Secretary General of the International Buchenwald-Dora Committee *With Gwen Strauss' book and the scope of her research, that whole unknown period came to me as a gift from heaven... The precision of the speech, the delicacy of the style, the joys and misfortunes brought tears that I was happy to shed. -- Marc Spijker * son of Guigui, one of the nine *'A paean to female bravery and live-saving friendship.' * The i *

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Book SynopsisYOU THINK YOU KNOW ABOUT WWII?Did you ever actually listen to somebody who was there?THE 3 BOOK OMNIBUS EDITION, in one 822-page binding, The Things Our Fathers Saw--The Untold Stories of the World War II Generation From Hometown, USA: VOLUMES 1-3 ...TOLD IN THEIR OWN WORDS...~From the award-winning author of the 'The Things Our Fathers Saw' World War II eyewitness history series~ 800 PAGES, including:*Volume I: Voices of the Pacific Theater-The telephone rings on the hospital floor, and they tell you it is your mother, the phone call you have been dreading. You’ve lost part of your face to a Japanese sniper on Okinawa, and after many surgeries, the doctor has finally told you that at 19, you will never see again. The pain and shock is one thing. But now you have to tell her, from 5000 miles away.*Volume II: War in the Air--From the Great Depression to Combat-HOW DO YOU THINK YOU FEEL when you wake up in a hospital and find out you killed your own mother?JUST WHAT DO YOU DO in that moment when your plane’s been hit, and you are about to crash far from home?*Volume III: War in the Air--Combat, Captivity, and Reunion-WHAT DO YOU FILL YOUR POCKETS WITH when you’re rousted awake in the middle of a freezing German night to be death-marched across Germany?WHEN YOUR BUDDY STAGGERS AND FALLS by the side of the road, and no longer even knows who you are, do you keep moving to keep yourself alive?By the end of 2020, fewer than 400,000 of our WW II veterans will still be with us, out of the over 16 million who put on a uniform. But why is it that today, nobody seems to know these stories?Maybe our veterans did not volunteer to tell us; maybe we were too busy with our own lives to ask.'For all of us to be free, a few of us must be brave, and that is the history of America'. Read how a generation of young Americans saved the world.Because dying for freedom isn't the worst that could happen. Being forgotten is.— “A must-read in every high school in America. It is a very poignant look back at our greatest generation; maybe it will inspire the next one.”Reviewer, Vol. I

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