Military History Books

Book SynopsisA moving tribute to the sacrifice and bravery of the fliers of RAF Bomber Command. ****************************** The Crew, based on interviews with Ken Cook, the crew's sole surviving member, recounts the wartime exploits of the members of an Avro Lancaster crew between 1942 and the war's end. Gloucestershire-born bomb aimer Ken Cook, hard-bitten Australian pilot Jim Comans, Navigator Don Bowes, Upper Gunner George Widdis, Tail Gunner 'Jock' Bolland, Flight Engineer Ken Randle and Radio Operator Roy Woollford were seven ordinary young men living in extraordinary times, risking their lives in freedom's cause in the dark skies above Hitler's Reich. From their earliest beginnings – in places as far apart as a Cotswold village and the suburbs of Sydney – through the adventure of training in North America and the dread and danger of the forty-five bombing raids they flew with 97 Squadron, David Price describes the crew's wartime experiences with human sympathy allied to a secure technical understanding of one of the RAF's most iconic aircraft. The drama and anxiety of individual missions – to Kassel, Munich and Augsburg as well as Berlin – is evoked with thrilling immediacy; while the military events and strategic decisions that drove the RAF's area bombing campaign against Nazi Germany are interwoven deftly with the narrative of the crew's operational careers. ****************************** Reviews: 'A sensitive account of the bomber's life... Price has given the bomber offensive a human face. This book [...] has a heart and soul' The Times. 'A fascinating and fast-paced account of the exploits of an Avro Lancaster bomber crew from 97 Squadron RAF' The Herald. 'A remarkable insight into the bravery, determination and skill of British Bomber Command crews during WWII' Waterstones.Trade ReviewA sensitive account of the bomber's life... Price has given the bomber offensive a human face. This book [...] has a heart and soul' * The Times *A fascinating and fast-paced account of the exploits of an Avro Lancaster bomber crew from 97 Squadron RAF * Herald *His eyewitness account is frank about the dangers of the role * i newspaper *A remarkable insight into the bravery, determination and skill of British Bomber Command crews during WWII * Waterstones *This book uses [Ken Cook's] story of bravery to shed light on the Second World War bombing campaign * The Times *The story of one Lancaster bomber crew, and of its last surviving member, former bomb-aimer Ken Cook provides the focus for David Price's sobering and poignant book * Mail on Sunday *The drama and anxiety of individual missions is evoked with thrilling immediacy, while the military events and strategic decisions are interwoven deftly with the narrative of the crew's careers * Military History *

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Book SynopsisThis highly illustrated title details the history of the Panzer IV throughout World War II, where it saw service on the front line from Poland in 1939 through to the very last days of the Third Reich in Berlin in 1945.The Panzer IV program was started in 1934, forming, alongside the Panzer IIs and IIIs, the schnellen Truppen, the force that was to become the Panzerwaffe. At first, German planners envisioned the tank in a secondary role, but during the invasions of The Low Countries and France, it took on a more central role.When the Panzerwaffe turned east to attack the Soviet Union, the Panzer IV initially fared poorly against the better-armed T-34. However, upgrades to its gun and armor protection saw it perform far better, not only against Soviet armor but also against British and American tanks in North Africa and Italy. In 1944, it was slowly replaced by the Panzer V Panther, but the dire strategic situation meant that it bore the brunt of the Allied D-DaTrade ReviewThe author’s work is comprehensive and of exceptional quality. * Military Archive Research *Highly recommended. * Miniature Wargames *Table of ContentsChapter 1: Origins Chapter 2: 1936–1938 The Panzertruppe Chapter 3: 1939 – Fall Weiss Chapter 4: 1940 – Fall Gelb Chapter 5: After the Fall of France Chapter 6: 1941 – The Balkans Chapter 7: 1941 – North Africa Chapter 8: 1941 – Barbarossa Chapter 9: 1942 – Langrohr Chapter 10: 1943 Chapter 11: 1944 – Technical Progress Chapter 12: Afterword Index

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Book SynopsisWhat is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)? What role is played by its members and partners? Does the largest military alliance ever to exist serve the cause of peace or the causes of weapons sales and war mongering? Published to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the alliance, this sharp, concise account examines NATO''s origins, structure, and its goals at a time of mounting global tension.NATO has remade itself repeatedly, as its past purposes have disappeared. In the last 35 years it has been part of wars in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya. It has played a major role in Ukraine, and supported warmaking by Israel. NATO is now expanding rapidly, both in geography and in scope, adding partners from Colombia to Mongolia to Australia, and claiming a role in policing, immigration, economics, public budgeting, scientific research, and environmental protection.With pointed investigations of how NATO''s decisions are made, the widely mi

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Book SynopsisOn one day in June, the balance of air power in the Middle East was turned upside down by perhaps the most ruthlessly effective air superiority campaign in history Operation Moked, or Focus. In 1967, the Israeli Air Force was outnumbered more than two to one by the jets of hostile Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq. Operation Focus was Israel's ingenious strike plan to overturn the balance. At 0745hrs on June 6, Israeli jets hit Egypt's airfields simultaneously, first bombing runways and then strafing aircraft. Another 20 follow-up missions were already in the air, initially scheduled to hit every five minutes. This new history of Operation Focus explains how the concept for Focus was devised and meticulously planned, the astonishing rate of serviceability and turnaround speed it required from ground crews, and how the relentless tempo of strikes shattered one air force after another. It is the story of how Israel's vTable of ContentsIntroduction /Chronology /Attacker's Capabilities /Defender's Capabilities /Campaign Objectives /Order of Battle /The Campaign /Analysis /Conclusion /Bibliography /Index

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Book Synopsis'Gripping ... A terrific action narrative' Max Hastings 'Reads like a Tom Clancy thriller, yet every word is true ... This is modern warfare close-up and raw' Andrew Roberts Bestselling and Orwell Prize-winning author Toby Harnden tells the gripping and incredible story of the six-day battle that began the War in Afghanistan and how it set the scene for twenty years of conflict. The West is in shock. Al-Qaeda has struck the US on 9/11 and thousands are dead.Within weeks, UK Special Forces enter the fray in Afghanistan alongside the CIA's Team Alpha and US troops.Victory is swift, but fragile. Hundreds of jihadists surrender and two operatives from Team Alpha enter Qala-i Jangi – the 'Fort of War' – to interrogate them. The prisoners revolt, one CIA man falls, and the other is trapped inside the fort. Seven members of the SBS – elite British Special Forces – volunteer for the rescue force and race into danger and the unknown.The six-day battle that follows proves to be one of the bloodiest of the Afghanistan war as the SBS and their American comrades face an enemy determined to die in the mud citadel.Superbly researched, First Casualty is based on unprecedented access to the CIA, SBS, and US Special Forces. Orwell Prize-winning author Toby Harnden recounts the gripping story of that first battle in Afghanistan and how the haunting foretelling it contained – unreliable allies, ethnic rivalries, suicide attacks, and errant bombs – was ignored, fueling the twenty-year conflict to come.Trade Review'Gripping ... A terrific action narrative' -- Max Hastings'Reads like a Tom Clancy thriller, yet every word is true ... This is modern warfare close-up and raw' -- Andrew Roberts'Meticulously researched and told with page-turning pace and power' * Waterstones, Politics Books of the Year *

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Book SynopsisThis sensational 1941 memoir of life on wartime Europe's frontline by a trailblazing female reporter is an 'unforgettable' (The Times) rediscovered classic, introduced by Christina Lamb.Paris as it fell to the NazisLondon on the first day of the BlitzBerlin the day Germany invaded PolandMadrid in the Spanish Civil WarPrague during the Munich crisisLapland as the Russians attackedMoscow betrayed by the GermansVirginia Cowles has seen it all.As a pioneering female correspondent, she reported from the frontline of 1930s Europe into WWII always in the right place at the right time. Flinging off her heels under shellfire; meeting Hitler ('an inconspicuous little man'); gossiping with Churchill by his goldfish pond; dancing in the bomb-blasted Ritz ... Introduced by Christina Lamb, Cowles' incredible dispatches make you an eyewitness to the twentieth century as you haveTrade Review'A brilliant describer with an uncanny ability to be present in the right country when it falls into the abyss ... One of the most atmospheric war descriptions I've read ... Unforgettable.' - The Times'An amazingly brilliant reporter ... One of the most engrossing [books] the war has produced in all its diverse richness of drama and compassion and penetration and wit.' - New York Times

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Book SynopsisPopular history at its very best, thought-provoking and accessible. Underpinned by serious research, and written with panache, it summons up a vanished world' SUNDAY TELEGRAPHThis is an astonishing new account of Alexander the Great one of the most important figures of the ancient world, whose earlier years have until now been a mystery. Alexander the Great's story often reads like fiction: son to a snake-loving mother and a battle-scarred father; tutored by Aristotle; a youth from the periphery of the Greek world who took part in his first campaign aged sixteen, becoming king of Macedon at twenty and king of Asia by twenty-five; leading his armies into battle like a Homeric figure.Each generation has peered through the frosted glass of history and come to their own conclusion about Alexander, be it enlightened ruler, military genius, megalomaniac, drunkard or despot. Yet the first two decades of his life have until now been a mystery a matter of legend and myth. This extraordinary hTrade Review‘The Young Alexander is popular history at its very best, thought-provoking and accessible. Underpinned by serious research, and written with panache, it summons up a vanished world.’Sunday Telegraph, FIVE STARS ‘As a colourful and learned evocation of the great conqueror’s shaping boyhood it’s a wonderful read’Daily Mail ‘Lively … Alex Rowson has produced an absorbing re-creation of the early years’The Times ‘Securely anchored to archaeological sites – so evocatively described I was tempted to pack my bag and grab my passport on more than one occasion – and suffused with well-researched historical detail. There is no reason why history cannot double as entertainment, in fact there’s an argument to be had that it should. Rowson achieves this in spades’Archaeology Worldwide

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A Project Syndicate Best Reads in 2023""[Brands] gathers a college of 45 such experts. All are wise after the facts of their field, and each attempts the historian’s equivalent of the owl’s neck rotation—a sweep that, taking in past and present, looks to the future . . . the scholarship on strategy has become internationalized, and Mr. Brands broadens his sights beyond the familiar theorists and practitioners—and beyond the battlefield."---Dominic Green, Wall Street Journal

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Book SynopsisFully illustrated, this absorbing study assesses the Commonwealth and Italian infantrymen pitted against one another during the First and Second battles of El Alamein in 1942. By July 1942, the Allied troops fighting in North Africa, the multinational Eighth Army, had withdrawn to the El Alamein line, the last position stopping their German and Italian opponents from reaching the Suez Canal. Featuring full-colour artwork, carefully chosen archive photographs and incisive analysis, this book casts light on the Commonwealth and Italian infantrymen who participated in the seesaw battle for control of the North African coastline as it entered its decisive phase, played out over two bloody engagements during JulyOctober 1942. Although Allied and Axis commanders saw armour as the decisive weapon in the Desert War, the infantry fielded by both sides would be key to the outcomes of the two El Alamein battles. While the majority of the 96,000 Axis troops at the first b

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Book SynopsisThe forgotten story of the major naval operations conducted in the Philippines by the US and Japanese navies after Leyte Gulf up to the US invasion of Luzon in January 1945. The events that took place in the aftermath of the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944 are often overlooked by military historians. An impressive array of naval operations continued in the Philippines up to January 1945, which included (on the Japanese side) the largest convoys to a contested island during the war, the first kamikaze campaign, and the second largest Imperial Japanese Navy surface operation during the last nine months of the conflict. On the American side, US forces were involved in efforts to cut off Leyte from enemy reinforcement, a massive amphibious invasion off Luzon, and large-scale operations by the Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38).Expert naval historian Mark Stille throws new light on this often forgotten phase of the Pacific naval war. Among the actions covered areTable of ContentsORIGINS OF THE CAMPAIGN CHRONOLOGY OPPOSING COMMANDERS United States Navy Imperial Japanese Navy JAPANESE COMMANDERS AND FORCES United States Navy Imperial Japanese Navy Orders of Battle OPPOSING PLANS United States Japanese THE CAMPAIGN TF 38 operations, October–November 25, 1944 The Japanese TA Operation The battles for Ormoc Bay The landing at Ormoc November 1944 TF 38 operations The invasion of Mindoro The San Jose Intrusion Force TF 38 operations, December 10, 1944–January 10, 1945 The invasion of Luzon Halsey’s rampage AFTERMATH AND ANALYSIS Analysis BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

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Book SynopsisMasterly biography of the 'greatest commander of the 20th century'.Field Marshal Slim is less well known than other Second World War generals, but is now widely regarded as the best. To the men under his command he was 'Uncle Bill', probably the most respected and loved military leader since the Duke of Marlborough. Born into an impoverished family in Bristol in 1891 and brought up in the Black Country, he was commissioned as a temporary Second Lieutenant on the outbreak of the First World War. Twice seriously wounded, in Gallipoli and Mesopotamia, he was awarded the Military Cross in 1918. After the war he was unable to remain an officer in the class-ridden British Army without private means and transferred to the Indian Army, where he developed an enduring affection for the Ghurkhas and began writing short stories to supplement his income.Slim's career stalled between the wars, but during this time he developed the leadership techniques that would make him a national hero within a decade and which are still taught today at Sandhurst. Promotion came rapidly with the Second World War, and in March 1942 he was sent to Burma to take command of the British-Indian First Burma Corps, then in full flight from the advancing Japanese. Through the force of his leadership, Slim turned disorderly panic into a controlled military withdrawal across the border into India. Two years later, having raised and retrained the largest army ever assembled by Britain, Slim drove the enemy out of Burma and shattered the myth of Japanese invincibility which had hamstrung the Allied operations in the East for so long. Slim returned to Britain laden with awards and honours. He became a popular Governor-General of Australia in 1953, was raised to the peerage, and died in London in 1970.This important biography will be written with the full cooperation of the Slim family, and Russell Miller has had access to all their papers.Trade ReviewLast year, a poll at the National Army Museum to determine Britain's greatest general ended in a tie between Wellington and Slim. This biography will do much more to tip the scales. It pays magnificent tribute to Slim in a very well-informed assessment of what he did to deserve this accolade. It is a most exciting read, full of vivid, even lurid descriptions of the sufferings inflicted by the terrain and the climate as well as by the bestiality of the Japanese enemy... [a] forcefully written biography -- Peter Lewis * DAILY MAIL *readable, well-constructed and robustly... expressed -- Andro Linklater * THE SPECTATOR *Precision and easy-going style have added appreciably to the historical record of `Uncle Bill` Slim and the extraordinary skill and fortitude of his campaigns. -- Andrew Lycett * LITERARY REVIEW *Russell Miller gives an admirable account. -- Piers Brendon * THE OLDIE *

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Book SynopsisThe Roman centurion, holding the legionaries steady before the barbarian horde and then leading them forward to victory, was the heroic exemplar of the Roman world. This was thanks to the Marian reforms, which saw the centurion, although inferior in military rank and social class, superseding the tribune as the legion''s most important officer. This period of reform in the Roman Army is often overlooked, but the invincible armies that Julius Caesar led into Gaul were the refined products of 50 years of military reforms. Using specially commissioned artwork and detailed battle reports, this new study examines the Roman legionary soldier at this crucial time in the history of the Roman Republic from its domination by Marius and Sulla to the beginning of the rise of Julius Caesar.Table of ContentsIntroduction Chronology Recruitment Training Appearance Equipment Conditions of service Belief and belonging On Campaign The experience of battle Aftermath Glossary Further reading, websites etc Index

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Book SynopsisIn July 1940, Walter Schellenberg of the German Secret Service drew up a list of 2,694 people believed to be living in Britain, who were known enemies of the Reich. In that month, the Wehrmacht was poised across the Channel ready to hit Britain with blitzkrieg, the terrible and hugely successful tactic that had already overwhelmed Poland, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Luxembourg, Belgium and France. The names on Schellenberg's list represent the heart and soul of a nation that made the British what they were but the list also includes a diaspora from Europe - the intellectuals, politicians and writers who had been driven out of their own homelands by the speed of the German conquests. All human life is there - lives that were, to the Nazis, unworthy of life.Historians have found the list a curiosity. Surely, it cannot be real? It was. The Black Book is the first book to evaluate the list, and look at the chilling reality of what Hitler had in store for the nation.

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Book SynopsisIn 1942, Lieutenant-Commander Ian Fleming was personal assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence - the dynamic figure behind James Bond''s fictional chief, ''M''. Here, Fleming had a brilliant idea: why not set up a unit of authorised looters, men who would go in hard with the front-line troops and steal enemy intelligence?Known as ''30 Assault Unit'', they took part in the major campaigns of the Second World War, landing on the Normandy beaches and helping to liberate Paris. 30AU''s final amazing coup was to seize the entire archives of the German Navy - thirty tons of documents. Ian Fleming flew out in person to get the loot back to Britain, where it was combed for evidence to use in the Nuremburg trials. In this gripping and highly enjoyable book, Nicholas Rankin, author of the best-selling Churchill''s Wizards, puts 30 Assault Unit''s fascinating story in a strategic and intelligence context. He also argues that Ian Fleming''s Second Wor

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Book SynopsisPublished in association with the Imperial War Museums, this book will provide the ultimate challenge to even the most knowledgeable military historian.You might think you know a great deal about World War II but have you ever really tested your knowledge? This compelling book, published in association with Imperial War Museums, contains over 1,000 questions (and answers, if you need them) that cover every aspect of the Second World War, from its beginnings, though the widening of the conflict, the leaders and their strategies, armies, battles, weapons, bombing raids – everything to provide a real challenge to even the most committed history lover.With multiple-choice questions, truth or fiction sections to baffle and intrigue, picture quizzes from the Imperial War Museums' archive – one of the largest military photographic archives in the world – and much more, you will find there is still something new to learn about this compelling conflict, and your answers will be ranked accordingly.Trade ReviewHighly recommended, and a superb stocking filler * Britain at War Magazine *

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Book SynopsisWith three Military Crosses, three Croix de guerre, a Légion d'honneur and a papal knighthood for his heroics during the Second World War, Sir Tommy Macpherson is the most decorated living soldier of the British Army. Yet for 65 years the Highlander's story has remained untold. Few know how, aged 21, he persuaded 23,000 SS soldiers of the feared Das Reich tank column to surrender, or how Tommy almost single-handedly stopped Tito's Yugoslavia annexing the whole of north-east Italy. Twice captured, he escaped both times, marching through hundreds of miles of German-held territory to get home. Still a schoolboy when war broke out, Tommy quickly matured into a legendary commando, and his remarkable story features a dizzyingly diverse cast of characters, including Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Montgomery and Charles de Gaulle.Trade ReviewMy book of the year, without question . . . reads like a combination of a Biggles adventure and Dick Barton -- Jeffrey Archer in Books of the Year 2010 * Daily Telegraph *One of Scotland's most courageous sons * Sunday Herald *Recreates the adventure * The Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisThe Death of Yugoslavia is a survey of the pressures and events that contributed to the break-up of former Yugoslavia, considered from a historical rather than a political or sociological point of view.

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Book SynopsisThe bestselling story of Britain's most courageous and most famous flyer, the Second World War hero Sir Douglas Bader.Trade ReviewA remarkable story about a remarkable English WW 2 RAF pilot who refused to be put down or aside after a tragic accident left him without legs. An inspirational and real figure, just a normal man who refused to sit by * ReadsObserver *Brickhill, himself a fighter pilot and a POW, tells Bader's story with authenticity. He writes in an empathetic, almost affectionate manner, portraying his subject's personal qualities, both good and bad, in the best possible light * HistoryNet *In 1941 [Bader] was shot down and captured by the Germans, who treated him with great respect - even allowing the Brits to drop in a new prosthetic leg. He became such a nuisance for the Germans, who were becoming increasingly annoyed by the number of attempted escapes he made * DAILY MAIL *

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Book SynopsisThe American Civil War was one of the longest and bloodiest of modern wars. It is also one of the most mysterious. It has captured the imagination of writers, artists and film-makers for decades but the reality of it confuses and divides historians even today. In this magisterial history of the first modern war, the distinguished military historian John Keegan unpicks the geography, leadership and strategic logic of the war and takes us to the heart of the conflict. His captivating work promises to be the definitive history of the American Civil War.Trade ReviewVivid and compelling * Sunday Times *It is hard to see how Keegan's masterful and thought-provoking book could be beaten * Daily Telegraph *In its range and sweep, this book is difficult to better and promises to become the definitive account of the conflict * Daily Mail *One of our finest military historians, Keegan brings a shrewd and discerning eye to [the] conflict... compelling * Literary Review *The best military historian of our day * New York Times *

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Book SynopsisJózsef Debreczeni (Author) József Debreczeni was a Hungarian-language novelist, poet and journalist who spent most of his life in the former Yugoslavia. He was an editor of the Hungarian daily newspaper Ünnep in Budapest, from which he was dismissed due to anti-Jewish legislation. He was later a contributor to the Hungarian media, including the newspaper Napló, in the Yugoslav region of Vojvodina, as well as leading Belgrade newspapers. He was awarded the Híd Prize, the highest distinction in Hungarian literature in the former Yugoslavia.Paul Olchvary (Translator) Paul Olchváry has translated many books for leading publishers, including György Dragomán's The White King, András Forgách's No Live Files Remain, Ádám Bodor's The Sinistra Zone, Vilmos Kondor's Budapest Noir and Károly Pap's Azarel. He has received translation awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, PEN America, and Hunga

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Book SynopsisAndrew Hodges is Tutor in Mathematics at Wadham College, Oxford University. His classic text of 1983, since translated into several languages, created a new kind of biography, with mathematics, science, computing, war history, philosophy and gay liberation woven into a single personal narrative. He is an active contributor to the mathematics of fundamental physics, as a follower of Roger Penrose. See www.turing.org.uk for further material.Trade ReviewOne of the finest scientific biographies I’ve ever read: authoritative, superbly researched, deeply sympathetic and beautifully told * Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind *Andrew Hodges' book is of exemplary scholarship and sympathy. Intimate, perceptive and insightful, it’s also the most readable biography I’ve picked up in some time * Time Out *A first-rate presentation of the life of a first-rate scientific mind * New York Times Book Review *One of the finest scientific biographies ever written * New Yorker *A first-rate presentation of the life of a first-rate scientific mind…it is hard to imagine a more thoughtful and warm biography than this one -- Douglas Hofstadter * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisFrom the pioneering tactics and terror of the Blitzkrieg assault, through the carnage of Barbarossa, Kursk, the Desert War, and the Normandy Bocage and the Battle of the Bulge, there were perhaps no more unsettling and merciless positions to occupy in World War II than that of a tank commander. This book puts the reader at the very heart of this hell on wheels and presents the original instructions required to perform this most dangerous of wartime battlefield roles. From training manuals and war office memorandums to combat reports and first-hand accounts, The Tank Commander Manual sits you in the turret position of commander of some of the most fearsome land vehicles. These include the Soviet T-34, the German Panther and its nemesis the American Sherman, the terrifying Tiger I as well as tank variants including flamethrowers and tank destroyers such as the Allied M10 and the StuG III. Original documents, diagrams, technical drawings and reports have been collated and compiled from ar

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Book SynopsisA Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the YearA groundbreaking history that considers the attack on Pearl Harbor from the Japanese perspective and is certain to revolutionize how we think of the war in the Pacific.When Japan attacked the United States in 1941, its leaders, in large part, understood they were entering a war they were almost certain to lose. In a groundbreaking history that considers Pearl Harbor from the Japanese perspective, certain to revolutionize how we think of the war in the Pacific, Eri Hotta poses essential questions overlooked for the last seventy years: Why did these men—military men, civilian politicians, diplomats, the emperor—put their country and its citizens in harm's way? Why did they make a decision that was doomed from the start? Introducing us to the doubters, bluffers, and schemers who led their nation into this conflagration, Hotta brilliantly shows us a hidden Japan—eager to avoid war but fraugh

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Book SynopsisNamed Book of the Year by the Sunday Times, TLS, Spectator, Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail and Scotland on Sunday, Ian Kershaw''s The End is a searing account of the final months of Nazi Germany, laying bare the fear and fanaticism that drove a nation to destruction.In almost every major war there comes a point where defeat looms for one side and its rulers cut a deal with the victors, if only in an attempt to save their own skins. In Hitler''s Germany, nothing of this kind happened: in the end the regime had to be stamped out town by town with an almost unprecedented level of brutality.Just what made Germany keep on fighting?Why did its rulers not cut a deal to save their own skins?And why did ordinary people continue to obey the Fuhrer''s suicidal orders, with countless Germans executing their own countrymen for desertion or defeatism?''Nuanced and sophisticated ... undoubtedly a masterpiece'' Trade ReviewA remarkable feat of historical scholarship and intelligent analysis -- Jonathan Sumption * Spectator *Gripping yet scholarly ... the best attempt by far to answer the complex question of why Nazi Germany carried on fighting to total self-destruction. Kershaw, the author of the best biography of Hitler, is the finest sort of academic, for he combines impeccable scholarship with an admirable clarity of thought and prose -- Antony Beevor * Telegraph *Masterly ... Kershaw's gripping and boldly intelligent work of scholarship ... will surely become the standard popularly accessible account of the Nazi system's terrible final phase * Financial Times *Brilliant ... nuanced and sophisticated ... undoubtedly a masterpiece * Mail on Sunday *Well-written, penetrating ... and ground-breaking -- Andrew Roberts * Evening Standard *No one is better qualified to tell this grim story than Kershaw ... A master of both the vast scholarly literature on Nazism and the extraordinary range of its published and unpublished record, Kershaw combines vivid accounts of particular human experiences with wise reflections on big interpretive and moral issues ... No one has written a better account of the human dimensions of Nazi Germany's end * New York Times Book Review *Sober, judicious, clearly written and superbly well researched - a definitive history of the last months of the Third Reich -- Richard Bessel * History Today *Magisterial ... distinguished * Daily Mail, Book of the Week *Kershaw is a sure-footed guide through the Hades of the final dark months of the war in Europe ... his is a thoughtful and thought-provoking account, which admirably combines analysis, historiography and commentary within a very readable narrative * Independent on Sunday *A compelling account of the bloody and deluded last days of the Third Reich ... this is far from being of mere academic interest ... The greatest strength of Kershaw's narrative is that he gives us much more than the view from the top ... Interwoven are insights into German life and death at all levels of society * The Times *[Kershaw] understands as well as any man alive the complex power structure that existed in Nazi Germany ... Gripping ... arguably the most convincing portrait of Germany's Götterdämmerung we have seen so far * Wall Street Journal *Britain's most feted and prolific historian of the Third Reich * Sunday Times *[Kershaw] is among the foremost western scholars of Nazi Germany. Although this book pursues a narrative of events between June 1944 and May 1945, its real business is to explore the psychology of the German people -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *An insightful study of how the Führer held his grip over the German people for so long * Telegraph *Comprehensive ... it generates real power * Observer *

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Book SynopsisA concise, illustrated guide to these Second World War defences scattered across the British landscape.With invasion a very real threat, in 1940 Great Britain began a huge military construction programme designed to stop an invading army in its tracks. Around vulnerable coastlines, and inland, thousands of pillboxes, anti-tank barriers and other obstacles were erected to defend against attacks from sea and sky. Though many of these structures were dismantled in the wake of the Second World War, the coast and even some inland areas still boast a wealth of fascinating remains. In this fully illustrated introduction, fortifications authority Bernard Lowry guides the inquiring reader in identifying these remaining defensive structures and explains their seemingly ''random'' placement across the British landscape.Table of ContentsAn Island Fortress Britain Alone A Pause for Breath 1942: A New Defence Policy Britain Becomes a Fortified Island 1944: Tidying Up and Aftermath Further Reading Places to Visit Index

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Book SynopsisDiaries and letters from service personnel who were held captive throughout the Second World War survive in quite large numbers, but rarely are they so detailed as those of John Blomfield Dixon, whose home was in the Hertfordshire town of Ware. Having joined the Territorial Army in 1938, he soon found himself hurried through officer training and, with the outbreak of the Second World War, being commissioned as a subaltern, attached to the East Riding Yeomanry. Following his death in 2013, his family were bequeathed a series of scrapbooks, folders, maps, photographs and documents, along with a small pile of well-worn booklets, revealing his voracious appetite in describing his training, life and death during the retreat to Dunkirk, his humiliating capture by the enemy at the culmination of the Battle of Cassel and the long arduous journey through a series of Offizierslagers', which would, ultimately, lead him to Oflag VIIB, which was located in the Bavarian town of Eichstätt. Compli

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Book SynopsisAlthough comprised of many distinct tribes and groupings, the Celts shared a distinctive culture that dominated much of Europe for centuries. They enjoyed a formidable reputation as fierce and brave warriors, skilled horsemen and fine metalworkers. In 390 BC an alliance of Celtic tribes defeated a Roman army at the River Allia and went on to sack Rome and thenceforth the Romans lived under their threat. In the early third century BC a Celtic army swept into Macedonia and Greece, won a major victory at Thermopylai and ransacked the sacred sanctuary at Delphi. Such was their warlike prowess that, when not fighting their own wars, they were sought after as mercenaries by many armies, serving as far afield as southern Egypt. When the Romans invaded Gaul (France and Belgium) and the British Isles, Celtic armies resisted them fiercely. Gabriele Esposito studies this fascinating warrior culture, their armies, strategy, tactics and equipment (they invented the horned saddle and chainmail, and British armies were the last in Europe to use chariots on the battlefield). Dozens of colour photographs of reenactors help bring these magnificent warriors back to life.

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Book SynopsisA highly illustrated and detailed study of one of the most important campaigns in the colonization of the Americas, the Spanish conquest of the vast Inca Empire.On November 16, 1532, the Inca emperor Atahualpa was the most powerful man in South America, having emerged victorious from a three-year civil war. Now his authority was absolute over millions of subjects living the length of an empire that stretched 2,500 miles from the towering mountains of the Andes, to the verdant rainforest of the Amazon, to the arid plains of the Pacific Coast. However, a group of strangers, comprising just 169 men and 69 horses led by the Spanish conquistador Francisco Pizarro, soon entered his empire from the north. Despite having 80,000 men at his disposal, Atahualpa was seized and imprisoned. Pizarro burned with the same ruthless ambition as his cousin, Hernán Cortés, who had taken Tenochtitlan, and understood that by seizing the autocrat at the top of the social structure, the stateTable of ContentsORIGINS OF THE CAMPAIGN - Arrival of the conquistadors - The capture of Atahualpa - Advance on Cuzco CHRONOLOGY OPPOSING COMMANDERS - Conquistador - Inca OPPOSING FORCES AND PLANS - Inca - Conquistador THE SIEGE OF CUZCO, 1536–37 - The end of the rebel Inca generals - Conquistador divisions and Manco’s uprising - The siege begins - The Inca assault, May 6, 1536 - The battle for Sacsayhuamán - Conquistador relief efforts - Quizo targets Lima - Ollantaytambo - Breaking the siege of Cuzco AFTERMATH BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

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Book Synopsis ''An important account of one of the defining moments of the modern world'' PETER FRANKOPAN Readers'' praise for Escape from Kabul: ''It''s rare for a book to be so well written that you feel you are there yourself. I felt like I was holding my breath reading it. Truly eye opening and shocking'' ?????''Must read for military historians. Brilliantly written by those who understand modern warfare and politics. Highly recommended.'' ????? ''A compelling page-turner'' ????? The evacuation of Kabul in August 2021 will go down in military history as one of the most unexpected events in modern times. In an eerie replay of the disastrous British retreat from Kabul in 1842, coalition troops withdrew from Afghanistan after twenty years of military campaigning. The subsequent collapse of the Afghan government and its army shocked the world, as a resurgent Taliban gathered its forces and swept across theTrade ReviewAn important account of one of the defining moments of the modern world -- Peter FrankopanAn essential contribution to the historical record, told with lucid flair -- Sophy RobertsA compelling account of one of the most seismic events in recent years. Through an accumulation of eye witness reports, Levison Wood reveals the true horror and scale of the Afghan suffering and the heroic efforts of the British and American troops and veterans during the August 2021 evacuation from Kabul. Vividly told, Escape from Kabul captures the human cost of America's deal with the Taliban -- Larisa BrownEscape from Kabul is savage, adrenalin-fuelled, brutally honest, compelling, and essential reading. Wood and Jones are a dream team writing about a nightmare. Their writing style is perfect: highly-charged and vivid one moment, cold and analytical the next. The authors are soldiers turned writers and have clearly won the trust of their contributors. These are the stories that soldiers tell each other when the press and politicians have packed up and moved on. These are the real stories of the men and women who snatched honour from the jaws of humiliating betrayal and defeat -- Ben TimberlakeEscape From Kabul explains through personal knowledge and eye-witness testimony the bravery, endurance and professionalism of men and women tasked with achieving the near-impossible -- Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent, Sky NewsWood and Jones have done an excellent job of translating that chaos into a powerful narrative, replete with human drama and - to some extent - horror. It is certainly compelling and disturbing reading * Mail on Sunday *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"An important and innovative analysis."---Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs"Its publication presents a rare occasion that forces one to re-think received wisdom about rebel groups."---Siddarth Singh, Open Magazine ​​​​​​​

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Wolfson Prize for History, Ian Kershaw''s Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis is the concluding second volume of one of the greatest biographies of modern times. No figure in twentieth century history more clearly demands a close biographical understanding than Adolf Hitler; and no period is more important than the Second World War. Beginning with Hitler''s startling European successes in the aftermath of the Rhineland occupation, from Czechoslovakia to Poland; addressing crucial questions about the unique nature of Nazi radicalism; exploring the Holocaust and the poisoned European world that allowed Hitler to operate so effectively; and ending nine years later with the suicide in the Berlin bunker, Kershaw allows us as never before to understand Hitler''s motivation and impact. ''Magisterial ... anyone who wishes to understand the third reich must read Kershaw, for no on has done more to lay bare Hitler''s morbid psyche''  Niall Ferguson, Sunday Telegraph ''An achievement of the very highest order ... a marvellous book''  Michael Burleigh, Financial Times ''No previous biographer has examined Hitler''s devilishness in Kershaw''s detail ... his book is so comprehensive, so richly documented and so judicious that it will not soon be superseded''  Daniel Johnson, Daily Telegraph Ian Kershaw''s other books include Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis, Making Friends with Hitler, Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions that Changed the World 1940-4 and The End: Hitler''s Germany, 1944-45. Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis received the Wolfson History Prize and the Bruno Kreisky Prize in Austria for Political Book of the Year, and was joint winner of the inaugural British Academy Book Prize.Trade ReviewWinner of the Wolfson History Prize, the Bruno Kreisky Prize in Austria for Political Book of the Year, and the inaugural British Academy Book Prize. * Prizes and awards *Magisterial ... anyone who wishes to understand the third reich must read Kershaw, for no on has done more to lay bare Hitler's morbid psyche -- Niall Ferguson * Sunday Telegraph *An achievement of the very highest order ... Kershaw communicates a genuine sense of tension as Hitler embarked on ever-riskier stratagems, bringing a fresh eye to the over-familiar diplomatic or military story ... a marvellous book -- Michael Burleigh * Financial Times *Extraordinarily convincing ... I do not know any other Hitler biography that so coolly, factually and devastatingly presents the phenomena of "obedience" and charisma -- Gitta Sereny * The Times *For the present generation, Kershaw's Hitler stands as our clear beacon of truth, illuminating a dark age of terror and mendacity -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *No previous biographer has examined Hitler's devilishness in Kershaw's detail ... his book is so comprehensive, so richly documented and so judicious that it will not soon be superseded -- Daniel Johnson * Daily Telegraph *A riveting narrative ... the text positively crackles with fascinating insights and interesting perceptions ... this is unquestionably an outstanding biography -- Frank McLynn * Herald *Magisterial ... anyone who wishes to understand the third reich must read Kershaw, for no on has done more to lay bare Hitler's morbid psyche -- Niall Ferguson * Sunday Telegraph *An achievement of the very highest order ... Kershaw communicates a genuine sense of tension as Hitler embarked on ever-riskier stratagems, bringing a fresh eye to the over-familiar diplomatic or military story ... a marvellous book -- Michael Burleigh * Financial Times *Extraordinarily convincing ... I do not know any other Hitler biography that so coolly, factually and devastatingly presents the phenomena of "obedience" and charisma -- Gitta Sereny * The Times *For the present generation, Kershaw's Hitler stands as our clear beacon of truth, illuminating a dark age of terror and mendacity -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *No previous biographer has examined Hitler's devilishness in Kershaw's detail ... his book is so comprehensive, so richly documented and so judicious that it will not soon be superseded -- Daniel Johnson * Daily Telegraph *A riveting narrative ... the text positively crackles with fascinating insights and interesting perceptions ... this is unquestionably an outstanding biography -- Frank McLynn * Herald *Table of ContentsCeaseless radicalization; the drive for expansion; marks of a genocidal mentality; miscalculation; going for broke; licensing barbarism; zenith of power; designing a "war of annihilation"; showdown; fulfilling the "prophecy"; last big throw of the dice; beleaguered; hoping for miracles; luck of the devil; no way out; into the abyss; extinction.

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Book SynopsisThe powerful and deeply disturbing book that was at the heart of the David Irving libel case, now dramatized in the film Denial.The denial of the Holocaust has no more credibility than the assertion that the Earth is flat. Yet there are those who insist that the death of six million Jews in Nazi concentration camps is nothing but a hoax perpetrated by a powerful Zionist conspiracy. For years those who made such claims were dismissed as harmless cranks operating on the lunatic fringe. But they have now begun to gain a hearing in respectable arenas.In this famous book, reissued now to coincide with the film based on the legal case it provoked, Denial, Deborah Lipstadt shows how--despite tens of thousands of witnesses and vast amounts of documentary evidence--this irrational idea not only has continued to gain adherents but has become an international movement, with ''independent'' research centres, and official publications thTrade ReviewStrong medicine... An antidote to the moral and intellectual virus that has spread from the crackpot fringe to the very heart of public discourse in the media, the courts and the world's universities. * Los Angeles Times *Important and impassioned... it illuminates with skill and clarity, not only the peculiarly disturbing world of the Holocaust deniers, but also the methods they have used to distort history, the motives that have driven them to do so, and the vulnerabilities of our educational systems, our culture, and ourselves that have made so many in our society ready to listen to them. * New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisThe M113 is the most widely used and versatile armored vehicle in the world. Fielded in 1960 as a simple battlefield taxi, over 80,000 M113s would see service with 50 nations around the world and 55 years later, many thousands are still in use. In addition to its original role of transporting troops across the battlefield, specialized versions perform a multitude of other functions including command and control, fire support, anti-tank and anti-aircraft defense, and casualty evacuation.This new fully illustrated study examines the service record of the M113 from its initial fielding through the end of the Vietnam War. It will also describe the many US, South Vietnamese, and Australian variants of the M113 used in the Vietnam War as well as information on tactics, unit tables of organization and equipment, and a selection of engagements in which the M113 played a decisive role.

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Book Synopsis'Fascinating... A vivid account' - Philippa Gregory, The TimesIn the mid-seventeenth century, England was divided by Civil War, but inside the home domestic life continued as it always had done. Lady Ann Fanshawe's 'receipt book' was a treasured and entirely feminine response to the upheavals of war, which left few doctors to be found. And so Ann's morocco-bound book full of scraps of ink-stained paper contained everything from lifesaving remedies to recipes for hot chocolate.Using Ann's receipt book and the memoirs she wrote for her surviving son, Lucy Moore follows her through this turbulent time as she leaves home, marries, bears - and buries - children and seeks to hold her family together. Lady Fanshawe's Receipt Book brilliantly illuminates the life and times of an English woman's Civil War.Trade ReviewFascinating... A vivid account. -- Philippa Gregory * The Times *Moore's prose is witty. Her book is full of arresting detail and thoughtful comment. -- Lucy Hughes-Hallett * Sunday Times *An enchanting, idiosyncratic Tardis of a book, peppered with good humour * Daily Telegraph *A lively, affecting account of one family's fortunes in a world turned upside down. * Spectator *Charming and original. * Literary Review *With enormous skill, and in matchless prose, Lucy Moore brings back to life one of those Royalist women whose husbands suffered terribly for the King, while they were left at home to get on with the trying business of being wives, mothers, and heads of household in an age beset with turbulence, and fear. * Charles Spencer, author of KILLERS OF THE KING *Ann Fanshawe was an extraordinary woman living in extraordinary times. This wonderful book has at its heart her experiences as daughter, wife and mother during the Civil War, and is as dramatic and touching a story as anything in fiction. Her attempts to hold her family together in such turbulent times are brilliantly chronicled by Lucy Moore, who has written an unfailingly sympathetic account of the human cost of conflict, and the everyday resilience and bravery of those caught up in it. * Janice Hadlow, author of THE STRANGEST FAMILY *An erudite, beautifully written and completely original contribution to the history of the civil war. Lucy Moore is a most worthy biographer of one of the most fascinating women of the 17th century. * Katie Hickman, author of DAUGHTERS OF BRITANNIA *Vividly brings to life an ordinary woman living in extraordinary times. Rich in fascinating detail, it sets Lady Fanshawe's story of love and loss, family and friendships, against one of the most turbulent periods of our history. Highly recommended. * Tracy Borman, author of THE PRIVATE LIVES OF THE TUDORS *

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Book SynopsisA fascinating and detailed exploration of one of the most famous warships of the Ancient world - the trireme - and its tactical employment by the opposing sides in the 5th-century BC Graeco-Persian Wars.You may be familiar with the Athenian trireme but how much do you know about the ram-armed, triple-oared warships that it dueled against at the battles of Artemision, Salamis and the Eurymedon River? How similar or different were these warships to each other? And why did the Persians rely on Phoenician vessels to form much of their navy? Much attention has been devoted to the Greek trireme, made famous by modern reconstruction with only passing notice given to the opposing Persian navy's vessels in illustrated treatments. Join us on the Aegean as, for the first time, we reveal a rarely attempted colour reconstruction of a trireme in Persian service. Compare the form, construction, design, manoeuvrability, and tactical deployment of the opposing triremes, aided by stunning illusTable of ContentsIntroduction Chronology Design and Development Technical Specifications The Combatants Combat Statistics and Analysis Aftermath Glossary and Abbreviations Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisDuring the war, Géraldine Schwarz's grandparents were neither heroes nor villains - they just followed the current. Afterwards they wanted to forget, to bury it all under the wreckage of the Third Reich. But decades later, delving through the basement of their apartment building, Géraldine discovers that her grandfather Karl profited from the forced 'Aryanisation' of Jewish businesses - and so she is compelled to investigate her ancestors' past. On her mother's side, she delves into the role of her French grandfather, a policeman during the Vichy regime. How guilty were they? Combining generations of family stories with the history of Europe's post-war reckoning, Géraldine asks: how did Germans transform their collective guilt into democratic responsibility? And, given rising populism in Europe today, how can we ensure we learn from history?

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Book SynopsisThe concluding volume of this work provides a fresh description of the climatic battle of Waterloo placed in the context of the whole campaign. It discusses several vexed questions: Bl cher s intentions for the battle, Wellington s choice of site, his reasons for placing substantial forces at Hal, the placement of Napoleon s artillery, who authorised the French cavalry attacks, Grouchy s role on 18 and 19 June, Napoleon s own statements on the Garde s formation in the final attack, and the climactic moment when the Prussians reached Wellington s troops near la Belle Alliance. Close attention is paid to the negotiations that led to the capitulation of Paris, and subsequent French claims. The allegations of Las Cases and later historians that Napoleon s surrender to Captain Maitland of the Bellerophon amounted to entrapment are also examined. After a survey of the peace settlement of 1815, the book concludes with a masterly chapter reviewing the whole story of the 1815 campaign.

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Book SynopsisOn 8 March 1941, a 27-year-old Jewish Dutch student living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam made the first entry in a diary that was to become one of the most remarkable documents to emerge from the Nazi Holocaust. Over the course of the next two and a half years, an insecure, chaotic and troubled young woman was transformed into someone who inspired those with whom she shared the suffering of the transit camp at Westerbork and with whom she eventually perished at Auschwitz. Through her diary and letters, she continues to inspire those whose lives she has touched since. She was an extraordinarily alive and vivid young woman who shaped and lived a spirituality of hope in the darkest period of the twentieth century. This book explores Etty Hillesum's life and writings, seeking to understand what it was about her that was so remarkable, how her journey developed, how her spirituality was shaped, and what her profound reflections on the roots of violence and the nature of evil can teach usTrade Review[Hillesum's] inspirational reflections on the roots of violence and the nature of evil have as much relevance now as they did in the 1940s. * The Bookseller *[A] superb and moving account of her life and writings, touching on Hillesum's profound reflections on violence and the nature of evil. * Catholic Herald *Complicated, intelligent, passionate and disarming by turns, Etty Hillesum is interpreted here as a woman for our time. The forward to the book, written by the Archbishop of Canterbury, argues that by examining the life of Etty Hillesum, the reader is able to understand how a theology of hope and of the redemptive meaning of suffering can emerge, even from the darkest of contexts. -- Lavinia Byrne * Cheddar Valley Gazette *This is a very precious book that left me feeling very grateful for the life of Etty Hillesum. Patrick Woodhouse has written about her with a clarity and unobtrusive simplicity that is wholly appropriate. -- Jonathan Gorsky * One in Christ *Etty was pyschologically complex to say the least, and her story presents us with a disturbing and challenging spirituality for a world wracked with hatred. * The Tablet *A touching and wonderful book. * The Good Book Stall *For anyone involved in pastoral care, there are rich and thought-provoking resources here and Woodhouse is an excellent guide. ... Inspiring and deceptively simple book. * The Pastoral Review *This book is at home in a silent sanctuary and in a noisy prison – in any place, at any time. Read it. Let it do what it will ... In this memoir of Etty, Patrick Woodhouse has done far more than condense her story into 153 pages. He has immersed himself in her life so deeply and so passionately that Etty seems to be speaking through him. * Church Times *Table of ContentsIntroduction Why the diary and letters of this inspirational young woman who died in the Holocaust are of such significance and speak beyond her own time and context. Who was Etty Hillesum? A brief biographical outline, and the background and chronology of her life Chapter 1: An Emerging Self Explores the process of profound personal change that occurred in Etty. Within her intimate relationship with her therapist Julius Spier she grappled with the chaotic complexity of her intense personality against the background of her disturbed family and fearful times, and moved from an insecure and depressive past towards an integrated self. It examines her relationship with Spier and his crucial importance in enabling her to change. Chapter 2: Discovering God This chapter explores the beginnings of Etty's spirituality, looking at how understandings of prayer and God slowly took root and grew in her, her formation as the child of a liberal Jewish background, her secular student days and the gradual development of her contemplative life. It touches on her surprise and embarrassment at her strongly emerging religious consciousness -- a deep sense of the intimate life of God within. As she faced up to her own end and the destruction of her people, the realisation dawned upon her that God was unable to help them and so, she says, 'they must help Him' and, if they are to retain their integrity as human beings 'guard his Presence within them at all costs'. This chapter explores how this insight, with its profound theological significance, connects with understandings of God in the Christian and other traditions. Chapter 3: Refusing to hate Etty wrote a lot about hatred. This chapter looks at her refusal to hate and goes on to explore the phenomenon of hatred and its function in the collective mind of a persecuted people -- how it galvanises and unites, helping people to cope with their fear, but is ultimately an avoidance and displacement mechanism which Etty believed was profoundly destructive. Determined to hate "only the evil that is within me", Etty wrote of what it meant to bear fear and suffering, absorbing and accepting it rather than turning it back on those causing it. This understanding produced some of her most profound writing and makes her a universal figure, able to identify with all who suffer, including 'German mothers for they too sorrow for their slain and murdered sons'. Chapter 4: Losing her life As the persecutions intensified, many Jews clung to life and struggled to avoid their destruction. Along with her refusal to hate, Etty refused to hide or to evade what she saw coming. Her clear-eyed acceptance of the end and her refusal to clutch at illusions grew out of her commitment to truth and to living in the present rather than in fear of the future. "It sounds paradoxical," she wrote, "but by excluding death from our life we cannot live a full life... and by admitting death into our life we enlarge and enrich it." This chapter reflects on this paradox and its place in other religious traditions. Chapter 5: Seeing Differently Etty's greatest fear was that she would sleep-walk into death, that numbness would overcome her. Her triumph was to show that the reality of the Holocaust - the power of a terrible hatred against the Jews - was not the only or final reality. She saw and lived from other realities in the midst of the hell around her and in the end was neither captive to, nor overwhelmed by the darkness. This chapter goes to the heart of the paradox that enabled her - surrounded by death - to be a source of care and compassion for others and to continue to insist that life was meaningful and beautiful and, as she set out on her final journey to Auschwitz, to "leave the camp singing". Chapter 6: A woman for our time At a time of decline in institutional religion, Etty is a curiously modern person. Her route into spirituality is initially through psychotherapy and the exploration of the self. She sees the world through the prism of the person: systems of thought claiming 'the truth' inevitably contain falsehood and divide people. Suspicious of religious or political ideology, she sees the struggle for peace and a new world rooted in personal change. She is ecumenical in the widest sense, bridging the differences between religions. She was a Jew who drew inspiration from the New Testament, from St Augustine, from Russian writers, from Jung and above all from Rilke. She forged a spirituality that connects and resonates with aspects from all the great religious traditions - not only Judaism and Christianity, but also Buddhism and Hinduism. She lived and died at a time of mass violence. Her diaries and letters are an extended reflection on what it means to be fully human in the midst of violence and the temptations of violence, and she looks beyond the violence of her time to a new world.

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Book SynopsisThis illustrated study explores the design, development, and deployment of the F-102, a groundbreaking fighter intended to combat the threat of Soviet nuclear-armed bombers.World War II saw the development of the heavy bomber as a decisive weapon which, in sufficient numbers, could overcome defensive fighters and guns and lay waste to strategic targets. The addition of nuclear weapons to the bomber''s armament made it even more formidable, and by the late 1940s, US planners saw the growth of a Soviet nuclear-armed bomber fleet as a terrifying threat to North American security. Conventional subsonic fighters with guns and free-flight air-to-air rockets would be incapable of reaching these incoming bombers in time to prevent even one from delivering a devastating nuclear attack. As a result, supersonic speed, long-range guided missiles and precise radar-based control of an interception became prerequisites for a new breed of fighters, beginning with the F-102. ATable of Contents1. A New Shape 2. Drawing Daggers 3. Definitive Dagger 4. Caging the 'Bear' 5. On Guard with Pacaf 6. On Guard at Home and Away 7. Latter Days Appendices Colour Plates Commentary Index

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Book SynopsisThis illustrated study charts the development and combat history of the Vickers Wellington units, the mainstay of the RAF heavy bomber force during the first half of World War II. The Vickers Wellington was one of very few aircraft types to have been in production and frontline service throughout World War II, and more than 10,000 Wellingtons were built in the period. They took part in the first RAF bombing mission of the conflict when, on September 4, 1939, 14 examples from Nos 9 and 149 Sqns undertook a daring daylight attack on the Kiel Canal. However, after suffering high losses on follow-up raids, Wellingtons were withdrawn from daytime missions and began to operate at night from May 1940. They subsequently took part in raids against the Italian port city of Genoa in July 1940, and against Berlin the following month, followed by key missions in the Battle of the Barges in September and October, as the RAF targeted Germany''s invasion fleet assembled in French ChaTable of ContentsIntroduction 1. Origins and Early Days 2. Into Combat 3. On the Offensive 4. Peak Strength 5. Training Appendices Colour Plates Commentary Index

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Book Synopsis'Outstanding...Overy has written a masterpiece of analytical history, posing and answering one of the great questions of the century' Niall Ferguson, Sunday TimesThe Allied victory in 1945 – though comprehensive – was far from inevitable. By 1942 almost the entire resources of continental Europe were in German hands and Japan had wiped out the western colonial presence in Asia. Democracy appeared to have had its day. In this remarkable study, Richard Overy provides a reinterpretation of the war through an account of the decisive military campaigns that created the astonishing revival in Allied fortunes. He also explores the deeper factors that determined success and failure: industrial stength, fighting ability, the skills of leaders and the moral contrasts between the two sides. Today the modern world is once more in the throes of painful transformation. It is essential to establish why and how the last great war was won. Richard Overy casts a brilliant light on the most important turning-point of the modern age.‘A compelling analysis...skilful and chilling’ The EconomistTrade ReviewA compelling analysis... skilful and chilling -- Ross Davies * Economist *A much needed book... He deserves the attention of a wide audience -- Donald Cameron * Independent *Richard Overy is writing at the height of his powers... The result is often startling, never less than fascinating -- Adam Sisman * Observer *A thought provoking reappraisal of the war - deeply researched, complex and yet beautifully lucid -- Correlli Barnett * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisA fascinating account of an often overlooked naval action of World War II, and one of the bloodiest chapters in the history of the Royal Navy. In April 1941, following the Axis invasion of Greece, the British Mediterranean Fleet was ordered to evacuate Allied survivors, many of which were taken to Crete. The Luftwaffe established itself in airfields on the Greek mainland, and formed plans to invade Crete by air and sea, under the cover of 500 fighters and bombers of the Luftwaffe''s Fliegerkorps VIII. Facing them were a small and scattered garrison on the island, a handful of under-strength RAF squadrons and the hard-pressed warships of the Mediterranean Fleet. What happened next was a costly, but ultimately inspiring, naval battle, in which Royal Navy crews were placed under intense strain.Using period photographs, stunning battlescene artworks, detailed maps and an authoritative narrative, world-leading maritime historian Angus Konstam tells the fascinating Trade ReviewA gripping story. -- Duncan Evans * The Armourer Magazine *This eloquent campaign analysis of an eventually unsuccessful Royal Navy defence of Crete contains a host of well-illustrated lessons relevant to many studies of maritime warfare * The Naval Review *Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION Origins of the campaign CHRONOLOGY OPPOSING COMMANDERS Allied Axis OPPOSING FORCES Allied Allied order of battle Axis Axis order of battle OPPOSING PLANS Allied Axis THE CAMPAIGN The prelude The fleet deploys The invasion The first clashes The Luftwaffe strikes Black Thursday Mountbatten’s sortie Keeping up the pressure The evacuation AFTERMATH THE BATTLEFIELD TODAY FURTHER READING INDEX

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Book SynopsisThe invasion has begun. In this gripping book, Jonathan Mayo gives a blow by blow account of the events of D-Day, revealing what happened to the people swept up in this crucial moment in history. From soldiers, French villagers and journalists, to schoolchildren and nurses, thousands were placed in extraordinary situations when the Allies landed in Normandy. This is their story.Trade ReviewStudded with extraordinary detail, this is the most joltingly vivid account ever written of the day the Allies gambled everything. * Daily Mail *The chaos, the horror and the bravery of the battlefield are all here… * Daily Express *An engrossing work... An accessible history that conveys the havoc and vast international spread of D-Day. * Kirkus Reviews US *Awesome... a completely comprehensive examination, an incredible amount of detail, a pleasure to read and learn from. * The Avid Reader *This is an outstanding book and should be required reading in High School history classes. * Battles and Book Reviews *This book creates a remarkably vivid picture of one of the most important days in modern history. * The Good Book Guide *

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Book SynopsisTowards the Abyss presents searching analysis of a decade of war and upheaval in Ukraine. Volodymyr Ishchenko has been among the left's most significant commentators on Ukraine since 2014, when pro-EU protestors toppled the government in Kiev, Russia annexed Crimea and pro-Russian separatists seized parts of the Donbass. One of his first thoughts when he read the news of the full-scale Russian invasion on 24 February 2022 was that no matter how the war ends, he will no longer have a homeland.What has happened in Ukraine ever since the Soviet collapse is a drawn-out process of de-modernization, and the downward spiral is getting faster. Ishchenko argues that the conflict being fought in Ukraine with tanks, artillery and rockets is the same conflict suppressed by police batons in Belarus and in Russia itself. The intensification of the post-Soviet crisis - the incapacity of an oligarchic ruling class in the territories of the former USSR to sustain political or moral leadership - is the root cause of the escalating violence.Trade ReviewA nuanced, melancholy, sophisticated and gratifyingly intimate glimpse into war-torn Ukraine -- Yanis Varoufakis, author of TechnofeudalismThe huge choruses of these times will probably go down in history as mere noise. Might the lone voice of Ishchenko then sound prophetic? -- Georgi Derluguian, author of Bourdieu’s Secret Admirer in the CaucasusA brilliant cri de cour from a Soviet Ukrainian searching the historical horizon for a political model beyond neoliberalism and regressive nationalism -- Dylan Riley, author of Microverses[A] pugnacious debut ... those wanting a better understanding of the Russia-Ukraine conflict would do well to check out this left-wing analysis. * Publishers Weekly *Table of ContentsPreface: A Wrong UkrainianEditorial Note20141. Ukraine Protests Are No Longer Just about Europe2. Maidan Mythologies3. A Comedian in a Drama4. From Ukraine with Comparisons5. The Vicious Post-Soviet Circle with Oleg Zhuravlev20226. Three Scenarios for the Ukraine-Russia Crisis7. NATO through Ukrainian Eyes8. Behind Russia's War Is Thirty Years of Post-Soviet Class Conflict9. Ukrainian Voices?Interview: Towards the AbyssNotesAcknowledgementsIndex

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Book SynopsisThe author explores all the developments leading up to the outbreak of the conflict and the battle in particular.

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