Military History Books

Book SynopsisContains 250 photographs, many previously unpublished, of German paratroopers (Fallschirmjger) in action during the Second World War.

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Book SynopsisBormann joined the Nazi Party in 1927 and quickly rose through its ranks. In July 1933 he became the Chief of Cabinet in the Office of the Deputy Fuhrer.

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Book SynopsisA vivid first-hand account of a SOE agent's missions in Nazi occupied France.

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Book SynopsisThe most detailed biography of one of the Nazi Party s most important members, Roland Freisler, yet published in the English language.

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Book SynopsisThe SS-Polizei Division became one of the most effective and ruthless fighting formations of WW2.

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Book SynopsisA previously unpublished first-hand account describing the Scots Greys at Waterloo.

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Book SynopsisPowerful combination of Rugby and Second World War action.

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Book SynopsisLooks at te local areas of Wimbledon, Merton & Morden in the Second World War.

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In May 1944, 40,000 Polish soldiers attacked and captured the hilltops of Monte Cassino, bringing to a close the largest, bloodiest battle fought by the western Allies in the Second World War. Days later the Allied armies marched into Rome seizing the first Axis capital. No-one in 1939 could have foreseen an entire Polish Corps engaged on the Italian Front. Most had been held prisoner in the USSR following Polands defeat and their release by Stalin was only achieved through the intense negotiations of British and Polish politicians generals, notably Sikorski and Anders,. The Polish Army was evacuated to Iran in 1942 and subsequently incorporated into the British Army as the Polish II Corps. Their ultimate post-war fate was shamefully ignored until too late. This book, which charts the extraordinary wartime story of the exiled Polish Army in the east, makes extensive use of undiscovered archive material. It reveals in depth the relations between the British and Polish General Staffs and the never ending hardships of the Polish soldiers.

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Book SynopsisComprehensive coverage of all German WW2 anti-tank vehicles.

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Book SynopsisThis is the first biography of ?Boy? Browning, whose name is inextricably linked with the creation and employment of Britain?s airborne forces in the Second World War. Commissioned into the Grenadier Guards, Browning served on the Western Front, earning a DSO during the Battle of Cambrai. As Adjutant at Sandhurst, he began the tradition of riding a horse up the steps at the end of the commissioning parade. Browning represented England and Great Britain as a hurdler at the 1928 Winter Olympics. In 1932 Browning married Daphne du Maurier, who was ten years younger and became one of the 20th century?s most enduring and popular novelists with titles such as Jamaica Inn and Rebecca. Browning commanded two brigades before being appointed to command 1 Airborne Division in 1941, later acting as Eisenhower?s advisor on airborne warfare in the Mediterranean. In 1944 he commanded 1st Airborne Corps, which he took to Holland for Operation MARKET GARDEN that September. Allegedly coining the phrase ?a bridge too far?, he has received much of the blame for the operation?s failure.In late 1944, Browning became Chief of Staff to Mountbatten. In 1948 he became Comptroller and Treasurer to Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip and then Treasurer to the latter following the Queen?s accession. He was a close adviser to the Royal couple, who respected and valued his judgment.By this time, Boy and Daphne lived separate lives with Boy working at the Palace in London and Daphne reluctant to leave her beloved Cornwall although the marriage remained intact. Questions exist as to Daphne?s sexuality and Boy had a succession of discrete mistresses. After a nervous breakdown probably due to marriage problems, he resigned in 1959 and retired to Cornwall. Browning died in March 1965.

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Book SynopsisThis book examines the strategies and military tactics of the Byzantines and their enemies in Eastern Anatolia, Syria and in Upper Mesopotamia in the tenth century.

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Book SynopsisThis book dispels the myth that military leaders, in adhering to the Nazi ideology of 'race defilement', strictly repressed soldiers' sexuality.

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Book SynopsisConsiders the ideals and realities of generalship across the Greek, Roman and Byzantine worlds.Trade Review"This stimulating and innovative collection of essays takes a traditional subject in ancient military history and reinvigorates it by shifting discussion away from a focus on 'great commanders' to analysis of ancient ideals and principles of military leadership, while also contextualising this discussion within a broader chronological and geographical framework." -Doug Lee, Emeritus Professor of Ancient History, University of Nottingham

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Book SynopsisThe complete story of how the German Enigma codes were broken. Perfect for fans of THE IMITATION GAME, the new film on Alan Turing''s Enigma code, starring Benedict Cumberbatch.Breaking the German Enigma codes was not only about brilliant mathematicians and professors at Bletchley Park. There is another aspect of the story which it is only now possible to tell. It takes in the exploits of spies, naval officers and ordinary British seamen who risked, and in some cases lost, their lives snatching the vital Enigma codebooks from under the noses of Nazi officials and from sinking German ships and submarines. This book tells the whole Enigma story: its original invention and use by German forces and how it was the Poles who first cracked - and passed on to the British - the key to the German airforce Enigma. The more complicated German Navy Enigma appeared to them to be unbreakable.Trade ReviewCracking stuff -- Robert Harris * THE TIMES *Unquestionably deepens and enriches our understanding of the Bletchley story ... Sebag-Montefiore demonstrates superbly that the seizure of the Enigma codebooks was among the crucial episodes in Britain's prosecution of the war * OBSERVER *

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Book Synopsis''Brilliantly entertaining and historically priceless'' Spectator''Fascinating ... as much a contribution to royal legend as to the history of the war'' Daily TelegraphAs Assistant Private Secretary to four monarchs, ''Tommy'' Lascelles had a ringside seat from which to observe the workings of the royal household and Downing Street during the first half of the 20th century.These fascinating diaries begin with Edward VIII''s abdication and end with George VI''s death and his daughter Elizabeth''s Coronation. In between we see George VI at work and play, a portrait more intimate than any other previously published.This compelling account also includes Princess Margaret''s relationship with Peter Townsend, and throws an intriguing new light on the way in which King George VI and Winston Churchill worked together during the Second World War. Lascelles was a fine writer - like most of the best diaries his are a delight tTrade ReviewElegant and precise ... a revealing glimpse into the drawing rooms of the great during the years of crisis and victory ... Lascelles was an excellent judge of character, and posterity has almost always proved him right * EVENING STANDARD *This fascinating volume is as much a contribution to royal legend as to the history of the war * DAILY TELEGRAPH *Most - though by no means all - of the facts we know already: it is the angle from which they are viewed and the humour and intelligence of the observer which make these diaries both brilliantly entertaining and historically priceless * SPECTATOR *Offers fascinating and hitherto unseen glimpses of some of the most significant figures of our age ... however, none emerges more engagingly than the diarist himself * SUNDAY TELEGRAPH *Offers genuine insights into the role of the King's adviser * INDEPENDENT *A great read, written with humour and elegance * BELFAST TELEGRAPH *I greatly enjoyed KING'S COUNSELLOR -- Robert Harris * MAIL ON SUNDAY Book of the Year *

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Book SynopsisSarajevo, 28 June 1914: The story of the assassination that changed the world.''Outstanding'' SPECTATOR''A fine piece of political and literary detective work, which held this reader enthralled'' TRIBUNEYoung Gavrilo Princip arrived at the Vlajnic pastry shop in Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina on the morning of 28 June 1914. He was greeted by his fellow conspirators in the plot to kill Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The Archduke, next in line to succeed as Emperor of Austria, was beginning a state visit to Sarajevo later that morning. Ferdinand was not a very popular character - widely thought of as bad-tempered and arrogant and perhaps even deranged. To the young students he embodied everything they loathed about imperial oppression. They planned to kill him at about 11 o''clock as he paraded down Appel Quay to the town hall in his open top car.What happened in those few hours - leading as it did to the First and Second World Wars - iTrade ReviewDavid James Smith's achievement is to contextualise the conspiracy ... an informed and nuanced account * SUNDAY TIMES *This outstanding new account of events and characters ... is the most comprehensive study of the assassination yet published in English * SPECTATOR *He is to be congratulated on a fine piece of political and literary detective work, which held this reader enthralled * TRIBUNE *

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Book Synopsis''This riotous and engaging biography has it all''GUARDIAN''As much fun to read as a good political thriller''WALL STREET JOURNALAt the outbreak of war, the British monarchy was in turmoil. Edward VIII had abdicated, leaving his brother Bertie to take on a role he never expected: King George VI. Meanwhile, as Edward awaited the decree that would allow him to marry his mistress, Wallis Simpson, he took an increasing interest in Hitler''s expansionist plans. How did this squabbling, dysfunctional family manage to unite in the face of the greatest conflict in their lifetimes? And what was the true extent of Edward''s betrayal?''Genuinely revealing, politically insightful, scrupulously researched . . . has the narrative pace of a champion thoroughbred''Tina Brown, author of THE PALACE PAPERSTrade ReviewAlexander Larman's 'The Windsors at War' is genuinely revealing, politically insightful, scrupulously researched, and has the narrative pace of a champion thoroughbred. It is also an eloquent study of two royal brothers, and of duty and betrayal. -- Tina Brown * author of The Palace Papers *A worthy successor to Larman's excellent account of the Abdication Crisis, exhaustively researched and written with wit and brio, The Windsors at War proves conclusively that the Duke of Windsor betrayed both his brother King George VI and his country. If there is ever a prequel to Netflix's The Crown, it should be based on this book. * Saul David *As profound and exhilarating as it is revelatory - and it is highly revelatory. Larman is a natural-born storyteller with a keen eye for a precious anecdote. I relished this -- Daisy Dunn * author of Not Far From Brideshead: Oxford Between the Wars *Alexander Larman's masterful follow-up to The Crown in Crisis combines thrilling action scenes with political skulduggery and intimate character studies of everyone from King George VI to his brother and nemesis, the Duke of Windsor. Deeply researched, fascinating and compelling from start to finish. -- Dan Jones * author of Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages *The definitive version of how the Royal Family behaved in World War Two, by turns fast paced and furious. I couldn't put it down, except for occasional gasps of incredulity. Larman combines forensic investigative skills with some beautiful prose as he lays out in grim, unremitting detail how the Windsors wavered at critical moments in the war. What a story this is, and what a family -- Anne Sebba * author of Ethel Rosenberg: A Cold War Tragedy *Alexander Larman's enjoyable The Windsors at War [is] a buoyant account of the period from Edward's abdication to the end of the Second World War. -- Matthew Dennison * Telegraph *A detailed and fascinating account -- Tessa Dunlop * The Spectator *A lively, informative book, enriched by its author's fondness for gossip and sharp eye for absurdity... a pitch-black comedy * SPECTATOR WORLD *The Windsors at War opens with a bravura prologue ... Larman sharply contrasts the grim reality the world was facing with the solipsistic petulance of the duke and duchess ... Fortunately, The Windsors at War is about a great more than them. If it has a hero it is the shy, complex man who never had the slightest desire to be king and made extraordinary efforts to rise to the job, finally earning the unqualified admiration of world leaders ... What makes it fresh is Larman's use of recently disembargoed diaries and letters ... The recounting of the story of the handsome, sexually omnivorous, dope-addicted Kent, who reeled from affair to affair (Noël Coward was said to be among his lovers) but was transformed by war service into a brilliantly effective commander until his still-mysterious death in an air crash in the Highlands, is particularly vividly done. Nothing in the book, though, can compete for sheer entertainment with the Windsors' governorship of the Bahamas ... Every detail of it seems to have been penned by the Queen of Crime herself -- Simon Callow * The Sunday Times *A dashing prince with a respectable war record squandered public support by marrying an American divorcée, moving abroad and sponging off dodgy acquaintances. He was obsessed with titles, more than a little pleased with himself and flirted with dangerous causes, but thought he could bypass the British establishment by using the US media. The more he moaned, the worse became his lot. Prince Harry should read Alexander Larman's The Windsors at War ... breezily written [it] retells a cautionary tale * The Times *Larman tells the story with enough brio to make it worth revisiting. Along the way he reveals a handful of details that have never been published before, including a fascinating first-hand account of the kind of conversations that took place among the Royals on the eve of war ... it is when Larman is at his most scathing that the story really comes alive ... Readers can make up their own minds about whether there are any parallels among today's public figures -- Keith Lowe * Mail on Sunday *An insightful, pacy study of the original feud between royal brothers ... It shows how George VI became a Second World War hero after the abdication of Edward VIII - and suggests that the latter may have given insider information to the Nazis. Better than Spare -- Laura Hackett * The Sunday Times *This riotous and engaging biography has it all ... This book is even more rollicking than its predecessor - this is an author having an enormous amount of fun with his subject ... What Larman does so brilliantly is to give us two brothers who could not be less alike, two wives who clearly loathe one another, visions of two very different, but very loving marriages -- Alex Preston * Guardian Online *Larman has given us a great follow-up to The Crown in Crisis ... What shines through are the primary sources he has mined, the diaries and letters, he has worked his way through, yet wearing his scholarship lightly. We are transported back to the pre-war and wartime era, now made famous in Netflix's The Crown (which, to the author's credit, he never once refers to). That series is a dramatised and often fictionalised interpretation of the past, whereas Larman gives us solid factual evidence ... we are reminded that the new king loathed the debonair confidence of "the king across the water", fearing that if he made a hash of the kingship he never wanted, his scheming elder brother might return. This is one theme that runs throughout Larman's fine scholarship ... [a] compelling read -- Peter Caddick-Adams * The Critic *A gripping, fast-paced and absorbing work * CATHOLIC HERALD *Forget Prince Harry; here we have the truly jaw-dropping story of two kings, where the spare had become the heir and believed his brother was trying to kill his family with German bombs. Forget about the American wife who frets about royal titles and wears blood diamonds gifted by a murderer; here is one of the most stylish women of the 20th century, mingling with the Nazi enemy. This is an important story, as well as a gripping one, informed by never-before-used material. We hear the verdict of history on a couple who wanted privilege without responsibility and dealt with the devil to achieve it. I read this brilliant book in one sitting -- Leanda deLisle

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Book Synopsis''Fascinating ... this collection illuminates corners of the wartime world ... it provides a valuable and often entertaining window'' GUARDIAN''The horrors have not been suppressed. Everyone who speaks was very young then. You sense their wonder that they did the things they recall'' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAYWhen we remember the Second World War in the air, we think of fighter pilots and bomber crews. But what was it like for the men and women working as ground crew and in the aircraft factories who also played a crucial role in defeating Hitler? What was it like making history? What sense did these individuals have of what they were doing, either at the time or later? Did they feel they were caught up in the tide of great events? Or were they simply doing their demanding and often dangerous duty?Originally published as ACES, ERKS AND BACKROOM BOYSTrade ReviewFascinating ... this collection illuminates corners of the wartime world ... it provides a valuable and often entertaining window * GUARDIAN *The horrors have not been suppressed. Everyone who speaks was very young then. You sense their wonder that they did the things they recall * INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY *

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Book SynopsisAn extraordinary account - from firsthand sources - of upper class women and the active part they took in the WarPre-war debutantes were members of the most protected, not to say isolated, stratum of 20th-century society: the young (17-20) unmarried daughters of the British upper classes. For most of them, the war changed all that for ever. It meant independence and the shock of the new, and daily exposure to customs and attitudes that must have seemed completely alien to them. For many, the almost military regime of an upper class childhood meant they were well suited for the no-nonsense approach needed in wartime. This book records the extraordinary diversity of challenges, shocks and responsibilities they faced - as chauffeurs, couriers, ambulance-drivers, nurses, pilots, spies, decoders, factory workers, farmers, land girls, as well as in the Women''s Services. How much did class barriers really come down? Did they stick with their own sort? And what aboutTrade ReviewA wonderful slice of social history, and Anne de Courcy is a skilled interviewer with a sure eye for the telling quotation or the stand-out detail * MAIL ON SUNDAY *Produces some memorable cameos. Among the most memorable are those of a young girl delivering local post from her grandmother's Scottish estate with a 4.10 rifle slung over her shoulder, ready to fire at German planes, oddest of all, perhaps, is an account from one of Lord Rothermere's daughters, of tea being served on the terrace by a butler in white gloves while a dogfight raged overhead -- Miranda SeymourDespite their odd upbringing and closeted lives, the young gels of upper-class England rose to the challenge of the Second World War with grit and gumption * DAILY TELEGRAPH *This book records the extraordinary diversity of challenges, shocks and responsibilities they faced - as chauffeurs, couriers, ambulance-drivers, nurses, pilots, spies, decoders, factory workers, farmers, land girls, as well as in the Women's Services. * EVENING STANDARD *She captures within one book a vivid impression of those years, a short history of the women's services, a closely focused view of an exotic corner of social history, and a lot of human interest. It all makes riveting reading * LITERARY REVIEW *A tale of derring-do, make do and make-up... De Courcy reveals the innocence and bravery of these young women. * EXPRESS *DEBS AT WAR covers a quirky and original subject and tells some cracking human interest stories. * HAM & HIGH *an irresistible account of high spirits, derring-do and real old-fashioned bravery * EVENING STANDARD *

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Book Synopsis Combat helicopter pilots in the Vietnam War flew each mission facing the possibility of imminent death. Begun as a series of attempted letters to the Department of Veterans Affairs, this compelling memoir of an aircraft commander in the 116th Assault Helicopter Company--The Hornets--relates his experience of the war in frank detail. From supporting the 25th Infantry Division''s invasion of Cambodia, to flying the lead aircraft in the 101st Airmobile Division''s pivotal Operation Lam Son 719 invasion of Laos to cut the Ho Chi Minh Trail at LZ Hope, the author recounts the traumatic events of his service from March 1970 to March 1971.

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Book Synopsis There was another war in Vietnam, one that mostly did not make the headlines: the campaign to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people. Fought not with artillery and helicopters but with food, medicine and shelter for civilians devastated by the conflict, the effort was unprecedented in U.S. history, involving both military and civilian personnel working together in widely spread areas of the countryside. Part history and part memoir, this book chronicles an overlooked aspect of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, with a focus on the war victims and refugees who were most tragically affected by the carnage. The author recounts his two years in-country as an aid worker and tells how the humanitarian effort was conducted and why it failed.

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Book Synopsis Perhaps more than all the campaigns of the Union armies, the Union naval blockade--covering all major Southern ports along 3,500 miles of coastline for the duration of the war--brought down the Confederacy. The daring exploits of Confederate blockade runners are well known--but many of them were British citizens operating out of neutral ports such as Nassau, Havana and Bermuda. Focusing on British involvement in the war, this history names the overseas bankers and manufacturers who, in critical need of cotton and other Confederate exports, financed and equipped the fast little ships that ran the blockade. The author attempts to disentangle the names and aliases of the captains--many of whom were Royal Navy officers on temporary leave--and tells their stories in their own words.

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Book Synopsis The American Republic''s founders debated whether to have a government based on direct democracy (in which the general population decided public policy questions, as in a New England town meeting) or representative democracy (in which those decisions were made by senators and congressmen on behalf of the general population). A related issue was whether the general population should have the right of instruction which gave citizens authority to expel from office government officials who disobeyed the desires of the population. The right of instruction is now largely forgotten but in former times was considered so important that it was routinely included in state constitutions. This book examines the competition between direct democracy and representative democracy in the United States, focusing particularly on the doctrine of instruction, through the lens of the pre-presidential career of Abraham Lincoln.Table of Contents Table of Contents Preface Part 1. Instruction Part 2. Election of Senators by State Legislatures Part 3. Lincoln's Experiences with U.S. Senate Campaigns Epilogue: A Modest Proposal Chapter Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTactics is the art and science of employing all available means to win battles and engagements. Specifically, it comprises the actions taken by a commander to arrange units and activities in relation to each other and the enemy. Filled with diagrams of attack plans, defensive strategies, and troop movements, U.S. Army Tactics Field Manual is the playbook the U.S. Army uses to employ available means to win in combat. This book provides combat-tested concepts and ideas modified to exploit emerging Army and joint capabilities. This book focuses on the organization of forces, minimum essential control measures, and general planning, preparation, and execution considerations for each type and form of combat operation. It is the common reference for all students of the tactical art, both in the field and the Army school system. The Art of Tactics * Common Tactical Concepts and Graphic Control Measures * The Basics of Offense * Movement to Contact * Attack * Exploitation * Pursuit * Basics o

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Book SynopsisBarbed Wire University tells the extraordinary tale of Winston Churchill's internment of some of the most gifted Jewish refugee writers, professors, artists and painters of their generation in a camp on the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. These were men who had fled Hitler's Germany, found refuge in Britain and then in the hysteria of 1940 were held in captivity as a perceived security threat. They turned the campCamp Hutchinsoninto a school, concert hall and artistic community. Using memoirs and diaries, some of which have only recently become available in archives, Dave Hannigan pieces together a richly detailed account of what these remarkable men did during their time in captivity. This is a forgotten corner of World War II and the way these men constructed a Bohemian idyll in the middle of the Irish Sea, their freedom taken from them, is an extraordinary tale of grit and creativity.

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Book SynopsisThe 25 Most Influential Aircraft of All Time conveys the fascinating progression of flying technology from flimsy wood-and-fabric biplanes to thunderous supersonic wonders. Aviation's most historically relevant and arguably most influential aircraft planes like the elliptical-winged Spitfire, the blisteringly-fast X-15, and the ubiquitous Learjet are dramatically showcased in individual chapters. Factors like performance, price, operational efficiency, and perceptions in popular culture are examined. People are just as important as hardware in the discussion of the world's greatest aircraft. The larger-than-life characters who designed and built these aeronautical marvels men like the reclusive Howard Hughes and the demanding Clarence Kelly Johnson are an indispensable part of the story. So, too, are the fearless pilots like Charles Lindbergh and Chuck Yeager who gave life to the shining examples of a new and dynamic industry. The authors have flown or flown in many of

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Book SynopsisTheodore McLauchlin''s Desertion examines the personal and political factors behind soldiers'' choices to stay in their unit or abandon their cause. He explores what might spur widespread desertion in a given group, how some armed groups manage to keep their soldiers fighting over long periods, and how committed soldiers are to their causes and their comrades.To answer these questions, McLauchlin focuses on combatants in military units during the Spanish Civil War. He pushes against the preconception that individual soldiers'' motivations are either personal or political, either selfish or ideological. Instead, he draws together the personal and the political, showing how soldiers come to trust each otheror not. Desertion demonstrates how the armed groups that hold together and survive are those that foster interpersonal connections, allowing soldiers the opportunity to prove their commitment to the fight.McLauchlin argues that trust keeps soldiers in theTrade ReviewMcLauchlin's book is a study in military sociology based on a rigorous quantitative methodology. It poses a central research question about trust and desertion in civil wars, outlines the current state of the field and the spectrum of factors pursued in understanding the subject. In clear and accessible prose, Theodore McLauchlin makes a persuasive, subtle, and well supported case. * Michigan War Studies Review *Table of Contents1. Slipping Away 2. Trust, Mistrust, and Desertion in Civil Wars 3. Studying Desertion in the Spanish Civil War 4. Cooperation and Soldiers' Decisions 5. Coercion and Soldiers' Decisions 6. Militias in the Spanish Republic, Summer–Fall 1936 7. The Popular Army of the Republic, Fall 1936–39 8. The Nationalist Army, 1936–39 9. The Crumbling of Armies in Contemporary Syria Conclusion: Desertion, Armed Groups, and Civil Wars

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Book SynopsisWith expert scholars and great sensitivity, Out of Line, Out of Place illuminates and analyzes how the proliferation of internment camps emerged as a biopolitical tool of governance. Although the internment camp developed as a technology of containment, control, and punishment in the latter part of the nineteenth century mainly in colonial settings, it became universal and global during the Great War.Mass internment has long been recognized as a defining experience of World War II, but it was a fundamental experience of World War I as well. More than eight million soldiers became prisoners of war, more than a million civilians became internees, and several millions more were displaced from their homes, with many placed in securitized refugee camps. For the first time, Out of Line, Out of Place brings these different camps together in conversation. Rotem Kowner and Iris Rachamimov emphasize that although there were differences among camps andTrade ReviewThis book has great merit. It compares various case studies in Europe and beyond and, thus, offers a broad picture of internment operations. Such a wide-ranging approach presents the multiple categories of individuals interned, including combatants, enemy aliens, and political prisoners; widespread camp locations; and connections among state practices. The reflections that chapters propose on the global character of this wartime phenomena also helps foster an understanding of the First World War beyond the battlefield and beyond the period of 1914–18. * H-Net *For all these reasons, this book is necessary reading for anyone interested in the history of internment and war captivity. * H-net *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Military, Civilian, and Political Internments: Examining Great War Internments Together, by Iris Rachamimov and Rotem Kowner Part I: Internments in Europe 1. (Dis)entangling the Local, the National, and the International: Civilian Internment in Germany and in German-Occupied France and Belgium in Global Context, by Matthew Stibbe 2. The Captives of the Kaiser: Schutzhaft and Political Prisoners in Germany, by André Keil 3. Securitized Protection: Health Work in Wartime Austria-Hungary and the Making of Refugee Camps, by Doina Anca Cretu 4. Alexandra Palace: A Concentration Camp in the Heart of London, by Assaf Mond 5. Prisoner-of-War Civilian Experience: The Role of Profession among POWs, by Lena Radauer 6. The Face and Race of the Enemy: German POW Photographs as a Weapon of War, by Nancy Fitch Part II: Internments Beyond Europe 7. "Enemies of Our Country": Internment in Canada's Rocky Mountains National Park, 1915–1917, by Bohdan S. Kordan 8. Globalizing Captivity: "Little Germany in China", by Naoko Shimazu 9. German Propaganda and the African and Asian Theaters of the War, by Mahon Murphy Part III: Interwar Repurcussions and Beyond 10. Internment after the War's End: "Humanitarian Camps" in the POW Repatriation Process, 1918–1923, by Hazuki Tate 11. POWs, Civilians, and the Postwar Development of International Humanitarian Law, by Neville Wylie and Sarina Landefeld Conclusion: World War I and Its Internments: Final Remarks, by Iris Rachamimov and Rotem Kowner

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Book SynopsisThe third edition of What is Military History? has been thoroughly updated, and includes a new bibliography and new case studies on naval warfare and the origins of war, as well as expanded sections on historiography, environmental history and world history. This popular textbook showcases a field that encompasses not only accounts of campaigns and battles, but includes a wide range of perspectives on all aspects of past military organization and activity. Its global and comparative analysis covers: the history of military history, showing how it has developed from ancient times to the present; the key ideas and concepts that shape analysis of military activity; the current controversies about which military historians argue, and why they are important; a survey of who does military history, where it is taught and published, and how it is practiced; and a look at where military history is headed in the future. Ideal for any interested reader and for classes in military history and in historiography generally, the third edition of this popular book thoroughly explains the dynamics of this rich and growing area of study.Trade Review"Already a classic, What is Military History? is further strengthened n this excellent third edition. While retaining its original strengths as an excellent introduction to the field, one that is wide-ranging, accessible and readable, this has been generally updated in order to keep up with a changing field and a changing world. There is also a significant new section on naval history and an expanded discussion of the intersection of gender and military history. Deserves praise." Jeremy Black, University of Exeter "The first edition of What is Military History? was a strikingly comprehensive summary of military historiography and quickly proved indispensable in many classrooms. This third edition provides some critical updates to what has become a rapidly evolving field, and again its comprehensiveness impresses. From culture to operations, from gender to technology, and from history to anthropology, Morillo and Pavkovic provide crucial starting points for students and researchers in the field to understand how the study of human conflict has developed and why it is where it is now." Wayne E. Lee, The University of North Carolina at Chapel HillTable of ContentsContents 1. An Introduction to Military History Military History: Definitions, Topics, Scope Who Studies Military History and Why? Overview of this Book 2. Military Historiography Classical Roots: Military History in Ancient Times Military History in the Traditional World: Histories, Manuals, and War Tales Science, Nationalism, and General Staffs: Military History in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries New Military Histories: The Transformations of the Last 50 Years 3. Conceptual Frameworks Military History and Philosophy of History Military Art and Practice War and Society: Interdisciplinary Influences Global History and Comparative Methodology Conclusions 4. Current Controversies Military Revolutions Counter-Insurgency: History and Policy �The West�: Exceptionalism and Dominance? Is Naval History Military History? War, Society, and Culture: Other Controversies Conclusion: Revisionism and Reading the Process of History 5. Doing Military History Forms Sources Programs Journals, Presses, and Associations 6. The Future of Military History Trends in the Field The Politics of Military History Notes Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisHawaii, 7th December 1941, shortly before 8 in the morning: Japanese torpedo bombers launch a surprise attack on the US Pacific fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The devastating attack claims the lives of over 2,400 American soldiers, sinks or damages 18 ships and destroys nearly 350 aircraft. The US Congress declares war on Japan the following day. In this vivid and lively book, Takuma Melber breathes new life into the dramatic events that unfolded before, during and after Pearl Harbor by putting the perspective of the Japanese attackers at the centre of his account. This is the dimension commonly missing in most other histories of Pearl Harbor, and it gives Melber the opportunity to provide a fuller, more definitive and authoritative account of the battle, its background and its consequences. Melber sheds new light on the long negotiations that went on between the Japanese and Americans in 1941, and the confusion and argument among the Japanese political and military elite. He shows how US intelligence and military leaders in Washington failed to interpret correctly the information they had and to draw the necessary conclusions about the Japanese war intentions in advance of the attack. His account of the battle itself is informed by the latest research and benefits from including the planning and post-raid assessment by the Japanese commanders. His account also covers the second raid in March 1942 by two long-range seaplanes which was intended to destroy the shipyards so that ships damaged in the initial attack could not be repaired. This balanced and thoroughly researched book deepens our understanding of the battle that precipitated America’s entry into the war and it will appeal to anyone interested in World War II and military history.Trade Review"dramatic and highly readable"The Daily Telegraph "Melber offers a fresh, dramatic account of events in 1941, when Japan headed into a war with the United States that most Japanese policymakers knew their country was not likely to win.... Readers know how the story ends, but Melber's just-the-facts narrative re-creates the tension of the events as they were lived."Foreign Affairs "Melber clearly is on top of his subject matter, having mastered the story of Pearl Habor from the perspectives of both Japan and the United States. In so doing he offers fascinating new insights into what led to the attack on Pearl Harbor and thus to America's entry into the Second World War. He displays a thorough knowledge of the Japanese and American literature, and he writes in a manner that is both accessible and authoritative. This is an excellent book and it will find a ready readership both among university students and among the general public."Richard Bessel, University of York "There is no shortage of historical literature on the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, so it is a brave historian who seeks to find a new way to present a familiar story. The great merit of Takuma Melber's new book on the battle is his access to Japanese sources and literature. This is the dimension commonly missing in most accounts, and it gives Melber the opportunity to provide a fuller, more definitive and authoritative account of the battle, its background, and its consequences. Melber writes with great economy on a big subject, and he writes with flair and precision: this book is a literary achievement as well as a work of exceptional scholarship."Richard Overy, University of Exeter "Here is a new look at the dramatic way Japan drew the United States into World War II. The drawing of additional details from a variety of Japanese sources as well as the published and archival material in English and German offers the reader an excellent and balanced introduction to a very important event."Gerhard L. Weinberg, William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of History Emeritus, University of North Carolina"A fascinating look at the inner workings of Japanese political, military, and diplomatic circles."War on the Rocks "[A] penetrating study of one of the key events of the 20th century from the Japanese rather than the usual American perspective. Melber's nuanced picture of Japanese wartime decision-making exposes the deep rifts in the country's military and civilian leadership. His clinical analysis of the diplomatic to-and-fro between Tokyo and Washington in the months before the attack lays bare the inevitable slide towards war."The Australian "In this vivid book, Takuma Melber breathes new life into the dramatic events that unfolded before, during, and after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. By putting the Japanese attackers' perspective at the centre of his account, he provides a more comprehensive and authoritative history of the battle, its background, and its consequences."Military History"Pearl Harbor is a fine introduction to its subject, enhanced by useful additions from original Japanese sources."Michigan War Studies Review"His book eloquently synthesizes both Japanese and American secondary and primary sources on the attack, and the narrative is told primarily from the perspective of the Japanese. The result is an evenly balanced account that provides a “big picture” view of events."The Strategy Bridge"Melber’s ‘Pearl Harbor’ is an admirably concise and highly illuminating account. It mainly tells how things unfolded from the Japanese perspective. Melber's excellent book illustrates that so-called decisive attacks aiming to utterly destroy an enemy with a major attack can sometimes create terrible consequences for the perpetrators.”Iain Ballantyne, Warships International Fleet Review''Melber’s authoritative and persuasive book brings another vital and welcome dimension into play by revealing the Japanese side of the narrative''Shepherd "Melber provides a concise and judicious account of Pearl Harbor that makes good use of his familiarity with Japanese sources to provide a balanced narrative of the diplomatic run-up to the attack and the battle itself. Because Melber's book is comprehensive, clearly written,... it has the potential to become a gateway book for general readers interested in Pearl Harbor and a staple textbook in diplomatic and military history courses. ... a fascinating account of the planning and execution of the Pearl Harbor attack."Journal of American Culture“This is not purely a military history but one that interweaves diplomatic history into a vivid account of the battle. … Pearl Harbor serves as the most up-to-date, well-researched, and accessible account of the event for the broadest possible readership.”Japan ReviewTable of ContentsPrologue I. The background 1. The road to Pearl Harbor 2. The crisis intensifies 3. Japan’s proposals for resolving the conflict 4. The Hull Note II. The Japanese war plan 1. Admiral Yamamoto and Operation Hawaii 2. The plan of attack 3. The Kid Butai sets sail 4. Japanese spies in Hawaii 5. The first encounter III. The attack 1. The first wave 2. ‘Tora Tora Tora’ 3. Battleship Row in crossfire 4. The second attack wave 5. Egusa’s dive bombers IV. Consequences 1. The aftermath 2. The USA enters the war 3. The first prisoner-of-war 4. The Japanese-born victims of Pearl Harbor 5. Could Pearl Harbor have been prevented? 6. Conspiracy theories 7. Operation K Epilogue Select Bibliography Notes Index

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Book SynopsisFrom the moment it began in 1936, the Spanish Civil War became the political question of the age. Hitler and Mussolini quickly sent aircraft, troops and supplies to the right-wing generals bent on overthrowing Spain's elected government. Millions of people around the world felt passionately that rapidly advancing fascism must be halted in Spain; if not there, where? More than 35,000 volunteers from dozens of other countries went to help defend the Spanish Republic.Adam Hochschild, the acclaimed author of King Leopold's Ghost, evokes this tumultuous period mainly through the lives of Americans involved in the war. A few are famous, such as Ernest Hemingway, but others are less familiar. They include a nineteen-year-old Kentucky woman, a fiery leftist who came to wartime Spain on her honeymoon; a young man who ran away from his Pennsylvania college and became the first American casualty in the battle for Madrid; and a swashbuckling Texas oilman who covertly violated US law and sold Generalissimo Francisco Franco most of the fuel for his army. Two New York Times reporters, fierce rivals, covered the war from opposite sides, with opposite sympathies. There are Britons in Hochschild's cast of characters as well: one, a London sculptor, fought with the American battalion; another, who had just gone down from Cambridge, joined Franco's army and found himself fighting against the Americans; and a third is someone whose experience of combat in Spain had a profound effect on his life, George Orwell.Trade ReviewHochschild’s contribution lies in the storytelling, his sure command of military history, and his beautiful sense of private hurt, which together yield original insight. An astute observer of contrasts, he navigates the hairpin turns between intimacy and barbarism, euphoria and despair, naivety and cynicism. The book effortlessly hopscotches from global history to individual – and emotional – experience. -- Rich Benjamin * Guardian *While Hochschild focuses on volunteers such as Berg, he doesn't ignore the war's local dynamic and global dimensions. What makes the book so effective, however, is his decision to explore these complexities through a set of interwoven biographies . . . Hochschild tells nuanced tales of political awakenings and disillusionment, but also steadfast ethical commitment. He never descends into easy moralising. * BBC History Magazine *Beautifully written with a hawk-eye for the telling anecdote, Spain in Our Hearts constitutes an endlessly fascinating and utterly unputdownable survey of the war to defend democracy in Spain that was not only the first act of the Second World War but also, for many across the world, the last great cause. -- Paul Preston, author of The Spanish Civil War: Reaction, Revolution, and RevengeSpain in Our Hearts is narrative non-fiction at its very best. Hochschild's achievement is to make this trial-by-combat story come alive, as if it were happening now. It is impossible for a reader not to identify and feel compassion for those sons and daughters of America who risked and often gave their lives for a cause that could not ultimately prevail against the darker forces of Franco, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin - and Texaco. A seamlessly-woven, unputdownable tapestry of war in Europe; intensely, unforgettably moving. -- Nigel Hamilton, author of The Mantle of CommandAdam Hochschild weaves a brilliant tapestry of colorful characters into a story that includes the young Ernest Hemmingway, the charismatic Robert Merriman, the scotch-drinking Milly Bennett, the glamorous reporter Virginia Cowles, and dozens of other Americans whose lives were dramatically altered by the Spanish Civil War. Hochschild's poignant narrative evokes E.L. Doctorow's great historical novel Ragtime-but Spain in Our Hearts is no novel but a tragic true story about a critical tipping point in the 20th century's slide into total warfare. Passionate, evocative, and gracefully written -- Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Good SpyGeorge Orwell once explained that going to Spain, in 1936, 'seemed the only conceivable thing to do.' As soon as he got there, the right thing to do got a lot less clear. And how to write about it was immediately difficult, too. The twenty-eight hundred Americans who fought in the Spanish Civil War felt the same way, as Adam Hochschild recounts in this rich and fascinating book. Few writers grapple so powerfully with the painful moral and ethical choices of past actors as does Hochschild, who brings to Spain in Our Hearts his exceptional talents - and his moral seriousness - as a reporter, as a historian, and as a writer. -- Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder WomanIn this beautifully written portrait of Americans caught up in the Spanish Civil War, Adam Hochschild brings to brilliant life the heroism and horror of that fratricidal conflict. His account of the David-and-Goliath fight between the ragtag army of idealistic, pro-democracy volunteers and the mechanized, murderous forces of Franco, Hitler, and Mussolini is one of the most powerful narratives I have ever read. -- Lynne Olson, author of Citizens of London[An] excellent portrait of the war and of the men and women drawn to Spain ... It is Hochschild's vivid account of what these people witnessed that gives his book its edge. Many other writers have described the Americans who went to Spain, but few have brought to their accounts such an enjoyable and balanced mixture of history and personal narrative ... Hochschild is good at conveying the barbarity on both sides without letting it swamp the story ... fascinating. -- Caroline Moorehead * Literary Review *Table of ContentsSection - i: List of Maps Section - ii: Author's Note Introduction - iii: Prologue: Far from Home Chapter - 1: Chasing Moneychangers from the Temple Chapter - 2: Promised Land, Black Wings Chapter - 3: "Those Who Do Not Think as We Do" Chapter - 4: A New Heaven and Earth Chapter - 5: "I Will Destroy Madrid" Chapter - 6: "Don't Try to Catch Me" Chapter - 7: Rifles from the 1860s Chapter - 8: Over the Mountains Chapter - 9: Civil War at the Times Chapter - 10: The Man Who Loved Dictators Chapter - 11: Devil's Bargain Chapter - 12: "I Don't Think I Would Write about That If I Were You" Chapter - 13: "As Good a Method of Getting Married as Any Other" Chapter - 14: Texaco Goes to War Chapter - 15: "In My Book You'll Be an American" Chapter - 16: "A Letter to My Novia" Chapter - 17: "Only a Few Grains of Sand Left in the Hourglass" Chapter - 18: At the River's Edge Chapter - 19: A Change of Heart? Chapter - 20: Gambling for Time Chapter - 21: The Taste of Tears Chapter - 22: Kaddish Acknowledgements - iv: Acknowledgements Section - iv: Notes Section - v: Bibliography Section - vi: Photo Credits Index - vii: Index Acknowledgements - viii: Permissions Acknowledgements

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Book Synopsis'Alive with human detail and acute political judgement, this book marks the arrival of a formidably gifted historian.' – Dan Jones, author of The Plantagenets and The TemplarsIt was around half-past eight in the morning, with summer rainclouds weighing heavy in the sky, that Simon de Montfort decided to die. It was 4 August 1265 and he was about to face the royal army in the final battle of a quarrel that had raged between them for years. Outnumbered, outmanoeuvred and certain to lose, Simon chose to fight, knowing that he could not possibly win the day. The Song of Simon de Montfort is the story of this extraordinary man: heir to a great warrior, devoted husband and father, fearless crusader knight and charismatic leader. It is the story of a man whose passion for good governance was so fierce that, in 1258, frustrated by the King’s refusal to take the advice of his nobles and the increasing injustice meted out to his subjects, he marched on Henry III’s hall at Westminster and seized the reins of power. Montfort established a council to rule in the King’s name, overturning the social order in a way that would not be seen again until the rule of Oliver Cromwell in the seventeenth century. Having defeated the King at the Battle of Lewes in 1264, Montfort and his revolutionary council ruled England for some fifteen months, until the enmity between the two sides exploded on that August day in 1265. When the fighting was over, Montfort and a host of his followers had been cut down on the battlefield, in an outpouring of noble blood that marked the end of chivalry in England as it had existed since the Norman Conquest. Drawing on an abundance of sources that allow us to trace Montfort’s actions and personality in a depth not possible for earlier periods in medieval history, Sophie Thérèse Ambler tells his story with a clarity that reveals all of the excitement, chaos and human tragedy of England’s first revolution.Trade ReviewOne of the finest medieval biographies of recent years. -- Gareth Russell * The Times *This is an astonishingly assured debut by an extremely talented young historian. Exhaustively researched and beautifully written, it traces the remarkable life of a military and political giant of the medieval period who has never been more convincingly portrayed -- Saul David * Daily Telegraph *It’s hard to get into the heads of people who lived 800 years ago. This book goes further than you might think possible, by a clever use of letters, legal documents and chronicles; at times, we really can hear this man speak . . . This is a remarkable book: beautifully presented (with good maps and illustrations), finely written and based on a deep, scholarly knowledge of the sources. It’s rare to find a story and a storyteller so well matched. -- Noel Malcolm * Sunday Telegraph *Sophie Therese Ambler’s engaging new biography will enthral and horrify in equal measure … The Song of Simon de Montfort is a well-researched, elegantly written and lively portrait of a problematic figure. Sunday Times * Sunday Times *Amid the valley of dry bones, Ambler breathes life into sources that might otherwise seem arid or dull. Her narrative is expertly paced. Whenever the story threatens to sag or falter, she skips over the drier deserts of fact, moving us from the routine to the remarkable . . . From Evesham to the killing fields of the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of the Roses, Simon de Montfort's chief legacy was slaughter and woe. This is, therefore, a song more of lament than of triumph. It is a song that Sophie Therese Ambler sings supremely well. -- Nicholas Vincent * Literary Review *Riveting . . . a vivid psychological portrait of the charismatic knight through small but enlightening details of character . . . The Song of Simon de Montfort is an engaging foray from a talented historian into one of the most important but least understood eras in English history. -- Emma J. Wells * TLS *A dramatic story, told here with clarity and insight * History Revealed *Sophie Thérèse Ambler is a dazzlingly talented historian and in her debut biography offers a bold and brilliantly written reassessment of one of (British) history’s most misunderstood figures – the reformer, rebel and scourge of the Plantagenets, Simon de Montfort. Alive with human detail and acute political judgement, this book marks the arrival of a formidably gifted historian. -- Dan JonesGripping, detailed, and ingenious, The Song of Simon de Montfort is a compelling and thrilling story of England's very first revolution. With her beautiful prose, Sophie Ambler successfully crosses the gap between narrative and academic history and brings Simon de Montfort vividly to life -- Dr Estelle Paranque, author of Elizabeth I of England Through Valois EyesFor such a pivotal figure in English history, Simon de Montfort’s remarkable story is one that has been sadly neglected by mainstream history books. Ambler’s riveting volume redresses the balance brilliantly, recounting the electrifying build-up to the nation’s first revolutionary movement and the emergence of a nascent Parliament with page-turning skill. -- Dan Jones * Waterstones Top History Books of 2019 *Table of ContentsSection - i: List of Illustrations Section - ii: Maps Section - iii: Epigraph Section - iv: Prologue Introduction - v: Introduction Section - vi: A Note on Money Chapter - 1: A Way of Living, and a Way of Dying Chapter - 2: A New Kingdom Chapter - 3: Love Chapter - 4: Holy War Chapter - 5: An Exemplar of Defeat Chapter - 6: Ruler of Gascony Chapter - 7: A New Enemy Chapter - 8: The Seizure of Power Chapter - 9: The Reform of the Kingdom Chapter - 10: Rule by Conscience Chapter - 11: Betrayal Chapter - 12: Revolution Chapter - 13: Triumph Chapter - 14: Disaster Chapter - 15: Evesham Section - vii: Epilogue Section - viii: Notes Index - ix: Index

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Book Synopsis‘Taylor has done us a great service in making the personal stories of what it was actually like to live through the most crucial year of the twentieth century vivid, compelling and salutary.’ - Roland Philipps, author of A Spy Named Orphan: The Enigma of Donald MacleanIn the autumn of 1938, Europe believed in the promise of peace. Still reeling from the ravages of the Great War, its people were desperate to rebuild their lives in a newly safe and stable era. But only a year later, the fateful decisions of just a few men had again led Europe to war, a war that would have a profound and lasting impact on millions.Bestselling historian Frederick Taylor focuses on the day-to-day experiences of British and German people trapped in this disastrous chain of events and not, as is so often the case, the elite. Drawn from original sources, their voices, concerns and experiences reveal a marked disconnect between government and people; few ordinary citizens in either country wanted war.1939: A People’s History is not only a vivid account of that turbulent year but also an interrogation of our capacity to go to war again. In many ways it serves as a warning; an opportunity for us to learn from our history and a reminder that we must never take peace for granted.Trade ReviewA fascinating and well-written book about how two nations embraced the prospect of war. By examining a turbulent year from the ground up, Taylor has inadvertently exposed crucial differences in national characteristics. -- Gerard De Groot * The Times *Taylor has done us a great service in making the personal stories of what it was actually like to live through the most crucial year of the twentieth century vivid, compelling and salutary -- Roland PhilippsWell-researched and intriguing -- Tim Bouverie * Daily Telegraph *A sinister and thrilling picture of how the year 1939 developed into war * Who Do You Think You Are Magazine *Taylor . . . does an excellent job of telling the story of the Coventry raid . . . Taylor's thorough, authoritative account elegantly explains the horrors of that night, as well as the wider story of the raid's significance in the air war's collective descent into barbarism. -- Review of Coventry * Financial Times *Riveting . . . vivid . . . Taylor's account of flame and ruin in the Midlands in November 1940, superbly researched, shows how terror could come to anyone, anywhere, any time. It still can. -- Review of Coventry * Spectator *Taylor weaves a chilling narrative from eyewitness accounts and documentary research . . . His account of the air operation . . . is quite superb. -- Review of Dresden * The Times *This scholarly, objective, sane and well-written book . . . a tremendously powerful work, profoundly moving in the accounts of the ordinary German families who met their deaths that dreadful night. -- Review of Dresden * Evening Standard *Table of ContentsSection - i: List of Illustrations Section - ii: Maps Introduction - iii: Introduction Chapter - 1: September 1938: ‘So, No War!’ Chapter - 2: October 1938: ‘More Popular than Hitler’ Chapter - 3: November 1938: ‘We Are Being Hunted Like Hares’ Chapter - 4: Winter 1938/1939: ‘Does Conscription Mean That the Men Will Have to Go Away?’ Chapter - 5: Spring 1939: ‘It’s Hitler Again: But Don’t Worry!’ Chapter - 6: April/May 1939: ‘We All Love Him Very, Very Much’ Chapter - 7: June/July 1939: ‘Fine, Fine, Fine. Blue and Sunshine Everywhere’ Chapter - 8: 1–22 August 1939: ‘To Die for Danzig?’ Chapter - 9: 23–31 August 1939: ‘Grandmother is Dead’ Chapter - 10: 1–3 September 1939: ‘So the Madness Unfolds’ Acknowledgements - iv: Acknowledgements Section - v: Notes Section - vi: Sources Index - vii: Index

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Book SynopsisA Times Literary Supplement Book of the YearA riveting account of a forgotten holocaust: the slaughter of over one hundred thousand Ukrainian Jews in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. In the Midst of Civilized Europe repositions the pogroms as a defining moment of the twentieth century.‘Exhaustive, clearly written, deeply researched’ - The Times‘A meticulous, original and deeply affecting historical account’ - Philippe Sands, author of East West StreetBetween 1918 and 1921, over a hundred thousand Jews were murdered in Ukraine by peasants, townsmen, and soldiers who blamed the Jews for the turmoil of the Russian Revolution. In hundreds of separate incidents, ordinary people robbed their Jewish neighbours with impunity, burned down their houses, ripped apart their Torah scrolls, sexually assaulted them, and killed them. Largely forgotten today, these pogroms – ethnic riots – dominated headlines and international affairs in their time. Aid workers warned that six million Jews were in danger of complete extermination. Twenty years later, these dire predictions would come true.Drawing upon long-neglected archival materials, including thousands of newly discovered witness testimonies, trial records, and official orders, acclaimed historian Jeffrey Veidlinger shows for the first time how this wave of genocidal violence created the conditions for the Holocaust. Through stories of survivors, perpetrators, aid workers, and governmental officials, he explains how so many different groups of people came to the same conclusion: that killing Jews was an acceptable response to their various problems.Trade ReviewVeidlinger’s book ranks alongside Timothy Snyder’s Bloodlands in forcing our eyes eastwards. It is deeply researched and masterfully written, with a cool restraint that only intensifies its power. It reminded me of Faulkner’s line that “the past is never dead. It’s not even past.” -- Patrick Bishop * The Sunday Telegraph *[An] exhaustive, clearly written, deeply researched story of events in a time and place most of us know nearly nothing about - the pogroms of 1918-21 in Ukraine and Poland . . . [an] imortant and scholalry book. -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *We now know much more about the pogroms of 1918–21 because of Veidlinger’s painstaking research . . . he has succeeded in shining a bright scholarly light on a much less well-known attempt to exterminate European Jews two decades before the Holocaust. In its thoroughness and controlled passion, In the Midst of Civilized Europe is descriptive history at its best. -- David N Myers * Literary Review *Superbly researched . . . Jeffrey Veidlinger askes big historical questions that will change our understanding of the relation between pogroms immediately after the First World War and the Holocaust, barely twenty years later. -- David Herman * TLS *Revelatory . . . Veidlinger’s crisp prose and extensive research makes the scale of the tragedy immediate and devastating. This is a vital addition to understanding how the Holocaust happened. * Publishers Weekly *Chilling . . . unequivocal . . . A vital history that draws a direct line from Eastern European antisemitic violence to the Holocaust. * Kirkus Reviews *No history of that Jewish catastrophe comes close to the virtuosity of research, clarity of prose, and power of analysis of this extraordinary book. -- Timothy Snyder, author of BloodlandsThis brilliant account of the bloody pogroms, which were perpetrated in Ukraine during the Russian Revolution, represents an important advance on a neglected subject. -- Norman Davies, author of God's Playground, Europe: A History and Vanished KingdomsA work of singular importance: a meticulous, original and deeply affecting historical account, one that provides new insights into the conditions that catalyzed mass-murder on an industrial scale. -- Philippe Sands, author of East West StreetCompelling and well-written, the book will find a broad audience. This is a story that needs to be told. -- Ronald Grigor Suny, author of Stalin: Passage to RevolutionIn this deeply learned but highly readable book, Veidlinger demonstrates how the all-but-forgotten pogroms in the collapsing Russian Empire in 1918–21 set precedents for the horrors that were to follow just two decades later. -- Zvi Gitelman, author of A Century of Ambivalence

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Book SynopsisExam board: EdexcelLevel: A-levelSubject: History First teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2016Target success in Edexcel A-level History with this proven formula for effective, structured revision; key content coverage is combined with exam preparation activities and exam-style questions to create a revision guide that students can rely on to review, strengthen and test their knowledge.- Enables students to plan and manage a successful revision programme using the topic-by-topic planner- Consolidates knowledge with clear and focused content coverage, organised into easy-to-revise chunks- Encourages active revision by closely combining historical content with related activities- Helps students build, practise and enhance their exam skills as they progress through activities set at three different levels- Improves exam technique through exam-style questions with sample answers and commentary from expert authors and teachers- Boosts historical knowledge with a useful glossary and timeline

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Book SynopsisLearn the little-known history of the forgotten American Revolution Battle of Pell's Point and the heroism of John Glover. General William Howe and the mighty British-Hessian Army possessed the golden opportunity to cut-off, trap, and then destroy General George Washington’s Army before he could retreat north and escape from Harlem Heights, New York, when he landed his army at Pell’s Point north of New York City. Howe’s bold amphibious operation north of Washington’s Army threatened to end the life of the Continental Army and the revolution. However, the brilliant delaying actions of Colonel John Glover and a small force of New England Continental troops saved the day and Washington’s Army by preventing Howe’s advance inland to intercept Washington’s route of retreat to White Plains. Employing brilliant delaying tactics when outnumbered by more than five to one, Glover inflicted heavy losses on the attackers to ensure that Washington’s Army survived to fight another day. Ironically, the Battle of Pell’s Point has been perhaps the most important forgotten battle of the entire American Revolution. In Saving Washington's Army, renowned historian Phillip Thomas Ticker, PhD, recounts the little-known story of the Battle of Pell's Point and the heroism of Colonel John Glover with the care and attention-to-detail for which he is known.

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Book SynopsisIn the Axis War on the side of Germany, Mussolini's Italy was responsible for serious war crimes, especially in Yugoslavia and Greece. This 'dark side' of the fascist war, however, is not present in the national memory built after 1945. To distinguish Italy from the former German ally and avoid a punitive peace, the monarchist and anti-fascist ruling classes elaborated a master narrative that highlighted the opposition of the Italian people to Mussolini's war and the humanitarian behavior of Italian soldiers, depicted as saviors of Jews. All responsibility for the crimes committed in the Axis war was placed on the shoulders of the Germans, who thus became a convenient alibi for the national conscience.Table of ContentsIntroduction1 Italy and the Axis in Allied propaganda 2 Who betrayed their country? 3 The origins of war memory4 ‘Italy won too’: atonement and redemption of a ‘nation underground’5 Forgetting the Axis6 ‘Good Italians’ and ‘bad Germans’ 7 Humans or Germans?ConclusionIndex

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Book SynopsisThis book provides fresh perspectives on a key period in the history of humanitarianism. Drawing on economic, cultural, social and diplomatic perspectives, it explores the scale and meaning of humanitarianism in the era of the Great War. Foregrounding the local and global dimensions of the humanitarian responses, it interrogates the entanglement of humanitarian and political interests and uncovers the motivations and agency of aid donors, relief workers and recipients. The chapters probe the limits of humanitarian engagement in a period of unprecedented violence and suffering and evaluate its long-term impact on humanitarian action.Table of ContentsIntroduction: humanitarianism and the Greater War – Elisabeth Piller and Neville WyliePART I: GLOBAL WAR, GLOBAL AID 1 Humanitarian aid across the ocean: Argentine contributions to the relief of Europe during the Great War – María Inés Tato2 Sagas of swords, scrolls, and dolls: Japanese humanitarian aid to Belgium –Hanne Deleu3 Geographies of humanitarian mobilisation: Portuguese Africa and the Great War – Ana Paula Pires4 Philanthropy in time of war: Paul Nathan and the Hilfsverein der deutschen Juden –Christoph JahrPART II: THE POLITICS AND POWER OF AID 5 The neutrals at war: humanitarian competition in the Great War – Cédric Cotter6 Neutrality and the politics of protection: the United States as a protecting power, 1914–17 – Neville Wylie7 Blockaders as humanitarians? Connecting the Allied blockade of Germany and post-warHumanitarianism – Phillip Dehne8 Better fed than red: international famine relief, 1921–22 – Kimberly LowePART III: THE LEGACIES AND LIMITS OF GREAT WAR-ERA RELIEF9 Abandoning Poland: Great War humanitarianism as a history of failure – Elisabeth Piller10 Children and the ‘hunger politics’ of 1919-20: food aid to German children and thefounding of the international Save the Children Movement – Tatjana Eichert and Rebecca Gill11 ‘The most deplorable victims’? The language of humanitarianism and relief to intellectuals in the era of the Great War –Tomás Irish 12 The imperial ‘guardians’ of slavery: international humanitarianism, colonial labour policies, and the crisis of imperial governance under the League of Nations, 1919–26 – Christian Mueller Afterword – Branden LittleIndex

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Book Synopsis‘Victor Gregg is the most remarkable spokesman for the war generation’ Dan Snow ‘A classic’ Mail on Sunday ‘Astonishing’ James Holland Born in 1919, Victor Gregg enlisted in the Rifle Brigade aged just eighteen and began a life of adventure. A soldier throughout the Second World War, he saw action across North Africa, was a driver for the Long Range Desert group and fought at the battle of Alamein. Taken into captivity at the Battle of Arnhem in 1944, he was sentenced to death for sabotaging a Dresden factory; he escaped only when the Allies’ infamous air raid blew apart his prison and very soon encountered the advancing Red Army. Revised and expanded with exclusive new material in time for Gregg’s 100th birthday, Rifleman is the extraordinary story of an independent-minded and quick-witted survivor.Trade ReviewSearingly honest in his appraisal of what that conflict did to the world, on society and, above all, on himself -- DAN SNOWQuite simply, it is one of the best first-hand accounts that I have read … This gripping book immediately joins a select band of the best soldiers’ stories told from the sharp end * MAIL ON SUNDAY *Hugely entertaining and often moving … As action-packed as any fiction, and yet this is no novel – Gregg's adventures were real. His is truly an astonishing story -- JAMES HOLLANDOne of the most shocking accounts of warfare you will ever read ... An account of heartache, violence and cunning by a man whose will to survive and unbreakable optimism are a true inspiration * INDEPENDENT *A thrilling story of a young man in extraordinary circumstances … Rifleman is an outstanding book that deserves to become a classic -- LLOYD CLARKFascinating … a gut-wrenching read * SUN *Evocative, detailed and unsentimental – gets us wonderfully close-up -- DAVID KYNASTONHis coldly factual account of the torments of its burned-to-death victims exceeds in power even Kurt Vonnegut's famous fictional account, Slaughterhouse Five ... Warrior Gregg has seen and experienced the stuff of nightmares, but remains a chirpy optimist in his 90s * DAILY MIRROR *Intensely moving * MAIL ON SUNDAY *It reads like the best fiction * SAGA *Vic’s honesty and warmth shine through this engaging story * CHOICE *Completely fascinating. This feels like one of the last voices of a vital generation. For the first-hand account of the Dresden fire-bombing alone, this is gripping reading. It has an immediate power throughout that makes war fiction a pale shadow of the real thing -- CONN IGGULDEN

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Book SynopsisA SPECTATOR, NEW STATESMAN AND THE TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR ‘The best biography I have read in years' Philippe Sands ‘Spectacular’ Observer ‘A remarkable portrait’ Guardian W. G. Sebald was one of the most extraordinary and influential writers of the twentieth century. Through books including The Emigrants, Austerlitz and The Rings of Saturn, he pursued an original literary vision that combined fiction, history, autobiography and photography and addressed some of the most profound themes of contemporary literature: the burden of the Holocaust, memory, loss and exile. The first biography to explore his life and work, Speak, Silence pursues the true Sebald through the memories of those who knew him and through the work he left behind. This quest takes Carole Angier from Sebald’s birth as a second-generation German at the end of the Second World War, through his rejection of the poisoned inheritance of the Third Reich, to his emigration to England, exploring the choice of isolation and exile that drove his work. It digs deep into a creative mind on the edge, finding profound empathy and paradoxical ruthlessness, saving humour, and an elusive mix of fact and fiction in his life as well as work. The result is a unique, ferociously original portrait.Trade ReviewA remarkable biography . . . The first major study of revered author and academic WG Sebald reveals an obsessive and brilliant mind . . . In her long and scholarly book, a testament to the powers of research and detailed dissection, Angier has presented a remarkable portrait of a writer consumed by work * Guardian *Meticulously researched … The brilliance of [this] biography, a spectacularly agile work of criticism as well as a feat of doggedly meticulous research, lies in Angier’s ability to look her subject straight in the eye while holding on to the sense of adoration that made her want to write it in the first place * Observer *The product of years of sleuthing … Angier’s openness about the difficulties she has encountered in trying to untangle [Sebald’s] enigma if anything adds to her portrait … The portrait which ultimately emerges convinces: of a tormented man, an isolated misfit, riven by self-doubt, who wrote to stave off depressive breakdowns and even madness and suicidal impulses * Spectator *It is a considerable achievement to unpick, so convincingly, mysteries Sebald has taken care to contrive. And to do it with such respect, and indeed generosity, that the great originals are burnished -- Iain SinclairSpeak, Silence is an extraordinary achievement. Carole Angier has been able to capture the genius of Sebald without trapping him in facile definitions, allowing his portrait the many hues and changing angles that those who knew him will recognize as profoundly true -- Alberto ManguelSebald once wrote to me that he would just like to be “a guardian of the lesser domains”. His work is enough, but this enticing and thorough book on his life and art proves that he was, in spite of his tragic and early death, an absolute master of the highest domains of literature -- Javier MaríasCarole Angier extends the scope of biography by turning her intense admiration for Sebald’s work into a personal quest for this enigmatic and disturbing writer -- Hilary SpurlingA biographer of great sympathy -- Michael HolroydEnthralling . . . I was exhilarated from start to finish, by subject, style and substance. It is the best biography I have read in years -- Philippe SandsA suitably unorthodox life of this singular writer . . . Angier’s strategy pays off: this is an insightful, compulsively readable book * Atlantic *W.G. Sebald so deliberately and cunningly blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction in his books that every reader longs for a clear-eyed guide to what is invented and what is ‘real’, while at the same time dreading the damage this might do to the delicate webs he weaves. Carole Angier’s tireless detective work has cleared up many of the mysteries, both in his life and in his work, while her critical acumen and manifest admiration for the latter ensures that it emerges enhanced rather than diminished from her labours. A riveting book -- Gabriel JosipoviciRemarkable, the definitive biography . . . Deeply researched, subtle, sympathetic * Claire Tomalin on 'Jean Rhys' *An acute literary intelligence . . . The reader comes to trust instinctively Angier’s assessments * New York Times on 'Jean Rhys' *Allows us to see Levi’s life in its full historical meaning * Financial Times on 'The Double Bond: Primo Levi' *Marvellous and visionary . . . Remarkable in all senses of the word * New York Times on 'The Double Bond: Primo Levi' *Angier writes with brio and occasional brilliance . . . By the end, I felt convinced that she had got to the heart of Levi * Guardian on 'The Double Bond: Primo Levi' *

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Book SynopsisWhile the Panzer I and II are not as famous as the German tanks produced later in the Second World War, they played a vital role in Hitler's early blitzkrieg campaigns and in the Nazi rearmament programme pursued, at first in secret, by the Nazi regime during the 1930s. Anthony Tucker-Jones's photographic history of their design, development and wartime service is an ideal introduction to them. Both panzers saw combat during the invasions of Poland and France, the Low Countries and Scandinavia during 1939-40. Although by the time the Wehrmacht invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, the Panzer I had been virtually phased out of service, in the form of self-propelled guns they continued to see combat well into 1943. The Panzer II was also phased out with the panzer regiments in late 1943, yet it remained in action on secondary fronts and, as the self-propelled Marder II anti-tank gun and Wespe artillery variant, it saw active service with the panzer and panzer grenadier divisions until the end of the war. The Panzer I and II were the precursors of the formidable range of medium and heavy tanks that followed-the Panzer III and IV and the Panther and Tiger-and this book is a fascinating record of them.

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Book SynopsisFrom its origins as the Consular Guard of the French Republic, and as Napoleon's personal bodyguard, the Imperial Guard developed into a force of all arms numbering almost 100,000 men. Used by Napoleon as his principle tactical reserve, the Guard was engaged only sparingly, being deployed at the crucial moment of battle to turn the tide of victory in favour of the Emperor of the French. Naturally, the Imperial Guard has been the subject of numerous books over many decades, yet there has never been a publication that has investigated the uniforms and equipment of the infantry of the Imperial Guard in such detail and with such precision. The author has collected copies of almost all the surviving documents relating to the Guard, which includes a vast amount of material regarding the issuing of dress items, even in some instances down to company level. This information is supported by an unrivalled collection of illustrations, many of which have never been published before, as well as images of original items of equipment held in museums and private collections across the globe. In addition, the renowned military artist, Keith Rocco, has produced a series of unique paintings commissioned exclusively for this book. This glorious book is, and will remain, unsurpassed as the standard work on the clothing and equipment of the Imperial Guard, and will not only be invaluable to historians, but also reenactors, wargamers and modellers. It is one of the most important publications ever produced on this most famous of military formations.

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Book SynopsisUnited States Marine Corps played a leading role in the war against Japan from Pearl Harbour in December 1941 until VJ Day on 2 September 1945. Living up to its motto the First to Fight , the 1st Marine Division landed on the Japanese-occupied island of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific on August 7, 1942 and fought its way up the central Solomon islands to Cape Gloucester in the territory of New Guinea. In November 1943, the Marine Corps captured Tarawa Atoll and so began their advance across the Central Pacific, fighting many famous and bloody battles such as Saipan, Tinian, Guam, Peleliu, Iwo Jima and finally the 82-day epic struggle for Okinawa. These victories came at high cost, with 19,737 Marines killed, and 67,207 wounded. This classic Images of War title presents a graphic overview of the Corps' legendary campaign in text and contemporary images. The Author expertly describes the full range of Marine Corps weaponry and explains their organization, tactics and fighting doctrine.

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Book SynopsisWalter Tull would have been a remarkable individual no matter when he had been born, but to achieve what he did, during the time that he did, makes him even more remarkable. He was an orphan at just six years of age, and despite not wanting to, his step mother, Clara, had no choice but to place him and his elder brother, Edward, in to a children's home in the East End of London. As neither Walter or Edward had ever travelled outside of Folkestone before, the upheaval must have come as quite a shock. Two years after entering the home, Walter and Edward were split up when Edward was adopted and went to live in Glasgow. Walter's sporting prowess saw him play for top local amateur side, Clapton Football club, signing for them in 1908, but it was to be a short lived affair, as by the following year he had signed as a professional for the prestigious Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, making his first team debut against Manchester United. In October 1911 Walter was transferred to Northampton Town Football Club, where he would go on to play over one hundred first team games, before the First World War brought a premature end to his career as a professional footballer. With the outbreak of war, Walter wasted no time enlisting in the British Army, initially as a Private in the newly formed 17th (Football) Battalion, Middlesex Regiment. Further promotions followed and in no time at all he had reached the rank of Sergeant. He was put forward for a commission and passed out as a 2nd Lieutenant on 29 May 1917\. He went on to become the first black officer in the British Army, to lead white troops in to battle, and was fondly regarded by the men who served under him. Walter was killed in action whilst leading his men in a counter attack against German defensive positions on Monday 25 March 1918\. He died a hero. He was well liked and respected by all who knew him. Like many men of his generation his life was cut short for the greater good whilst in the service of his country, so that others might prevail.

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Book SynopsisDuring the Second World War, Darlington had a number of industries that were important to the war effort. With its historic links to the railway industry, the town possessed several engineering firms, as well as a number of companies that produced iron and steel products, and many of these companies switched some or all of their production over to wartime demands. The town also had an extensive rural hinterland and the farmers of Teesdale were faced with a barrage of new demands and regulations governing their vital work. Many residents of the area served as members of the armed forces and losses were grievous: the number of Darlington men killed while serving with the RAF was particularly high, with the impact of these losses spreading throughout the community. Despite many setbacks, Darlington was very efficient in bring its Air Raid Precautions and civil defence services up to full strength. With Britain facing invasion in 1940, many older men in the area, along with those younger men who were in reserved occupations, volunteered to serve in the Local Defence Volunteers (later the Home Guard) and one man was still serving at the age of 89. Thankfully, Darlington did not see the heavy bombing that many other communities in the North East of England suffered. However, there were still a large number of accidents in the area caused by the blackout, resulting in a number of fatalities. Locals also had to deal with rationing and not all were willing to pull together, seeing the wartime conditions, instead, as an opportunity to make illegal profits.

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