Modern warfare Books

Book SynopsisHarriet Salisbury has been a writer and editor for twenty years and has a special interest in the history of East London. She lives in Hackney. The War on Our Doorstep is her first book.The Museum of London oral history collection contains more than 5,000 hours of recorded life story interviews with a wide variety of people who have lived and worked in London and who talk about their lives and everyday experiences.Trade ReviewReveals in heart-rending detail what it truly means to be an East Ender * Daily Express *An excellent collection of recollections of Eastenders. ... What a place, what indomitable pride. Read all about it * Country Life *

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Book SynopsisYasmin Khan presents the overlooked history of India at war, and shows how mobilisation for the war unleashed seismic processes of economic, cultural and social change – decisively shaping the international war effort, the unravelling of the empire and India’s own political trajectory.Trade ReviewExceptional...balances analysis, history and human compassion in a narrative that leaves one shaken -- Juliet Nicolson, 5 stars * Daily Telegraph *Almost impossible to put down * New Statesman *The Second World War is one of the most written-about episodes in all world history: every month sees a dozen new titles published. Yet, astonishingly, The Raj at War breaks new ground on almost every page -- William Dalrymple * Spectator *A striking example of people’s history, packed with anecdotes, memories and information about a shared but largely unwritten global past * Guardian *Unprecedented in scope...rich both in detail and in its unique insights... Khan's history has paved the way for a more complex understanding of the Second World War as India's War -- Vinay Lal * Indian Express *A fascinating, vividly written history full of surprises, some of them shocking * The Times *Yasmin Khan...offers a richly researched social history of wartime India that is peppered with fascinating detail * The Economist *Remarkable Account… Compassionate, judicious and brilliantly readable, this is a compelling account of a dramatic, but little examined, aspect of history * Daily Mail *This fascinating book tells the story of World War Two's impact on India: the shattering of the ordered relations which underpinned the Raj making its end inevitable. It's also a much needed reminder of India's contribution to that war -- Mark TullyThis fascinating book tells the story of World War Two's impact on India: the shattering of the ordered relations which underpinned the Raj making its end inevitable. It's also a much needed reminder of India's contribution to that war -- Mark Tully

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Book SynopsisAlex Kershaw is the author of seven previous books, including the bestsellers The Bedford Boys and The Longest Winter. He has written for several British newspapers, including the Guardian, Independent and Sunday Times. Born in York, England, he now lives in America with his wife and son.Trade ReviewExceptional... A worthy addition to vibrant classics of small-unit history like Stephen Ambrose’s Band of Brothers. * Wall Street Journal *Gripping… Kershaw has produced another gem, with vivid combat scenes and an admirable character in the leading role. * Express *A poignant war story that culminates in the liberation of the Nazi concentration camp of Dachau… [A] fast-paced examination of a dedicated officer navigating – and somehow surviving – World War II. * Washington Post *

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Book SynopsisIn its earliest days, the American-led war in Afghanistan appeared to be a triumph, a 'good war' in comparison to the debacle in Iraq. This book explores the intentions and hubris that caused the West's strategy in Afghanistan to flounder, refuting the long-held notion that the war could have been won with more troops and cash.Trade ReviewAn excellent account. The outline of Fairweather’s story is sadly familiar, but he writes with exceptional lucidity and punch… No British officer should be allowed to board a plane for our next war until he has read Fairweather’s account of how we messed up the last one. -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *Jack Fairweather’s sweeping account, The Good War, is one of the first to look at the war as a whole… His richly narrated history roams from the corridors of the White House to the poppy palaces of the country’s opium warlords and the patrol bases of Sangin and Kandahar… As the West looks at the chaos of Iraq and Syria and once more considers how to intervene, the sobering warnings of this riveting book are more relevant than ever. -- Ben Farmer, 4 stars * Daily Telegraph *Powerful. -- James Meek * London Reviews of Books *Combines first-hand war reporting with shrewd analysis of the western conduct of the war, [readers] will quickly come to understand what went wrong. * Financial Times *The Good War is a tour de force – a riveting, clear-eyed account of the troubled US-led war in Afghanistan. Jack Fairweather has shown himself to be a narrative historian of the first order. For anyone seeking an honest appraisal of what went wrong and why, this book is a must-read. -- Jon Lee Anderson, author of 'The Lion’s Grave: Dispatches from Afghanistan'

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Book SynopsisAt a villa on the shore of the Wannsee, a lake in suburban Berlin, on 20th January 1942 one of the most terrible meetings in human history convened. Chaired by Reinhard Heydrich and organised and minuted by Adolf Eichmann, it brought together representatives of all the principal Nazi agencies in eastern Europe. Pooling the expertise of those present, Heydrich created the plan that would let Europe ''be combed through from west to east'' for Jews and which would put the Final Solution on a rational and industrial footing.Table of Contents"Perhaps the most shameful document"; "Mein Kampf" to mass murder, 1919-41; mass murder to genocide; the villa, the lake, the meeting; a largely successful day. Appendix: the protocol.

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Book SynopsisChurchill''s description of the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942, after Lt-Gen Percival''s surrender led to over 100,000 British, Australian and Indian troops falling into the hands of the Japanese, was no wartime exaggeration. The Japanese had promised that there would be no Dunkirk in Singapore, and its fall led to imprisonment, torture and death for thousands of allied men and women. With much new material from British, Australian, Indian and Japanese sources, Colin Smith has woven together the full and terrifying story of the fall of Singapore and its aftermath. Here, alongside cowardice and incompetence, are forgotten acts of enormous heroism; treachery yet heart-rending loyalty; Japanese compassion as well as brutality from the bravest and most capricious enemy the British ever had to face.

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Book SynopsisTo Lose a Battle: France 1940 is the final book of Alistair Horne''s trilogy, which includes The Fall of Paris and The Price of Glory and tells the story of the great crises of the rivalry between France and Germany. In 1940 Hitler sent his troops to execute the Fall of France. A six-week battle with lightning ''blitzkrieg'' warfare and combined operations techniques, the offensive ended the Phony War and sent the French forces reeling as their government fled from occupied Paris. For the Axis, it was a dramatic victory. But how was this spectacular result possible? In To Lose a Battle Alistair Horne tells the day-by-day, moment-by-moment story of the battle, sifted from the vast Nazi archives and the fragmentary records of the beaten Allies. Using eye-witness accounts of battle operations and personal memoirs of leading figures on both sides, this book steps far beyond the confines of military accounts to form a major contribution to our understanding of this important period in European history. ''Alistair Horne really brings home the pathos and human folly of war, and he writes brilliantly''The Times ''Horne follows his line unfalteringly. All the details are there: the small, fleeting triumphs, the greater disasters, the bravery, the cowardice, the stupidity and the intelligence ... that make war so fascinating and so terrible''Economist ''Horne completes his masterly trilogy ... the definitive account of one of the most efficient and astonishing campaigns of all time''The Times Literary Supplement One of Britain''s greatest historians, Sir Alistair Horne, CBE, is the author of a trilogy on the rivalry between France and Germany, The Price of Glory, The Fall of Paris and To Lose a Battle, as well as a two-volume life of Harold Macmillan.

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Book SynopsisA pacy, compelling and penetrating account - from the great Norman Stone''The best short primer on the war in twenty years'' Andrew RobertsNorman Stone''s gripping book tells the narrative of the Second World War in as brief a compass as possible, making a sometimes familiar story utterly fresh and arresting. As with his highly acclaimed World War One: A Short History, there is a compelling sense of a terrible story unfolding, of a sceptical and humorous intelligence at work, and a wish to convey to an audience who may well have no memory of the conflict just how high the stakes were.Trade ReviewProfessor Norman Stone has achieved the impossible; he has somehow written a comprehensive history of the Second World War in just under 200 pages, summarising the entire conflict while leaving out nothing of importance and bringing his lifetime of study of the subject to bear in a witty, incisive and immensely readable way ... Norman Stone has proved yet again that he is one of the most original, witty and powerful British historians writing today -- Andrew Roberts * Standpoint *The joy and strength of this compact history, besides its trenchancy and, in the publishers' words, the "sceptical and humorous intelligence at work", is its narrative clarity ... a book to clear the mind -- Allan Mallinson * The Times *Novices will receive a painless introduction, but educated readers should not pass up the highly opinionated prologue and epilogue and the author's trademark acerbic commentary throughout ... Readers of all stripes ... will find plenty to ponder * Kirkus Reviews *

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Book Synopsis''A gripping analysis of the final days of peace ... indispensable'' M. R. D. Foot, The TimesRichard Overy''s 1939: Countdown to War re-creates hour-by-hour the last desperate attempts to salvage peace before the outbreak of World War Two.24 August 1939: The fate of the world is hanging in the balance. Hitler has ambitions to invade Poland and hopes Stalin will now help him. The West must try to stop him. Nothing was predictable or inevitable. The West hoped that Hitler would see sense if they stood firm. Hitler was convinced the West would back down. And both sides acted knowing that they risked being plunged into a war that might spell the end the end of European civilization.Trade ReviewOvery is one of the great historians of the second world war -- Bryan Appleyard Sunday Times This country's most distinguished historian of the Second World War ... Overy's book is easily the best account of Europe's descent into the death and destruction that were Hitler's element -- Michael Burleigh Evening Standard Nail-biting ... with rare narrative verve, he documents the ultimatums, emissaries, letters and increasingly desperate proposals that shuttled across Europe in the countdown to war -- Ian Thomson Independent Even those who think they know it all about how war broke out will learn something from Richard Overy's book -- Simon Heffer Literary Review One of the great historians of this conflict -- Simon Garfield Observer

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Book SynopsisAndre Hue was a daredevil. By the age of twenty the Anglo-Frenchman had survived shipwreck and years undercover in France, sabotaging German supply lines. Returning to Britain, he was recruited by SOE to parachute behind enemy lines on 5 June 1944, to unite resistance forces in Brittany and paralyse local German troops during the Allied invasion. Though Hue''s mission was fraught with difficulty - he missed his landing site, his secret base camp became the site of a pitch battle and a band of Cossacks tried to hunt him down - he knew that thousands of lives depended on his success or failure . . .

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Book SynopsisDuring the Second World War the Royal Navy was the most powerful of Britain''s armed forces. Its sailors fought across the globe in vast battleships and claustrophobic corvettes, makeshift minesweepers and silent submarines. They endured nerve-wracking convoys, fought epic gun battles, carried out deadly secret missions, rescued armies and landed the largest invasion force in history. Naval power was the foundation of Britain''s war effort, and sailors shaped the nation''s destiny. Drawing on hundreds of contemporary diaries and letters, Glyn Prysor''s original and gripping narrative evokes the triumph and tragedy, horror and humanity of the war at sea, bringing to life the sailor''s war as never before.Trade ReviewMarvellous...a fine addition to the literature on the Second World War * Sunday Telegraph *Prysor does for the sailors of the Royal Navy what Patrick Bishop did for the RAF in Fighter Boys...He reminds us of their extraordinary contribution to our survival. * Daily Express *A moving and evocative story of the war at sea -- Professor N.A.M. Rodger, author of 'The Command of the Ocean'This impressive human history of the Royal Navy begins the long overdue process of putting it back at the heart of the war effort -- Book of the Week * Independent *Full of terrific stories * Sunday Times *An absorbing read...a fine memorial * Literary Review *Excellent. Captures the soul of the men who were there...their humanity and, occassionally, inhumanity * Navy News *Skillfully weaves together a coherent 'people's history of the sailors' war'...Fresh and compelling * Times Literary Supplement *Breathtaking skill...freshness and force...Prysor makes the Navy of the Second World War intensely personal, vivid and vital * Military Times *Reads extremely well, with a gripping narrative that explains the unfolding of the war whilst weaving in moving and vivid personal accounts...This is a book that manages to fuse the strategic with the human and the social with consummate skill, and in so doing it delivers a multifaceted understanding of the war at sea as well as a poignant reminder of the way in which society has lost its 'sea vision' * Nautilus International Telegraph *

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Book SynopsisWinner of the Templer Medal and the Wolfson History PrizeSunday Times Top 10 BestsellerRichard Vinen''s National Service is a serious - if often very entertaining - attempt to get to grips with the reality of that extraordinary institution, which now seems as remote as the British Empire itself. With great sympathy and curiosity, Vinen unpicks the myths of the two ''gap years'', which all British men who came of age between 1945 and the early 1960s had to fill with National Service. This book is fascinating to those who endured or even enjoyed their time in uniform, but also to anyone wishing to understand the unique nature of post-war Britain.Trade ReviewVinen's clever and careful book is surely the definitive history. The era of national service now seems like ancient history, but from the routines of the parade ground to the horrors of Korea, Vinen restores it to life with a searching eye for detail and impressive human sympathy -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times BOOKS OF THE YEAR *Written with compassion and insight, Vinen's book brilliantly recreates the atmosphere of postwar Britain -- Tony Barber * Financial Times BOOKS OF THE YEAR *National Service may prove to be the most original social history book of 2014. The book is bigger than its ostensible subject, embracing class, masculinity, sexuality, compliance, rebellion, combat atrocities, petty crime, notions of national identity, group solidarity, the fallibility of memory and what it means to be a man -- Richard Davenport-Hines * Guardian *Vinen has given us the kind of book that every professional historian surely wants to write: not only with a mastery of its voluminous original sources but also a sensitivity to the rich human detail, by turns authoritative, thoughtful, poignant - and funny -- Peter Clarke * Financial Times *I can't recall ever having read so unexpectedly fascinating a book...every single page has something of great interest on it -- Nicholas Lezard * The Guardian *

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE LONGMAN-HISTORY TODAY BOOK PRIZE 2019 WINNER OF THE TEMPLER MEDAL BOOK PRIZE 2019 WINNER OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON MEDAL FOR MILITARY HISTORY 2019LONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING 2019 A SPECTATOR BOOK THE YEAR 2019''Brilliant. The best discussion of soldiers in combat, their motivation, behaviours and fears, that I have come across'' Robert Fox, Evening StandardOur Boys brings to life the human experiences of the paratroopers who fought in the Falklands War, and examines the long aftermath of that conflict. It is a first in many ways - a history of the Parachute Regiment, a group with an elite and aggressive reputation; a study of close-quarters combat on the Falkland Islands; and an exploration of the many legacies of this short and symbolic war.Told unflinchingly through the experiences of people who lived through it, Our Boys shows how the FTrade ReviewA work of astonishing power and originality ... a compelling study of the realities of war, centred on the death of the author's uncle in the Falklands. It is at once intensely moving, completely objective and beautifully written. -- Jonathan Sumption * The Spectator *An extraordinary book. -- Richard Vinen, author of National ServiceBeautifully written, intensely poignant book ... It will leave a real mark on the minds of those who read it. -- Peter HennessyPowerful and moving, Our Boys is a fascinating insight into the nature of combat and represents an important contribution to our understanding of the Falklands War, The Parachute Regiment and post-war Britain. -- Dan Jarvis MPA classic. Truly superb... something unique and original. It does great justice to the Paras, and is the most honest and honourable homage possible to the author's uncle Dave. -- Major Nigel Price, 7th Gurkha Rifles

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Book SynopsisImagine you could eavesdrop on a dinner party with three of the most fascinating historical figures of all time. In this landmark book, a gifted Harvard historian puts you in the room with Churchill, Stalin, and Roosevelt as they meet at a climactic turning point in the war to hash out the terms of the peace. The ink wasn''t dry when the recriminations began. The conservatives who hated Roosevelt''s New Deal accused him of selling out. Was he too sick? Did he give too much in exchange for Stalin''s promise to join the war against Japan? Could he have done better in Eastern Europe? Both Left and Right would blame Yalta for beginning the Cold War. Plokhy''s conclusions, based on unprecedented archival research, are surprising. He goes against conventional wisdom-cemented during the Cold War- and argues that an ailing Roosevelt did better than we think. Much has been made of FDR''s handling of the Depression; here we see him as wartime chief. Yalta is authoritatiTrade ReviewThe end of the Cold War has given scholars a chance to step back and take a more dispassionate look at those eight consequential days in February 1945. It is hard to imagine anyone doing so better than S.M. Plokhy in 'Yalta: The Price of Peace' ... colorful and gripping ... * The Wall Street Journal *Harvard historian S.M. Plokhy has produced a gripping narrative of the eight days in February 1945 when the Big Three - Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin - convened the Yalta summit as World War II raged on. * The Boston Globe *

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Book SynopsisThe definitive history of American war reporting in the Pacific theater of World War II, from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.After almost two years slogging with infantrymen through North Africa, Italy, and France, Ernie Pyle immediately realized he was ill prepared for covering the Pacific War. As Pyle and other war correspondents discovered, the climate, the logistics, and the sheer scope of the Pacific theater had no parallel in the war America was fighting in Europe. From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, The War Beat, Pacific provides the first comprehensive account of how a group of highly courageous correspondents covered America''s war against Japan, what they witnessed, what they were allowed to publish, and how their reports shaped the home front''s perception of some of the most pivotal battles in American military history. In a dramatic and fast-paced narrative based on a wealth of previously untapped primary sources, Casey takes us from MacArthur''s doomed defense on the Philippines and the navy''s overly strict censorship policy at the time of Midway, through the bloody battles on Guadalcanal, New Guinea, Tarawa, Saipan, Leyte and Luzon, Iwo Jima and Okinawa, detailing the cooperation, as well as conflict, between the media and the military, as they grappled with the enduring problem of limiting a free press during a period of extreme crisis.The War Beat, Pacific shows how foreign correspondents ran up against practical challenges and risked their lives to get stories in a theater that was far more challenging than the war against Nazi Germany, while the US government blocked news of the war against Japan and tried to focus the home front on Hitler and his atrocities.Trade ReviewA nuanced and engaging narrative of the Pacific war in World War II....Steven Casey...untangles the complex challenges that reporters experienced from the moment they arrived on the vast front....The reporters were not sideline observers or members of a pool simply repurposing what they were told from official sources. They often put themselves at great risk and, along with the soldiers they accompanied, endured malnourishment, blistering heat and humidity, disease, endless insects, and enemy bullets and shells....With everything seemingly against them—a public distracted by the European war; military officials who viewed them with suspicion; or publishers who wanted something other than graphic or demoralizing coverage—the Pacific reporters did their jobs nonetheless....A timely reminder of what a democracy needs from an independent press in times of crisis. * Tracy Campbell, Journal of American History *[A] brilliant book on American reporters covering World War II in the Pacific....Casey's powerful and readable account offers an important addition to the historiography of the Pacific theater.... Casey concludes that despite the difficulties that reporters faced in the Pacific, they played an invaluable role in bridging the gap between what was occurring on the battlefield and what was understood on the home front. Reporters developed working relationships with different military commanders and public relations officers while overcoming harsh environmental conditions, dangerous and sometimes deadly combat situations, and unreliable transportation. * David L. Snead, Journal of Military History *Casey has produced a highly useful companion volume to his earlier book The War Beat, Europe (2017), deserving of a place in any collection focusing on WWII or journalism. * J.P. Sanson, CHOICE Connect, Vol. 59 No. 8 *Shrewd and comprehensive.... The War Beat, Pacific is an impressive achievement. Media-military relations in the Pacific were, it shows us, a world of paradoxes and conundrums reflecting the competing agendas and institutional frictions within the military and between it and the media. Casey composes a lucid narrative out of disparate archival materials and secondary sources. While he captures the terror, misery, and frustration reporters felt in the Pacific, his eyes are on the bigger picture, the forces in both media and military that determined what the American public knew of the war and what it did not. Now the definitive account of US war reporting in the Pacific, The War Beat, Pacific promises to have a long shelf life. * Richard Fine, Michigan War Studies Review *Reporters assigned to cover the Pacific theater of WW II faced obstacles that were difficult to overcome. The Pacific War covered thousands of square miles, and much of it was fought by the navy. Reporters might be on a ship dozens or even a hundred miles from major battles trying to make sense of the progress by listening to comments and reports from pilots without seeing one moment of action. Moreover, they struggled with wording dispatches to their home offices in order to make it past military censors....Pacific theater reporters also had to contend with the unique personalities of those who were in charge of operations....Casey...has produced a highly useful companion volume to his earlier book The War Beat, Europe (2017), deserving of a place in any collection focusing on WW II or journalism....Recommended. General readers, advanced undergraduates through faculty, and professionals. * Choice *Brimming with anecdotes, it sheds light on just what it takes to be a war correspondent. For those seeking new perspectives on America's war with Japan this is a thoroughly illuminating book. * History of War *In this masterful and often gripping work, Steven Casey narrates the history of World War II in the Pacific from the perspective of the reporters who covered it. News coverage of American fighting in the Pacific was hampered by censorship and by the difficulty of simply getting to the front, leading to a largely 'shrouded war,' undermining public engagement and understanding. Through exhaustive research, Casey reveals the way journalists risked their lives to keep Americans informed. * Mary L. Dudziak, author of War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences *Students of military-news media relations have long decried the lack of a wide-ranging history of the role of the press in World War II's Pacific theater. Steven Casey's thoroughly researched War Beat, Pacific, fills that gap. Balanced, concise, superbly written, it will be a must-read along with Casey's War Beat, Europe, for anyone hoping to comprehend World War II in all its breadth and complexity. * William M. Hammond, author of Reporting Vietnam: Media and Military at War *Steven Casey has made an important, original contribution to our knowledge of American war reporting, an eternally relevant topic, especially for a society that values both free speech and operational security. In Casey's exploration of war reporting in the Pacific theater, we see the struggles of reporters against military censorship, appalling conditions, an almost nonexistent communications infrastructure, and often their fellow correspondents in the endless competition for breaking stories. Casey weaves naturally from relating the experiences of individual reporters to larger context on the customs and practices of war reporting as a whole. * John C. McManus, author of Fire and Fortitude: The U.S. Army in the Pacific War, 1941-1943 *Steven Casey has produced another superbly researched and beautifully written study of US media coverage of World War II, this time in the Pacific theater. It will serve as a worthy companion to his previous study of media coverage in the European theater. As with that previous volume, this one should lead to reconsideration of many standard beliefs regarding the relationship within and between the media, the armed forces, and the government during the conflict, as well as the numerous individuals whose reporting and photographs helped shape the public image of the war. * Mark A. Stoler, editor of the George C. Marshall Papers *Steven Casey offers a fresh and absorbing account of the Pacific War told through the harrowing experiences of battle-hardened reporters. Correspondents on 'the war beat' risked everything to tell its story, but the fog of that war was thick. Americans knew shockingly little about what actually transpired in such places as Bataan and Okinawa, Tokyo and Hiroshima. Casey's brilliant and fast-paced narrative opens up that world, providing a behind-the-scenes picture of the war unlike any other. * Kenneth Osgood, author of Total Cold War: Eisenhower's Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad *Steven Casey has written an exceptional book. * Stephen C. Murray, Journal of Pacific History *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Part One: The Shrouded War Chapter 1. The Paradox of Pearl Harbor Chapter 2. Fiasco in the Philippines Chapter 3. Censorship at Sea Chapter 4. The New Guinea Gang Chapter 5. The Shroud Slips: Guadalcanal Part Two: Lifting the Veil Chapter 6. Atrocities Chapter 7. Dress Rehearsal in New Guinea Chapter 8. Bloody Battles in the Central Pacific Chapter 9. The Burma Backwater Part Three: Vengeance Chapter 10. The Return Chapter 11. Death in the Pacific Chapter 12. Endgame Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe Year of Our Lord 1943 tells the story of how five Christian intellectuals - Jacques Maritain, T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis, W. H. Auden, and Simone Weil - sought to provide a plan for the moral and spiritual renewal of the Western democracies in the post-World War II world.Trade ReviewThis book is a valuable contribution to the intellectual history of the mid--twentieth century. Jacobs deals adeptly with Christian humanism in the context of the crises of the 1930s and World War II. As such, the monograph will appeal to, among others, intellectual historians, political theorists, as well as scholars of human rights and religion. * Andrew L. Williams, Indiana University-Pursue University Indianapolis, Religious Studies Review *...the book offers an accessible introduction to the thought of five major twentieth--century intellectuals, each of whom has been the subject of a daunting amount of writing. It also succeeds in conveying some of the anxieties, preoccupations and experiences of British and French Christian intellectuals in wartime. * Matthew Grimley, University of Oxford, MODERN BELIEVING *Jacobs's fascinating and important book ... offers a rich resource for anyone who wishes to think seriously about the way in which Christians can engage their societies in the face of the current crises they encounter. * Maikki Aakko, Journal of the Oxford Graduate Theological Society *an excellent work revealing great erudition yet doing so with a writing style that could do credit to a New Yorker piece. * Justus D. Doenecke, Anglican and Episcopal History *Reading Alan Jacob's super little book is like prizing open the back of a watch to study the mechanism within: tiny cogs working in clever order, designed by a master craftsman. The cogs are several Christian thinkers whose lives and thoughts connected in 1943. * Tim Stanley, History Today *This elegant book examines his efforts along with those of W.H. Auden, T.S. Eliot, Jacques Maritain and Simone Weil... There were substantial differences in how each responded to the challenges of their times. Jacob traces these while keeping what united them in view; a difficult task that he accomplishes with aplomb. * Frank Litton, Irish Catholic *This is an interesting book about Christian humanism in an age of crisis, specifically during the Second World War. * David Lorimer, Paradigm Explorer *The Year of Our Lord 1943 is a fascinating and insightful reflection on intellectuals' reaction to perceived crisis. In their literary, philosophical, journalistic and private writings, Eliot, Weil, Maritain, Auden, and Lewis expressed their fear that humanity was approaching a destructive crisis of its own making. The book's elegant style and gripping prose linger with the reader, along with a persistent reflection on the desirable and possible intellectual reactions to contemporary man-made crises, and on the human moral values worth preserving as a guidance for the future. * Or Rosenboim, H-Diplo *Jacobs's biographical method is, in many ways, the star of the show. Letting his characters' voices weave themselves together, Jacobs aptly pulls them into common points of reflection. * Peter Boumgarden, The Christian Century *We end our reading of the book vastly better informed about the culture and thought of the 1940s, and amply equipped to see how those ideas would resonate over the next three or four decades. Alan Jacobs has written a fine and provocative book. * Phillip Jenkins, The Englewood Review of Books *a stunning account * Stuart Kelly, Books of the Year 2018, Scotland on Sunday *stimulating and well-written book * Paul Richardson, Church of England Newspaper *Alan Jacobs weaves a remarkable tale of five major Christian thinkers striving to make sense of a world in chaos and to speak wisdom to that world. This is a major achievement, wonderfully readable, the crowning work of our own era's most resourceful Christian intellectual. * Charles Marsh, Commonwealth Professor of Religious Studies and Director of the Project on Lived Theology, University of Virginia *Alan Jacob's prose wears immense learning lightly, with great grace and to great effect. To think alongside these writers, under Jacobs's stage direction, to hear them across a gap of three-quarters of a century think with gravity and sincerity, pondering the nature of the human soul, palpably straining toward the ideal of the common good, feeling the pull of their religion's perennial pitfalls, in a situation and language different from and yet not wholly unlike our own, is riveting, challenging, and life-giving. * Lori Branch, author of Rituals of Spontaneity *Alan Jacobs has written an elegant and deeply learned book on Christian humanism in the critical years of the Second World War. He opens a window into some of the most luminous and profound thinking about the nature and possibilities of civilization during those troubled years. By doing so, has opened a window for thinking about our own troubled times. * James D. Hunter, author of To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World *Table of ContentsPreface A Note on Narrative Method Dramatis Personae: 1 September 1939 Chapter 1: "Prosper, O Lord, Our Righteous Cause" Chapter 2: The Humanist Inheritance Chapter 3: Learning in War-Time Chapter 4: Demons Chapter 5: Force Chapter 6: The Year of Our Lord 1943 Chapter 7: Approaching the End Afterword: Stunde Null Bibliography

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Book SynopsisWhile armies have seized enemy records and rare texts as booty throughout history, it was only during World War II that an unlikely band of librarians, archivists, and scholars traveled abroad to collect books and documents to aid the military cause. Galvanized by the events of war into acquiring and preserving the written word, as well as providing critical information for intelligence purposes, these American civilians set off on missions to gather foreign publications and information across Europe. They journeyed to neutral cities in search of enemy texts, followed a step behind advancing armies to capture records, and seized Nazi works from bookstores and schools. When the war ended, they found looted collections hidden in cellars and caves. Their mission was to document, exploit, preserve, and restitute these works, and even, in the case of Nazi literature, to destroy them. In this fascinating account, cultural historian Kathy Peiss reveals how book and document collecting became part of the new apparatus of intelligence and national security, military planning, and postwar reconstruction. Focusing on the ordinary Americans who carried out these missions, she shows how they made decisions on the ground to acquire sources that would be useful in the war zone as well as on the home front. These collecting missions also boosted the postwar ambitions of American research libraries, offering a chance for them to become great international repositories of scientific reports, literature, and historical sources. Not only did their wartime work have lasting implications for academic institutions, foreign-policy making, and national security, it also led to the development of today''s essential information science tools. Illuminating the growing global power of the United States in the realms of intelligence and cultural heritage, Peiss tells the story of the men and women who went to Europe to collect and protect books and information and in doing so enriches the debates over the use of data in times of both war and peace.Trade ReviewIn Information Hunters Kathy Peiss documents how information gathering was central to the U.S. victory in Europe—and how 'collecting' also came to mean, after the conflict ended, keeping information away from certain populations....Information hunting changed the course of the war, Peiss convincingly argues, and 'made an imprint on the postwar world of books and information.'...In a time when we suffer from an overload of dematerialized information, Peiss's book is a valuable reminder of how different the world was when that information was scarce and existed only in vulnerable, physical form. * Greg Barnhisel, Journal of American History *In her fascinating new book on information gathering and intelligence during WW II, Peiss spotlights the contributions of the American scholarly community. Her study—impressively researched and engagingly written—explores the ways in which librarians, archivists, and academics traveled throughout Europe to collect information relevant to the war effort....Peiss's narrative traces the work of these scholars from the procurement of open source materials at the beginning of the war through the collection of enemy documents in its closing stages to the thorny questions surrounding mass acquisitions in postwar Germany....In illuminating the link between information science and intelligence gathering, as well as the importance of foreign holdings in libraries as a symbol of American power, Peiss demonstrates that the academic community and military enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship. * CHOICE *The book is carefully researched, written with care and skill, and provides an additional warning about the horrors of wartime. * Bob Lane, Metapsychology *Excellent and engaging....[Peiss's] analysis is smart, insightful, and compelling....Thanks to Peiss's informative and original book, we now know...why and how so many war-era German books and documents ended up in American research libraries....The information hunters...contributed to the development of information science,...helped tighten the relations between government, the military, and research university and libraries...and shaped the postwar intelligence activities and tactics of the National Security Agency and the CIA. * Matthew Avery Sutton, Reviews in American History *In astonishing detail, Peiss's study chronicles the multi-pronged efforts of American librarians, archivists, scholars, and military and intelligence personnel who activated a mass acquisitions programme that resulted in some two million foreign books and periodicals, thousands of microfilm reels, and 160,000 volumes looted from European Jewry by the Nazis and their collaborators, which found their way to repositories in the United States. * Christine Schmidt, Library & Information History *A marvelous new book about spy craft and the book world....I beg the creatives out there to read...and write a dramatic miniseries about bookish spies during the Second World War. * Elyse Graham, Public Books *Illuminating the growing global power of the United States in the realms of intelligence and cultural heritage, Peiss tells the story of the men and women who went to Europe to collect and protect books and information and in doing so enriches the debates over the use of data in times of both war and peace. * Tom Gilson, Against the Grain *This well-written and astutely researched book makes the wartime work of librarians engaging and engrossing. Those fascinated by intelligence missions or keen on the history of library science will appreciate this excellent read. * Library Journal (starred review) *Information Hunters is Kathy Peiss's wonderfully surprising history of a little-known, World War II intelligence effort to gather newspapers, magazines, books, and every other kind of printed information about business, science, and ordinary life in Germany and occupied Europe. Working mainly through cities in neutral countries — Lisbon, Stockholm, Bern, and the like — agents quietly arranged to gather bundles, then truckloads, finally ship- and train-loads of books and paper for analysts to study. It's a beautiful piece of scholarship that reveals the war in a new light - as a struggle for knowledge and truth. * Thomas Powers, author of Heisenberg's War: The Secret History of the German Bomb *This fascinating book tells the story of the American librarians who set out on vast collecting missions amidst the destruction of World War II Europe. Cultural historian Kathy Peiss deftly reconstructs their work here, showing how librarians shaped the war and, in turn, how the war re-shaped libraries and librarianship. Beautifully told, this surprising story provides a valuable new perspective on the historical connection between war and the production of knowledge. * Lisa Moses Leff, American University *Kathy Peiss uncovers fascinating episodes in the history of information: the World War II entanglement of bibliography and spycraft as well as the postwar dilemmas of denazifying German culture while also dealing with cultural heritage collections that the Nazis left orphaned in their double project of confiscation and genocide. With its lucid attention to 'open source' intelligence gathering, incipient 'archive-consciousness,' and the anxieties of American influence on the world, this is history that is at once powerful and timely. * Lisa Gitelman, New York University *Kathy Peiss's Information Hunters tells the fascinating and important story of the American archivists and librarians who, during World War II, helped rescue, preserve, and repatriate huge numbers of books, newspapers, and manuscripts looted by the Nazis or otherwise hidden from sight. Their principal objectives were to confiscate and, in many cases, destroy Nazi materials and to locate and return or redistribute looted Jewish books. Many books wound up in American libraries and archives, greatly boosting their size and prestige, and helping to develop the field of information science. * John B. Hench, author of Books as Weapons: Propaganda, Publishing, and the Battle for Global Markets in the Era of World War II *Through savvy research Kathy Peiss has uncovered the enormous historical, ethical, and personal stakes of Americans' overseas efforts to collect-or destroy-the printed word during World War II. Her vivid account follows teams of scholars who scoured Europe's bookstores, battered cities, castles, and caves in search of material that bore witness to the continent's cultural heritage as well as its lies, secrets, and crimes. Pulling a book off the shelf of an American research library will never be the same after reading Information Hunters. * Brooke L. Blower, author of Becoming Americans in Paris: Transatlantic Politics and Culture between the World Wars *Table of ContentsPrologue Introduction Ch. 1 The Country of the Mind Must Also Attack Ch. 2 Librarians and Collectors Go to War Ch. 3 The Wild Scramble for Documents Ch. 4 Acquisitions Grand Scale Ch. 5 Fugitive Records of War Ch. 6 Book Burning-American Style Ch. 7 Not a Library, but a Large Depot of Loot Conclusion Epilogue Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThis is a compact but comprehensive and absorbing history of the Second World War. It examines the causes of the war, how it was won and lost, and its far-reaching consequences for humanity.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Based on a matchless knowledge of the documents, he provides an authoritative treatment of military, diplomatic, and economic aspects, written with great force and insight. As a one-volume survey, it is unlikely to be surpassed... a magnificent achievement, a tour de force. * Kenneth O. Morgan, New Statesman and Society *a miracle of compression compared with the rest of the horde of general histories. * Guardian *Parker alights unerringly on the salient campaigns and issues, and considers them with consistent style and insight. * Times Educational Supplement *The most balanced view of the causes and courses of the Second World War. * Field Marshal Lord Carver, Times Literary Supplement *written in clear and elegant English ... a masterful account of the Second World War in all its different spheres. It is scrupulously fair, illuminated by an engaging sense of humour ... and gives an entirely balanced view of the varying contributions of the different powers engaged. * Richard Cobb, The Spectator *Faced with volume after volume of books about the Second World War, R.A.C. Parker's Short History comes as a breath of fresh air ... it is refreshing to read such a modest-sized yet absorbing history of the years between 1939 and 1945 and what happened before and afer. A Short History is both concise and absorbing - an "introduction" to anyone wanting to know more about the war and an example of how a taut history book can be captivating. * Madeleine Burton, Herts Adverstiser (St Albans Edition) *Table of ContentsPreface ; Contents ; List of Plates ; List of Maps ; 1. Hitler, Germany, and the origins of the European war ; 2. German conquest of Poland, Norway, the Low Countries, and France ; 3. Britain alone ; 4. Operation BARBAROSSA: the German attack on the Soviet Union ; 5. The United States enters the war: the origins of the Japanese attack ; 6. Japanese victories and disappointments: December 1941 to August 1942 ; 7. The end of German expansion: the Atlantic, North Africa, and Russia, 1942-1943 ; 8. Anglo-American strategies for victory ; 9. Economies at war ; 10. Strategic bombing ; 11. Morale ; 12. Driving back the Germans: North Africa, Italy, and Russia ; 13. D-Day and victory in Europe ; 14. The defeat of Japan and the atom bomb ; 15. From war to peace: Anglo-American relations ; 16. From alliance to Cold War: the Soviet Union and the West ; 17. The impact of war: the murder of the European Jews ; 18. The impact of war: casualties, crisis, and change ; Note on quotations ; Book list ; Index

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Book SynopsisHistories you can trust.World War Two was the most devastating conflict in recorded human history. It was both global in extent and total in character. It has understandably left a long and dark shadow across the decades. Yet it is three generations since hostilities formally ended in 1945 and the conflict is now a lived memory for only a few. And this growing distance in time has allowed historians to think differently about how to describe it, how to explain its course, and what subjects to focus on when considering the wartime experience.For instance, as World War Two recedes ever further into the past, even a question as apparently basic as when it began and ended becomes less certain. Was it 1939, when the war in Europe began? Or the summer of 1941, with the beginning of Hitler''s war against the Soviet Union? Or did it become truly global only when the Japanese brought the USA into the war at the end of 1941? And what of the long conflict in East Asia, beginning with the Japanese aggression in China in the early 1930s and only ending with the triumph of the Chinese Communists in 1949?In The Oxford History of World War Two a team of leading historians re-assesses the conflict for a new generation, exploring the course of the war not just in terms of the Allied response but also from the viewpoint of the Axis aggressor states. Under Richard Overy''s expert editorial guidance, the contributions take us from the genesis of war, through the action in the major theatres of conflict by land, sea, and air, to assessments of fighting power and military and technical innovation, the economics of total war, the culture and propaganda of war, and the experience of war (and genocide) for both combatants and civilians, concluding with an account of the transition from World War to Cold War in the late 1940s. Together, they provide a stimulating and thought-provoking new interpretation of one of the most terrible and fascinating episodes in world history.Trade Review... The Oxford History of World War Two is a thoughtful and thought-provoking volume, which succeeds very well in bringing at least a taste of the wealth of current Second World War scholarship to a wider audience. There is much here to admire; not least the erudition of the contributors ... an excellent, concise and enlightening volume. As such, it is a worth addition to the library of every student and every scholar of the conflict. * Roger Moorhouse, History Today *A stimulating and thought-provoking new interpretation of one of the most terrible episodes in world history. * Military History *The Oxford History of World War II is an exemplary book that... provides an insightful and in-depth analysis of the war from both sides, * Ireland's Eye *Compelling in its narrative, fascinating in its detail, magisterial in its analysis, global in its breadth, Richard Overy, one of our outstanding scholars of mid-20th Century history, here delivers a military, political and economic history of WW2, aided by a galaxy of distinguished scholars, that is essential, accessible reading for general readers as well as students. * Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Stalin: the Court of the Red Tsar *Incisive essays by leading scholars..., make this an ideal introduction to the defining conflict of the twentieth century - from which our contemporary world still struggles to recover. * David Reynolds, University of Cambridge, and author of In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War *A welcome and most useful addition to the historical literature ... I recommend this book to anyone interested in the war. * Paul Kennedy, Yale University, and author of Engineers of Victory and The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers *combines a breadth and depth not seen in much military history writing. The skillful analysis of each chapter does not sacrifice narrative ability to address topics ranging from the German, Italian, and Japanese conduct of the land, sea, and air wars to the political intricacies of the Grand Alliance, scientific innovation, and the cultural history of the war ... Astounding. * M. A. Mengerink, CHOICE *Table of Contents1: Patricia Clavin: The Genesis of World War 2: Steven Lee: Japan's War in Asia 3: Nicola Labanca: The Italian Wars 4: Richard Overy: The German Wars 5: Eric Grove: The West and the War at Sea 6: Evan Mawdsley: The Allies from Defeat to Victory 7: David French: Fighting Power: World War and Military Innovation 8: Richard Overy: Economies in Total War 9: Michael Snape: Front Line I: Armed Forces at War 10: Richard Overy: Front Line II: Civilians at War 11: Richard Bessel: Unnatural Deaths 12: David Edgerton: War, Invention, and Experts 13: David Welch: The Culture of War: Propaganda, Arts and Ideas 14: Geoffrey Roberts: From World War to Cold War

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Book SynopsisHistories you can trust.At age thirty in 1919, Adolf Hitler had no accomplishments. He was a rootless loner, a corporal in a shattered army, without money or prospects. A little more than twenty years later, in autumn 1941, he directed his dynamic forces against the Soviet Union, and in December, the Germans were at the gates of Moscow and Leningrad. At that moment, Hitler appeared however briefly to be the most powerful ruler on the planet. Given this dramatic turn of events, it is little wonder that since 1945 generations of historians keep trying to explain how it all happened.This rich history provides a readable and fresh approach to the complex history of the Third Reich, from the coming to power of the Nazis in 1933 to the final collapse in 1945, distilling our ideas about the period and providing a balanced and accessible account of the whole era.Trade ReviewHaving assembled an impressive group of experts, the volume proceeds thematically to address almost every aspect of the Third Reich. All ten chapters are well informed by contemporary scholarship but accessible to a lay audience. Politics, culture, war, society, and economy all receive their due. * Robert Dassanowsky, Journal of Modern History *While focusing on various aspects of the Nazi years, all the writers effectively highlight the brutality of the regime toward its internal and external enemies. For a reader who wishes to choose one source to learn about the Third Reich this book is a good choice. * Paul Bookbinder, European History Quarterly *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: Matthew Stibbe: The Weimar Republic and the Rise of National Socialism 2: Hermann Beck: The Nazi 'Seizure of Power' 3: Hedwig Richter and Ralph Jessen: Elections, Plebiscites, and Festivals 4: Jonathan Petropoulos: Architecture and the Arts 5: David F. Crew: Photography and Cinema 6: Peter Hayes: The Economy 7: Omer Bartov: The Holocaust 8: Dieter Pohl: War and Empire 9: Julia S. Torrie: The Home Front 10: Robert Gellately: Decline and Collapse Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisThe remarkable story of Mohammed Helmy, the Egyptian doctor who risked his life to save Jewish Berliners from the Nazis. One of the people he saved was a Jewish girl called Anna. This book tells their story.Trade ReviewThis meticulous account of the Arab doctor who sheltered a Jewish girl in 1930s Berlin is a remarkable story of subterfuge and courage. [...]Steinkes history sheds a light on what he argues is a deliberately forgotten world, the old Arabic Berlin of the Weimar period, which was open, progressive and far from antisemitic and which welcomed Jewish luminaries, including Albert Einstein and philosopher Martin Buber. * Tim Adams, Book of the Week, The Observer *Anna and Dr Helmy is the thrilling and, at times, heart-stopping account of a remarkable but largely unknown story of bravery and bluffing. * Robert Philpot, Times of Israel *Table of Contents1: Middle Eastern Berlin 2: The Home Visit 3: A Scent of Tea 4: 'Of Related Blood' 5: A Fool's License 6: A Step Too Far 7: Going Underground 8: A Daring Plan 9: Hidden in Plain Sight 10: In the Lion's Den 11: An Overnight Conversion 12: A Paper Marriage 13: The Gestapo Closes In 14: The Final Lie 15: Visit to Cairo Biographies Timeline Index

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Book SynopsisAge of Emergency examines how metropolitan Britons understood colonial violence in the two decades after V-E Day when "small wars" raged on the frontiers of empire in Malaya, Kenya, and Cyprus.Trade ReviewAge of Emergency is a masterwork of a new Imperial history which stares unblinkingly into the violence of colonial rule and exposes how that horror reached deeply into twentieth-century British life. Linstrum's achievement is to show that the end of empire in Britain was no less a domestic trauma than in France: British decolonization did not happen 'in a fit of absence of mind.' * Richard Drayton, King's College London *Well-crafted and meticulously researched, this originally conceived work penetrates deep into the serial ambiguities of empire's end-not least the vexed question of how the British people grappled with imperial retreat. Age of Emergency traces the intricate strategies of evasion-the self-censorship, the silences, the 'circles of knowing'-and how these produced ubiquitous forms of tacit imperial knowledge in their own right. Brought to life with all manner of illuminating portraits-in-miniature, it offers a sophisticated new perspective on British society at the tipping point of decolonization. * Stuart Ward, author of Untied Kingdom: A Global History of the End of Britain *A sweeping, meticulous account of the reckoning with colonial brutality in post-war Britain. What happened in Kenya, Malaya, and Cyprus, Linstrum establishes beyond a doubt, was no secret back home. Age of Emergency masterfully explains how democratic publics come to live with-even to embrace-the violence done in their name. * Deborah Cohen, Northwestern University *Meticulous, innovative, damning...Linstrum is innovative in the breadth of his research, trawling the BBC and ITV archives to explore how popular teleplays tried to make sense of endless colonial war. * Christopher Kissane, The Irish Times *As Britons and other Europeans continue to confront the legacies of empire and especially of colonial violence today, this book is an urgent read for anyone interested in questions of culpability, knowledge, and what comes next for former colonial powers. * Taylor Soja, Europe Now Journal *Intimate knowledge of the small wars of the twentieth century spread in what Erik Linstrum calls 'circles of knowing'. His exploration of how these circuits worked and overlapped is original and subtle. * Dublin Review of Books *Age of Emergency documents a wide range of opposition. * TLS *Compendious and insightful * TLS *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction: The Wars Were Like a Mist Part I: Knowing about Violence Chapter 1: Out of Apathy Chapter 2: War Stories Part II: Justifying Violence Chapter 3: Violence without Limits Chapter 4: The Claims of Conscience Part III: Living with Violence Chapter 5: Covering Counterinsurgency Chapter 6: Performing Counterinsurgency Epilogue: The Afterlives of Colonial War Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis is the untold story of how some of Germany''s top aristocrats contributed to Hitler''s secret diplomacy during the Third Reich, providing a direct line to their influential contacts and relations across Europe -- especially in Britain, where their contacts included the press baron and Daily Mail owner Lord Rothermere and the future King Edward VIII. Using previously unexplored sources from Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, and the USA, Karina Urbach unravels the story of top-level go-betweens such as the Duke of Coburg, grandson of Queen Victoria, and the seductive Stephanie von Hohenlohe, who rose from a life of poverty in Vienna to become a princess and an intimate of Adolf Hitler. As Urbach shows, Coburg and other senior aristocrats were tasked with some of Germany''s most secret foreign policy missions from the First World War onwards, culminating in their role as Hitler''s trusted go-betweens, as he readied Germany for conflict during the 1930s -- and latTrade ReviewA fascinating page-turner about Hitler's secret diplomacy in the 1930s, which was intended to secure British amity and then neutrality when he led Germany to war ... Urbach combed her way through archives across Europe to construct this image of a decaying aristocracy using their connections in the cultivation of appeasers in Britain. They were not without influence. * Lawrence Goldman, Books of the Year 2015, History Today *[An] excellent book... Urbach has alighted upon a little studied and rather fascinating phenomenon; that of the aristocratic amateur ambassador, the titled back-stairs diplomatist. * The Times, Roger Moorehouse *Just when one thinks every possible aspect of this war has been covered, along comes a surprise. Such is Karina Urbach's highly original new book, Go-Betweens for Hitler... an unsurpassable work on this intriguing subject. * Daily Telegraph, Simon Heffer *engrossing and well-researched * Richard J Evans, London Review of Books *Urbach has written a book that is as stimulating as it is entertaining, and one which deserves a wide readership. * Christopher Dowe, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung *To be sure, Go Betweens For Hitler may essentially be based within the parameters of a scholarly undertaking, but it almost reads like that of a John Le Carre or Robert Littell novel. In and of itself, this speaks volumes. * David Marx, Book Reviews *From peace-feelers in the First World War to appeasers on the eve of the Second World War, this unique book makes fascinating reading * Coryne Hall, European Royal History Journal *Table of ContentsPART I: GO-BETWEENS BEFORE HITLER; PART II: HITLER'S GO-BETWEENS; ABBREVIATIONS; NOTES; ARCHIVES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY; INDEX

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Book SynopsisHow the International Committee of the Red Cross emerged triumphant from the dark days of World War II, escaping its ambiguous wartime record to re-affirm its leadership in world humanitarian affairs and help rewrite the rules of war in the Geneva Conventions.Trade ReviewHumanitarians at War presents a compelling picture of how the policy of sovereign states and those of a private organization exerted a reciprocal influence on life-and-death decisions about humanitarian aid provision and international law. * Kimberley A. Lowe, H-Net Reviews *Mr. Steinacher... is an excellent historian with a good nose for archives... [He] excels at toppling individuals from undeserved moral pedestals. * Samuel Moyn, Wall Street Journal Europe *Riveting ... An important book that, for the first time, greatly details how the ICRC operated, especially during and after World War II. * Library Journal *The author has produced an important and fascinating work ... Steinacher has laid before us an impressive portrayal of the activities of the Red Cross during the first half of the twentieth century. The discussion is not merely descriptive in nature; it raises serious questions about the organization's modes of operation, espeically those of its leadership. It is a welcome addition to the literature on this topic. I am convinced that students, scholars, and other readers will find it compelling. * Zohar Segev, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs *Table of ContentsIntrodution 1: The Birth of an Idea 2: The Silence on the Holocaust 3: Intervention and Opportunism 4: The Red Cross in Crisis 5: Between Geneva and Nuremberg 6: The ICRC and Aid Politics in Ruins 7: The Humanitarians and the Nazis 8: A Window of Opportunity 9: Towards the Geneva Conventions Conclusion Bibliography Notes Index

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Book SynopsisAny consideration of the 20th century would be incomplete without a discussion of Nazi Germany, an extraordinary regime which dominated European history for 12 years, and left a legacy that still echoes with us today. The incredible force of the destructive vision at the heart of Nazi Germany led to a second world war when the world was still aching from the first one, and an incomprehensible death count, both at home and abroad.In this Very Short Introduction, Jane Caplan''s insightful analysis of Nazi Germany provides a highly relevant reminder of the fragility of democratic institutions, and the ways in which the exploitation of national fears, mass political movements, and frail political opposition can lead to the imposition of dictatorship. Considering the emergence and popular appeal of the Nazi party, she discusses the relationships between belief, consent, and terror in securing the regime, alongside the crucial role played by Hitler himself. Covering the full history of the regime, she includes an unflinching look at the dark stains of war, persecution, and genocide. At the same time, Caplan offers unexpected angles of vision and insights; asking readers to look behind the handful of over-used images of Nazi Germany we are familiar with, and to engage critically with a history that that is so abhorrent it risks seeming beyond interpretation. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.Trade ReviewIn what seems like an almost insurmountable challenge, Caplan succeeds in describing the details of the "horrifying" main events of this historical catastrophe, and identifying its main criminals, without simplifying. And she writes with an "edge" that is missing in many history narratives. * Graham Forst, Jewish Independent *In this brilliant concise account, Caplan succeeds in outlining the startling rise and devastating impact of National Socialism in Germany under Hitler, conveying both illustrative detail and the broad shape of developments, as well as finely balancing different historical interpretations. A major achievement. * Professor Mary Fulbrook, University College London *Table of Contents1: Hitler myths 2: National socialism 3: From Munich to Berlin (via Weimar) 4: Power 5: Volksgemeinschaft: community and exclusion 6: Volksgemeinschaft: control and belonging 7: Preparing for war 8: War 9: From terror to genocide Further reading Index

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Book SynopsisTyrant, psychopath, and implementer of a ruthless programme of racial extermination, Adolf Hitler was also the charismatic Führer of millions of dedicated followers. In this major new biography, internationally acclaimed German historian Peter Longerich brings Hitler back to centre-stage in the history of Nazism, revealing a far more active and interventionist dictator than we are familiar with from recent accounts, with a flexibility of approach that often surprises. Whether it was foreign policy, war-making, terror, mass murder, cultural and religious affairs, or even mundane everyday matters, Longerich reveals how decisive a force Hitler was in the formulation of policy, sometimes right down to the smallest details, in a way which until now has not been fully appreciated. Consistently and ruthlessly destroying both the people and the power structures that stood in his way, Longerich shows how over time Hitler succeeded in forging his ''Führer dictatorship'' - with terrifying and almTrade ReviewAn essential volume for anyone wanting to build up a picture of this atrocious man... * Simon Heffer, The Daily Telegraph *... a real biography by a genuine specialist... * Richard J Evans, The Guardian *... a comprehensive and impressive work. I am happy to say that Hitler: A Life is a very good book, fluently translated by Jeremy Noakes and Lesley Sharpe. It is comprehensive on the domestic side of the story, and it draws on the newer literature of the past two decades ... Longerich's work is much more than a synthesis... The result is a fine-grained and generally persuasive account of Hitler's rise to power... * Brendan Simms, Irish Times *Here once again [Longerich] mobilises a formidable quantity of archival material and shows us Hitler in his true colours ... [A] detailed biography. * Richard Overy, Literary Review *Longerich's meticulous account touches on many issues... * Christopher Clark, London Review of Books *... demonstrates a mastery of a vast mass of primary and secondary research ... that is remarkable even for a German professor ... Longerich is uniquely equipped to explore the enigma of a Führer who manipulated and ultimately ruined not on his lieutenants but an entire continent... * Daniel Johnson, Standpoint *Thorough, detailed, meticulous, readable, believable, outstanding. Not a lot of cant or opinion; just an incredible amount of detail and precise if not painstaking investigation into events that led to Adolf Hitler becoming the Adolf Hitler of undeniable, tragic nightmare. * David Marx, David Marx Reviews *Essential reading. * Christopher Bray, The Tablet *An important biography of Adolph Hitler. This text ... provides likely the most consequential history of Hitler in our time. * CHOICE^r *Table of ContentsIntroduction Prologue: A Nobody Part One 1: Back in Munich 2: The Way to the Party 3: Hitler Takes the Lead 4: The March to the Hitler Coup 5: Process and Prohibition Part Two 6: A Political New Beginning 7: Hitler the Speaker 8: Reorientation 9: Conquest of the Masses 10: Strategy 11: At the Gates of Power Part Three 12: Seizure of Power 13: First Steps of Foreign Policy 14: Führer and People 15: Outbreak of the International System 16: Construction of the Sole Dictatorship Part Four 17: Domestic Crisis 18: First Foreign Policy Successes 19: The Way to the Nuremberg Laws 20: Foreign Policy Coup 21: Ready to Serve in Four Years 22: Church Struggle and Cultural Policy 23: Hitlers Regime Part Five 24: Foreign Policy Reorientation 25: From the Blomberg-Fritsch Crisis to the "Connection" 26: The Sudeten Crisis 27: To Munich 28: In the War Part Six 29: The War Begins 30: Resistors 31: War in the West 32: Exploring Foreign Policy 33: Extending the War 34: Operation Barbarossa 35: Escalation of Jewish Politics 36: Winter Crisis: 1941-42 37: At the Height of Power 38: Hitler's Empire Part Seven 39: War Change and Radicalization 40: With One's Back to the Wall 41: Before the Sinking 42: 20 July 1944 43: Refuge in Total War 44: The End

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Book SynopsisWhile the Big Three and their continental Allies fought against Nazi Germany, another war was under way on the continent: the war to shape the political landscape of post-war Europe. In the Balkans, the war overlapped with political and ethnic conflicts, engulfing the region in bloody civil wars. In Central and Eastern Europe, partisan movements engaged the Germans without losing sight of the danger posed by the arrival of the Red Army. In France and in Italy, the adoption of the slogans of national liberation provided the communist parties with a formidable democratic legitimacy, which established them as key players in the political lives of their countries.The British and the Americans worked to stir up, support, control, and direct these resistance groups. London created the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and Washington the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), both of whom sent agents into occupied Europe to liaise directly with the guerilla groups. Through the Comintern, MoscowTable of ContentsPART 1 1: Resistance and diplomacy in occupied Europe (September 1939-June 1940) 2: The Special Operations Executive at war (July 1940 - June 1941) 3: The communists enter the scene (June 1941 - November 1941) PART 2 4: Uncertain times (December 1941 - December 1942) 5: The militarization of British policy and the beginning Of US challenge in the Mediterranean (January - December 1943) 6: The communist movement on the offensive (January - December 1943) PART 3 7: Civil war and liberation in the Balkans (1944-1945) 8: Central and Eastern Europe between liberation and Soviet occupation (1944-1945) 9: The liberation of Western Europe (1944-1945) 10: Conclusion

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Book SynopsisHistories you can trust.The First World War, now a century ago, still shapes the world in which we live, and its legacy lives on, in poetry, in prose, in collective memory and political culture. By the time the war ended in 1918, millions lay dead. Three major empires lay shattered by defeat, those of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Ottomans. A fourth, Russia, was in the throes of a revolution that helped define the rest of the twentieth century.The Oxford History of the First World War brings together in one volume many of the most distinguished historians of the conflict, in an account that matches the scale of the events. From its causes to its consequences, from the Western Front to the Eastern, from the strategy of the politicians to the tactics of the generals, they chart the course of the war and assess its profound political and human consequences. Chapters on economic mobilization, the impact on women, the role of propaganda, and the rise of socialism establish the wider context of the fighting at sea and in the air, and which ranged on land from the trenches of Flanders to the mountains of the Balkans and the deserts of the Middle East.Trade Review[an] elegant, superbly compiled book * History of War *This is as complete a snapshot of the war as you are likely to get. * Northern Echo *Table of ContentsHew Strachan: Introduction 1: Samuel R. Williamson, Jr: The Origins of the War 2: Holger Afflerbach: The Strategy of the Central Powers, 1914-1917 3: D. E. Showalter: Manoeuvre Warfare: The Eastern and Western Fronts, 1914-1915 4: David French: The Strategy of the Entente Powers, 1914-1917 5: R. J. Crampton: The Balkans, 1914-1918 6: Ulrich Trumpener: Turkey's War 7: David Killingray: The War in Africa 8: Paul G. Halpern: The War at Sea 9: B. J. C. McKercher: Economic Warfare 10: Hew Strachan: Economic Mobilization: Money, Munitions, Machines 11: Susan Grayzel: The Role of Women in War 12: J. A. Turner: The Challenge to Liberalism: The Politics of the Home Fronts 13: Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson: Eastern Front and Western Front, 1916-1917 14: Alexander Watson: Mutinies and Military Morale 15: David Stevenson: War Aims and Peace Negotiations 16: J. M. Winter: Propaganda and the Mobilization of Consent 17: John Horne: Socialism, Peace, and Revolution, 1917-1918 18: David Trask: The Entry of the USA into the War and its Effects 19: Holger H. Herwig: The German Victories, 1917-1918 20: John H. Morrow, Jr: The War in the Air 21: Tim Travers: The Allied Victories, 1918 22: Zara Steiner: The Peace Settlement 23: Robert Gerwarth: No End to War 24: Modris Eksteins: Memory and the Great War Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review "In the great tradition of Studs Terkel and Is Paris Burning?, Mary Louise Roberts uses the diaries and memoirs of French civilians to narrate a history of the French at D-Day that has for too long been occluded by the mythology of the allied landing. Students approaching WWII history for the first time will now be able to go beyond the beachhead and think deeply about the French-American encounter in all its complexity. For the French, liberation meant American heroes--demigods packing Hershey’s chocolate and chouine gomme--and it also meant the destruction of property and the loss of life, the violent end to years of waiting. The switch of point of view from American to French is an exercise in empathy that renews history at the core. What a great idea and what a gripping and artful book!" -- Alice Kaplan, author of Dreaming in French"A moving examination of how French civilians experienced the fighting." * Telegraph *"Roberts's work is commendable, finally, because her work reminds readers that D-Day was not only a positive event that reestablished freedom, but that its cost was tragically high for all concerned." * New York Journal of Books *"The author shows great skill in allowing these eyewitnesses to 'speak for themselves,' vividly evoking their experiences of the tragedy, the brutality, the destruction, the joy, and the fear that the invasion brought. . . . In its treatment of an often neglected aspect of military history, this will be an attractive acquisition for all libraries." * Choice *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: The Night of All Nights 2: The Paras 3: Devastation 4: The First Glimpse 5: Sharing a Battlefield 6: Making Friends Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisSurvivor on the River Kwai is the heartbreaking story of one of the last survivors of the Burma Railway.February 1942. A young British soldier is caught up in the worst defeat in the history of the British Army, the fall of Singapore. Reg Twigg spends the next three years in hell, moving from jungle camp to jungle camp and building the Burma Railway for the all-conquering Japanese. Beaten, tortured, starving and forced to watch his comrades die, Reg fights for his survival, stealing from his captors, trapping animals and even making his own tobacco. That Reg survived is testimony to his own courage and determination, his will to beat the alien brutality of camp guards who had nothing but contempt for him and his fellow POWs. He was a risk taker whose survival strategies sometimes bordered on genius. As moving and harrowing as The Last Fighting Tommy, with the drama of David Lean''s The Bridge Over the River Kwai and the heart of Trade ReviewOne of the finest accounts yet of life in the jungle PoW camps, at once humbling, heartwarming and enraging -- Allan Mallinson * The Times *

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Book SynopsisA study of the Holocaust, evaluating accepted views of its history and meaning. Yehuda Bauer offers his own interpretation of why the Holocaust occurred and how another can be prevented. He also examines topics such as the relationship between the Holocaust and the establishment of Israel.Trade Review"In this original and compelling book Bauer considers all the major issues of Holocaust historiography. Everything Bauer touches he illuminates." Michael Berenbaum "An eye-opening synthesis of the whole historiography of the Shoah... The meat of the book is a brilliant review of vexed issues like Jewish resistance (armed and unarmed), the role of the Judenrate, or Nazi-imposed Jewish Councils, and the plans to rescue Jews by buying their freedom... With the skill of a sleuth and the assiduous patience of a born scholar, Bauer reconstructs the schemes, characters and motives in a spirit of factual inquiry, keen empathy and, of all unlikely things, common sense." Morris Dickstein, New York Times Book Review "Bauer is the preeminent student of Jewish resistance and rescue efforts... Bauer's book also reaches beyond issues of rescue, offering a strong introduction to many of the analytic debates on Nazi genocide." Paul Breines, Washington Post Book World

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Book SynopsisImmediately after the Second World War, the victorious Allies authorized and helped to carry out the forced relocation of German speakers from their homes across central and southern Europe to Germany. This is a study of the largest recorded episode of what we now call "ethnic cleansing".Trade Review"This is an important book, deserving of the widest readership."—Max Hastings, Sunday Times "Douglas provides a fascinating glimpse of the backstage of the Nazi war effort, as hundreds of thousands were shifted from Poland and the Baltic states as part of a forced Germanisation policy that sheer lack of preparation doomed to failure."—Benedicte Williams, Budapest Times"The expulsion of Germans is understandably a politically-charged topic. Until recently, it has been taboo to examine the depths of German suffering after 1945, because of the suffering they themselves had caused. Drawing on meticulous research, Douglas thoughtfully explains the context for this policy, before showing convincingly that its rationale was flawed."—Hester Vaizey, Independent"Well-researched and dispassionately written. . . . Those who want to understand the tensions in modern Europe, not least in central Europe, ought to read this book."—Gisela Stuart, The Housing Magazine"Douglas has produced a highly valuable and convincing account of the expulsion of Germans. . . "—Pertti Ahonen, Journal of Modern History “A timely read” —Harvey Richardson, Methodist RecorderRunner-up in the General Non-Fiction category at the 2013 Great Southeast Book FestivalWinner of the 2013 George Louis Beer Prize given by the American Historical AssociationWon an honorable mention for the 2012 Association of American Publishers PROSE Awards in the European & World History Category"Orderly and Humane is an outstanding and well-written work that fills a significant gap in books written in English about this large subject and the very period of its compass. It ought to be in every serious American library and should be required reading for scholars interested in the history of the end of the Second World War and the years thereafter in Europe."—John Lukacs, author of The Future of History and Five Days in London, May 1940"R.M. Douglas has written a fair-minded, deeply researched and courageous book that carefully demystifies the claims and accusations surrounding the awful history of the expulsion of the ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe. A first-rate work, Orderly and Humane compels us to admit that the postwar expulsions were not simply a regrettable accident but a deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing on a breathtaking scale that decisively shaped postwar Europe’s history."—William I. Hitchcock, author of The Bitter Road to Freedom: The Human Consequences of Allied Victory in World War II Europe"The tragedy of the post-World War II ethnic German refugees and expellees has been told before but no account is based on so many original documents from so many countries as Douglas’s eminently readable work."—Istvan Deak, Columbia University

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Book SynopsisOffers a radical reappraisal of Great Britain's fighting forces during World War II, challenging the common belief that the British Army was no match for the forces of Hitler's Germany. This study of the campaign to liberate Northern Europe in the war's final years features a large cast of colourful unknowns and grand historical personages alike.Trade Review‘His authority, blended with readability and a genuinely fresh, exciting and convincing thesis, makes this the finest account of D-Day and beyond for many, many a year.’ —James Holland, BBC History Magazine -- James Holland * BBC History Magazine *‘ A well-argued take on the role of the British army in the campaign in northwest Europe… a balanced study that stresses the British Army’s effectiveness, both in using the resources at its disposal appropriately and in developing skills that made a valuable contribution to Allied success.’—Diane Lees, The Times. -- Diane Lees * The Times *

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Excellent . . . An admirable study."—Nicholas Stargardt, Wall Street Journal"An engaging investigation of the German army’s complex relationship with the Third Reich. The author, the Glasgow academic Ben Shepherd, does a sterling job of boiling down the 12 years of Nazi Germany to produce an accessible account of the Faustian pact entered into by German generals . . ."—Roger Moorhouse, Times"Shepherd has written a comprehensive history of the 20th century’s most formidable fighting machine. It is also an unanswerable indictment of the moral cowardice and arrogance of an officer corps who sold their souls to Hitler and allowed him to lead them and their beloved country into the abyss."—Nigel Jones, BBC History"Highly readable and with great narrative scope, this is an excellent starting-point for anyone who wishes to have a broad overview of WWII from the German military point of view."—Robert Carver, Military History Monthly

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“An impressively forensic study, which not only throws light on an intriguing (and murky) backwater of World War II but also on an unresolved ethical dilemma still with us today.”—Tony Rennell, Daily Mail Book of the Week“In 1954 Scotland wrote his memoirs, but Special Branch raided his publishers and seized the manuscript . . . Now, finally, the original manuscript has been released by the National Archives. This uncensored version is the backbone of Fry’s absorbing book, and Scotland’s powerful personality dominates virtually every page.”—William Cook, Spectator"Intelligence professionals should read The London Cage: it is they who will be tasked to build and run future interrogation programs, and Dr. Fry's book offers an important historical analogue for the work."—J. R. Seeger, CIA Studies in Intelligence“A most valuable addition to our understanding of British intelligence activities. . . highly recommended.” —Britain at War“Golders Green historian Helen Fry has trawled the National Archives to uncover life inside this top secret facility in The London Cage” —Bridget Galton, Ham&High“Impressively researched, this overdue investigation sheds new light on British interrogation methods during and after the Second World War. Shocking and important.” —Clare Mulley, author of The Spy who Loved "A tour de force. Helen Fry's absorbing and authoritative account of how Britain's wartime spies used both brutality and guile to get vital intelligence out of German prisoners-of-war is a shocking but fascinating read."—Michael Smith, author of The Anatomy of a Traitor “A compelling account of the subterranean world of the London Cage and the 3,000 POWs who passed through its doors, presided over by the tough and eccentric Colonel Scotland. Despite the fact that some of the records still remain classified, Helen Fry makes an important contribution to our understanding of what took place in Kensington Palace Gardens during these years, shining a powerful light onto this hidden corner of WW2 history.” —Tom Carver, author of Where the Hell Have You Been?: Monty, Italy and One Man's Incredible Escape"Helen Fry shines the light of historical inquiry into a dark and disturbing corner of World War II, revealing for the first time the shocking story of The London Cage."—Mark Felton, author of Castle of the Eagles: Escape from Mussolini's Colditz “The history of the London Cage is controversial and, even after 70 years, many questions are unanswered. Helen Fry’s book gives a cohesive picture of WW2 British Military Intelligence, raising important questions about means and ends in wartime. A clear and chilling insight into a long concealed chapter of Military Intelligence.” —Michael Jago, author of The Man Who Was George Smiley

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Book SynopsisA fascinating and enlightening explanation of the dilemma Switzerland found itself in during the 1930''s and 1940''s. - Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisLike a scene from Where Eagles Dare , a small team of American spies parachutes into Italy behind enemy lines. Their orders: link up with local partisans and sabotage the well-guarded Brenner Pass,the Nazis'' crucial supply route through the Alps,thereby bringing the German war effort in Italy to a grinding halt.

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Book SynopsisSOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTUREMay, 1945. Hitler is dead, the Third Reich is little more than smoking rubble, and no GI wants to be the last man killed in action against the Nazis. The Last Battle tells the nearly unbelievable story of the unlikeliest battle of the war, when a small group of American tankers, led by Captain Lee, joined forces with German soldiers to fight off fanatical SS troops seeking to capture Castle Itter and execute the stronghold''s VIP prisoners. It is a tale of unlikely allies, startling bravery, jittery suspense, and desperate combat between implacable enemies.Trade ReviewPraise for The Last Battle "A tale as compelling as it is unlikely. The Last Battle demonstrates that truth can indeed be stranger than fiction, particularly in war. Well-researched and well-told."--Rick Atkinson, author of The Day of Battle "Stephen Harding has a laser-beam instinct for the detail that tells the story, he's a fine writer, and, most important, knows a good story when he sees one. All the above is true of The Last Battle, one of the more remarkable battles in a truly vast war, now very nicely illuminated."--Alan Furst, bestselling author of Dark Star and Night Soldiers "A little-known but fascinating story brought brilliantly to life."--Alex Kershaw, bestselling author of The Liberator "I love untold stories from World War II, and this is a great one. Brilliantly told, meticulously researched, and filled with larger-than-life heroes and villains. The Last Battle is such a compelling read, I couldn't put it down."--Patrick K. O'Donnell, bestselling author of Dog Company "The Last Battle combines good history and good storytelling. Harding writes with the skill and grace of a novelist but also the authority of an historian who has done some rather remarkable research into a previously lost chapter from World War II's final days. I had trouble putting this book down, and I think you will, too."--John C. McManus, author of September Hope "The Nazis capture two former Prime Ministers of France (who detest each other) and lock them in a medieval castle in Austria. A handful of intrepid American soldiers sets out to rescue them. And then...well, you'll have to read The Last Battle to find out what happened. It's going to make a fantastic action movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger, call your agent!"--Peter Carlson, author of K Blows Top San Diego Union Tribune, 4/28/13 "At the heart of The Last Battle is a largely unknown story that (a) seems implausible, (b) would make a great movie, and (c) reminds us that almost 70 years after the end of World War II there are countless tales still to be told...Harding's skills as a researcher and dedicated historian are apparent...[A] moment-by-moment real-time report of the events from the viewpoints of the Americans and prisoners...Page-turning...Harding has brought the implausible story to life." New York Journal of Books, 4/29/13 "Well done and eminently readable." Daily Beast, 5/12/13 "The most extraordinary things about Stephen Harding's The Last Battle, a truly incredible tale of World War II, are that it hasn't been told before in English, and that it hasn't already been made into a blockbuster Hollywood movie...Steven Spielberg, how did you miss this story?...Harding is a respected military affairs expert...and his writing style carries immediacy as well as authority...Everything that Harding reports in this exciting but also historically accurate narrative is backed up with meticulous scholarship. This book proves that history can be new and nail-bitingly exciting all at once...While the book concentrates on the fight for Castle Itter, it also sets that battle in the wider strategic contexts...This book is thus a fascinating microcosm of a nation and society in collapse...Part Where Eagles Dare, part Guns of Navarone, this story is as exciting as it is far-fetched, but unlike in those iconic war movies, every word of The Last Battle is true." Roanoke Times, 6/9/13 "If, in these halcyon days, a Hollywood screenwriter had approached a major producer with a movie script so packed with improbabilities, so extraordinary in its premises and fanciful in its conclusions, he -- the screenwriter -- would very likely have been shown the door...sheer tension and melodrama...Stephen Harding, a career journalist and military historian, has put together a fine tale of heroism and cowardice, petty bickering and unselfish sacrifice, and if Hollywood does not snap it up for an epic film, that's its loss...A page-turner." ARMY Magazine, 9/1/13 "The book is a very quick read...The Last Battle has the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster... Harding is a gifted storyteller and effective military historian who details the battle and its background with precision...This compact work is an unqualified success and will prove immensely enjoyable for virtually any reader of ARMY. With the pace of a tightly-written novel, Harding writes with the determination of a true crime novelist and thoroughness of a first-rate historian." CollectedMiscellany.com, 8/15/13 "Harding recounts a fascinating piece of World War II history...Harding writes an engaging story about a battle that helped save many of France's political elite from certain death."

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Book SynopsisHistory of the United States Naval Operations in World War II.

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Book SynopsisAs a 19-year old Black Watch conscript Tom Renouf''s war began with some of the most vicious fighting of the conflict - against Himmler''s fanatical ''Hitler Youth'' SS Division. It ended with the capture of Himmler himself and Tom taking a trophy he still treasures - the Gestapo commander''s watch.Seriously wounded and later decorated with a Military Medal for gallantry, Tom Renouf witnessed the death and maiming of countless of his teenage comrades and saw the survivors transformed into grizzled veterans. Tom Renouf draws on his own personal experiences - as well as his unique archive of interviews with veterans amassed over twenty years as secretary of the 51st Highland Division Veterans'' Association - to paint a vivid picture of the Battle of Normandy, the liberation of Holland, the Battle of the Bulge and many more memorable WW2 events.

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Book SynopsisA definitive account of the American experience in Afghanistan from the rise of the Taliban to the depths of the insurgency.Trade Review"A useful and generally lively account of what can go wrong when outsiders venture onto the Afghan landscape." -- Steven Simon - Foreign Affairs"This is a serious work that should be factored in as a new policy in Afghanistan evolves." -- Jay Freeman - Booklist"Seth G. Jones’s book provides a vivid sense of just how paltry and misguided the American effort has been.… In the Graveyard of Empires will help to show what might still be done to build something enduring in Afghanistan and finally allow the U.S. to go home." -- Dexter Filkins - The New Republic"[An] excellent book." -- James Blitz - Financial Times"How we got to where we are in Afghanistan." -- Matthew Kaminski - Wall Street Journal"[Zeroes] in on what went awry after America’s successful routing of the Taliban in late 2001." -- Michiko Kakutani - The New York Times"A blueprint for winning in a region that has historically brought mighty armies to their knees." -- Doug Childers - Richmond Times-Dispatch"Offers a valuable window onto how officials have understood the military campaign." -- Robert D. Crews - San Francisco Chronicle"Seth Jones . . . has an anthropologist’s feel for a foreign society, a historian’s intuition for long-term trends, and a novelist’s eye for the telling details that illuminate a much larger story. If you read just one book about the Taliban, terrorism, and the United States, this is the place to start." -- Jeremi Suri, author of Henry Kissinger and the American Century"A timely and important work, without peer in terms of both its scholarship and the author’s intimate knowledge of the country, the insurgency threatening it, and the challenges in defeating it." -- Bruce Hoffman, Georgetown University, author of Inside Terrorism"A deeply researched and well-analyzed account of the failures of American policies in Afghanistan, In the Graveyard of Empires will be mandatory reading for policymakers from Washington to Kabul." -- Peter Bergen, author of Holy War, Inc. and The Osama bin Laden I Know"Seth Jones has combined forceful narrative with careful analysis, illustrating the causes of this deteriorating situation, and recommending sensible, feasible steps to reverse the escalating violence." -- James Dobbins, author of After the Taliban: Nation Building in Afghanistan

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Book SynopsisNow available in English for the first time, Gunpowder and Incense (translated from the Spanish La Pólvora y el Incienso) chronicles the role of the Church in Spanish politics, looking in particular at the Spanish Civil War. Unlike most books on the subject, Hilari Raguer looks beyond the traditional explanation that the war was primarily a religious struggle. His writing presents an exemplary insider''s perspective, and is notable for its balance and perception on the role of the Catholic Church before, during and after the War.The material is presented in a lucid, elegant manner - which makes this book as readable as it is historiographically important. It will be vital reading for students and scholars of European, religious and modern history.Trade Review"... without any doubt, the most nuanced and sophisticated analysis of the subject anywhere in existence" - Helen Graham, Professor of Spanish History, Royal Holloway, University of London.'ground-breaking ... this study is a most valuable addition to the literature on the Civil War and will become indispensable for its balanced understanding of a most complicated field of history' - Contemporary Review. . . Without any doubt, the most nuanced and sophisticated analysis of the subject anywhere in existence. - Helen Graham, Professor of Spanish History, Royal Holloway, University of LondonGround-breaking ... this study is a most valuable addition to the literature on the Civil War and will become indispensable for its balanced understanding of a most complicated field of history - Contemporary ReviewScholars of modern Spain and, indeed, the Church in twentieth-century Europe more generally must not hesitate to refer to this engrossing, thoroughly researched, and perspective-changing work. - Raymond McCluskey, The Catholic Historical ReviewTable of ContentsPrologue. Introduction 1. The religious Question during the Spanish Republic 2. The Initial Reasons for the Rebellion 3. From the Pronunciamiento to the Crusade 4. The Initial Attitude of the Spanish Bishops 5. The Initial Attitude of the Vatican 6. The Collective Letter 7. Persecution and Repression 8. Stories of Persecution and Repression 9. Franco’s Relations with the Vatican are Strengthened 10. The Third Spain: Doves and Hawks 11. The Republic Desires Reconciliation with the Church 12. The Exile of Cardinal Vidal i Barraquer 13. The Church of Victory. Documentary Appendix. Chronology. Bibliography. Abbreviations. Index

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Book SynopsisA dogged enemy of Hitler, resolute ally of the Americans, and inspiring leader through World War II, Winston Churchill is venerated as one of the truly great statesmen of the last century. But while he has been widely extolled for his achievements, parts of Churchill''s record have gone woefully unexamined. As journalist Madhusree Mukerjee reveals, at the same time that Churchill brilliantly opposed the barbarism of the Nazis, he governed India with a fierce resolve to crush its freedom movement and a profound contempt for native lives. A series of Churchill''s decisions between 1940 and 1944 directly and inevitably led to the deaths of some three million Indians. The streets of eastern Indian cities were lined with corpses, yet instead of sending emergency food shipments Churchill used the wheat and ships at his disposal to build stockpiles for feeding postwar Britain and Europe. Combining meticulous research with a vivid narrative, and riveting accounts of personality and policy clashes within and without the British War Cabinet, Churchill''s Secret War places this oft-overlooked tragedy into the larger context of World War II, India''s fight for freedom, and Churchill''s enduring legacy. Winston Churchill may have found victory in Europe, but, as this ground-breaking historical investigation reveals, his mismanagement- facilitated by dubious advice from scientist and eugenicist Lord Cherwell- devastated India and set the stage for the massive bloodletting that accompanied independence.

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Book SynopsisA fundamental reassessment of Germany's 1941 campaign against the Soviet Union - a key turning point of the Second World War. This book highlights the enormous internal problems of the vital Panzer forces and reveals that their demise in the earliest phase of the war undermined the whole German invasion.Trade Review'… thought-provoking and valuable. It dispels any illusions that the first months of Operation Barbarossa were a pushover for the Wehrmacht; Stahel documents in detail, from German war diaries and letters, the heavy fighting and the high casualties.' Evan Mawdsley, The English Historical Review'… a thoroughly researched, comprehensive, and convincing analysis of Barbarossa … Any still-lingering notions of a German 'genius for war', as opposed to skill in some aspects of warmaking, is unlikely to survive this intellectually-disciplined, archivally-documented analysis of one of history's most misbegotten, mistakenly executed campaigns.' Dennis Showalter, Journal of Military History'Stahel paints a convincing portrait of a Germany army whose shape edge was already well into the process of being blunted during the first weeks of the fighting … This is a serious book and a welcome contribution to the military debate over Operation Barbarossa, a debate that has largely been carried out in the 'English speaking world' up till now.' Robert M. Citino, Central European History'The author's research is impressive … Stahel's clearly written and accessible account convincingly questions the competency of the German planning for Barbarossa … all will profit from reading this fine work.' Howard D. Grier, The Journal of Modern History'Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East will undoubtedly stand as a standard work on the first phase of Operation Barbarossa for a long time to come … The staggering amount of detail offered ensures this is an invaluable addition to Eastern Front literature and Operation Barbarossa in particular.' Yan Mann, Global War Studies'… a thrilling book that no military historian can afford to ignore.' German HistoryTable of ContentsIntroduction; Part I. Strategic Plans and Theoretical Conceptions for War against the Soviet Union: 1. Fighting the bear; 2. The gathering storm; 3. Barbarossa's sword - Hitler's armed forces in 1941; 4. The advent of war; Part II. The Military Campaign and the July/August Crisis of 1941: 5. Awakening the bear; 6. The perilous advance to the east; 7. The Battle of Smolensk; 8. The attrition of Army Group Centre; 9. In search of resurgence; 10. Showdown; Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisIn the bleakest years of the Second World War when it appeared that nothing could slow the advance of the German army, Hitler set his sights on the Mediterranean island of Crete, the ideal staging ground for domination of the Middle East. But German command had not counted on the strength of the Cretan resistance or the eccentric band of British intelligence officers who would stand in their way, conducting audacious sabotage operations in the very shadow of the Nazi occupation force.The Ariadne Objective tells the remarkable story of the secret war on Crete from the perspective of these amateur soldiers who found themselves serving because, as one of them put it, they had made ''the obsolete choice of Greek at school''. John Pendlebury, a swashbuckling archaeologist with a glass eye and a swordstick; Xan Fielding, a writer who would later produce the English translations of books like Bridge on the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes; Sandy Rendel, a futuTrade ReviewAn exciting, fast-moving and crisply written adventure story… Highly recommended * The Literary Review *Wes Davis’s fast-paced tale of wartime sabotage reads more like an Ian Fleming thriller than a mere retelling of events * Wall Street Journal *What really sets the book apart from the host of look-alikes is Davis’s dedication to fleshing out the eccentricity of the main players… It is surely a good thing that we no longer associate war with adventure; if it were always as appealing as Davis has made it here, we would grow to love it too much * Daily Beast *

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Book SynopsisGuy Walters is the author of several books on the Second World War, including Hunting Evil. A former journalist on The Times, he writes widely on historical topics for the national press. He lives in Wiltshire with his wife, the author Annabel Venning, and their two children.Trade ReviewGuy Walters strips away the myths to reveal the real story behind the film and finds the truth to be no less thrilling. This is utterly compelling and once again shows there is no better investigator in this field. * James Holland *

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Book SynopsisThe overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi has been one of the twenty-first century''s defining moments: the Arab world''s most bizarre dictator brought down by his own people with the aid of NATO aircraft. Lindsey Hilsum was in Libya when Gaddafi met his squalid end. She traces the history of his strange regime from its beginnings - when Gaddafi had looks, charisma and popular appeal - to its paranoid, corrupt final state. At the heart of her book, however, is a brilliant narrative of Libyan people overcoming fear and disillusionment and finding the strength to rebel. Hilsum follows five of them through the terror and tragedy. This is the story of modern Libyan as it was lived, from the excesses of dictatorship to violent revolution. Sandstorm will take its place in a library of classic books about turning points of history.

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Book SynopsisThe Pacific Profiles series presents the most accurate WWII profiles of aircraft which served in the South Pacific theatre.Volume Seven covers the Douglas C-47, including numerous derivatives such as the C-53, R4D and DC-3. This was the most universal aircraft type to appear in the South Pacific and was deployed from day one to the cessation of hostilities. It was utilised by every military organisation including eighteen Fifth and Thirteenth Air Force USAAF squadrons, and also by the USN, USMC, RAAF, RNZAF, RAF and Dutch Air Force.Most profiles are presented for the first time, alongside a full explanation of the markings. Frequent trading of airframes between units resulted in wide-ranging heraldry, unit markings and nose art. In particular until now there has been a paucity of information about the markings of Thirteenth Air Force C-47s and USMC R4Ds, a gap largely filled by this volume. This volume illustrates the development of unit markings from the first commandeered DC-3 airlinTrade ReviewIt all makes for a superb reference book for the modeler and enthusiast and well worth the price of admission. I very much like this series and look forward to each new volume. Most highly recommended. * Modelling Madness 07/09/2022 *One impressive feature of the book is the series of drawings, which provide accurate drawings showing the engine and cargo door arrangements for each variant, with photos in many cases accompanying the drawings, verifying the markings provided. * IPMS/USA 16/11/2022 *

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