Second World War Books

Book SynopsisUsing first-hand accounts and many previously unpublished images, this highly illustrated new book provides a detailed analysis of Germany''s Panzergrenadier in World War II.Throughout history, infantry has been the main attacking force deployed by armies around the world, but positioning substantial infantry forces has always required precious time to assemble the troops to launch an attack or form defensive positions. Transportation of men and their equipment has been a major issue through the ages, and one that was only partly alleviated by the establishment of railway systems in the 19th century and motor vehicles in the early 20th century. With the development of the German Panzerwaffe, military planners realized both the enormous potential of the tank as a breakthrough weapon, but also the issues faced by support units following the attacking force including the infantry. A tank assault moved rapidly forwards and this required a motorized infantryTrade ReviewAnother great addition to this series of books from Thomas Anderson and Osprey. * Military Model Scene *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. 1936 – A New Infantry 2. The Schützenpanzerwagen 3. 1939 – Poland 4. 1940 – France 5. 1941 – New Challenges 6. 1941 – Variants 7. 1942 – Armoured Infantry 8. 1943 – In Combat 9. 1944 – Defending the Reich 10. Weaponry Index

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Book SynopsisKen Delve explores the roles of leadership, external support and community spirit and the parts they played during one of Maltas most challenging eras.

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Book SynopsisIn 1941 the Luftwaffe was the most powerful air force in the world. This is the story of how it was utterly defeated on the Eastern Front

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Book SynopsisFrom critically acclaimed Eastern Front expert Prit Buttar comes this paperback edition of his detailed and engrossing account of the World War II''s Eastern Front as German forces were driven back following the Battle of Kursk.Making use of the extensive memoirs of German and Russian soldiers to bring this story to life, Retribution follows on from On A Knife''s Edge, which described the encirclement and destruction of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad and the offensives and counteroffensives that followed throughout the winter of 194243. Beginning towards the end of the Battle of Kursk, Retribution tells the story of the massive Soviet offensive that followed the end of Operation Zitadelle, which saw depleted and desperate German troops forced out of Western Ukraine. In this title, critically acclaimed Eastern Front expert Prit Buttar describes in detail the little-known series of near-constant battles that saw a weakened German army coTrade ReviewAn excellent strategic and operational analysis of this mostly ignored campaign... * New York Journal of Books *Table of ContentsList of Maps Author's Note Dramatis Personae Introduction 1 – Summer 1943: The Decisive Shift 2 – The Mius 3 – Operation Polkovodets Rumyantsev 4 – Akhtyrka and Bogodukhov 5 – Kharkov 6 – Attrition: From the Mius and Donets to the Dnepr 7 – The Dnepr Bridgeheads 8 – Krivoy Rog 9 – Kiev and Zhitomir 10 – Year's End 11 - A Year of Decision Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisHe masterminded the most devastating surprise attack against the United States in its history. He was a marked man in the war that followed. A key intelligence breakthrough enabled the military to pinpoint his location. An elite team was assembled and charged not with his capture and subsequent trial but with his execution. Osama bin Laden? No this was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet during World War II. This new title analyses the origins, implementation, and outcomes of Operation Vengeance, the long-range fighter interception of Admiral Yamamoto's transport aircraft that sent him to his death on 18th April, 1943. Author Si Sheppard examines every angle of the operation in detail, including the role of intelligence work in pinpointing the time and location of Yamamoto's flight, the chain of command at the highest level of the US political and military establishment who ordered the attack, and the technical limitations that had Table of ContentsIntroduction Origins The Plan The Mission Aftermath Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisEnjoy a detailed examination of Operation Olive as US, British, Commonwealth and Allied forces seek to smash through the last German defensive line in Italy.The Italian theatre of operations post-summer 1944 was often (and incorrectly) surmised at the time as a quiet sector of World War II, populated with troops who were relieved not to find themselves fighting in North-West Europe. Yet the true nature of the hard fighting that took place here was soon revealed when the Allies began their assault on the Axis Gothic Line defences, known as Operation Olive. In this book, Italian military historian Pier Paolo Battistelli documents the dual Allied offensive spearheaded by American and British units to smash through what was supposed to be the final Axis defensive line in Italy before the Alps. The overall strategic aims of both the Axis and Allied leaders are explored, together with the organization of the forces committed.The expertly researTrade ReviewBy Page 30 readers have been given a first-class overview. -- Susan Wilson * Army Rumour Service *A well-researched and accessible guide to a fascinating and complex late-war campaign. * Military Modelcraft International *Table of ContentsORIGINS OF THE CAMPAIGN CHRONOLOGY OPPOSING COMMANDERS Allied Axis OPPOSING FORCES Allied Axis Orders of battle, 25 August 1944 Orders of battle, 1 November 1944 OPPOSING PLANS Allied Axis THE CAMPAIGN BR Eighth Army breaches the Gothic Line The Battle for Rimini US Fifth Army pierces the Gothic Line BR Eighth Army’s offensive on the Romagna Plain The thrust towards Imola US Fifth Army’s drive on Bologna BR Eighth Army’s final push Final operations AFTERMATH THE BATTLEFIELD TODAY FURTHER READING INDEX

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Book SynopsisA history of the US Navy''s remarkable 1945 South China Sea raid against the Japanese, the first time in history that a carrier fleet dared to rampage through coastal waters.As 1945 opened, Japan was fighting defensively everywhere. As the Allies drew closer to the Home Islands, risks of Japanese air and sea attack on the US Navy carrier force increased. US forces wanted to take the island of Luzon which provided a base for Japanese aircraft from Formosa (Taiwan) and Indochina, and from where attacks could easily be devastating for the invasion fleet. US Naval Intelligence also believed Japanese battleships Ise and Hyuga were operating out of Cam Ranh Bay. A fast carrier sweep through the South China Sea was a potential answer with the bonus that it would strike the main nautical highway for cargo from Japan''s conquests in Southeast Asia.Task Force 38 would spend the better part of two weeks marauding through the South China Sea during OperationTable of ContentsINTRODUCTION CHRONOLOGY ATTACKER’S CAPABILITIES - Task Force 38 at the height of its power DEFENDER’S CAPABILITIES -The Japanese in the South China Sea CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES -Japan’s critical sea route THE CAMPAIGN - Into the South China Sea AFTERMATH AND ANALYSIS FURTHER READING INDEX

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Book SynopsisAs the horror of Nazism tightened its grip on Germany, Jews found themselves trapped and desperate. For many, their only hope of salvation came in the form of a small, bespectacled British man: Frank Foley. Working as a Berlin Passport Control Officer, Foley helped thousands of Jews to flee the country with visas and false passports, personally entering the camps to get Jews out, and sheltering those on the run from the Gestapo in his own apartment. Described by a Jewish leader as 'the Pimpernel of the Jews', Foley was an unsung hero of the Holocaust.But why is this extraordinary man virtually unknown, even in Britain? The reason is simple: Foley was MI6 head of station in Berlin, bound to secrecy by the code of his profession.Michael Smith's work uncovering the remarkable truth led to the recognition of Frank Foley as Righteous Among Nations, the highest honour the Jewish state can bestow upon a Gentile. Foley is a story of courage and quiet heroism in the face of great evil - a reminder of the impact that one brave individual can have on the lives of many.Trade Review'One of the great heroic figures of the Holocaust, equal at least to Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg.' - Jerusalem Post; 'A fascinating book. Smith writes well: coolly and unexaggeratedly, sensibly and authoritatively' - Alan Judd, Daily Telegraph; 'Gripping. An outstanding book. The last word on the Final Solution' - Phillip Knightley, Mail on Sunday; 'Crisp and informative. Very effectively conveys the atmosphere of cumulative danger experienced by Jews in Germany under the Nazis.' - The Times; 'A reminder that goodness can triumph over evil.' - Daily Mail

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Book SynopsisThe epic story of the RAF’s legendary heavy bomber: the Avro LancasterThe Lancaster Story takes readers on a remarkable journey through the history of an aviation icon. Between its introduction in 1942 and the end of the Second World War, the Avro Lancaster flew more than 150,000 sorties, dropped more than 600,000 tons of explosives and took the Allied fight to Nazi Germany.The true workhorse of the RAF’s bomber corps, the ‘Lanc’ featured on some of the most daring and celebrated missions of the war, including the heroic Dambusters raid and the Operation Hydra bombing. These and many other successes came at a significant cost, however: almost half of the 7,377 Lancasters deployed into service were lost in action. Using archival documents, letters and first-hand accounts, The Lancaster Story delivers a dramatic and vividly rendered account of the most successful RAF b

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Book SynopsisSex under the Swastika is a journey through the dark secretive corridors of the Third Reich's powerbase and it's near-pathological sexual obsession with young women, sex, Satanism and the occult. Based on interviews, eye-witness accounts and using newly revealed material from the sons and daughters of former SS officers who were part of Adolf Hitler and Reinhard Heydrich's personal staff, we learn about the sexual conduct, affairs, scandals and fetishes of some of Hitler's most trusted advocates, who used their positions of trust to execute their warped fantasies. It reveals how many leading Nazi's were actively involved in occult rituals and sexual practices, and how the abuse suffered by many young men and women was only permissible through the filtering down from the highest echelons of the regime, which was prepared to turn a blind eye. Learn about the exotic sex and drug-fuelled private cocktail parties of the Nazi political elite that spread far and wide into the society over which it presided. An unapologetically provocative volume, Sex Under the Swastika is an exploration of the Third Reich's darkest secrets, which left blood on the crisp white sheets of a nation and caused many to remain silent for decades after the death of National Socialist Germany. This unique work leaves the reader to make up his or her own mind as to the perverse, warped nature and the guilt and complicity of one of history's most sexually exploitive and evil empires.

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Book SynopsisThis is the biography of one of the RAF's Intruder pilots of the Second World War.

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Book SynopsisIncludes thrilling first-hand accounts of operations undertaken.

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Book SynopsisGraphic first-hand account of tank warfare on the Eastern Front.

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Book Synopsis''An extraordinary account of heroism and sacrifice. An unexpected and important story, rivetingly told. Rip roaring stuff. Get this into the paws of the sea dog in your life.'' - Griff Rhys Jones''A book that had to be written'' - Let''s Talk''People ashore don't realise what a grim war we are waging at sea with the Germans. A cold-blooded war, in a way I think requiring the maximum of bravery from the men of both sides in the long run, as it is so ceaseless and intangible. You just don't know whether the next moment will be your last.'' Robert Hichens, RNVSR Several years ago, Julia Jones was searching through long-forgotten items stored at her house and discovered some suitcases of old written material, which turned out to be accounts by her father of his experiences in the RNVSR (Royal Naval Volunteer Supplementary Reserve). She realised that as a child she'd met some of the people mentioned, and although she was too young to truly know them, these youthTrade ReviewFrom Childers to Monsarrat via Shute and Maurice Griffiths. Julia Jones links the world of yachting, literature, the navy and war into an extraordinary account of heroism and sacrifice. An unexpected and important story, rivetingly told. Rip roaring stuff. Get this into the paws of the sea dog in your life. -- Griff Rhys JonesA story that has been a long time coming… And who to tell it better than novelist and journalist Julia Jones who has not only the gift of the pen, but whose father was one of the cadre of sailors who helped ensure that the war was won * Classic Boat *This is a magnificent portrait of men at war and a most scholarly history. * Country Life *A book that had to be written * Let's Talk *The likes of Maurice Griffiths, Peter Scott, Robert Hichens, Nevil Shute Norway and Adrian Seligman brought an inventiveness to situations that sometimes challenged the 'Navy way' but got results... A remarkable mosaic of accounts of the war at sea. -- Peter Willis * Yachting Monthly *a good book that offers a welcome insight and turns the spotlight anew on some of the forgotten men of a terrible conflict * Sailing Today *Jones describes ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances, amateur sailors turned into minesweepers or commandos, but does not allow the picturesque to distract from the gruelling realities of their experiences. * The Tablet *interesting and well-researched ... a very absorbing book * The Cruising Association *[Jones] writes with vim and vigour ... a continously astonishing book * The Spectator *An excellent read for summer days onboard. * The Lady *absorbing...compelling...informative * Seagull: The Journal of the Indian Maritime Foundation *A masterful work, which gives a wonderful flavour of the RNVSR, with its lack of formality and its individuals capable of thinking and working 'outside the box'... An engaging and entertaining read. -- Ohil Russell * Warship 2024 *Table of ContentsIntroduction: A riddle in the attic 1 ‘There must be hundreds of chaps like me’ 2 ‘I happened to look around and he was gone’ 3 ‘They ought to make some use of us’ 4 ‘Are there many like you in England?’ 5 ‘Do you think you’ll like this sort of thing?’ 6 ‘I hardened to the life’ 7 ‘So casual and quiet in the extraordinary things that you do’ 8 ‘I couldn’t help noticing that it wasn’t quite what you expected’ 9 ‘He helped me out of a bit of a mess’ 10 ‘The last strongholds were battered, stormed and overwhelmed’ 11 ‘I sign articles’ 12 ‘Small things sidled out of dark hiding places’ 13 ‘The dark spaces of the North Sea’ 14 ‘Mosquitoes with stings’ 15 ‘The very splash of the surf and the bubble of the tides’ 16 ‘Distracted by the multiplicity of its functions’ 17 ‘Every inch of it must be important’ 18 ‘It’s a dirty-looking night and I don’t like this swell’ 19 ‘Would you care to join me in a little yachting?’ 20 ‘Multitudes of seagoing lighters, carrying full loads of soldiers’ 21 ‘There was an outburst of shouting which soon died away’ 22 ‘Goodbye Old Chap’ 23 ‘From that point our personal history is of no concern’ Endnotes Acknowledgements Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisIn 1939, Britain was preparing for war. As well as building aeroplanes and digging Anderson shelters, this meant managing food supplies for the home front.The Ministry of Food rose to the challenge, introducing rationing, encouraging the nation to dig for victory, and issuing cookbooks and health advice.Drawing inspiration from Britain’s ‘finest hour’, when the thrifty British housewife had to grow her own veg, stretch the butter ration and still keep her family fighting fit, this is both a social history of wartime dining and a collection of over sixty delicious and healthy seasonal recipes with a vintage twist.

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Book SynopsisPacific Profiles Volume 12 covers the P-51 and F-6 Mustang series which served in New Guinea, the Philippines and then the Japanese islands, serving with a total of ten USAAF Fifth Air Force fighter and reconnaissance squadrons, and also with New Guinea’s Combat Replacement Training Centre.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Markings and Technical Notes Chapter 2 The First Mustangs Chapter 3 3rd Air Commando Group Chapter 4 39th Fighter Squadron Chapter 5 40th Fighter Squadron Chapter 6 41st Fighter Squadron Chapter 7 82nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron Chapter 8 110th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron Chapter 9 340th Fighter Squadron Chapter 10 341st Fighter Squadron Chapter 11 342nd Fighter Squadron Chapter 12 460th Fighter Squadron Chapter 13 Commander Mustangs Chapter 14 Postwar Markings

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Book SynopsisSimon Bolivar Buckner Jr. was a major figure of the Pacific War, both for his command in Alaska and in his key role heading Tenth Army during the Battle of Okinawa in the spring of 1945. Buckner was the senior U.S. officer killed by enemy fire in World War II when Japanese artillery cut him down on June 18, 1945, one month shy of his 59th birthday. The shelling ended a remarkable life – son of a Confederate Lieutenant General and governor of Kentucky, the "Child of the Democracy" in the 1896 Presidential election campaign, educated at West Point, myriad service as a student and instructor at various Army posts and schools from 1917 to 1936, command in Alaska from 1940 to 1944, and ultimately of Tenth Army from 1944 to his death.General Buckner kept a diary covering the period from January 1, 1944 to June 17, 1945, which has never been fully published until now. Buckner made notes every day, often in great detail; his chief of staff thought Buckner wanted to write a memoir after the war, but the papers were scattered after his death. In addition to the Okinawa material, Buckner's diaries discuss his departure from Alaska and service in Hawaii as Tenth Army commander. Topics include his daily life in wartime Hawaii, troop training, comments on war events, gossip, notes on his travels to Guam and the Philippines, and his role in the Smith vs Smith controversy after the Battle of Saipan. The diary text is augmented by letters from General Buckner to his wife Adele during March to June 1945, and a letter from the Tenth Army Chief of Staff to Adele detailing Buckner's death. Tenth Army Commander is an important account from a too-long-silent voice among Pacific War leaders. Table of ContentsI. Editor’s Introduction II. Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr’s Life to 1944 III. Alaska: January-May 1944 IV. New Appointments and Assignments: June-December 1944 V. Preparing Tenth Army: January-March 1945 VI. The Battle of Okinawa: April 1 to June 17, 1945 VII. “You’re Going Home” VIII. Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr: Assessment of an Army Commander Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe story of one of the most astonishing episodes of espionage and deception of World War Two.This is the tale of two men: Claude Dansey, deputy head of MI6, and double agent Henri Dericourt, who was planted with the rival wartime secret service – SOE – at Dansey’s instructions. From there began a terrifying trail of destruction.After making contact with Dansey in 1942, Dericourt was recruited to SOE as the man desperately needed to organize top-secret flights in and out of occupied French territory. But at the same time Dericourt was in touch with German counter-espionage in Paris. As SOE congratulated themselves on a new asset, Dericourt gave the Nazis everything; every flight, operation and coded message he could.Against a background of unprecedented deception and betrayal, Dansey’s secret MI6 operation eventually led to the arrest of nearly one thousand men and women, hundreds of whom died in concentration camps.How did it go so wrong?A shocking, enthralling account of a devastating episode in the history of the British secret services, perfect for readers of Ben MacIntyre.

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Book SynopsisAn examination of two of the most high-profile air and land weapons to be deployed on the Eastern Front in World War II.In late 1942, as part of its attempts to strike back at ever-increasing numbers of Soviet tanks, the German air ministry authorised the development of an adaptation and enhancement of the longspan Junkers Ju 87D-5 Stuka dive-bomber. The aircraft was duly fitted with two underwing pods containing 37 mm BK cannon an antiaircraft cannon with its origins dating back to 1933. The solid, slow, Ju 87 airframe offered the Luftwaffe an ideal platform for specialist, low level, ''tank-killing'' operations. Despite the wealth of experience possessed by some of the Luftwaffe''s ground-attack and dive-bomber aces, knocking out T-34 tanks from the air was a demanding and difficult process. Nevertheless, some Luftwaffe pilots notched up impressive tank scores, and the Ju 87 is credited with the destruction of more than 100 tanks across the central and souTable of ContentsIntroduction Chronology Design and Development Technical Specifications The Strategic Situation The Combatants Combat Statistics and Analysis Aftermath Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisThis first volume of Solomons Air War chronicles aerial warfare in the opening phase of the war in the Solomons Islands theatre, being the critical period of August-September 1942.After occupying the Solomon Islands capital of Tulagi with ease in May 1942, the Imperial Japanese Navy commenced building an airfield on the adjacent island of Guadalcanal. The indispensable airfield was over 600 miles distant from their main base of Rabaul and promised to extend the reach of their aircraft into the Allied occupied island chains of Fiji, the New Hebrides and New Caledonia. Much was at stake and the airfield would be held at all costs. Then, in early August 1942 a bold American invasion of both Tulagi and Guadalcanal caught the IJN completely off guard. Nevertheless, Japanese air power responded swiftly and in some cases desperately. So began the knife-edge struggle for Guadalcanal.An ever-increasing variety and number of IJN units was poured into the struggle, met initially with USN carrier-Trade ReviewThe authors are a benchmark of quality and accuracy for their accounts of the air actions in the South Pacific during World War Two. * Flypast Magazine *Throughout the book there are plenty of archive images, along with some neat colour profile artwork of a wide variety of aircraft types and markings. Two appendices at the end, with details of aircraft losses and fatalities for both sides. The level of detail in the book is far greater than I have ever seen before about the story of Guadalcanal and the Solomons, and most especially, that it is I think fairly balanced with detail for both sides, right down to individual aircrew names. Well written, this was a book I thoroughly enjoyed reading and couldn't put down once started. Easy one to recommend in my view. * Military Model Scene *

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Book SynopsisAs the Soviet troops fought their way ever closer to the Reich Chancellery in the final days of the Third Reich, deep underground in Hitler's bunker fateful decisions were being made. Hitler and some of those closest to him resolved to commit suicide, whilst others sought to try and escape. But who did manage to slip past the Russian soldiers and reach freedom? How did they escape, and what routes did they take through the ruined streets of Berlin? Equally, what became of those who escaped, where did they go, and what happened to those who did not get away? All of these questions are answered in this book. Following years of research in Berlin, the author has been able to identify the various groups and individuals that left the bunker and has traced the paths taken by those who escaped and those that perished. The final days in Hitler's bunker are revealed in atmospheric detail, as the Red Army closed in and the inevitable end loomed menacingly nearer with the passing of every hour. Many notable persons, such as Bormann, Speer, Goering and Hanna Reitsch, went to say a last farewell to the Fuhrer, while others, such as Goebbels, prepared themselves for suicide rather than being taken prisoner by the Russians. By using first-hand testimony from those who survived, photographs of the devastated German capital in 1945, as well as images of the various routes that the escapers followed through Berlin as they appear today, the author explores the last moments of the Third Reich in startling clarity.

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Book SynopsisThis volume examines the history and development of the Ju 188 twin-engined aircraft, the Luftwaffe's attempt to enhance and improve its peerless Ju 88.The Junkers Ju 188 was the epitome of mid-war German twin-engined aircraft design, representing the enhancement of an earlier type and incorporating increased performance and technological sophistication. As part of the 1939 Bomber B' programme, it was intended as a replacement for the Ju 88 and He 111 medium bombers, taking advantage of uprated Jumo and BMW engines and incorporating a radically redesigned cockpit area with all-round visibility for high-speed bombing, torpedo-bomber carrying, FuG 200 radar, and camera-equipped reconnaissance operations. What emerged, from the autumn of 1943, was a sophisticated bomber and reconnaissance aircraftand intended nightfighter. After operational trials, the Ju 188 equipped three bomber Geschwader and several long-range reconnaissance Staffeln in the East and Italy, conductTrade ReviewThe Ju 188 is often overlooked as a modelling subject by all but the Luftwaffe aficionado; however this book provides enough interest to help the type get the recognition it should have. A well-proportioned book that is readable without being over technical or over demanding on the reader. -- Gary Hatcher * Scale Aircraft Modelling *The author writes well and with authority, supplemented with good-quality photos and an impressive set of 24 full-colour side profiles of the variants. This is not just about ‘Ju188 units’ – there is good coverage of the design, development and aircraft components too. Action accounts are drawn from both German and British sources, with some especially informative accounts of night interceptions and tactics: by this late in the war, survival was better at night than day (but not by very much). Nicely done – recommended. -- Chis Jarvis * Miniature Wargames *Table of ContentsChapter 1 Design and Development Chapter 2 Enter the 'E' Chapter 3 Service Debut Chapter 4 From the Arctic to Africa Chapter 5 Reactive Development Chapter Target England Chapter 7 Ebbing Tide Appendices Index

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Book SynopsisIn the summer of 1940 the fate of Europe hung in the balance. Victory in the forthcoming air battle would mean national survival; defeat would establish German tyranny.The Luftwaffe greatly outnumbered the RAF, but during the Battle of Britain it was the RAF that emerged triumphant, thanks to two key fighter planes, the Spitfire and the Hurricane. The Hurricane made up over half of Fighter Command's front-line strength, and its revolutionary design transformed the RAF's capabilities. Leo McKinstry tells the story of the remarkable plane from its designers to the first-hand testimonies of those brave pilots who flew it; he takes in the full military and political background but always keeps the human stories to the fore - to restore the Hawker Hurricane to its rightful place in history.Trade Review'Superb volume . . . great merit of [his] style . . . enthralling . . .' * Literary Review *A superb volume . . . The great merit of McKinstry's style is that he skilfully mixes the story of the machines with those of the men behind them... enthralling * Literary Review *As with his earlier books McKinstry interweaves the engineering lore and red-tape disputes behind the aircraft's manufacturing history with first-hand descriptions of its reliability and effectiveness. The tale he has to tell is a powerful one, like the Hurricane itself but once again he has proved himself an ace at the controls * Daily Express *'Superb' * Saul David, Daily Telegraph *'McKinstry is brilliant at bringing to life the tales of these machines for a new generation. His book is both worthy tribute and a genuinely page-turning read' * News of the World *Here the author does for the Hurricane what he has already done for the Spitfire, reminding us of the crucial role that the Hawker Hurricane played in the Battle of Britain...Leo McKinstry is particularly good on the 'bullish' character of Sidney Camm, the Hurricane's designer * Sunday Telegraph *McKinstry's case is persuasive * Daily Mail *'Those interested in the history of aviation, and the Second World War more generally, will be delighted with Leo McKinstry's latest book. This is a beautifully crafted and thoroughly researched study of the Hurricane's role . . . One particular strength of the book is that it sets the narrative of the Hurricane's development against the contextual backdrop of the era. Another is that it sheds a light on a cross section of people who were involved with its development and employment, not least its designer, Sit Sydney Camm...Hurricane is a compelling read, and has done precisely what it set out to achieve: to restore the Hurricane to its rightful place in the story of the Second World War' * BBC History *

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Book SynopsisWe are not dealing with the remote future. The Huns are coming. Will they drop from the skies and surround the village?Will sounds of battle will be heard in the far distance?Or will their armoured fighting vehicles will come careering across the landscape?When they come, your village must be ready. Defence of Villages and Small Towns is one of a series of training books written in 1942 by Colonel G. A. Wade for the newly-recruited Home Guard. This reproduction from the Royal Armouries' archive shows how the Second World War trainees learnt to defend rural villages and small towns from the threat of enemy invasion.

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Book SynopsisBetween June 1940 and August 1943, RAF Bomber Command undertook a little-known strategic bombing campaign in Europe. The target was Mussolini's Italy. This air campaign was a key part of the strategic policy of Britain from 1940 to 1943, which aimed at securing Italy's early surrender. However, it posed unique challenges, not least of which was Italy''s natural defences of distance and the Alps.The bombing campaign against Italy can be divided into a number of phases, with each one having its own specific goals such as affecting Italian war production or hindering the Italian Navy's war in the Mediterranean. However, each also furthered the ultimate aim of forcing Italy's final capitulation, demonstrating that the tactic of area-bombing was not just about the destruction of an enemy's cities, as it could also fulfil wider strategic and political objectives. Indeed, the intensity and frequency of attack was greatly controlled, and the heavy bombing of Italy was only ever sancTable of ContentsIntroduction Chronology Attacker's Capabilities Defender's Capabilities Campaign Objectives The Campaign Aftermath and Analysis Further Reading Index

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Book SynopsisSummer 1942 and the war in the Middle East is in the balance; Rommel's Axis forces are posed on the borders of Egypt and all that is needed is one last push. For that to succeed, Rommel needs supplies and for the Allies to be denied supplies. With Malta still active and disrupting the Axis shipping routes across the Mediterranean he is denied those supplies. Meanwhile, the Allied build-up continues, and Montgomery holds at El Alamein and then counter attacks Rommel is pushed back and then in a double blow, the Allies land in Tunisia. The collapse of North Africa leads to the invasion of Italy and contributes to the final Axis defeat. But what if Rommel had won? In this alternate history, Ken Delve proposes that with a few strategic changes by the Axis, poor decision by Allied Commanders, the outcome of could have been very different. In this scenario, the Allied invasion in Tunisia fails, Rommel defeats Montgomery and seizes Egypt, leaving the Germans well-placed to sweep up through the Middle East, capturing oil installations and joining up with German forces in Russia.

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Book SynopsisTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERDo tough times create tougher people? Can humanity handle the power of its weapons without destroying itself? Will human technology ever peak or regress? And why, since the dawn of time, has it always seemed as though death and destruction are waiting just around the corner?Combining his trademark thrilling, expansive storytelling with rigorous history and thought experiment, Dan Carlin connects past with future to explore the tipping points of collapsing civilisations from the plague to nuclear war.Looking across every brush with apocalypse, crisis and collapse, this book also weighs, knowing all we do about human patterns, whether our world is likely to become a ruin for future archaeologists to dig up and explore.FROM THE CREATOR OF THE AWARD-WINNING, 100+ MILLION DOWNLOAD PODCASTHARDCORE HISTORYTrade Review‘Carlin puts the 'hardcore' in Hardcore History by focusing his narratives on the most violent and dramatic moments in human history, filling his show with colorful anecdotes that were most likely left out of your high school history class.’Time ‘A master of storytelling, Dan Carlin uses vivid detail and intuitive empathy to imagine what it was like to live through the end of the world … Carlin's engaging and accessible style invites us to ponder the rise and fall of civilizations and ask where we are headed. The end of the world is not merely a catastrophe that waits for us down the road; it is a ghost that haunts the places we've already been.’Mike Duncan, New York Times bestselling author of The Storm Before the Storm ‘This is the perfect thought experiment for anyone who believes the world is doomed, if only to remind them of one essential reality: the world has always, always seemed doomed…It feels odd to classify a book about barbarians and flu pandemics and the morality of nuclear war as fun, but that's the single best modifier for The End is Always Near. It's an apocalyptic discotheque.’Chuck Klosterman, author of But What If We're Wrong? ‘For podcast fanatics, each new release is akin to the Super Bowl … Host Dan Carlin, a former radio broadcaster, brings both passion and showmanship as he unspools historical narratives with a flair for tension and intensity.’AV Club ‘Walking listeners through Operation Barbarossa, the German attempt to capture Moscow, the Battle of Stalingrad, and Germany's ouster from the Soviet Union, Carlin is a wide-eyed, colorful guide to a dreadful story.’Slate ‘Carlin serves as a notable example of… a person who can discuss issues deeply and idiosyncratically.’Los Angeles Times

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Book SynopsisA gripping account of the epic hunt for Hitler's most terrifying battleship the legendary Tirpitz and the brave men who risked their lives to attack and destroy this most potent symbol of the Nazi's fearsome war machine.Tirpitz was the pride of Hitler's navy. To Churchill, she was the Beast', a menace to Britain's supply lines and a threat to the convoys sustaining Stalin's armies. Tirpitz was said to be unsinkable, impregnable no other target attracted so much attention.In total 36 major Allied operations were launched against her, including desperately risky missions by human torpedoes and midget submarines and near-suicidal bombing raids. Yet Tirpitz stayed afloat. It was not until November 1944 that she was finally destroyed by RAF Lancaster Bombers flown by 617 Squadron the Dambusters in a gruelling mission that tested the very limits of human endurance.The man who led the raid Willie Tait was one of the most remarkable figures of the war, flying missions almost continuouslyTrade Review‘This is a great wartime story, gung-ho in its praise of the men who finally sank Tirpitz, yet compassionate towards her courageous crew. Already a bestselling war historian with his books on the RAF, Target Tirpitz proves that Bishop has sea legs, and this book should add another fleet of fans to his existing army of admirers’ Sunday Telegraph ‘The story of the successive British efforts to destroy [the Tirpitz] is remarkable indeed, and Bishop deploys all his splendid narrative gifts to do it justice’ Max Hastings, Sunday Times ‘Spellbinding…While he is adept at explaining the strategic picture it is in his intense description of set-pieces and of the heroic dedication of their human participants that Bishop excels’ Daily Express ‘Patrick Bishop wisely concentrates his splendid narrative on the many ingenious and extremely hazardous British attempts to destroy [the Tirpitz]…Bishop does this tale extraordinary justice…Elegantly written and exhaustively researched, Target Tirpitz is a fitting memorial to all those who perished in this relatively unknown chapter of naval warfare.’ Daily Telegraph ‘The story of the successive British efforts to destroy (the Tirpitz) is remarkable indeed, and Bishop deploys all his splendid narrative gifts to do it justice’ Sunday Times

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Book Synopsis(Previously published as After the Flood')Former RAF Tornado Navigator and Gulf War veteran John Nichol sets out on a personal journey to discover what happened to 617 Squadron after the flood.RAF 617 Squadron's destruction of the dams at the heart of the Ruhr made them heroes and celebrities of their time. But this elite squadron was also called upon for a hundred more of the most secret and dangerous specialist precision attacks. As bestselling author John Nichol discovers, 617 would drop the largest bombs ever built on battleships, railway bridges, secret weapon establishments, rockets sites and U-boat construction pens. They were involved in attempts on the lives of enemy leaders, both Hitler and Mussolini, created a false fleet' on D-day which fooled the Germans, and knocked out a German super gun which would have rained 600 shells an hour on London. Of the 77 men who made it home from dams raid, only 45 survived to see the victory for which they fought as 617's reputation calledTrade Review‘This is not just another tale of heroism in the skies … This is a tale of victory, in the end, magnificently told in lip-biting detail’ Daily Mail ‘Full of stirring stories that will make you marvel at the aircrews’ fortitude … deeply moving’ Mail on Sunday ‘Absorbing … Thanks to the author’s intimate understanding of the dynamics of a bomber squadron, the reader is taken inside the history and allowed to view events from a human perspective’ Soldier Magazine Praise for John Nichol: ‘Full of poignant episodes … A fitting tribute to the raw courage of these young men’ Daily Express ‘A truly epic tale of courage and sacrifice – an intensely moving epitaph to the men of Bomber Command’ ANDY McNAB

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERA masterly history of the Dambusters raid from bestselling and critically acclaimed Max Hastings.Operation Chastise was one of the most extraordinary episodes of the Second World War, yet it has also become one of the most misunderstood.Max Hastings tells the gripping story of the Dambusters raid, from the invention of the bouncing bomb to the moonlit cockpits of young pilots flying at treetop height through lethal enemy fire. But Hastings also challenges what we think we know about the Dambusters, bringing to light the difficult truths that have often been left out of the legend.Brings it to life as never before Hour by nerve-jangling hour' Daily Mail Superb The heroes shine, but their achievement haunts' TimesA virtuoso performance from a veteran military historian. It is a white-knuckle narrative that brings clarity and insight to a much-loved tale, as well as offering a vital corrective to the drum-thumping conclusions of earlier books' Sunday TimesTrade Review Praise for Chastise ‘A virtuoso performance from a veteran military historian. It is a white-knuckle narrative that brings clarity and insight to a much-loved tale, as well as offering a vital corrective to the drum-thumping conclusions of earlier books.’ Sunday Times ‘Hastings recounts the actual raids with dramatic intensity … He brings us into those Lancasters, flying perilously low, straight into flak … Superb.’ Times ‘Thoughtful and gripping … This is a fine book combining great storytelling with a deep appreciation of the melancholy and waste that march in step with glory.’ Patrick Bishop, Telegraph ‘What is at stake in this revision of the old glorious narrative is something important. The debate over whether this particular raid mattered is, in miniature, the wider historiographical debate over the morals and efficacy of the whole bombing war … A powerful parable which might instruct us in our own confused times.’ Spectator ‘Hastings, who is a master of his craft, unfolds the story skilfully … It doesn’t matter how many times you have seen the film, or heard the story, this book is gripping from start to finish’ Keith Lowe, Literary Review ‘A riveting account that also shines a light on the fact that more than 1,400 civilians died in the floods that followed … It’s a monumental read’ Sun ‘A fine book about that moonlit Dambusters’ raid of 76 years ago, a worthy tribute to the men of 617 Squadron – and their hapless victims’ Sunday Express ‘A remarkable book … Combining formidable narrative power with equally potent explanatory insight, it situates the Dambusters Raid in the broader strategic context of World War II’ Washington Post

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Book SynopsisFollowing the success of Forgotten Voices of the Great War, Lyn Smith visits the oral accounts preserved in the Imperial War Museum Sound Archive, to reveal the sheer complexity and horror of one of human history''s darkest hours. The great majority of Holocaust survivors suffered considerable physical and psychological wounds, yet even in this dark time of human history, tales of faith, love and courage can be found. As well as revealing the story of the Holocaust as directly experienced by victims, these testimonies also illustrate how, even enduring the most harsh conditions, degrading treatment and suffering massive family losses, hope, the will to survive, and the human spirit still shine through.Trade ReviewA powerfully moving chronicle * Daily Express *Powerful cries of pain...All of them capture some element of the torment, and of hope....What might seem a monotonous roll of horror stories becomes, under her keen ear, a mosaic of infinite variety...can be read with an assurance that there will be many aspects of Holocaust in them that will be new, remarkable and thought-provoking -- Martin Gilbert * Financial Times *Full of rich insights...There are no greater stories of courage than those of old relatives who sacrificed themselves so that others could survive * The Jewish Chronicle *Deserves maximum space everywhere this autumn... poignant and sometimes horrific reading... it is a timely reminder to appreciate our lives and those we share it with * The Bookseller *probably the most harrowing book I'll ever read...gripping....its subject matter is something that should never be forgotten * Bookseller *

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Book Synopsis''An energetic, ambitious, provocative work by a young historian of notable gifts, which deserves a wide readership'' Max Hastings, The Sunday Times''Bold and breathtaking... I have never read a more daringly panoramic survey of the period'' Jonathan Wright, Herald ScotlandThe most terrible emergency in Britain''s history, the Second World War required an unprecedented national effort. An exhausted country had to fight an unexpectedly long war and found itself much diminished amongst the victors. Yet the outcome of the war was nonetheless a triumph, not least for a political system that proved well adapted to the demands of a total conflict and for a population who had to make many sacrifices but who were spared most of the horrors experienced in the rest of Europe.Britain''s War is a narrative of these epic events, an analysis of the myriad factors that shaped military success and failure, and an explanation of what Trade ReviewThis is an energetic, ambitious, provocative work by a young historian of notable gifts, which deserves a wide readership -- Max Hastings * The Sunday Times *A gifted historian...he tells the big story well but also illustrates his themes with many small stories and appealing anecdotes. -- Peter Clarke * Financial Times *Todman explores every aspect of the British experience of the war...rich in telling detail and reliant on the records kept by a host of ordinary Britons as they came to terms with the events going on around them...what ordinary people thought about the time they were living through provides a texture and depth that older wartime narratives have often lacked. -- Richard Overy * Literary Review *[Dan Todman] has succeeded in creating something that adds to our perception of what happened during this critical period...It is a compliment to Todman that time and again in reading his book I found myself thinking that I wanted to know more about this or that aspect. -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *The first volume of Dan Todman's new history of Britain and the Second World War is a tour de force. Taking the story up to the end of 1941, Todman provides us with a judicious guide to the road to war and its catastrophic first phase, offering in addition a shrewd portrait of Churchill which is worth the price of the book alone. Total history at its best. -- Jay Winter, Yale UniversityBold and breathtaking... I have never read a more daringly panoramic survey of the period...Todman has taken on a mammoth task but, at half-time, he shows every sign of completing it triumphantly. -- Jonathan Wright * Herald Scotland *

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Book SynopsisKeith Lowe''s Savage Continent is an awe-inspiring portrait of how Europe emerged from the ashes of WWII.The end of the Second World War saw a terrible explosion of violence across Europe. Prisoners murdered jailers. Soldiers visited atrocities on civilians. Resistance fighters killed and pilloried collaborators. Ethnic cleansing, civil war, rape and murder were rife in the days, months and years after hostilities ended. Exploring a Europe consumed by vengeance, Savage Continent is a shocking portrait of an until-now unacknowledged time of lawlessness and terror.Praise for Savage Continent:''Deeply harrowing, distinctly troubling. Moving, measured and provocative. A compelling and plausible picture of a continent physically and morally brutalized by slaughter'' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times''Excellent'', Independent ''Unbearable but essential. A serious account of things we never knew and our fathers would rather forget. Lowe''s transparent prose makes it difficult to look away from a whole catalogue of horrors...you won''t sleep afterwards. Such good history it keeps all the questions boiling in your mind'', ScotsmanKeith Lowe is widely recognized as an authority on the Second World War, and has often spoken on TV and radio, both in Britain and the United States. He is the author of the critically acclaimed Inferno: The Devastation of Hamburg, 1943 (Penguin). He lives in north London with his wife and two children.Trade ReviewGrimly absorbing, conveys the pity of war and its sorry aftermath with integrity and proper sympathy -- Ian Thomson * Sunday Telegraph *Moving, measured and provocative -- Dominic Sandbrook * Sunday Times *Extraordinary...exceptional...reveals a continent where moral values were often missing and basically lawlessness prevailed for several years -- Trevor James * The Historian *Savage Continent is a powerful and disturbing book, painstakingly researched and written with both authority and an impressive historical sweep -- James HollandA major new historical talent has arrived... a brilliantly organised and scrupulously objective survey of a continent on the floor * BBC History Magazine *An excellent account...Lowe's vivid descriptions of Europeans scrambling for scraps of food, rampant theft and 'destruction of morals' are a timely reminder that a certain humility is in order when we look at less fortunate continents today. -- Brendan Simms * The Independent *Impressive and heart-rendering study...Lowe marshals all the elements of the story with cool even-handedness, especially where statistics are concerned, and explains how subsequent generations have manipulated the historical record to suit their own purposes, either to diminish their guilt or demonise others. -- Christopher Silvester * Daily Express *Extraordinary, disturbing and powerful ... it is to Lowe's great credit that he resists the temptation to sit in moral judgment ... it is time we acknowledged the hidden realities of perhaps the darkest chapter in all human history * Daily Mail *Graphic and chilling. This excellent book paints a little-known and frightening picture of a continent in the embrace of lawlessness and chaos -- Ian Kershaw

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Book SynopsisWhen the Nazis invaded Hungary in 1944, they sent virtually the entire Jewish population to Auschwitz. A Hungarian Jew and a medical doctor, Dr. Miklos Nyiszli was spared from death for a grimmer fate: to perform scientific research on his fellow inmates under the supervision of the infamous Angel of Death: Dr. Josef Mengele. Nyiszli was named Mengele''s personal research pathologist. Miraculously, he survived to give this terrifying and sobering account of the terror of Auschwitz. This new Penguin Modern Classics edition contains an introduction by Richard Evans.Trade ReviewThe best brief account of the Auschwitz experience available * The New York Review of Books *

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Book SynopsisA mesmerising, chilling close-up portrayal of Stalin from Milovan Djilas, a Communist insider - with an introduction from Anne Applebaum, author of Gulag and Iron CurtainThis extraordinarily vivid and unnerving book three meetings held with Stalin during and after the Second World War. Djilas brilliantly describes the dictator in his lair - cunning, cruel, enormously talented. Few books give as clear a sense of what made Stalin such a compelling figure and how he was able to hypnotise and terrify those around him. Djilas also describes the key members of Stalin''s court: Beria, Malenkov, Zhukov, Molotov and Khruschchev. The result is a gripping account of the ruler at the height of his fame and power.

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Book Synopsis''Superb ... likely to become a classic'' ObserverIn the summer of 1914 most of Europe plunged into a war so catastrophic that it unhinged the continent''s politics and beliefs in a way that took generations to recover from. The disaster terrified its survivors, shocked that a civilization that had blandly assumed itself to be a model for the rest of the world had collapsed into a chaotic savagery beyond any comparison. In 1939 Europeans would initiate a second conflict that managed to be even worse - a war in which the killing of civilians was central and which culminated in the Holocaust.To Hell and Back tells this story with humanity, flair and originality. Kershaw gives a compelling narrative of events, but he also wrestles with the most difficult issues that the events raise - with what it meant for the Europeans who initiated and lived through such fearful times - and what this means for us.Trade ReviewA great achievement ... There could hardly be a more judicious guide to this bloody terrain ... a stark lesson in man's capacity for evil -- Dominic Sandbrook * The Sunday Times *A triumph ... one of a tiny handful of historians whose books will still be read in 100 years -- Laurence Rees * The Mail on Sunday *Chilling epic-size history ... should be required reading -- Harold Evans * The New York Times *The story of how the Old World plunged toward hell for 30 years ... There is no man better qualified than Kershaw to take us through the dark valleys of the world wars and the two sombre intervening decades ... fair-minded, deeply researched and highly readable -- Brendan Simms * Wall Street Journal *We are in the hands of a master historian -- Nigel Jones * Spectator *Few authors would have the ability, and perhaps the determination, to take on the history of both world wars and the connecting decades at this level of sophistication, depth and breadth -- Robert Tombs * The Times *Authoritative -- Nicholas Shakespeare * Telegraph *Kershaw leads his readers through this complex history in a clear and compelling manner -- Joanna Bourke * Prospect *

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Book SynopsisAt the terrible heart of the modern age lies Auschwitz. In a total inversion of earlier hopes about the use of science and technology to improve, extend and protect human life, Auschwitz manipulated the same systems to quite different ends. In Sybille Steinbacher''s terse, powerful new book, the reader is led through the process by which something unthinkable to any European in the 1930s had become a sprawling, industrial reality during the course of the world war. How Auschwitz grew and mutated into an entire dreadful city, how both those who managed it and those who were killed by it came to be in Poland in the 1940s, and how it was allowed to happen, is something everyone needs to understand.

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Book SynopsisIn this powerful and revelatory new work, historian Mary Fulbrook takes on one of the most fraught issues in modern times: the role of ordinary Germans in enabling the rise of Nazism and with it the exclusion, persecution, and then extermination of millions of people across Europe. The question often asked of the Nazi erawhat and when did ordinary Germans know about the crimes being committed in their name?is, Fulbrook argues, the wrong one. The real question is how they interpreted and actedor failed to actupon what they knew; and how, in the process, became complicit.To address these issues, Fulbrook examines German society before and during the Nazi regime, exploring the social conditions that eventually facilitated mass murder. She explores the creation of a bystander society, one in which the majority of Germans were either unable to act or developed growing indifference to the fate of those deemed non-Aryanmainly Jews and therefore outside the Volksgemeinschaft, or national community. Over the course of the 1930s, from Hitler''s assumption of the German chancellorship, through the passage of the Nuremberg Laws, to the devastation of Kristallnacht, this bystander society became more entrenched. Ordinary Germans became passive about the fate of non-Aryans and, by turning away, contributed to their isolation from mainstream society. For many citizens of the Reich, conformity led progressively through growing complicity in everyday racism to more active involvement in genocide during World War Two. In other words, social changes under Nazi rule shaped the perceptions and responses of German citizens, creating the conditions that made the Holocaust possible.Based on an extraordinary archive of personal accounts, Bystander Society moves between the individual and the wider context, highlighting the significance of changing social and political circumstances over the course of the Nazi period by offering first-hand testimony both from those who were its primary victims, and those who initially sought to stay on the side lines but could not avoid being caught up in the violence of the times. These accounts illuminate how interpersonal relations in everyday life shifted, such that some fellow citizens could first be viewed as outcasts and then, in wartime, deportedmost often to their deathsin full view of those who would later often claim ignorance of their fates.Chilling and illuminating, Bystander Society reconceives the whole notion of bystanding within Nazi Germany, offering an interpretation of the conditions for inaction, one with wide and enduring relevance.Trade ReviewA commendable attempt to understand why people stood by and did nothing when confronted with Nazi barbarism, written by one of the greatest historians of modern Germany. * Darren O'Byrne, The Critic *[a] terrific work of historical scholarship * Richard Lofthouse, QUAD *[A] brilliant new book... Fulbrook brings a lifetime of scholarship and reflection, as well as a fearless courage, to the task. * Nicholas Stargardt, Literary Review *Mary Fulbrook superbly weaves contemporary accounts of experiences from Jews and non-Jews into a rich tapestry that shows how Germany under Hitler gradually turned into a society capable of the Holocaust. * Ian Kershaw *With her signature insightfulness, historian Mary Fulbrook addresses the fascinating but troubling problem of 'bystanders' to the Holocaust. She probes how social dynamics in Hitler's early years pushed non-Jews to conform, and how after the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 most fervently did so. By the late 1930s, more Germans became complicit in Nazi crimes and, during World War II, German, Austrian, and Baltic 'bystanders' eagerly engaged in violence, participating in genocide. This gripping account is a must-read for anyone interested in how bystanders became accomplices and later perpetrators, and how democracy could be destroyed. * Marion Kaplan, Professor Emerita of Modern Jewish History, New York University, author of Between Dignity and Despair: Jewish Life in Nazi Germany and Hitler's Jewish Refugees: Hope and Anxiety in Portugal *Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgements Introduction: Bystanders and collective violence PART I THE SLIPPERY SLOPE: SOCIAL SEGREGATION IN NAZI GERMANY 1. Lives in Germany before 1933 2. Falling into line: spring 1933 3. Ripping apart at the seams: the racialization of identity, 1933-4 4. Shifting communities: dissembling and the cost of conformity 5. A nation of Aryans? The normalization of racial discrimination PART II THE EXPANSION OF VIOLENCE AT HOME AND ABROAD 6. Changing horizons: views from within and without 7. Shock waves: polarization in peacetime society, November 1938 8. Divided fates: empathy, exit, and death, 1939-41 9. Over the precipice: from persecution to genocide in the Baltics 10. Inner emigration and the fiction of ignorance 11. Towards the end: rescue, survival, and self-justifications CONCLUSION 12. The bystander myth and responses to violence

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Book Synopsis''Stands in the absolute first rank of books about the resistance in World War II. If you wish to read about a man more courageous and honourable than Jan Karski, I would have no idea who to recommend'' Alan Furst It is 1939. Jan Karski, a brilliant young Polish student, enjoys a life of parties and pleasure. Then war breaks out and his familiar world is destroyed. Now he must live under a new identity, in the resistance. And, in a secret mission that could change the course of the war, he must risk his own life to try and save those of millions. ''Insistently asks the question: What would you do? Would you fight, or acquiesce, or collaborate? ... Karski was deeply patriotic and ludicrously brave ... an astonishing testament of survival'' Ben Macintyre ''Karski''s adventures are worthy of the wildest spy thriller'' Daily Telegraph ''This eye-witness testimony is imbued with a passion that subsequent memoirs can rarely match'' Financial Times ''Deeply moving'' Daily Mail ''Reads like the screenplay to an incredibly exciting war movie - but it is all true'' Andrew RobertsTrade ReviewJan Karski's Story of a Secret State stands in the absolute first rank of books about the resistance in World War II. If you wish to read about a man more courageous and honorable than Jan Karski I would have no idea who to recommend. Yes, it's that good. -- Alan FurstIt deserves its status as a Penguin Classic, not only because it is a great historic document, but also because it's a cracking good read: Karski's adventures are worthy of the wildest spy thriller -- Nigel Jones * Telegraph *His account of his missions is an electrifying tale of false identities, near captures, spies and secret film capsules ... in human terms, Karski's account is invaluable -- Frank Trentmann * Daily Express *Story of a Secret State is now viewed as a classic insider's account of the Resistance in occupied Europe...After all the harrowing descriptions of Holocaust horrors there have been over the years from survivors of Auschwitz, Belsen, and Ravensbruck, Karski's vivid account of what he saw back in 1942 is still deeply moving. We feel his shock and incredulity that this could really be happening in 20th century 'civilised' Europe. -- Tony Rennell * Daily Mail *The bravery of the man who risked all to tell the world about the Holocaust is truly staggering ... an extraordinary testament to Man's inhumanity to Man, and the even more remarkable courage required to resist it -- Ben McIntyre * The Times *Karski's exploration of the moral fog in which he and his colleagues operated ... made me recall thrillers like Man Hunt and Hangmen Also Die ... two episodes resemble scenes tantalisingly directed by Hitchcock ... Karski's account of the systematic brutality of the Nazi regime is literally chilling -- Peter Conrad * The Observer *Reads like the screenplay to an incredibly exciting war movie - but it is all true -- Andrew RobertsSeared with an urgency that pitches the reader into the heart of the horror -- Ben Felsenburg * Metro *His story deserves not just revival but reflection ... Karski's electrifying words still speak only too eloquently for themselves -- Marek Kohn * Independent *

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Book Synopsis''I loved this book, as I love any good adventure story sublimely told . . . a gloriously exciting high, followed by a crushing realisation of war''s enormous waste'' Gerard deGroot, The Times''Absorbing . . . The extraordinary bravery of the participants shines out from the narrative'' Patrick Bishop, Sunday Telegraph_________________________________FROM THE AUTHOR OF BRIDGE OF SPIES: A dramatic and colourful new account of the most daring British commando raid of World War TwoIn the darkest months of the Second World War, Churchill approved what seemed to many like a suicide mission. Under orders to attack the St Nazaire U-boat base on the Atlantic seaboard, British commandos undertook the greatest raid of all, turning an old destroyer into a live bomb and using it to ram the gates of a Nazi stronghold. Five Victoria Crosses were awarded -- more than in any similar operation.Drawing on offiTrade ReviewI loved this book, as I love any good adventure story sublimely told...This book has the same effect as that drug. It's a gloriously exciting high, followed by a crushing realisation of war's enormous waste -- Gerard deGroot * The Times *Enthralling . . . the heroism on display that night was unsurpassed, and Whittell is right to call his book The Greatest Raid -- Simon Griffith * Mail on Sunday *Absorbing . . . The extraordinary bravery of the participants shines out from the narrative -- Patrick Bishop * Sunday Telegraph *A story of extraordinary courage . . . Without Chariot there might have been no further raids such as the much larger, and ultimately disastrous, attack on Dieppe five months later -- Jonathan Boff * Spectator *A compelling page-turner, the work of a master storyteller. The drama of the March 1942 operation is cinematic in its sweep and detail -- and Whittell's detective work on the real reasons for the raid is extraordinary. It is also beautifully written -- Matthew d'AnconaA spellbinding account of one of the most astonishing episodes of the whole war. Thrilling and tragic in equal measure, it is a story of self-sacrifice, comradeship and courage on an unimaginable scale -- Julia Boyd, author of Travellers in the Third ReichChurchill called St Nazaire "a deed of glory intimately involved in high strategy." This vivid and moving book shows why -- David Reynolds, author of Island Stories: An Unconventional History of BritainGiles Whittell's crisp, tight, prose is perfectly suited to record one of World War 2's great moments of heroism: his journalistic skills tease apart the flaws in the plan, while expertly bringing back to life the rich cast of protagonists -- Charles Spencer, author of The White ShipWorld War Two's Operation Chariot against Nazi Germany's battleship repair facility is the greatest commando raid of all time. So bravo to Giles Whittell for this meticulously researched and utterly gripping account of the heroism at St Nazaire. The Greatest Raid does great justice to its subjects -- Dr Amanda Foreman

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Book Synopsis''A breathtaking story'' Daily Mail Extraordinary' The Telegraph on the Cook sistersDesperate circumstances can cause ordinary women to achieve extraordinary things.No one would have predicted such glamorous and daring lives for Ida and Louise Cook two decidedly ordinary women who lived quiet lives in the London suburbs. But throughout the 1930s, the remarkable sisters rescued dozens of Jews facing persecution and death.Ida''s memoir of the adventures she and Louise shared remains as fresh, vital, and entertaining as the woman who wrote it. Even when Ida began to earn thousands as a successful romance novelist, the sisters directed every spare resource, as well as their considerable courage and ingenuity, towards saving as many as they could from Hitler''s death camps.Trade Review'A breathtaking story'Daily Mail “They defy the generalisation of social history: they wereextraordinary.”The Telegraph on the Cook sisters

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Through this story the author restores a past that has been erased by history and emphasizes the historical memory of what must never be repeated or forgotten." * Daejon Ilbo *"[An] exceptional novel… Soom captures the agonizing legacy of a dark chapter from the recent past." * Booklist *"The process of directly confronting the comfort women’s hellish experiences is truly painful. However, because the novel is not a product of the author’s imagination but in fact based on historical reality, we cannot turn our heads away. No, we must not." * Donga Ilbo *"Though it is fiction, Kim Soom’s novel is steeped in fact. One Left dignifies its subjects as an authentic memorial that makes an indelible mark on history." * Foreword Reviews *"It may seem cliché to state that a novel is necessary. But this one really is." * Asian Review of Books *"This is a painful, powerful literary indictment of the systemic subjugation of Korean comfortwomen, whose own #MeToo movement has yet to be fully reckoned with, decades after the fact." * Bookmonger *"This Korean novel dramatizes, with indelible force, the utter dehumanization of women confined to authoritarian patriarchal imprisonment." * The Arts Fuse *"[A] landmark — the first novel dedicated to depicting comfort women, a topic that invokes as much weariness as it does outrage among today’s public. Though a work of fiction, Kim Soom’s story is based on exhaustive research and testimonies given by actual comfort women...By rendering this topic in the form of a novel, Kim injects a new sense of emotional urgency in recognizing these very real and hauntingly painful experiences." * International Examiner *"[S]ynthesizes acute personal memories with painful history, straddling the line between fact and fiction. The result is a gut-wrenching narrative." * Korean Herald *"All credit then, to author, translators and publisher for bringing this important book to us." * London Korean Links *"In their even, experienced hands the translation avoids any temptation toward melodrama or obscenity, especially tricky and crucial given the raw, violent subject at hand... For English readers, one must note commensurate, masterful sensitivity to every word and nuance in the translation." * Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature (TSWL) *"[T]he first Korean novel devoted exclusively to the subject of the “comfort women.” In direct opposition to the Japanese government’s efforts to suppress the memory of its sex slave camps, Kim chooses to deploy language like a scalpel, crafting her narrative from the testimonies of dozens of Korean survivors... Granting dignity to the few living survivors is a matter of urgency, as highlighted by the fictional construct of One Left." * Ploughshares *"In this a telling of a tragic history from the perspective of one elderly former sex slave who sees herself as “the last one,” Kim revitalizes energy for this irreconcilable injustice in a new generation of readers." * Korean Quarterly *

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Book SynopsisPresents historiographic research on Nazi Germany. This book brings together the important aspects of the author's research on the Holocaust. Featuring three sections: Hitler and the 'Final Solution', popular opinion and the Jews in Nazi Germany, and the 'Final Solution' in historiography, it provides a section on the uniqueness of Nazism.Trade Review"'this short book goes to the heart of the great debates over Nazism, then examines the progress of the debates themselves... an important contribution to the historiography of the Second World War. Plus it's a page-turner.' Andrew Roberts, The Mail on Sunday 'an excellent chance to acquire, in a single volume, Kershaw's writings on the Holocaust... The classic essays in the first two sections of the book will remain required reading for students of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust for years to come.' Dan Stone, BBC History Magazine 'To a field that is increasingly fragmented, faddish and cursed by jargon, Kershaw brings a grounded, unified perspective that is conveyed with precision and clarity. His unflashy style, personal reticence and sheer decency are, sadly, too often absent among 'celebrity historians'.' David Cesarini, Literary Review"

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Book SynopsisA moving, deeply researched account of survivors’ experiences of liberation from Nazi death camps and the long, difficult years that followedTrade Review“[An] engrossing and illuminating book—the first full and comparative study of the subject.”—Richard J. Evans, New York Review of Books“[Stone] has produced a body of thoughtful, occasionally provocative work that has genuinely enhanced our understanding of these subjects. He writes with clarity, straightforwardness and a willingness to allow his personal commitment to show. . . . [A] typically engaging and rewarding read.”—Ben Barkow, Jewish Chronicle“The real power of Stone’s history lies in a sense in of indomitable vigour and self-belief. . . . Stone does a good job of showing how even as nations declared peace, individuals and families still had to fight on desperately.”—Sinclair McKay, Daily Telegraph“The real power of Stone’s history lies in a sense in of indomitable vigour and self-belief. . . . Stone does a good job of showing how even as nations declared peace, individuals and families still had to fight on desperately.”—Sinclair McKay, Daily Telegraph“[A] thoughtful, sensitive and well-researched treatment of an important and rarely covered subject.”—Roger Moorhouse, BBC History Magazine“Is freedom really a thing that can be brought by one person to another, for example by a soldier to an inmate of a concentration camp? It is appealing to think so, and thus to imagine a precise and satisfying ending to the war. Stone’s pioneering study of the process of liberation demands, instead, that we consider seriously the meaning of freedom.”—Timothy Snyder, Association for Jewish Studies“In recent years, Dan Stone’s name has been a guarantee of quality. . . . A clear step in the right direction, it focuses on the centre-piece of western Holocaust memory—the moment when the American and British armies, in April 1945, made the shocking discovery of the concentration camps in Germany.”—Jan Lanicek, History“Dan Stone’s history of the liberation of the camps is remarkable for the vast array of its sources, its extremely detailed inquiry and, nonetheless, for its highly readable narrative. It will remain a reference for years to come.”—Saul Friedländer, author of Nazi Germany and the Jews“The liberation of the camps in 1944–45 can be seen as a merciful release by Allied armies dedicated to eliminating the cruelties of Hitler’s Reich. Dan Stone in this searingly honest account of the liberation and its aftermath shows how many paradoxes and ambiguities there were in the whole process. This is the story of an awful human tragedy told with sympathy and understanding. There are lessons here for our own age.”—Richard Overy, author of Why the Allies Won“The Liberation of the Camps should become the most important and widely read book on its subject.”—Geoff Eley, author of Nazism as Fascism: Violence, Ideology, and the Ground of Consent in Germany, 1930–1945“Thoroughly researched, carefully conceived, wisely guided, and beautifully executed, The Liberation of the Camps should become the most important and widely read book on its subject.”—Geoff Eley, author of Nazism as Fascism: Violence, Ideology, and the Ground of Consent in Germany 1930–1945“This is the best book on the liberation of Jews from the Nazi camps—important and insightful. Drawing on many deeply moving testimonies, Dan Stone expertly charts the long and painful path from prisoner to survivor.”—Nikolaus Wachsmann, author of KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps

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Book SynopsisSea Wolves is the story of the crews who bravely manned British submarines in the Second World War. This small band of highly trained and highly skilled individuals fought in the front line for six long years, undertaking some of the most dangerous missions of the war. Britain''s Sea Wolves operated close to shore in mined waters, attacking warships and heavily guarded convoys. But in the course of these vital operations, the submariners suffered devastating casualties.This is the vivid, thrilling story of the survivors and their promising young comrades who fought with such courage, in the face of the sickening terror of depth-charge attacks and the cold fear of having to escape from a sunken submarine filled with the bodies of close friends.

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Book SynopsisA renowned historian and Resistance fighter—later executed by the Nazis—gives his firsthand perspective on why France fell in 1940.Trade Review"Much has been, and will be, written in explanation of the defeat of France in 1940, but it seems unlikely that the truth of the matter will ever be more accurately and more vividly presented than in this statement of evidence." -- P. J. Philip - New York Times Book Review"The most wisdom-packed commentary on the problem set [before] all intelligent and patriotic Frenchmen by the events of 1940." -- D. W. Brogan - Spectator

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER''Superb'' ANDREW ROBERTSIn this classic book, highly acclaimed author and broadcaster Laurence Rees tells the definitive history of the most notorious Nazi institution of them all. We discover how Auschwitz evolved from a concentration camp for Polish political prisoners into the site of the largest mass murder in history - part death camp, part concentration camp, where around a million Jews were killed. Auschwitz examines the mentality and motivations of the key Nazi decision makers, and perpetrators of appalling crimes speak here for the first time about their actions. Drawing on Rees''s landmark documentary and material from the Russian archives, which challenged many previously accepted arguments, this book reveals significant and disturbing facts - from the operation of a brothel to the corruption that was rife throughout the camp.This is the story of murder, brutality, coTrade ReviewThank God that occasionally books of the stature of Laurence Rees's superb Auschwitz: The Nazis and the Final Solution are published... Fascinating. * Evening Standard *Excellent * The Independent *A key to understanding man's inhumanity to man * The Guardian *Well-written with striking testimonies from bystanders, perpetrators and victims. The interviews with SS men, and sundry European Fascists, are genuinely revealing, and must have been exceptionally difficult to negotiate * Daily Telegraph *Devastating. Rees's research is impeccable and intrepid. Ultimately he does at the gut level what Hannah Arendt achieved some 40 years ago at the level of philosophy: he forces the reader to shift the Holocaust out of the realm of nightmare or Gothic horror and acknowledge it as something all too human. Scrupulous and honest, this book is utterly without illusions * Washington Post, USA *

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Book SynopsisPacific Profiles Volume 10 covers the P-47D Thunderbolt which flew combat missions in the New Guinea theatre until mid-1945, serving with a total of eleven Fifth Air Force USAAF combat squadrons, Fifth Fighter Command and the Combat Replacement Training Center.Trade ReviewThe research behind these profiles is a long-time hobby for the author and I think this is another good reference in this Pacific Profiles book series. * Military Model Scene *Table of ContentsContents About the Author Introduction Glossary and Abbreviations Chapter 1 – Markings and Technical Notes Chapter 2 – 9th Fighter Squadron “Flying Knights” Chapter 3 – 36th Fighter Squadron “Flying Fiends” Chapter 4 – 39th Fighter Squadron Chapter 5 – 40th Fighter Squadron “‘Fightin’ Red Devils” Chapter 6 – 41st Fighter Squadron “Flying Buzzsaws” Chapter 7 – 69th Fighter Squadron “The Fightin’ 69th” Chapter 8 – 310th Fighter Squadron Chapter 9 – 311th Fighter Squadron Chapter 10 – 340th Fighter Squadron “The Minute Men” Chapter 11 – 341st Fighter Squadron “The Black Jacks” Chapter 12 – 342nd Fighter Squadron “The Scourgers” Chapter 13 – Fifth Fighter Command Headquarters Chapter 14 – Combat Replacement Training Center Sources & Acknowledgments Index of Names

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