Second World War Books

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 SynopsisIn Millions Like Us Virginia Nicholson tells the story of the women''s Second World War, through a host of individual women''s experiences. We tend to see the Second World War as a man''s war, featuring Spitfire crews and brave deeds on the Normandy beaches. But in conditions of Total War millions of women - in the Services and on the Home Front - demonstrated that they were cleverer, more broad-minded and altogether more complex than anyone had ever guessed. Millions Like Us tells the story of how these women loved, suffered, laughed, grieved and dared; how they re-made their world in peacetime. And how they would never be the same again ...''Vividly entertaining, uplifting and humbling, Millions Like Us deserves to be a bestseller'' Bel Mooney, The Daily Mail''Passionate, fascinating, profoundly sympathetic'' Artemis Cooper, Evening Standard Virginia Nicholson was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and grew up in

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Book SynopsisTerezín, as it was known in Czech, or Theresienstadt as it was known in German, was operated by the Nazis between November 1941 and May 1945 as a transit ghetto for Central and Western European Jews before their deportation for murder in the East. Terezín was the last ghetto to be liberated, one day after the end of World War II.The Last Ghetto is the first in-depth analytical history of a prison society during the Holocaust. Rather than depict the prison society which existed within the ghetto as an exceptional one, unique in kind and not understandable by normal analytical methods, Anna Hájková argues that such prison societies that developed during the Holocaust are best understood as simply other instances of the societies human beings create under normal circumstances. Challenging conventional claims of Holocaust exceptionalism, Hájková insists instead that we ought to view the Holocaust with the same analytical tools as other historical events. The prison society of Terezín produced its own social hierarchies under which seemingly small differences among prisoners (of age, ethnicity, or previous occupation) could determine whether one ultimately lived or died. During the three and a half years of the camp''s existence, prisoners created their own culture and habits, bonded, fell in love, and forged new families. Based on extensive archival research in nine languages and on empathetic reading of victim testimonies, The Last Ghetto is a transnational, cultural, social, gender, and organizational history of Terezín, revealing how human society works in extremis and highlighting the key issues of responsibility, agency and its boundaries, and belonging.Trade ReviewThis is a powerful contribution to our understanding of the ghetto and of how societies are constructed in general, revealing in complex detail the lived experiences of those who inhabited Theresienstadt. * Barnabas Balint, The Journal of the Social History Society *In this overwhelming book, Anna Hájková has assembled - in extraordinary gutwrenching detail - these stories of Terez ... It is the loss of life in all its mucky beauty, and the loss of living-breathing-evolving community on such a mass scale, after all, that contributes to the breathtaking horror of genocide. * JORDANA SILVERSTEIN, University of Melbourne, Gender & History *This is a powerful contribution to our understanding of the ghetto and of how societies are constructed in general, revealing in complex detail the lived experiences of those who inhabited Theresienstadt. * Barnabas Balint, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, Journal of the Social History Society *Hájková has not simply written a book depicting the "transnational, cultural, social, gender, and organizational history" of the "well known, poorly understood ghetto", but she shows with great sensitivity, concisely and immense knowledge the everyday history of this limbo, the "last ghetto." * Thomas Krzenck, Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft *Anna Hájková's The Last Ghetto: An Everyday History of Theresienstadt is an essential addition to the literature about the camp, rivaled in scholarly insight only by H.G Adler... And since it is unlikely that many American readers will have the stamina to persevere through the more than 800 pages that examine the features of Adler's "coerced community," readers should feel no hesitation in turning to Hájková's thoughtful and thorough analysis. * Lawrence Langer, University of Wisconsin-Madison, George L. Mosse Program in History *Hájková's book The Last Ghetto is a well-researched, captivatingly written, and engaging scholarly work about the life of prisoners in Theresienstadt. Hájková's book is crucial reading and paradigm-shifting work for anyone who wants to understand a prisoners' society in extremis * Denisa Nešťáková, Herder Institute in Marburg, Marburg, GermanyComenius University in Bratislava, Bratislava, Slovakia, East Central Europe *This excellent study provides a critical investigation of the social, political, and even sexual relationships in the ghetto, their complex nature in a coerced setting and the developing power structures dominated by the young Czech elite. * Wolf Gruner, University of Southern California, AJS Review *Hájková brings solid research and a much-appreciated enrichment to readers' understanding of the Theresienstadt ghetto. The author worked for a decade with public and private archives in nine languages and offers readers a deeper understanding of what she calls "a forced community." * J. Kleiman, CHOICE *Hajkova's history of Terezin is a tour de force. Thanks to Hajkova's astonishing research and courageous reappraisal of victim society, aspects of this history that have been overlooked or marginalized are now before our eyes. A major contribution to the history of the Holocaust, The Last Ghetto also opens up new perspectives on class, nationalism, ethnicity, gender and sexuality in twentieth-century Europe. A deeply, wrenchingly human story that everyone ought to read. * Alexandra Garbarini, author of Numbered Days: Diaries and the Holocaust *This splendid and devastating, gorgeously written, paradigm-shifting book offers one transformative revelation after another. Exemplifying radical empathy without sentimentality, it represents the very best the new Holocaust history has to offer. * Dagmar Herzog, Graduate Center, City University of New York, author of Unlearning Eugenics: Sexuality, Reproduction, and Disability in Post-Nazi Europe *Theresienstadt has been shrouded in myths since Nazis first presented it as a 'model ghetto' to trick the world that Jewish prisoners were being treated humanely. Hájková's The Last Ghetto reveals the interior life of the ghetto and persuasively demonstrates that like the society that produced it, this society in extremis was riven by ethnic, gender, political, linguistic, and economic divisions that prevented a common sense of Jewishness from forming among the prisoners. * Barry Trachtenberg, Michael H. and Deborah K. Rubin Presidential Chair of Jewish History,Wake Forest University *The Last Ghetto is the most important book on Theresienstadt to appear in many years. With unparalleled knowledge of the sources and deep sensitivity, Anna Hájková has made a major contribution to the history of the Holocaust. With her focus on the everyday life of the ghetto's inhabitants, she also provides us with a model of social, cultural, and gender history. * Dan Stone, Professor of Modern History, Royal Holloway, University of London *This book provides the most thoroughly researched and conceptualised cultural and social history of everyday life in Terezín. As such, it should be essential reading for anyone interested in Theresienstadt and social relations in extremis. In addition, it provides so many interesting details amidst the larger historical points that readers will find it both fascinating and thought provoking. * Amy Simon, Michigan State University, USA, Journal of Contemporary History *An excellently written book that will help shape future historiography on the ghettos under Nazi rule for years to come. * Marc Buggeln, University of Flensburg, Modern European History *Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Well-Known, Poorly Understood Ghetto 1. "The Overorganized Ghetto" Administering Terezín 2. A Society Based on Inequality 3. The Age of Pearl Barley: Food and Hunger 4. Medicine and Illness 5. Cultural Life: Leisure Time Activities 6. Transports to the East Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe Hopkins Touch offers the first portrait in over two decades of the most powerful man in Roosevelt''s administration. In this impressive biography, David Roll shows how Harry Hopkins, an Iowa-born social worker who had been an integral part of the New Deal''s implementation, became the linchpin in FDR''s--and America''s--relationships with Churchill and Stalin, and spoke with an authority second only to the president''s. Hopkins could take the political risks his boss could not, and proved crucial to maintaining personal relations among the Big Three. Beloved by some--such as Churchill, who believed that Hopkins always went to the root of the matter--and trusted by most--including the paranoid Stalin--there were nevertheless those who resented the influence of the White House Rasputin. Based on newly available sources, The Hopkins Touch is an absorbing, substantial work that offers a fresh perspective on the World War II era and the Allied leaders, through the life of the man who keTrade ReviewThe Hopkins Touch is the best biography of a crucial figure at pivotal moment in American history since Robert E. Sherwood's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1948 classic, Roosevelt and Hopkins. * Steven Casey, author of Cautious Crusade: Franklin D. Roosevelt, American Public Opinion and the War against Nazi Germany, 1941-1945 *Harry Hopkins was FDR's left-hand man. He helped the maestro direct the American-British-Russian alliance that won World War II. David Roll shows just how he did it, this quiet deal-maker Churchill called 'Lord Root of the Matter.' The Hopkins Touch deserves its place aside Robert Sherwood's Roosevelt and Hopkins and Jon Meacham's Franklin and Winston." * Chris Matthews, host of "Hardball with Chris Matthews" on MSNBC *It is refreshing to read an account of a time when commitment to the national interest, personal depth in history, vision, loyalty and discretion were the watchwords. Such is the portrait of Harry Hopkins, Franklin Roosevelt's closest confidante and trusted surrogate, drawn by David Roll in this absorbing update of Robert Sherwood's defining work. Drawing on material never before available, Roll revisits Hopkins roots, his intimate relationship with the president, how deeply he was revered by Prime Minister Churchill, and trusted by Joseph Stalin * all in one of the best researched, and well-written biographical works I've ever read. The Hopkins Touch deserves a place in the American political history stacks of every library in Americaand also on your night stand.Robert (Bud) McFarlane, National Security Adviser to Ronald Reagan *Mr. Roll's use of previously unavailable materials enables him to present a far more comprehensive story. It's a must-read for anyone interested in the period. A truly magisterial biography. * The Washington Times *Displaying a strong grasp of the intervening half-century of historical scholarship, delivering a strong and clear-eyed appraisal of Hopkins's personal life, and demonstrating considerable narrative talents. * Wall Street Journal *David Roll has captured the essence of one of the most important non-governmental figures in American history. Crisply written, meticulously researched, The Hopkins Touch is a pleasure to read. * Jean Edward Smith, author of FDR, and Eisenhower in War and Peace *A masterful portrait of one of the most fascinating political figures this country has ever produced. David Roll has vividly captured the infinite complexities and extraordinary influence of FDR aide Harry Hopkins ... part playboy, part reformer ... whose peerless diplomatic efforts in World War II helped cement the Anglo-American alliance and pave the way for the Allies' victory. * Lynne Olson, author of Citizens of London: The Americans Who Stood with Britain in its Finest, Darkest Hour *That FDR created the world in which we live is a commonplace; as David Roll demonstrates in this highly readable book it was a world created by FDR and Harry Hopkins. The material on Hopkins' maneuvering the U.S. to the North African invasion in the fall of 1942 is by itself imaginative and persuasive. I wish that I'd had Roll's book at my elbow when I was writing about those years. * Warren Kimball, editor of Churchill and Roosevelt, the Complete Correspondence *If Franklin D. Roosevelt had an alter ego, it was the brilliant and cunning Harry Hopkins. David Roll does a marvelous job of documenting the heroic importance of Hopkins during the Second World War. Hopkins emerges as one of America's indispensable patriots. This is a surefooted and brilliantly researched biography that deserves a wide readership. * Douglas Brinkley, author of Cronkite and The Wilderness Warrior *Sharply observed, gracefully written, David Roll's portrait of FDR's closest adviser offers us an intimate look at the wise, brave, and humane exercise of power. If only other presidents were blessed with advisers like Harry Hopkins! * Evan Thomas, author of Ike's Bluff: President Eisenhower's Secret Struggle to Save the World *In 1940, Britain stood alone; it's survival in doubt. As the US edged closer to war, Harry Hopkins became FDR's confidant on geopolitical issues. In creating the 'grand alliance' his role was crucial. In this splendid, well-researched biography, David Roll has portrayed the decisive actions taken by this 'grey eminence.' * James Schlesinger, former Secretary of Defense to Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford *In this important new book, David Roll brings Hopkins out of the shadows and casts a bright and unblinking light on the central -- even essential -- role that Harry Hopkins played in forging and maintaining the alliance that won the Second World War. * Craig L. Symonds, author of The Battle of Midway *This delightful book - a genuine page turner - portrays the relationship between FDR and Hopkins in a balanced manner while maintaining the reader's interest with insights into the important players of World War II. Scholars and general readers interested in the era will thoroughly enjoy it. An essential purchase. * Library Journal *A compelling portrait of a World War II hero whose victories took place far from the battlefield. * Kirkus *illuminating new biography ... impressive * J. Garry Clifford, Journal of American Studies *Roll's book is fresh, extremely well researched and well written. It is difficult to see how anyone who is seriously interested in understanding the wartime alliance and the development of wartime strategy could fail to benefit from it. * Richard M. Wevill, History *Table of ContentsC O N T E N T S ; Prologue: Moving In ; 1 Ambitious Reformer ; 2 Asks for Nothing Except to Serve ; 3 He Suddenly Came Out with It - The Whole Program ; 4 The Right Man ; 5 First Glimpse of Dawn? ; 6 Vodka Has Authority ; 7 At Last We Have Gotten Together ; 8 We Are All in the Same Boat Now ; 9 Some Sort of a Front This Summer ; 10 The Hopkins Touch ; 11 Lighting the Torch ; 12 The View from Marrakech ; 13 Fault Lines ; 14 Th e Alliance Shifts ; 15 Tilting toward the Russians ; 16 A Soldier's Debt ; 17 The Best They Could Do ; 18 A Leave of Absence from Death ; 19 Th e Root of the Matter

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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 SynopsisFew twentieth-century political leaders enjoyed greated popularity among their own people than Hitler in the 1930s and 1940s. This remarkable study of the myth that sustained one of the most notorious dictators, and delves into Hitler''s extraordinarily powerful hold over the German people. In this ''major contribution to the study of the Third Reich'' (Times Literary Supplement), Ian Kershaw argues that it lay not so much in Hitler''s personality or his bizarre Nazi ideology, as in the social and political values of the people themselves. In charting the creation, rise, and fall of the `Hitler Myth'', he demonstrates the importance of the manufactured ''Führer cult'' to the attainment of Nazi political ends, and how the Nazis used the new techniques of propaganda to exploit and build on the beliefs, phobias, and prejudices of the day.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition a book which should be read by everyone interested in the history of 20th-century Europe ... perhaps the most revealing study available of popular opinion in Nazi Germany * Times Higher Education Supplement *Table of Contents1. 'FUHRER OF THE COMING GERMANY': THE HITLER IMAGE IN THE WEIMAR ERA; 6. BLITZKRIEG TRIUMPH: HIGH PEAK OF POPULARITY, 1940-1941; 9. HITLER'S POPULAR IMAGE AND THE 'JEWISH QUESTION'

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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 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 SynopsisA vibrant new history of twentieth-century Europe - covering everything from war and politics to social, cultural, and economic developments in a period of convulsive and dramatic change.Trade ReviewThis epic account of Europe in the 20th century grabs the reader with snappy chapters packed with telling detaila nd articulate assessment. * Christopher Hirst, The Independent *Table of Contents1. Europe at 1914 ; 2. Europe at War 1914-1917 ; 3. Revolutionary Europe 1917-1921 ; 4. Recovery of the Bourgeiosie 1921-1929 ; 5. Depression and Terror 1929-1936 ; 6. Europe in the 1930s ; 7. Spiral into War 1936-1939 ; 8. Hitler Triumphant 1939-1942 ; 9. Life and Death in Wartime ; 10. End of Hitler's Europe 1942-1945 ; 11. Europe Partitioned 1945-1949 ; 12. West European Recovery 1949-1958 ; 13. Stalin and His Heirs 1949-1964 ; 14. Consensus and Dissent in Western Europe 1958-1973 ; 15. Europe in the 1960s ; 16. Strife in Communist Europe 1964-1985 ; 17. Stress in Liberal Europe 1973-1989 ; 18. The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe 1985-1991 ; 19. After the Fall 1991-2007 ; 20. Europe in the New Millennium ; Notes ; Bibliography ; 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 SynopsisBefore Winston Churchill made history, he made news. To a great extent, the news made him too. If it was his own efforts that made him a hero, it was the media that made him a celebrity - and it has been considerably responsible for perpetuating his memory and shaping his reputation in the years since his death. Churchill first made his name via writing and journalism in the years before 1900, the money he earned helping to support his political career (at a time when MPs did not get salaries). Journalistic activities were also important to him later, as he struggled in the interwar years to find the wherewithal to run and maintain Chartwell, his country house in Kent. Moreover, not only was journalism an important aspect of Churchill''s political persona, but he himself was a news-obsessive throughout his life. The story of Churchill and the news is, on one level, a tale of tight deadlines, off-the-record briefings and smoke-filled newsrooms, of wartime summits that were turned into stage-managed global media events, and of often tense interactions with journalists and powerful press proprietors, such as Lords Northcliffe, Rothermere, and Beaverbrook. Uncovering the symbiotic relationship between Churchill''s political life and his media life, and the ways in which these were connected to his personal life, Richard Toye asks if there was a ''public Churchill'' whose image was at odds with the behind-the-scenes reality, or whether, in fact, his private and public selves became seamlessly blended as he adjusted to living in the constant glare of the media spotlight.On a wider level, this is also the story of a rapidly evolving media and news culture in the first half of the twentieth century, and of what the contemporary reporting of Churchill''s life (including by himself) can tell us about the development of this culture, over a period spanning from the Victorian era through to the space age.Trade ReviewWinston Churchill - A Life in the News is also the story of a rapidly evolving media and news culture in the first half of the twentieth century, and of what the contemporary reporting of Churchill's life (including by himself) can tell us about the development of this culture, over a period spanning from the Victorian era through to the space age. * Cosmopolis *Winston Churchill: A Life in the News sheds a fresh light on one of the best-studied statesmen, exploring the "symbiotic relationship" between Churchill's political life, journalistic career, and media persona. * Stefan Goebel, Journal of British Studies *[An] original study ... Toye is surely correct in seeing the journalism as central to the career of a man whose life was dominated by the news he did much to create. * A.W. Purdue, Times Higher Education *[Toyes] research underpins a clear-eyed, not uncritical but almost always fairminded account of a man whose heroic stature he recognizes but whose prejudices and blunders he also wants on the record. [His] energetic and dedicated scrutiny of Churchills actions, language and image is important and useful work, of interest far beyond academia. There is much good and even original stuff in [this book]. * Anne Chisholm, Times Literary Supplement *A timely and engaging volume ... With Winston Churchill: A Life in the News, Toye has made another significant contribution to Churchill studies. * W. Mark Hamilton, Finest Hour, the journal of the International Churchill Society *This meticulously researched and engaging book shows how the consummate statesman created his public image and why his fame and accomplishments have endured. * Dean Jobb, Washington Independent Review of Books *In Churchill: A Life in the News we encounter both the bombastic and the deeply insecure sides to Churchill's complex personality. The book stands not only as a testament to the effects of the media on personal leadership styles, but it forces us to reflect on how the changing media environment affects the way we are governed. It is a timely reminder of the excesses and limitations of the press in the modern political age. * Professor Jo Fox, Institute of Historical Research *Richard Toye once again brilliantly illuminates a critical side of Winston Churchill's complex life. This original, important, and highly-readable book is teeming with shrewd judgements and fresh insights. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Churchill's political career or modern news culture. * Christopher M. Bell, author of Churchill and the Dardanelles and Churchill and Sea Power *Fascinating ... The attention to detail in this book is admirable. * Chris Green, Suffolk and Norfolk Life *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1: A Pushing Age 2: Stage Thunder 3: Any Home News? 4: Hell with the Lid Off 5: Born to Trouble 6: 'Worse than the Nazis' 7: 'The War is not Fought to Amuse the Newspapers' 8: Whose Finger? Conclusion

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Book SynopsisThe history of National Socialism as movement and regime remains one of the most compelling and intensively studied aspects of twentieth-century history, and one whose significance extends far beyond Germany or even Europe alone. This volume presents an up-to-date and authoritative introduction to the history of Nazi Germany, with ten chapters on the most important themes, each by an expert in the field. Following an introduction which sets out the challenges this period of history has posed to historians since 1945, contributors explain how Nazism emerged as ideology and political movement; how Hitler and his party took power and remade the German state; and how the Nazi ''national community'' was organized around a radical and eventually lethal distinction between the ''included'' and the ''excluded''. Further chapters discuss the complex relationship between Nazism and Germany''s religious faiths; the perverse economic rationality of the regime; the path to war laid down by Hitler''Trade ReviewExcellent...work of exceptional quality. It is difficult to think of a better guide to Nazi Germany (even in German). It should gain an immediate place at the top of all reading lists. * Joachim Whaley, Journal of European Studies *In a brief format it provides a broad, state-of-the-art picture of Nazi Germany. The editor and the authors deserve credit for this service to scholars and teachers of the field. * Moritz Follmer, English Historical Review. *Jane Caplan's book encompasses overviews on the most important topics on an up-to-date level by experts who have established reputations from major research publications on their area...in their effort to combine precise information with balanced reflection of historical perspectives, most of those chapters achieve a remarkably high level of density while still being readable. This is no small achievement. * Magnus Brechtken, Times Higher Education Supplement *Caplan and her team of authors have succeeded in producing an extremely useful volume, which will definitely become standard reading for all university courses on National Socialism. * Patrick Bernhard, European History Quarterly. *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. The Emergence of Nazi Ideology ; 2. The NSDAP, 1919-34: From Fringe Politics to the Seizure of Power ; 3. Hitler and the Nazi State: Leadership, Hierarchy, and Power ; 4. Inclusion: Building the National Community in Propaganda and Practice ; 5. The Policy of Exclusion: Repression in the Nazi State, 1933-9 ; 6. Religion and the Churches ; 7. The Economic History of the Nazi Regime ; 8. Foreign Policy in Peace and War ; 9. Occupation, Imperialism and Genocide, 1939-45 ; 10. The Third Reich in Postwar German Memory ; Further Reading ; Chronology ; Maps

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Book SynopsisA vivid narrative of an ill-fated Pan American flight during World War II that captures the dramatic backstories of its passengers and, through them, the impact of Americans'' global connections. On February 21, 1943, Pan American Airways'' celebrated seaplane, the Yankee Clipper, took off from New York''s Marine Air Terminal and island-hopped its way across the Atlantic Ocean. Arriving at Lisbon the following evening, it crashed in the Tagus River, killing twenty-four of its thirty-nine passengers and crew. Americans in a World at War traces the backstories of seven worldly Americans aboard that plane, their personal histories, their politics, and the paths that led them toward war.Combat soldiers made up only a small fraction of the millions of Americans, both in and out of uniform, who scattered across six continents during the Second World War. This book uncovers a surprising history of American noncombatants abroad in the years leading into the twentieth century''s most consequential conflict. Long before GIs began storming beaches and liberating towns, Americans had forged extensive political, economic, and personal ties to other parts of the world. These deep and sometimes contradictory engagements, which preceded the bombing of Pearl Harbor, would shape and in turn be transformed by the US war effort. The intriguing biographies of the Yankee Clipper''s passengers--among them an Olympic-athlete-turned-export salesman, a Broadway star, a swashbuckling pilot, and two entrepreneurs accused of trading with the enemy--upend conventional American narratives about World War II. As their travels take them from Ukraine, France, Spain, Panama, Cuba, and the Philippines to Java, India, Australia, Britain, Egypt, the Soviet Union, and the Belgian Congo, among other hot spots, their movements defy simple boundaries between home front and war front. Americans in a World at War offers fresh perspectives on a transformative period of US history and global connections during the American Century.Trade ReviewBlower shows us the Second World War from wholly novel and thought-provoking points of view. Recounting the doomed transatlantic flight of Pan Am's Yankee Clipper in 1943, Blower re-creates the strikingly worldly view of American civilians borne aloft and into a global cataclysm. Blower's original research and powerful prose carry us along on the journey, making us feel as if we know these people and allowing us to worry about their fates as if their story were happening right in front of us. * Eric Rauchway, author of Winter War: Hoover, Roosevelt, and the First Clash Over the New Deal *In this brilliant, creative, and compelling work, Brooke Blower brings readers into World War II through the lives of travelers on an ill-fated transatlantic flight, allowing readers to see the world on the edge of war. The author's beautiful writing and astonishing range of sources make this book a model of the integration of biography and global history. * Mary L. Dudziak, author of War Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences *By expertly blending the international and the personal, Brooke Blower gives us a new and fascinating way to understand American reactions to the Second World War. This powerfully written and originally researched book shows the complexities and contradictions of America's rise to global superpower. Americans in a World at War is a prime example of the new and exciting generation of scholarly analyses of World War II. * Michael S. Neiberg, author of When France Fell: The Vichy Crisis and the Fate of the Anglo-American Relationship *It's a satisfyingly fresh perspective on the era. * Publishersweekly.com *Table of ContentsPreface Cast of Characters Maps Note on Names and Language Introduction: Into the Vortex Part I: 1914-1920 1. Balloon Work: George hopes to fight in France 2. Autumn Flies: Tamara survives civil war in Ukraine 3. Blood of the Earth: Harry learns the oil business in Romania 4. Tramp Trade: Manuel watches the Great War tear Spain apart Interlude: New York to Bermuda: Sully greets his passengers Part II: 1920-1939 5. Free Lunches: Frank competes in the Amsterdam Olympics 6. Unfinished People: Tamara struggles in the Bronx 7. The Silk-Stocking Revolt: George runs for Congress against the New Deal 8. Twelve Mile River: Ben falls in love with Roosevelt's Washington 9. Woman and Bird: Tamara finds fame on Broadway 10. Tea-Time: Frank moves to the Philippines 11. Stolen Soil: Manuel's schemes reach Mexico and Cuba Interlude: Bermuda to the Azores: Sully flies past the Point of No Return Part III: 1939-1942 12. Three-Minute Channel: Ben endures the London Blitz 13. Back to Porridge: Frank contends with the fall of the Netherlands 14. Ship's Stores: Manuel is arrested for smuggling 15. Easy Dish: Frank braves the invasion of Java 16. Red Mississippi: Ben reports from Russia 17. Hold Your Hats: George joins the army Interlude: The Azores to Portugal: Sully prepares for arrival Part IV: 1942-1943 18. Patent Denials: Harry manages his company's German ties 19. Dangerous Acts: Tamara volunteers to entertain troops 20. The Charter Offer: Manuel makes a bargain 21. Small Potatoes: Frank broadcasts from Australia 22. Acid Test: Ben witnesses the Quit India campaign 23. Hot Questions: George testifies before Congress Conclusion: A Strange and Frightening World Appendix: The Yankee Clipper's Last Passenger Manifest Acknowledgments Notes Index

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive history of the Nazi persecution and murder of European Jews, paying detailed attention to an unrivalled range sources. Focusing clearly on the perpetrators and exploring closely the process of decision making, Longerich argues that anti-Semitism was not a mere by-product of the Nazis'' political mobilization or an attempt to deflect the attention of the masses, but that anti-Jewish policy was a central tenet of the Nazi movement''s attempts to implement, disseminate, and secure National Socialist rule - and one which crucially shaped Nazi policy decisions, from their earliest days in power through to the invasion of the Soviet Union and the Final Solution. As Longerich shows, the ''disappearance'' of Jews was designed as a first step towards a racially homogeneous society - first within the ''Reich'', later in the whole of a German-dominated Europe.Trade ReviewThe most thorough and reliable account...deserves to be in the library of everyone interested in the history of the greatest genocide in history. * Richard J Evans, Times Literary Supplement. *Table of ContentsPART I: RACIAL PERSECUTION, 1933-1939; PART II: THE PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS, 1939-1941; PART III: MASS EXECUTIONS OF JEWS IN THE OCCUPIED SOVIET ZONES, 1941; PART IV: GENESIS OF THE FINAL SOLUTION ON A EUROPEAN SCALE, 1941; PART V: THE EXTERMINATION OF THE EUROPEAN JEWS, 1942-1945

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Book SynopsisCelebrating the lives of the magnificent women, the ATA girls, who courageously flew Spitfires, Tiger Moths, Lancaster Bombers and many other aircraft during World War Two Since the invention of aeroplanes, women have taken to the skies.They have broken records, performed daredevil stunts and faced such sexism and prejudice that they were effectively barred from working as pilots. That changed in the Second World War. Led by firebrand Pauline Gower, an elite group of British women were selected as ferry pilots to fly for the Air Transport Auxiliary. They risked their lives flying munitions and equipment for the boys on the front line. Flying day and night without radio; dodging storms, barrage balloons and anti-aircraft fire; and with only a map, compass and their eyesight to guide them, they navigated the treacherous wartime skies. The Hurricane Girls is the thrilling, moving and inspirational story of the female air Trade ReviewMeet the women who kept the RAF flying during World War ll . . . Nearly 80 years after the war started, the battle over equal work continues and prejudice still hold many girls back from taking up jobs considered to be men's work. But opinions are changing and the women of the ATA remain an inspiration * The Big Issue *

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Book SynopsisA Book of English Food is an elegant compendium of brilliant recipes adapted from the cookery books of the 1920s and 1930s by Arabella Boxer, with beautiful new illustrations by Cressida Bell.Arabella Boxer''s Book of English Food describes the delicious dishes - and the social conditions in which they were prepared, cooked and eaten - in the short span between the two World Wars when English cooking suddenly blossomed.The food in these wonderful recipes comes from the great country houses, where little had changed since Victorian times, the large houses in London and the South, where fashionable hostesses vied with each other to entertain the most distinguished guests at their tables, and less grand establishments, like those in Bloomsbury where the painters and writers of the day contrived to lead cultured and civilised lives on little money.Containing 200 recipes, drawn from cookery books, magazines of the period, family sourcesTrade ReviewA captivating exploration and celebration of the flowering of English cooking in the 1920s and 30s * Financial Times *A treasury of social gossip . . . immensely enjoyable and useful * Spectator *That rare thing, a cookery book with an argument: viz, that English cookery was once both good and independent of the cuisines of her neighbours . . . a rollicking good read * Observer *A book which celebrates a gastronomy which we would be unwise to forget. It's a rediscovery of British food remembered from before the War * Derek Cooper *I recommend it, not only for its excellent food but also for the superb introductions and details of social history in the great houses with their shimmering hostesses * Evening Standard *

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Book SynopsisA GRIPPING, AUTHORISED HISTORY OF THE DARING 'RED DEVILS' TOLD THROUGH THE FATES OF SIX HEROES. 'Riveting . . . Full of daring action, standout characters and cutting edge operations, this is unputdownable' Damien Lewis'Gripping and authoritative. Family men, circus performers, solicitors, communists, and reactionaries all fought together and shed blood for their country - a true and moving story of war' Andy McNab------------------------------------Their German enemies called them the 'Red Devils'. Montgomery described them as 'men apart - every man an Emperor'. The cards they received on qualifying began: 'You are the elite of the British army'. The Parachute Regiment. In this gripping, authorized account, bestselling historian Mark Urban tells the story of the wartime creation and development of Britain's elite airborne infantry - who ranged from circus performers to solicitors, policemen to gravediggers, Christians and Jews to communists. Through the fates of six men - including recently widowed Geoffrey Pine-Coffin, who had to leave his little boy at home to head to the front, and Mike Lewis, whose photographs became iconic images of war - Urban vividly shows what it took to succeed in this new regiment. All six men would shed blood for their country in daring actions at D-Day, Arnhem and across the Second World War; two would not survive, and one would face disgrace. Based on deep archival research, British and German sources and new material from the men's families, and giving overdue recognition to the North African campaign, Urban's unvarnished history is a compelling and moving depiction of the highs and lows of battle.Trade ReviewGripping and authoritative. Family men, circus performers, solicitors, communists, and reactionaries all fought together and shed blood for their country-a true and moving story of war * Andy McNab *Riveting. Impeccably researched. Authoritative. Urban reveals the Red Devils in all their glory, as they forged the path for airborne forces to follow in WWII. Full of daring action, standout characters and cutting edge operations, this is unputdownable * Damien Lewis *A detailed, fast-paced history of these remarkable men that reads like a thriller. Brilliantly researched and brilliantly told * Julia Boyd *I couldn't put Red Devils down * Amanda Foreman *Excellent . . . Mark Urban has brought an old soldier's insights and a fine journalist's clarity to tell this story resoundingly well, mixing superb accounts of the battles with a deep understanding of personalities, service politics and the paratrooper ethos -- Patrick Bishop * Telegraph *If you want to get under the skin of the pioneers of airborne soldiering, this is it . . . fast paced, well written and attention-grabbing from start to finish -- Adrian Weale * Daily Mail Plus *Masterful . . . Mark Urban paints a colourful picture of the officers and men who volunteered for what in 1940 was a leap into the unknown -- Paul de Zulueta * Spectator *Does not disappoint . . . A story of courage and adversity, Red Devils is a must-read * Who Do You Think You Are Magazine *

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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 SynopsisTrade Review"Zapruder . . . has done a great service to history and the future. Her book deserves to become a standard in Holocaust studies classes. . . . These writings will certainly impress themselves on the memories of all readers."—Publishers Weekly"These extraordinary diaries will resonate in the reader’s broken heart for many days and many nights."—Elie Wiesel"Salvaged Pages offers important perspectives for today’s Holocaust education students. The voices of young adults during the Holocaust resonate in a way that can’t be replicated by other resources."—Jennifer L. Goss, Robert E. Lee High School"Salvaged Pages shares the despair, frustrations, hopes, and loves of young adults who struggle mightily with the impact of the hatred and indifference of their neighbors. My students are enthralled."—Lynne Ravas, Lower Dauphin Middle School"Salvaged Pages is a window into the private world of young diarists existing under Nazi occupation. Readers cannot help but respond to the humanity of writers in a world whose deprivations we can only begin to comprehend through their own words."—Elaine Culbertson, Director, Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Teachers’ Program"A searing collection of Jewish youngsters’ private Holocaust diaries, Salvaged Pages shines a bright light on their daily lives and their inner lives. Zapruder offers us the opportunity follow these child and adolescent writers as they endured and responded to an ever harsher Nazi regime. Salvaged Pages gives us a glimpse, too, of the unfulfilled potential lost with the murder of a generation. A key text for teachers and students alike, Salvaged Pages enriches our understanding of how life was lived and lives were destroyed, day by day, year after year."—Debórah Dwork, Director, Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Clark University

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Book SynopsisJohn Keegan has assembled a cast of seventeen generals whose reputations were made (and some of them broken) by Churchill and the Second World War.Trade ReviewMilitary history doesn't get much better than this. A real gem for aficionados. * SCOTTISH LEGION NEWS *

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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 SynopsisEscape from Paris is the true story of a small group of U.S. aviators whose four B-17 Flying Fortresses were shot down over German-occupied France on a single, fateful day: July 14, 1943, Bastille Day. They were rescued by brave French civilians and taken to Paris for eventual escape out of France. In the French capital, where German troops walked on every street and Gestapo agents hid around every corner, the flyers met a brave Parisian resistance family living and working in the Hôtel des Invalides, a complex of buildings and military memorials, where Nazi officials had set up offices. Hidden in the complex the Americans, along with dozens of other downed Allied pilots and resistance operatives, hatched daring escape plots. The danger of discovery by the Nazis grew every day, as did an unlikely romance when one of the American airmen begins a star-crossed wartime romance with the twenty-two-year old daughter of the family sheltering him-a noir tale of war, courage and despe

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Book Synopsis The astonishing untold story of the WWII airmen who risked it all in the deadly race to become the greatest American fighter pilot. In 1942, America''s deadliest fighter pilot, or ace of aces -- the legendary Eddie Rickenbacker -- offered a bottle of bourbon to the first U.S. fighter pilot to break his record of twenty-six enemy planes shot down. Seizing on the challenge to motivate his men, General George Kenney promoted what they would come to call the race of aces as a way of boosting the spirits of his war-weary command. What developed was a wild three-year sprint for fame and glory, and the chance to be called America''s greatest fighter pilot. The story has never been told until now. Based on new research and full of revelations, John Bruning''s brilliant, original book tells the story of how five American pilots contended for personal glory in the Pacific while leading Kenney''s resurgent air force against the most formidable enemy America ever faced. The pilots -- Richard Bong, Tommy McGuire, Neel Kearby, Charles MacDonald and Gerald Johnson -- riveted the nation as they contended for Rickenbacker''s crown. As their scores mounted, they transformed themselves from farm boys and aspiring dentists into artists of the modern dogfight. But as the race reached its climax, some of the pilots began to see how the spotlight warped their sense of duty. They emerged as leaders, beloved by their men as they chose selfless devotion over national accolades. Teeming with action all across the vast Pacific theater, Race of Aces is a fascinating exploration of the boundary between honorable duty, personal glory, and the complex landscape of the human heart. Brings you into the cockpit of the lethal, fast-paced world of fighter pilots . . . Fascinating. -- Sara Vladic Extraordinary . . . a must-read. -- US Navy Captain Dan Pedersen A heart-pounding narrative of the courage, sacrifice, and tragedy of America''s elite fighter pilots. -- James M. Scott Vivid and gripping . . . Confirms Bruning''s status as the premier war historian of the air. -- Saul David

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

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Book Synopsis''Fascinating . . . a poignant book . . . an unusual and absolutely authentic view of those convulsive years'' OBSERVER ''Each story in Wave Me Goodbye is a relic of the Second World War'' SUNDAY TIMES ''This is as stark and acidic a collection of war stories as you will read . . . Stripped bare of the sentimentalism attached to love in wartime'' SCOTSMAN This collection of wartime stories includes some of the finest writers of a generation. War had traditionally been seen as a masculine occupation, but these stories show how women were equal if different participants. Here, war is less about progress on the frontline of battle than about the daily struggle to keep homes, families and relationships alive; to snatch pleasure from danger, and strength from shared experience. The stories are about saying goodbye to husbands, lovers, brothers and sons - and sometimes years later trying to remake their livesTrade ReviewFascinating ... a poignant book ... an unusual and absolutely authentic view of those convulsive years - ObserverThis is as stark and acidic a collection of war stories as you will read ... Stripped bare of the sentimentalism attached to love in wartime, writers such as Elizabeth Bowen, Jean Rhys, Beryl Bainbridge and Dorothy Parker provide poignant, wry, subversive tales ... Revelatory reading - ScotsmanEach voice is individual and unsentimental ... Molly Lefebure and Margery Sharp write succinctly of the Blitz, while in Miss Anstruther's Letters, Rose Macaulay brilliantly paints spiritual as well as material devastation - Daily TelegraphEach story in Wave Me Goodbye is a relic of the Second World War - Sunday TimesWritten in and about the decade 1939-1949, the stories in this high caliber anthology are the work of women, chiefly English (five Americans are represented), who were actively engaged in the war effort on the home front. The experience of war--the London blitz, evacuation, the fronts in Europe and Africa--become personalized in stories from Barbara Pym, Rosamond Lehmann, Sylvia Townsend Warner, and others as notable ... the stories poignantly illuminate the ''second war'' behind the frontlines. - Publishers WeeklyWritten in and about the decade 1939-1949, the stories in this high caliber anthology are the work of women, chiefly English (five Americans are represented), who were actively engaged in the war effort on the home front. The experience of war--the London blitz, evacuation, the fronts in Europe and Africa--become personalized in stories from Barbara Pym, Rosamond Lehmann, Sylvia Townsend Warner, and others as notable ... the stories poignantly illuminate the ''second war'' behind the frontlines. - Publishers WeeklyThis is as stark and acidic a collection of war stories as you will read ... Stripped bare of the sentimentalism attached to love in wartime, writers such as Elizabeth Bowen, Jean Rhys, Beryl Bainbridge and Dorothy Parker provide poignant, wry, subversive tales ... Revelatory reading - Scotsman

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Book SynopsisThe Holocaust/Genocide Template in Eastern Europe discusses the âœmemory warsâ in the course of the post-Communist re-narration of history since 1989 and the current authoritarian backlash.The book focuses specifically on how âœmnemonic warriorsâ employ the âœHolocaust templateâ and the concept of genocide in tendentious ways to justify radical policies and externalize the culpability for their international isolation and worsening social and economic circumstances domestically. The chapters analyze three dimensions: 1) the competing narratives of the âœuniversalization of the Holocaustâ as the negative icon of our era, on the one hand, and the âœdouble genocideâ paradigm, on the other, which focuses on âœour ownâ national suffering under â allegedly âœequallyâ evil â Nazism and Communism; 2) the juxtaposition of post-Communist Eastern Europe and Russia, reflected primarily in the struggle of the Baltic states and Ukraine to challenge Russian propaganda, a struggle that runs the risk of employing similarly distorting and propagandistic tropes; and 3) the post-Yugoslav rhetoric portraying oneâs own group as âœthe new Jewsâ and oneâs opponents in the wars of the 1990s as (akin to) âœNazisâ. Surveying major battle sites in this âœmemory warâ: memorial museums, monuments, film and the war over definitions and terminology in relevant public discourse, The Holocaust/Genocide Template in Eastern Europe will be of great interest to scholars of genocide, the Holocaust, historical memory and revisionism, and Eastern European Politics.This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Genocide Research.Table of ContentsIntroduction: The Holocaust/Genocide Template in Eastern Europe Ljiljana Radonić 1. Limits of Universalization: The European Memory Sites of Genocide Éva Kovács 2. From “Double Genocide” to “the New Jews”: Holocaust, Genocide and Mass Violence in Post-Communist Memorial Museums Ljiljana Radonić 3. A Baltic Struggle for a “European Memory”: The Militant Mnemopolitics of The Soviet Story Maria Mälksoo 4. Genocide, Holodomor and Holocaust Discourse as Echo of Historical Injury and as Rhetorical Radicalization in the Russian-Ukrainian Conflict of 2013–18 Nicolas Dreyer 5. Talking Past Each Other: Language and Post-World War II Killings in Slovenia Gregor Kranjc 6. Defending the “Good Name” of the Polish Nation: Politics of History as a Battlefield in Poland, 2015–18 Jörg Hackmann 7. Liberty Square, Budapest: How Hungary Won the Second World War István Rév

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Book SynopsisA bold exploration of the Holocaust by a pre-eminent scholar in the field.Trade Review"... this clear, well-written... book has much of importance to tell us in an age of sudden fear, propaganda and fake news, in which the Third Reich and its crimes reappear often as a "touchstone"." -- Times Higher Education

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Book SynopsisA gripping account of the infamous Nazi doctor from a former US Justice Department official tasked with uncovering his fate.Trade Review"It must be the most thorough-going account of Mengele's life available to date, a calm and professional read, but one that inevitably makes you want to look away." -- The Spectator"What specifically distinguishes Marwell’s account from previous studies concerns his personal involvement in the Justice Department’s Office of Special Investigations (O.S.I.) and the search for and identification of Mengele." -- The International New York Times"Gripping… sober and meticulous." -- David Margolick - The Wall Street Journal"Marwell’s life has much new to tell us, both about Mengele himself and, more significant, about the social and scientific milieu that allowed him to flourish." -- Adam Gopnik - The New Yorker"Compelling... At once a compact biography of the notorious war criminal, a detailed account of Mengele’s flight to South America, and an absorbing narrative of the quest to bring him to justice." -- Patricia Heberer Rice - Science

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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 Synopsis''A tale of survival.'' Daily Mail''Survival against the odds ... [an] amazing story.'' The SunIn 1939 Annie Jarman and her six young daughters were evacuated from their south London home and sent to the Sussex countryside to wait out the war. Refusing to be parted, they faced the unknown together, never imagining just how much their lives would change. From the trials and tribulations of leaving London, the destructive horror of the Blitz and terrible family tragedy to dances, romances and the triumph of making a new life in the country, The Sisters of Battle Road is the compelling true story of six ordinary girls in extraordinary wartime circumstances. Today, the six young girls – Mary, Joan, Sheila, Kathleen, Patricia and Ann – are six remarkable women who have lived to tell their tale of sisterhood and its unbreakable bonds in the shadow of World War Two.Trade ReviewThis is a tale of survival - of six girls who faced bombs and prejudice alike, but who rolled up their sleeves and looked after each other. Nobody could accuse the lively Sisters of Battle Road of keeping calm. But by heck, they carried on. * Daily Mail *Survival against the odds... [an] amazing story. * The Sun *An extraordinary story. * The Guardian *This story hits hard with nostalgia for a vanished world where pennies counted, housewifery was taught at school and every one pulled together, untied by a common enemy. * Sussex Life *

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Book SynopsisFrance: February, 1944. Arianne knew Luc as a child, of course she did. Everyone in Samaroux knows each other. But he''s been away, and five years really makes a difference to a boy. A young man.As they fall headily into love their world starts to crumble around them. German forces are closing in, and the village is torn between cooperating to save themselves or putting up resistance and entering unknown danger.How far will Arianne and Luc go to protect what they believe in? And what will they do for love?A gorgeous new edition of this devastating story of resistance, heartbreak and betrayal, for the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two.

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Book SynopsisVolume Eight of the Pacific Profiles series presents the most accurate profiles and histories to date of Imperial Japanese Navy floatplanes which served in the South Pacific theatre, throughout New Guinea and the Solomons. The markings of the six floatplane types deployed in the theatre are covered: the A6M2-N Rufe, E8N2 Dave, E13A1 Jake, F1M2 Pete, E9W Slim and E7K Alf. Floatplane operations commenced in January 1942 with the invasion of Rabaul. Later Rufes were often misidentified as Zeros with their presence in the Solomons seemingly ubiquitous. Petes often fought Allied fighters, with other types focused on reconnaissance and occasional bombing missions, sometimes at night. Most floatplane activity had ceased by late 1943, leaving a handful of stay-behinds operating from Rabaul and Kavieng.Illustrated, unit by unit, are examples of the varied types of markings, camouflage and tail code systems which appeared on floatplanes assigned to sea tenders, shore, ship and submarine-based unTrade ReviewThis is another rather super book in my view. * Military Model Scene *[This book] features original color illustrations, presents fresh information, and corrects and clarifies longstanding errors perpetuated for decades, and includes new markings and information. * Aeroscale 07/09/2022 *

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Book SynopsisAny USAAF pilot who flew the mission to Hollandia on the fateful afternoon of 16 April 1944 in New Guinea would remember it for the rest of their lives. So would anyone else in the theatre, for the weather-related losses that fateful day earned it the eternal epithet “Black Sunday”.

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Book SynopsisPacific Profiles Volume 11 covers the P-40 Warhawk series, which served with a dozen USAAF Fifth and Thirteenth Air Force fighter and reconnaissance squadrons, service units, combat replacement pools and other miscellaneous units.Table of ContentsAbout the Author Introduction Glossary and Abbreviations Chapter 1 – Markings and Technical Notes Chapter 2 – The First P-40s in Australia Chapter 3 – 7th Fighter Squadron “Screamin’ Demons” Chapter 4 – 8th Fighter Squadron “The Blacksheep” Chapter 5 – 9th Fighter Squadron “Flying Knights” Chapter 6 – 35th Fighter Squadron “Black Panthers” Chapter 7 – 44th Fighter Squadron “Vampires” Chapter 8 – 68th Fighter Squadron Chapter 9 – 110th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron “Musketeers” Chapter 10 – 312th Bombardment Group Chapter 11 – Unique Warhawks Sources & Acknowledgments Index of Names

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Book SynopsisVolume Four focuses on the US Navy, US Marine Corps and RNZAF squadrons which operated land based F4U series Corsair fighters throughout the Solomons theatre from February 1943 onwards.

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Book SynopsisMany books have been written about the Normandy landings, but Robert Kershaw brings a new perspective by drawing heavily on German and Allied sources little used in the standard accounts. The actual landings and the subsequent few days of battle often resolved themselves into a multitude of desperate small-scale struggles - for the next few yards of beach, to cross the next field, or to reach the next hedgerow. By looking at the battle at this level through the eyes of both Allied and German participants, the author is able to develop new insights into the successes and failures of both sides. He also shows why the battle for Normandy developed into the long and bitter struggle that has become so well known.The book features extracts from the German telephone log for Omaha Beach, bringing the landings to life. The author also analyses the failure by both sides to balance tank and infantry forces in the difficult Normandy terrain, and examines why the Allies, with local superiority in t

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Book SynopsisIn late June 1942, the dispirited and defeated British Eighth Army was pouring back towards the tiny railway halt of El Alamein in the western desert of Egypt. Tobruk had fallen and Eighth Army had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Rommel''s Panzerarmee Afrika. Yet just five months later, the famous bombardment opened the Eighth Army''s own offensive which destroyed the Axis threat to Egypt. Explanations for the remarkable change of fortune have generally been sought in the abrasive personality of the new army commander Lieutenant-General Bernard Law Montgomery. But the long running controversies surrounding the commanders of Eighth Army - Generals Auchinleck and Montgomery - and that of their legendary opponent, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, have often been allowed to obscure the true nature of the Alamein campaign. Pendulum of War provides a vivid and fresh perspective on the fighting at El Alamein from the early desperate days of July to the final costly victory in NovembeTrade ReviewExcellent...a sophisticated, compelling and immensely readable account... Thoroughly researched, controversial, convincing... military history at its best * Daily Express *There is no doubting the author's immense scholarship... He has a first-class understanding of strategy and tactics -- Simon Heffer * Literary Review *Deserves to become the standard work on the desert war in 1942 -- Richard Holmes

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Book SynopsisNorman Longmate served in the army in World War II, and then went to Oxford University in 1947 to read Modern History. He subsequently worked as a Fleet Street journalist, as a producer of history programmes for the BBC, and for the BBC Secretariat. In 1981 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and in 1983 he left the BBC to become a full-time writer. Norman Longmate is the author of more than twenty books, mainly on the Second World War and Victorian social history, and of many radio and television scripts on historical subjects. He has frequently been employed as an historical adviser by film and television companies, most recently on the series The 1940s House.Trade ReviewAn immense and impressive assembly... Must surely remain an invaluable essay in the remembrance of things past * Times *Superbly detailed and illustrated... From stirrup pumps to Spam, Norman Longmate's marvellously comprehensive panorama misses nothing. Excellent * Sunday Telegraph *A landmine of information covering every field of civilian life in wartime from the grandeurs of the blitz to the miseries of dried eggs and the six-inch bath -- Cyril ConnollyMuch of it is extremely interesting; some of it is fascinatingly out-of-the-way; and all of it contributes to building up a true picture of everyday life in England from September 1939 to August 1945 * Observer *Mr Longmate has recruited an enormous volunteer army of home-front veterans who sent him their wartime recollections... He has brilliantly sifted and assembled the precious debris * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisA triumph of family story-telling' Hugo Hamilton, author of The Pages.A tale of three journeys, the final one a successful pursuit of shadows' Myles DunganGrowing up in Waterford, Tom McGrath never noticed the odd gaps in the stories of his parents' lives before he was born; it was only many years after they died that he uncovered the unspoken truths, which did so much to explain the people they had been.Here he tells the incredible true story of his father's conscription into the British Army, his escape from a prisoner-of-war camp in Poland, his daring journey across Europe and subsequent recapture and the devastating news that awaited him in England. Tom's research also led him to discover that his mother also carried a heartbreaking secret.In writing this book Tom not only recreated his father's nail-biting escape but also embarked on a journey of his own to reconnect with previously unknown family members. Unspoken pieces together an extraordinarily rare tale that encompasses memoir, family history, and two parallel stories that were almost lost for ever.

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Book Synopsis* PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW *- Why did the Allies decide to invade Southern Italy?- How did the weather and Italian terrain complicate the fighting?- How did General Mark Clark''s Allied Armies win the final battle?Discover the mounting conflict and complex campaigns of the war in Italy. From Operation HUSKY to Clark''s final offensive, the Allied campaign tightened the noose around Nazi Germany and saw the end of Italian Fascism, though it was at a cost of high civilian casualty and destruction.AN EPIC OF GRIT, DETERMINATION AND SACRIFICEWritten by historian, author and broadcaster James Holland and with immersive illustrations by Keith Burns, THE WAR IN ITALY 1943-1945 is an accessible and enthralling introduction to these critical battles and their impact on the outcome of World War II

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Book SynopsisBOOK 12 OF THE LADYBIRD EXPERT HISTORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR, FROM AWARD-WINNING HISTORIAN JAMES HOLLANDFeaturing stunning illustrations from Keith Burns, bringing the story to life in vivid detailWhy did Japan decide to attack at Pearl Harbour?What was the Japanese vision of a Greater Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere?How did the American strategy turn the tide against Japanese offensives?Uncover the complexities of the brutal war against Japan.From the surprise attack on Pearl Harbour, Oahu, to the Philippines Campaign, the Allies were finally able to turn the tide against the onslaught of Japanese forces.Ending in Japanese surrender after the devastating atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the war in Japan was eventually won, but at the cost of civilian lives.THE WAR THAT LED TO TWO ATOMIC BOMBINGSWritten by historian, author and broadcaster James Holland, Victory

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