Second World War Books
Hodder & Stoughton Little Bird of Auschwitz
Book Synopsis''That nickname . . .''''Little bird. It wasn''t mine. I found out later he gave it to every little girl that came in to be injected. Little Bird didn''t mean anything. It was a trick. There were thousands of little birds, just like me, all thinking they were the only one.''As a reporter, Jacques Peretti has spent his life investigating important stories. But there was one story, heard in scattered fragments throughout his childhood, that he never thought to investigate. The story of how his mother survived Auschwitz.In the few last months of the Second World War, thirteen-year-old Alina Peretti, along with her mother and sister, was one of thirteen thousand non-Jewish Poles sent to Auschwitz. Her experiences there cast a shadow over the rest of her life.Now ninety, Alina has been diagnosed with dementia. Together, mother and son begin a race against time to record her memories and preserve her family''s story
£10.44
Createspace Independent Publishing Platform The Ordnance Department: Planning Munitions for
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£21.75
Createspace Independent Publishing Platform Sicily and the Surrender of Italy
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£24.73
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Countering Hitler's Spies: British Military
Book SynopsisWhen the military aspect of the Second World War is discussed, especially regarding how the war was won, people tend to talk about, Winston Churchill, D-Day, Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, the Dam Busters, the Allied bombing of German cities, Montgomery and the North Africa campaign, etc. However, there is one aspect, rarely mentioned and never quite fully appreciated, which played a massive role in winning the war. The Double Cross system, operated by MI5, involved capturing German spies who had been sent to the United Kingdom and offering them the opportunity to become double agents and spy for the British against the Germans. Most agreed, although the alternative wasn't that pleasant: refusing to become a spy would have almost certainly resulted in death. Spies who worked for MI5, especially those who had initially worked for the Germans, carried out sterling work which resulted in the saving of thousands of Allied lives. The success of the D-Day landings at Normandy, for example, was in part due to the excellent work of a double agent, who helped convince Nazi Germany that the Allied invasion of Europe would take place across the English Channel, at Calais. One double agent was so good at what he did that Germany awarded him the Iron Cross, whilst Britain made him a Member of the British Empire (MBE).
£15.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd To War with a 4th Hussar: Fighting in Greece, North Africa and The Balkans
Book SynopsisPeter Crichton seized the outbreak of the Second World War to escape his journalistic job in London. Ever adventurous and somewhat impetuous he quickly transferred regiments to the 4th Queen's Own Hussars who were destined for North Africa. In no time he found himself fighting a desperate and ill-fated rear-guard action in the mountains of Northern Greece. One of only 180, out of 600, of his Regiment to be evacuated, he was soon involved in the brutal battles of Alam Halfa and El Alamein. While the 4th Hussars recovered and re-trained, the Author found time to play polo and fall in love. By a twist of fate, he was ordered to deploy to Yugoslavia where he was attached to Tito's partisans as they fought their way North, island by island, hurrying the Germans' withdrawal. After four and a half years' absence, he reached London on VE Day, 1945, surprised but grateful to be alive, unlike so many of his contemporaries. Although he wrote up his experiences with admirable clarity and modesty, his papers remained unpublished until Robert, his son, decided to bring them to a wider audience. The result is an action-packed and graphic memoir of unusual breadth.
£999.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd 1000 Days on the River Kwai: The Secret Diary of
Book SynopsisMemoirs by former prisoners of war of the Japanese invariably make for moving reading but Colonel Owtrams account of his years of captivity has a special significance. After being captured in Singapore and transported to the infamous Burma railway he was appointed the British Camp Commandant at Chungkai, one of the largest POW camps. Many ex-prisoners testified to the mental and physical courage that he showed protecting POWs from the worst excesses of their captors. Of course his account does not admit to this but what is clear is that in addition to the deprivation and hardship suffered by all POWs, the author bore heavy responsibility for those under his charge and the daily trauma of dealing with the unpredictable Japanese. It is not only the prisoners who suffered but their families at home. The postscript written by the authors daughters vividly demonstrates the agonies of doubt and worry that loved ones went through and the effect of the experience on all.
£16.42
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Anglo-Soviet Alliance: Comrades and Allies
Book SynopsisFrom the onset of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917 until the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Britain enjoyed an ambiguous relationship with the USSR and its people. All inter-war governments were concerned about the communist ideals of the new state and the threat they presented to British interests at home and abroad, and this was inevitably reflected amongst the general population. However there was a well-established British Communist Party whose fortunes were tied to the Soviet Union's successes and failures. The wartime alliance offered the Communists an opportunity to extend their influence and win electoral support. Or did it? There were influences at work stemming from both sides that sought to put the importance of allied victory above competing ideology, with agreement over the need for a strong and unconditional anti-Fascist alliance. Compromises were made and relationships formed that would have seemed strange indeed to the pre-war observer. There were, however, tensions throughout the period of the war. By mid-1945, the alliance was threatened by differences that reflected original ideologies that had been glossed over for the duration of the conflict: these led to a Cold War for the next 45 years. This book, using both contemporary sources as well as post-war analyses, examines these matters alongside images that take us back to the period and help us understand its intricacies. It will start with a look at Britain's opposition to the Bolshevik Revolution and the consolidation of the Soviet State under Lenin and then Stalin. The main body of the book goes on to give detail of the Wartime Alliance and the various forms through which it was expressed - from Government led Lend-Lease of equipment, to voluntary 'Aid for Russia. t ends with the War's aftermath and the division of the world between the influences of capitalism on the one hand, and the "really existing socialism" of the Soviet Union and its satellites on the other. Tensions and expectations resulted, amongst other great social events, in the launch of the Welfare State, the demise of the British Empire, the nuclear arms race and, ultimately, the end of the Soviet Union in 1991.
£23.75
Hodder & Stoughton The Island of Extraordinary Captives: A True
Book Synopsis'Extraordinary yet previously untold true story . . . meticulously researched . . . it's also taut, compelling, and impossible to put down' Daily Express The police came for Peter Fleischmann in the early hours. It reminded the teenager of the Gestapo's moonlit roundups he had narrowly avoided at home in Berlin. Now, having endured a perilous journey to reach England - hiding from the rampaging Nazi thugs at his orphanage, boarding a Kindertransport to safety - here the aspiring artist was, on a ship bound for the Isle of Man, suspected of being a Nazi spy. What had gone wrong?In May 1940, faced with a country gripped by paranoia, Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered the internment of all German and Austrian citizens living in Britain. Most, like Peter, were refugees who had come to the country to escape Nazi oppression. They were now imprisoned by the very country in which they had staked their trust. Painstakingly researched from dozens of unpublished first-hand accounts and previously classified documents, The Island of Extraordinary Captives tells, for the first time, the story of history's most astonishing internment camp and of how a group of world-renown artists, musicians and academics came to be seen as 'enemy aliens'. The Island of Extraordinary Captives is the story of a battle between fear and compassion at a time of national crisis. It reveals how Britain's treatment of refugees during the Second World War led to one of the nation's most shameful missteps, and how hope and creativity can flourish in even the most challenging circumstances.Trade ReviewExtraordinary yet previously untold true story . . . meticulously researched . . . it's also taut, compelling, and impossible to put down * Daily Express *By shining a light upon the government's decision to intern the innocent, Simon Parkin's eye-opening, insightful and brilliantly written book serves as a timely reminder of the dangers of populism * Daily Mirror *Compelling . . . In this "university of captives", Parkin has unearthed a small and riveting chunk of wartime history, easily overlooked -- Anne de Courcy * The Telegraph *Vivid and moving . . . Spotlights a sorry aspect of Britain's war which deserves to be better known -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *The wealth of primary sources through which Parkin has trawled fill its pages with life; his enthusiasm for his subject fills it with affection. The reader is left with a powerful sense of Weissenborn's verdict on Hutchinson: to turn a prison camp into a university "was a miracle of the human will to live and to work". * The Times *Meticulously researched * Literary Review *Parkin [has an] inimitable capacity to find the human pulse in the underbelly of Britain's war...The Island of Extraordinary Captives is multi-layered...definitely worth the deep dive into Britain's inglorious war, when desperate men and women were disregarded, abused and left to fester in a humiliating no man's land. It's a reminder that conflict has always been a convenient mask behind which thuggery and xenophobia thrive. Yet, despite the stark injustice it describes, it is a curiously exhilarating read: an example of how individuals can find joy and meaning in the absurd and mundane. * The Spectator *A brisk, vivid narrative...Parkin's success in bringing this shabby corner of Britain's wartime history to life is of more than historical interest. * Times Literary Supplement *Parkin's account, with its well-chosen central figures and attention to the trauma that some of the imprisoned carried for decades, is testimony to human fortitude despite callous, hypocritical injustice -- Best Books of 2022 * New Yorker *Riveting . . . a truly shocking story of what officials are wont to term 'national misjudgment' is electrifyingly told by the journalist and historian Simon Parkin, whose breadth and depth of original research has produced an account of cinematic vividness -- Juliet Nicolson * New York Times Book Review *Parkin's rich and vivid account makes clear just how much the displaced artists did suffer, and the remarkable resilience and creativity with which they responded -- Matthew Reisz * Observer *Excellent . . . Parkin has told his story with energy and flair . . . A powerful tribute to the wartime internees, and a timely reminder of how much Britain gained from their presence -- Charlie English * Guardian *
£999.99
Ariadne Press Unredeemed Past: Themes of War and Womanhood in
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£25.19
Ariadne Press Two Witnesses' Testimony. Long Lost Manuscripts
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£23.39
Paul Dry Books, Inc Hide & Seek: The Story of a Wartime Agent
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£16.19
Nova Science Publishers Inc Victims & Executioners: American Political
Book SynopsisIn recent years, much has been written on how the moral meaning and significance of the Holocaust has been appropriated in popular and political discourses in the United States. Authors such as Peter Novick and Norman Finkelstein have argued that the Holocaust has been "Americanised", often detracting from its European origins and the problematic moral questions it poses. This work goes further by focusing on the particular framing of the Holocaust in U.S. official and public discourses with particular reference to foreign policy debate and how this contrasts with the "civil religion" of Holocaust commemoration in the United States. It traces the way in which such debates have been structured around various assumptions made about the victims on the one hand, and executioners on the other. It also traces how the relationship between the Jewish victims and German executioners in American public discourse has been affected by pragmatic and political considerations at various historical junctures, particularly those concerning the Federal Republic of Germany and the State of Israel.
£67.99
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War: A
Book SynopsisIn October 1962, when the Soviet Union deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba, the most dangerous confrontation of the Cold War ensued, bringing the world close to the brink of nuclear war. Over two tense weeks, U.S. president John F. Kennedy and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev managed to negotiate a peaceful resolution to what was nearly a global catastrophe.Drawing on the best recent scholarship and previously unexamined documents from the archives of the former Soviet Union, this introductory volume examines the motivations and calculations of the major participants in the conflict, sets the crisis in the context of the broader history of the global Cold War, and traces the effects of the crisis on subsequent international and regional geopolitical relations.Selections from twenty primary sources provide firsthand accounts of the frantic deliberations and realpolitik diplomacy between the U.S., the U.S.S.R., and Fidel Castro's Cuban regime; thirteen illustrations are also included.CONTENTS:Introduction: The Making of a global Crisis The Origins of the Cold War A New Front in the Cold War The Cold War in Latin America The Cuban Revolution and the Soviet Union U.S. and Regional Responses to the Cuban Revolution Operation Zapata: The Bay of Pigs Operation Anadyr: Soviet Missiles in Cuba Crisis Dénouement: The Missiles of November Evaluating the Leadership on All Sides of the Crisis Nuclear Fallout: Consequences of the Missile Crisis The Future of Cuban-Soviet Relations Latin American Responses to the Missile Crisis Conclusion: Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis Historiography of the Cuban Missile Crisis Documents Memorandum for McGeorge Bundy from Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., April 10, 1961 State Department White Paper, April 1961 From the Cable on the Conversation between Gromyko and Kennedy, October 18, 1962 Telegram from Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko to the CC CPSU, October 20, 1962 President John F. Kennedy’s speech to the Nation, October 22, 1962 Resolution Adopted by the Council of the Organization of American States Acting Provisionally as the Organ of Consultation, October 23, 1962 Message from Mexican President Adolfo López Mateos to Cuban President Osvaldo Dorticós, October 23, 1962 Letter from Khrushchev to John F. Kennedy, October 24, 1962 Telegram from Soviet Ambassador to the USA Dobrynin to the USSR MFA, October 24, 1962 Memorandum for President Kennedy from Douglas Dillon, October 26, 1962 Telegram from Fidel Castro to N.S. Khrushchev, October 26, 1962 Letter from Khrushchev to Fidel Castro, October 28, 1962 Cable from USSR Ambassador to Cuba Alekseev to Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs, October 28, 1962 Telegram from Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Kuznetsov and Ambassador to the U.N. Zorin to USSR Foreign Ministry (1), October 30, 1962 Premier Khrushchev’s Letter to Prime Minister Castro, October 30, 1962 Prime Minister Castro’s Letter to Premier Khrushchev, October 31, 1962 Meeting of the Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba with Mikoyan in the Presidential Palace, November 4, 1962 Brazilian Foreign Ministry Memorandum, “Question of Cuba,” November 20, 1968 Letter from Khrushchev to Fidel Castro, January 31, 1963 “I Know Something About the Caribbean Crisis,” Notes from a Conversation with Fidel Castro, November 5, 1987 Select BibliographyTrade Review"Getchell does an exemplary job of explaining the context, development, and results of the Cuban Missile Crisis. She has an expert grasp on the latest research in the field, and her prose is engaging, making this book a pleasure to read." —Renata Keller, author of Mexico's Cold War: Cuba, the United States, and the Legacy of the Mexican Revolution"Michelle Getchell's The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War: A Short History with Documents is a concise introduction to the crisis. . . . The book is strongest in its treatment of the background of the crisis. Getchell begins with the origins of the Cold War, then progressively narrows the focus onto Latin America, the Cuban Revolution, and the events immediately preceding the crisis, allowing her to place the crisis within the context of the Cold War in the region. Her descriptions of the Cold War in Latin American and Cuban-Soviet relations are particularly useful and fill a gap in the literature for readable summaries on these topics. The author takes a fair-minded but critical view of U.S. policies toward Latin America, with a valuable exploration of the attitudes of the region’s governments and people and of the backlash to American intervention. Soviet-Cuban relations emerge as one of the major themes of the book and the area in which it contributes original research. Getchell uncovers records from the Soviet embassies in the United States and Mexico that highlight Cuba’s eagerness for relations with the Soviet Union early in the revolution and Soviet beliefs about American intentions toward Cuba. Her description of Fidel Castro’s substantial efforts to court the Soviet government and gain economic and military support is illuminating, and the discussion of Nikita Khrushchev’s reasons for moving Soviet missiles to Cuba is comprehensive. Many of the documents in the appendix also focus on Soviet-Cuban relations. She returns to these topics in discussing the aftermath of the crisis, again filling a gap in the literature for readable summaries on how the crisis influenced the subsequent course of the Cold War in the Western Hemisphere. . . . As a narrative history and a source of assignable readings, this volume is very good. Getchell has a deep knowledge of the subject and draws on the best and latest scholarship to construct her narrative." —Ron Gurantz, in H-War, H-Net Reviews
£17.09
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc The Cuban Missile Crisis and the Cold War: A
Book SynopsisIn October 1962, when the Soviet Union deployed nuclear missiles in Cuba, the most dangerous confrontation of the Cold War ensued, bringing the world close to the brink of nuclear war. Over two tense weeks, U.S. president John F. Kennedy and Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev managed to negotiate a peaceful resolution to what was nearly a global catastrophe.Drawing on the best recent scholarship and previously unexamined documents from the archives of the former Soviet Union, this introductory volume examines the motivations and calculations of the major participants in the conflict, sets the crisis in the context of the broader history of the global Cold War, and traces the effects of the crisis on subsequent international and regional geopolitical relations.Selections from twenty primary sources provide firsthand accounts of the frantic deliberations and realpolitik diplomacy between the U.S., the U.S.S.R., and Fidel Castro's Cuban regime; thirteen illustrations are also included.CONTENTS:Introduction: The Making of a global Crisis The Origins of the Cold War A New Front in the Cold War The Cold War in Latin America The Cuban Revolution and the Soviet Union U.S. and Regional Responses to the Cuban Revolution Operation Zapata: The Bay of Pigs Operation Anadyr: Soviet Missiles in Cuba Crisis Dénouement: The Missiles of November Evaluating the Leadership on All Sides of the Crisis Nuclear Fallout: Consequences of the Missile Crisis The Future of Cuban-Soviet Relations Latin American Responses to the Missile Crisis Conclusion: Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis Historiography of the Cuban Missile Crisis Documents Memorandum for McGeorge Bundy from Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., April 10, 1961 State Department White Paper, April 1961 From the Cable on the Conversation between Gromyko and Kennedy, October 18, 1962 Telegram from Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko to the CC CPSU, October 20, 1962 President John F. Kennedy’s speech to the Nation, October 22, 1962 Resolution Adopted by the Council of the Organization of American States Acting Provisionally as the Organ of Consultation, October 23, 1962 Message from Mexican President Adolfo López Mateos to Cuban President Osvaldo Dorticós, October 23, 1962 Letter from Khrushchev to John F. Kennedy, October 24, 1962 Telegram from Soviet Ambassador to the USA Dobrynin to the USSR MFA, October 24, 1962 Memorandum for President Kennedy from Douglas Dillon, October 26, 1962 Telegram from Fidel Castro to N.S. Khrushchev, October 26, 1962 Letter from Khrushchev to Fidel Castro, October 28, 1962 Cable from USSR Ambassador to Cuba Alekseev to Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs, October 28, 1962 Telegram from Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Kuznetsov and Ambassador to the U.N. Zorin to USSR Foreign Ministry (1), October 30, 1962 Premier Khrushchev’s Letter to Prime Minister Castro, October 30, 1962 Prime Minister Castro’s Letter to Premier Khrushchev, October 31, 1962 Meeting of the Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba with Mikoyan in the Presidential Palace, November 4, 1962 Brazilian Foreign Ministry Memorandum, “Question of Cuba,” November 20, 1968 Letter from Khrushchev to Fidel Castro, January 31, 1963 “I Know Something About the Caribbean Crisis,” Notes from a Conversation with Fidel Castro, November 5, 1987 Select BibliographyTable of ContentsIntroduction: The Making of a Global Crisis; The Origins of the Cold War; A New Front in the Cold War; The Cold War in Latin America; The Cuban Revolution and the Soviet Union; U.S. and Regional Responses to the Cuban Revolution; Operation Zapata: The Bay of Pigs; Operation Anadyr: Soviet Missiles in Cuba; Crisis Dénouement: The Missiles of November; Evaluating the Leadership on All Sides of the Crisis; Nuclear Fallout: Consequences of the Missile Crisis; The Future of Cuban-Soviet Relations; Latin American Responses to the Missile Crisis; Conclusion: Lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis; Historiography of the Cuban Missile Crisis; DOCUMENTS -- Memorandum for McGeorge Bundy from Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., 10 April 1961; State Department White Paper, April 1961 From the Cable on the Conversation between Gromyko and Kennedy, 18 October 1962; Telegram from Soviet Foreign Minister Gromyko to the CC CPSU, 20 October 1962 President John F. Kennedy's speech to the Nation, October 22; Resolution Adopted by the Council of the Organization of American States Acting Provisionally as the Organ of Consultation, 23 October 1962; Message from Mexican President Adolfo López Mateos to Cuban President Osvaldo Dorticós, 23 October 1962; Letter from Khrushchev to John F Kennedy, 24 October 1962; Telegram from Soviet Ambassador to the USA Dobrynin to the USSR MFA, 24 October 1962; Memorandum for President Kennedy from Douglas Dillon, 26 October 1962; Telegram from Fidel Castro to N.S. Khrushchev, October 26, 1962; Letter from Khrushchev to Fidel Castro, 28 October 1962; Cable from USSR Ambassador to Cuba Alekseev to Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs, October 28, 1962; Telegram from Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Kuznetsov and Ambassador to the U.N. Zorin to USSR Foreign Ministry (1), 30 October, 1962; Premier Chrushchev's Letter to Prime Minister Castro, 30 October 1962; Prime Minister Castro's Letter to Premier Khrushchev, 31 October 1962; Meeting of the Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba with Mikoyan in the Presidential Palace, 4 November 1962; Brazilian Foreign Ministry Memorandum, "Question of Cuba," 20 November 1968; Letter from Khrushchev to Fidel Castro, 31 January 1963; "I Know Something About the Caribbean Crisis" Notes from a Conversation with Fidel Castro, 5 November 1987; Select Bibliography.
£47.59
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc United States in World War II: A Documentary
Book Synopsis"Outstanding . . . the best short history I have read of America’s role in World War II. Stoler and Michelmore draw on a judicious selection of historical documents to provide a concise, readable history. The historiography of the war is well covered and explained. It is no small task to delineate the many, sometimes, heated debates over the conduct of the war, and in this volume the many sides of the historical debate are fairly and evenly treated. For a single-volume study, the book is remarkably comprehensive. It addresses major events and decisions; yet it also covers the political and policy-driven, strategic and operational, and social and cultural aspects of the War. The development of key technologies (such as the atomic bomb) and intelligence capabilities are explained. Finally, this book also covers topics that are often neglected in histories of the War, including racism in America, the American response to the Holocaust, and the evolving role of women in the workforce." —Adrian Lewis, The University of Kansas, author of The American Culture of War: The History of U.S. Military Forces from World War II to Operation Enduring Freedom (Routledge, 2nd ed. 2012)Trade Review"A superbly researched resource, packed with fascinating primary sources, and full of cutting edge judgments and explanations. Stoler and Michelmore take us into nearly every corner of the American experience in World War II, from the White House to race riots to combat operations, and much more." —John C. McManus, Ph.D., Curators' Distinguished Professor of U.S. Military History, Missouri University of Science and Technology, author of Hell Before Their Very Eyes: American Soldiers Liberate Concentration Camps in Germany, April 1945 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015)
£31.49
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc The United States in World War II: A Documentary
Book Synopsis"Outstanding . . . the best short history I have read of America’s role in World War II. Stoler and Michelmore draw on a judicious selection of historical documents to provide a concise, readable history. The historiography of the war is well covered and explained. It is no small task to delineate the many, sometimes, heated debates over the conduct of the war, and in this volume the many sides of the historical debate are fairly and evenly treated. For a single-volume study, the book is remarkably comprehensive. It addresses major events and decisions; yet it also covers the political and policy-driven, strategic and operational, and social and cultural aspects of the War. The development of key technologies (such as the atomic bomb) and intelligence capabilities are explained. Finally, this book also covers topics that are often neglected in histories of the War, including racism in America, the American response to the Holocaust, and the evolving role of women in the workforce." —Adrian Lewis, The University of Kansas, author of The American Culture of War: The History of U.S. Military Forces from World War II to Operation Enduring Freedom (Routledge, 2nd ed. 2012)Trade Review"A superbly researched resource, packed with fascinating primary sources, and full of cutting edge judgments and explanations. Stoler and Michelmore take us into nearly every corner of the American experience in World War II, from the White House to race riots to combat operations, and much more." —John C. McManus, Ph.D., Curators' Distinguished Professor of U.S. Military History, Missouri University of Science and Technology, author of Hell Before Their Very Eyes: American Soldiers Liberate Concentration Camps in Germany, April 1945 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015)
£68.84
Hackett Publishing Co, Inc Nazi Crimes and Their Punishment, 1943-1950: A
Book Synopsis“With this timely book in Hackett Publishing's Passages series, Michael Bryant presents a wide-ranging survey of the trials of Nazi war criminals in the wartime and immediate postwar period. Introduced by an extensive historical survey putting these proceedings into their international context, this volume makes the case, central to Hackett's collection for undergraduate courses, that these events constituted a 'key moment' that has influenced the course of history. Appended to Bryant's analysis is a substantial section of primary sources that should stimulate student discussion and raise questions that are pertinent to warfare and human rights abuses today.” —Michael R. Marrus, Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies at the University of TorontoTrade Review"An excellent text for students. Cutting through the vast literature on Nazi criminality and efforts to bring the culprits—not just the 'major perpetrators,' as these are usually understood, but ordinary professionals as well—to justice, Bryant's masterful study boils down the essential facts and complex historiography. The inclusion of the actual indictments, court verdicts, and laws upon which the trials were based shows students how the legal scaffolding of modern international criminal law was constructed." —Michael Bazyler, The 1939 Society Scholar in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies and law professor, Fowler School of Law, Chapman University"Bryant's Nazi Crimes and Their Punishment 1943-1950 is a significant contribution to not only our understanding of the Holocaust, but the punishment of those responsible for these monstrous crimes in the aftermath of the Second World War. It should prove a welcome text to undergraduate courses in both areas as well as a ready reference for those also interested in this important topic. Its value is further enhanced by its historiographical essay and the selection of key documents." —Steven Leonard Jacobs, Emeritus Aaron Aronov Endowed Chair of Judaic Studies, The University of Alabama
£17.09
Pegasus Books 1942: Winston Churchill and Britain's Darkest
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£25.46
Regnery Publishing Inc The Rifle: Combat Stories from America's Last
Book SynopsisTales of American combat and comradery in World War II all connected to the iconic rifle of the era, the M1 Garand. An award-winning author puts one such rifle into the hands of a series of vets, records their stories, and gathers their signatures on the rifle, in a pilgrimage and homage to heroism.It all started because of a rifle. The Rifle is an inspirational story and hero’s journey of a 28-year-old U.S. Marine, Andrew Biggio, who returned home from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, full of questions about the price of war. He found answers from those who survived the costliest war of all -- WWII veterans. It began when Biggio bought a 1945 M1 Garand Rifle, the most common rifle used in WWII, to honor his great uncle, a U.S. Army soldier who died on the hills of the Italian countryside. When Biggio showed the gun to his neighbor, WWII veteran Corporal Joseph Drago, it unlocked memories Drago had kept unspoken for 50 years. On the spur of the moment, Biggio asked Drago to sign the rifle. Thus began this Marine’s mission to find as many WWII veterans as he could, get their signatures on the rifle, and document their stories. For two years, Biggio traveled across the country to interview America’s last-living WWII veterans. Each time he put the M1 Garand Rifle in their hands, their eyes lit up with memories triggered by holding the weapon that had been with them every step of the war. With each visit and every story told to Biggio, the veterans signed their names to the rifle. 96 signatures now cover that rifle, each a reminder of the price of war and the courage of our soldiers.
£999.99
University of Alberta Press Polish War Veterans in Alberta: The Last Four
Book SynopsisIn the aftermath of World War II, more than 4,500 Polish veterans, displaced by war and the Soviet-oriented Polish government, were resettled in Canada as farm workers; 750 of these men were accepted by the province of Alberta. Polish War Veterans in Alberta examines how these former soldiers came to experience their new country and its sometimes-harsh postwar realities. This compelling work of social history is brought to life through the words and stories of four veterans, whose remembrances provide an intimate first-hand look at a moment of Canada’s past that is at risk of being forgotten.Trade Review"At war’s end some 250,000 Polish veterans were stranded in Europe. Returning home was a ticket to the Soviet Gulag.... Author Jaworska is a passionate writer. Her interviews with survivors are compelling. Polish War Veterans In Alberta has a melancholy quality...with a very human ending." Holly Doan, Blacklock's Reporter, April 13, 2019 [Full review at https://www.blacklocks.ca/book-review-men-without-a-country/]“Jaworska’s book is a most timely and needed publication that serves as a welcome explanation of the origin of the post World War II Polish arrivals to the Great Plains….Careful reading of these stories of exile and military service collected by Jaworska would greatly increase Canadian awareness of the background of the Polish immigrants of the mid-1940s… [Polish War veterans in Alberta] is well organized and an engrossing read .” Anna Mazurkiewicz, Great Plains Quarterly, Winter-Spring, 2022.“Jaworska has excelled in preparing these histories of the wartime and postwar lives of these four brave men…The book will appeal both to scholars and lay readers interested in learning from first-hand accounts about the Polish perspective on the most destructive war in history and about an almost forgotten time in Canada’s immigration history.” Michal Mlynarz, Canadian Slavonic Papers, 14 Feb 2022.#10 on the Calgary Non-fiction Bestsellers list, June 15, 2023Table of ContentsI Polish World War II Veterans 1 From Citizens to Prisoners 2 From Prisoners to Soldiers 3 From Soldiers to Stateless Immigrants 4 The Immigrant as Ethnic 5 Polish Veterans and Canadian Veterans: A Comparison II Polish War Veterans’ Stories 6 Interviewing the Veterans 7 Anatol (Tony) Nieumierzycki (1923–2017) 8 Władysław (Walter) Niewiński (1918–2012) 9 Zbigniew (Leo) Rogowski (1927–) 10 Stefan Koselak (1921–1960) III From Victory to Sorrow 11 Understanding the Polish War Veterans’ Experiences
£23.39
Goose Lane Editions The Endless Battle: The Fall of Hong Kong and
Book SynopsisShortlisted, 2018 Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical WritingSuggested Reading by the Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative AssociationNear the end of October 1941, a few hundred soldiers from New Brunswick were among the 1,975 Canadian troops who set sail from Vancouver to reinforce the British Colony of Hong Kong. Within two short months, after a hard-fought but disastrous battle against the Imperial Japanese Army, the island fell to the invaders on Christmas Day, and its defenders were ordered to surrender by the governor of Hong Kong. The survivors were taken captive.Based on the first-hand accounts of the author's father, Andrew "Ando" Flanagan, a rifleman from Jacquet River, NB, The Endless Battle explores the Battle of Hong Kong and its long aftermath, through the eyes of the soldiers. During their captivity, the POWs endured starvation, forced labour, and brutal beatings. They lived in deplorable conditions and many died from illness. But the soldiers stuck together, bound by their cameraderie, loyalty to King and Country, and collective desire to sabotage the Japanese war effort.Writing intimately and sensitively about the lingering effects of the trauma of the soldiers held in captivity, Andy Flanagan shows both the heroism of individual soldiers and the terrible costs of war.The Endless Battle is volume 24 in the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series.
£13.49
Goose Lane Editions Dangerous Enemy Sympathizers : Canadian
Book SynopsisWinner, Democracy 250 Atlantic Book Award for Historical WritingWhat happened in Canadian Internment Camp B?From 1940 to 1945, Internment Camp B at Ripples, some 35 kilometres east of Fredericton, played a considerable role in the Second World War. Chosen for its remote rural New Brunswick location, Camp B interned hundreds who were deemed by the Canadian government to be enemy sympathizers.In the first year of its operation, the camp incarcerated German and Austrian Jewish refugees dispatched from Britain. In May 1940, fearful that the refugees were agents of the Nazis they'd fled, the British government sent thousands of men to Canada to be interned as "dangerous enemy sympathizers." After the refugees were finally released in 1941, Camp B held Canadian citizens who were suspected of opposing the war effort -- including the prominent opponent of conscription and Mayor of Montreal Camillien Houde, Canadians of German and Italian descent, and homegrown fascists such as Adrien Arcand -- as well as captured German and Italian merchant mariners.In this comprehensive illustrated account of Camp B, Andrew Theobald examines the daily lives and tribulations of those imprisoned behind the barbed wire. "Dangerous Enemy Sympathizers" also scrutinizes the troubling context that led to the internment of both refugees and Canadian citizens, the debates over the ethics of internment inside and outside the camp, and the role of the camps in shaping government policy towards immigration and the post-war powers of the Canadian state."Dangerous Enemy Sympathizers" is volume 26 of the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series.
£13.49
Goose Lane Editions Bombs and Barbed Wire: Stories of Acadian Airmen
Book SynopsisLittle has been written about the Acadians who served in Canada's armed forces during the Second World War. In fact, the prevailing notion suggested that Acadians refused to support the war effort. Bombs and Barbed Wire provides an alternative point of view, revealing the commitment and bravery displayed by the approximately 24,000 Acadians who voluntarily joined the war effort. Battling both language barriers and a culture of exclusion, they overcame frustrations and prejudice to fight for the freedom of the country they loved. Based on extensive, in-depth interviews Cormier conducted in 1990 with eleven surviving Acadian veterans, Bombs & Barbed Wire brings to life the experience of Acadian soldiers for English-language readers for the first time. Bombs and Barbed Wire is volume 29 of the New Brunswick Military Heritage Series.
£14.39
Caitlin Press Invisible Generations: Living between Indigenous
Book SynopsisIrene Kelleher lived all her life in the shadow of her inheritance. Her local community in British Columbias Fraser Valley all too often treated her as if she was invisible. The combination of white and Indigenous descent that Irene embodied was beyond the bounds of acceptability by a dominant white society. To be mixed was to not belong. Attracted to the future British Columbia by a gold rush beginning in 1858, Irenes white grandfathers had families with Indigenous women. Theirs was not an uncommon story. Some of the earliest newcomers to do so were in the employ of the fur trading Hudsons Bay Company at Fort Langley. And yet, more than one hundred and fifty years later, the descendants of these early pioneers are still waiting for their stories to be heard. Through meticulous research, family records and a personal connection to Irene, Governor General award-winning historian Jean Barman explores this aspect of British Columbias history and the deeply rooted prejudice faced by families who helped to build Canada. Invisible Generations evokes the Catholic residential school that Irenes parents and so many other mixed blood children attended. Among Irenes family and friends we meet Josephine, who was separated as a child from her beloved upwardly mobile politician father. When her presence in his socially charged household became untenable, Josephine was dispatched to the same Fraser Valley boarding school. The transition from genteel Victoria to St. Marys Mission was horrendous, she wrote. Yet individuals and families survived as best they could, building good lives for themselves and those around them. Irene was determined to be a schoolteacher and taught across the farthest reaches of the province, including Doukhobor children at a time when the community was vehemently opposed to their offspring attending school. Stories like that of Irene and of her family and friends have been largely forgotten, but in Invisible Generations Barman brings this important conversation into focus, shedding light on a common history across British Columbia and Canada. It is, in Irenes words, time to tell the story.
£14.39
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Why the Germans Lost: The Rise and Fall of the
Book SynopsisThis book examines the history of the German Army which, for the best part of two centuries, influenced the course of events in Continental Europe. It was an army that studied the conduct of war at the highest levels, planning for the destruction of its opponents during the early stages of a war. On some occasions, this principle succeeded brilliantly. On others, its details were flawed and the results were disastrous. This new and exciting publication from seasoned historian and author Bryan Perrett charts the ups and downs of the German army from the days of Frederick the Great to the dying days of World War Two. It passes through the Napoleonic period, takes in the growth of war machinery under the leadership of Clausewitz and Moltke and acquaints the reader with the various victories won against Austria in 1866 and France in 1870. It then moves forwards into the twentieth century, following the course of the Imperial German army, its successes and ultimate failure in the Great War, its recovery in the inter-war years and its final destruction under the leadership of Hitler. The book is written for the professional and the general reader alike in the easy, readable style that has ensured Bryan Perrett's international popularity as a military and naval historian.
£14.99
Berghahn Books Nazi Labour Camps in Paris: Austerlitz, Lévitan,
Book Synopsis On 18 July 1943, one-hundred and twenty Jews were transported from the concentration camp at Drancy to the Lévitan furniture store building in the middle of Paris. These were the first detainees of three satellite camps (Lévitan, Austerlitz, Bassano) in Paris. Between July 1943 and August 1944, nearly eight hundred prisoners spent a few weeks to a year in one of these buildings, previously been used to store furniture, and were subjected to forced labor. Although the history of the persecution and deportation of France’s Jews is well known, the three Parisian satellite camps have been subjected to the silence of both memory and history. This lack of attention by the most authoritative voices on the subject can perhaps be explained by the absence of a collective memory or by the marginal status of the Parisian detainees - the spouses of Aryans, wives of prisoners of war, half-Jews. Still, the Parisian camps did, and continue to this day, lack simple and straightforward descriptions. This book is a much needed study of these camps and is witness to how, sixty years after the events, expressing this memory remains a complex, sometimes painful process, and speaking about it a struggle.Trade Review “…[an] important, …well-documented and instructive monograph.” • H-France “In this well-written and expertly organized book, Jean-Marc Dreyfus and Sarah Gensburger skillfully chart the trajectories of three forced labor camps for Jewish prisoners in Occupied Paris… Because of the interest that it will have for scholars working on the difficulty of defining a Jew during the period of National Socialism and on memory studies, this book deserves to be read by a larger audience. Fortunately, the book’s excellent translation from the original French and its lucid and concise style makes it very readable. It will provide food for thought for the professional historian and a stimulating read for the non-specialist.” • French Politics, Culture & Society “Full of fascinating detail and admirably connecting the story of the Paris camps to larger developments in Nazi Europe, this important book could easily gain a wide audience, including university students, because it is well organized, ably translated, and easy to read. Moreover, its core chapters take the reader smoothly from why and how the camps were established, to what life was like for the inmates, and to a final section on the dismantling of the camps and their slide into obscurity (until recently).” • The Historian “An association of the camps’ survivors was created in the mid-1990s, after newspaper articles drew attention to the existence of a concentration camp near the site of the new French National Library. The association, whose goal is to retrace the history of these camps, invited Dreyfus and Gensburger to write an academically rigorous study. The result is a well-researched analysis that has helped bring Möbel Aktionand its labor camps into the public eye.” • German Studies Review “Given that the Germans destroyed virtually all records of [the camps] as they withdrew, the authors have done a remarkable job reconstituting the story. They also have explained the complicated story of how the memory of these events was almost lost, ignored by historians, distorted in commemorative plaques, and inaccurately recounted in fiction. Fortunately it is now available in this sophisticated, thoughtful, and authoritative account.” • Holocaust and Genocide StudiesTable of Contents List of Illustrations Foreword Denise Weill Introduction Chapter 1. ‘Operation Furniture’ Chapter 2. The Implementation of ‘Operation Furniture’ Chapter 3. The Creation of the Parisian Camps Chapter 4. Forced labour in Paris Chapter 5. A place of fragile safety Chapter 6. Everyday life Chapter 7. The end of the Parisian camps Chapter 8. The Silence of History Conclusion: Around a Memory Hole Appendix References
£22.75
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Disaster in the Far East 1941-1942
Book SynopsisDespatches in this volume include that on the Far East between October 1940 and December 1941, by Air Chief Marshal Sir Robert Brooke-Popham; the despatch on operations in Hong Kong between 8 and 25 December 1941, by Major-General C.M. Maltby, General Officer Commanding British Troops in China; the report on the air operations during the campaigns in Malaya and Netherland East Indies between December 1941 and March 1942; and the important despatch by Percival detailing the fall of Malaya and Fortress Singapore. This unique collection of original documents will prove to be an invaluable resource for historians, students and all those interested in what was one of the most significant periods in British military history.
£22.50
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Liberating Europe: D-Day to Victory in Europe
Book SynopsisDespatches in this volume include the Despatch on air operations by the Allied Expeditionary Air Force in North West Europe between November 1943 and September 1944, the despatch on the assault phase of the Normandy landings June 1944, despatch on operations of Coastal Command, Royal Air Force in Operation Overlord - the invasion of Europe 1944, the despatch on operations in North West Europe between 6 June 1944 and 5 May 1945, by Field Marshal the Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, Commander 21st Army Group, the despatch on the final stages of the naval war in North West Europe, and, as an addition, the despatch on the Dieppe Raid in 1942. This unique collection of original documents will prove to be an invaluable resource for historians, students and all those interested in what was one of the most significant periods in British military history.
£14.99
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Battle for Norway
Book SynopsisDespatches in this volume include that on the first and second battles of Narvik in 1940; the despatch on operations in central Norway 1940, by Lieutenant General H.R.S. Massy, Commander-in-Chief, North West Expeditionary Force; Despatch on operations in Northern Norway between April and June 1940; the despatch on carrier-borne aircraft attacks on Kirkenes (Norway) and Petsamo (Finland) in 1941, by Admiral Sir John C. Tovey; the despatch on the raid on military and economic objectives in the Lofoten Islands (Norway) in March 1941, by Admiral Sir John C. Tovey, Commander-in-Chief, Home Fleet; and the despatch on the raid on military and economic objectives in the vicinity of Vaagso Island (Norway) in December 1941, by Admiral Sir John C. Tovey. This unique collection of original documents will prove to be an invaluable resource for historians, students and all those interested in what was one of the most significant periods in British military history.
£14.99
Icon Books Operation Swallow: American Soldiers’ Remarkable
Book SynopsisOperation Swallow is the true story of how a small group of American soldiers, inspired by a charismatic but reluctant leader named Hans Kasten, worked to save hundreds of fellow servicemen from a Nazi plan to turn Jewish prisoners of war into concentration camp slaves.It begins in the snowy forests of the Ardennes during Christmas 1944 and ends at the charnel house of Buchenwald concentration camp in spring 1945. It is a remarkable battle of wills between a young GI thrust into a leadership position he didn't want and an SS officer who will stop at nothing to complete his orders.Written from personal testimonies and official documents, it is an escape story replete with courage, sacrifice, torture, despair and salvation. Even more remarkably, it is a story that has barely been told before, a chapter of US military history that the American government tried to suppress for decades - and an uplifting story that deserves to be widely known.
£20.00
Biteback Publishing Commander in Chief: FDR's Battle with Churchill, 1943
Book SynopsisIn the second instalment of his Roosevelt trilogy, Nigel Hamilton tells the astonishing story of FDR's year-long, defining battle with Churchill, as the war raged in Africa and Italy. Commander in Chief reveals the astonishing truth - suppressed by Winston Churchill in his memoirs - of how Roosevelt battled with Churchill to maintain the Allied strategy that would win the war. Roosevelt knew that the Allies should take Sicily but avoid a wider battle in southern Europe, building experience but saving strength to invade France in early 1944. Churchill seemed to agree at Casablanca - only to undermine his own generals and the Allied command, testing Roosevelt's patience to the limit. Churchill was afraid of the invasion planned for Normandy, and pushed instead for disastrous fighting in Italy, thereby almost losing the war for the Allies. In a dramatic showdown, FDR finally set the ultimate course for victory by making the ultimate threat. This volume of Nigel Hamilton's FDR War trilogy shows FDR in top form at a crucial time in the modern history of the West.Trade Review"Masterly." Wall Street Journal
£21.25
Transworld Publishers Ltd In My Grandfather’s Shadow: A story of war,
Book SynopsisThe true story of three generations of one family which examines the guilt and trauma of being part of Germany's Nazi past.This is a moving and powerful memoir that illuminates the extraordinary power of unprocessed trauma as it passes through generations, and how when it is faced it can be healed.' JULIA SAMUEL, author of Every Family Has a Story, Grief Works and This Too Shall Pass 'A page turner of the highest calibre! Meticulously researched, searingly honest and beautifully written,.' MARINA CANTACUZINO, Author and founder of The Forgiveness Project'An absolutely extraordinary book.' Keith Lowe, Sunday Times bestselling author of Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War II-------------In 1987, Angela Findlay walked into a prison and instantly but inexplicably felt at home. For years she had wrestled with a sense of 'badness' within her. But working with prisoners was just the beginning of her search for answers that took her to Nazi Germany and the life of her dead grandfather, who, it emerged, was a decorated general on the Eastern front. In a rare confluence of memoir, psychology and historical detective story, this is Findlay's account of her unflinching quest for the truth about her German family, one that breaks through the silence surrounding many of the Second World War's perpetrators.In My Grandfather's Shadow explores the heritability of unresolved experiences, questions deeply held perceptions of good and bad, and uncovers the lesser-known history of the war's losers, a post-war culture of apology and atonement, and the lingering legacy of shame. Using her own family story to explore an episode in history that continues to appal and fascinate, Findlay reveals that it is possible not only for the scars of trauma to be handed down through generations, but also for them to be healed.Trade ReviewA remarkable cross-pollination of memoir, psychology and history in which the author comes to grips with being the granddaughter of a Nazi general. * i Paper *Brave ... full of insights and good research. -- Caroline Moorehead * Times Literary Supplement *A compelling journey through guilt and shame that asks fundamental and painful questions about the extent of a family member's participation in one of the biggest crimes of the 20th century. -- Derek Niemann, author of A Nazi in the FamilyIn My Grandfather's Shadow is an extraordinary book. Beautifully written, poignant and acutely perceptive; endlessly thought-provoking and challenging. From the nature of wickedness to the phenomenon of epigenetics, it is also an extremely powerful and different way of seeing the vast and terrible tides of history. -- Sinclair McKay, author of Berlin, Dresden, and The Secret Life of Bletchley ParkSeeking to untangle the complexities of her own life, the author goes in search of a WW2 German general - the grandfather she never knew. The outcome is a powerful and at times painfully honest story that will touch readers at many levels. -- Julia Boyd, author of Travellers in the Third Reich and A Village in the Third ReichThis is a moving and powerful memoir that illuminates the extraordinary power of unprocessed trauma as it passes through generations, and how when it is faced it can be healed. -- Julia Samuel, author of Every Family Has a Story, Grief Works and This Too Shall Pass[A] remarkable memoir .... It's a powerful investigation into the individual personal cost that results from wider history, and the ways in which inherited guilt and trauma can leave scars across generations. -- Caroline Sanderson * The Bookseller *This is an absolutely extraordinary book. In peeling back the layers of her family history, Angela Findlay reveals a vast, hidden European story that few nations have ever been brave enough to confront. -- Keith Lowe, Sunday Times bestselling author of Savage Continent: Europe in the Aftermath of World War IIA page turner of the highest calibre! Meticulously researched, searingly honest and beautifully written, this timely book is a salient reminder of how intergenerational relationships connect threads between past and present. The author skillfully excavates her grandfather's life putting the family puzzle together piece by piece to create a forensic and fascinating portrait of the past. Her book gives new meaning to the prescient words of psychoanalyst, Roger Woolger: 'It is the responsibility of the living to heal the dead. Otherwise their unfinished business will continue to play out in our fears, phobias and illnesses. -- Marina Cantacuzino, Author and founder of The Forgiveness ProjectWhat do you do if you are British and German and tormented by a vague sense of guilt which is ruining your life? The answer, in Angela Findlay's case, is you track down your WWII German general grandfather, who waged war on Russia. In a fast-moving story told with great feeling and solid scholarship, Angela Findlay confronts questions of good and evil, generational guilt and reconciliation ... This is a fine book: moving, serious and told with compelling verve. The moral is that honest remembrance of the past helps people live better futures. -- Marcus Ferrar, author of A Foot in Both Camps: a German Past for Better and for WorseIn My Grandfather's Shadow' is a brave, powerful, honest, thoughtful and meticulously researched book. I enjoyed it immensely. It has made me think very hard about intergenerational trauma transfer and explains so much about Germany, and perhaps, in the current context, Russia. -- General Sir Richard Shirreff, former Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe and author of ‘War with Russia’An unflinching exploration of shame and pain passed between generations. This is a powerful and important book which will change the way in which we understand ourselves. -- Emma Craigie, author of Hitler's Last DayIn My Grandfather's Shadow is utterly compelling, elegantly written and extremely brave. The beauty of the book is how absolutely clearly it shows the depth and breadth of the author's research; the care and sensitivity she has brought to bear on the most difficult of subjects. -- Katie Jarvis, * Cotswold Life *In this gripping account of a long personal journey to confront a difficult family history, Findlay explores the effects of trauma, reveals the healing power of art, and affords deep insights into contemporary memorial culture. -- Bill Niven, Professor Emeritus in Contemporary German History at Nottingham Trent University and author of Facing the Nazi PastA brave and profound book which asks difficult questions about how we live with those parts of history which we would rather forget. Angela Findlay is tireless in her search for the truth - and for a reconciliation process which acknowledges that there can be no neat conclusions. Many readers will find this book informative, healing and inspiring. -- ??????Alice Jolly, author of Mary Ann Sate, Imbecile and Dead Babies and Seaside TownsA magnificent achievement. So honest, so thorough and so well written, both Angela's search for truth and this book are about the deepest possible experience of transmitted collective/personal trauma. -- Pamela Steiner, EdD, Senior Fellow, FXB Center for Health and Human Rights, Harvard School of Public Health and author of Collective Trauma and the Armenian GenocideAngela Findlay has written a brave and unflinchingly honest exploration of the complex legacy of her German grandfather's activities as a top-ranking Wehrmacht officer in WW2. Her book is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the far-reaching impact of transgenerational memory, shame or trauma, and a moving testament to the personal and collective value of reckoning with the past. r -- Rebecca Abrams, author of The Jewish Journey: 4000 Years in 22 Objects and Licoricia of Wincheste
£20.00
Arcturus Publishing Ltd Hitler's War Beneath the Waves: The menace of the
Book SynopsisDuring World War I, German U-boats had been the most effective naval weapon against the Allies and without America''s entry into the war in 1917 Britain would have been starved into surrender. Hitler''s accession to power led to the rapid development of numerous military projects, including provision for submarines. Interestingly, the German navy was the branch of the German armed forces with the highest proportion of Nazis and Nazi sympathizers. And this is the story of their part in the war, focusing in particular on the role of the wolf pack of U-boats in the Atlantic, whose stealthy presence beneath the waves ensured that British merchant ships were dicing with death every time they put out to sea.
£12.63
Arcturus Publishing Ltd The Battle of Britain
Book SynopsisNigel Cawthorne studied at University College, London, where he gained an Honours degree in Physics, before turning to writing as a career. He has written, contributed to and edited more than sixty books, including Fighting Them On The Beaches: D-Day, 6 June 1944, The Battle of Britain, Vietnam: A War Lost and Won, Stalin, and The Story of the SS.
£14.99
Key Publishing Ltd Hitler's V Weapons
Book Synopsis
£11.52
Canongate Books The Memory Keeper: A Journey Into the Holocaust
Book SynopsisJackie Kohnstamm's mother rarely talked about what had happened during the war and had kept little evidence of her early life. It was only after her uncle and aunt had died that Jackie inherited an archive of material relating to the family back in Germany. Jackie's mother had managed to get out of Berlin in 1936, following her brother and sister who had already escaped. But Jackie's grandparents had remained. One night, on a whim, Jackie Googled her grandparents' names. What she found felt like a sign: four days earlier two Stolpersteine ('stumble stones') had been laid in their names outside the house in Berlin where they had once lived. Someone had commissioned this memorial to her grandparents. Each listed their name, year of birth, date of deportation to Theresienstadt and date of their murder by the Nazis. Here, then, was the first step, and what followed was a remarkable story of loss, discovery and memory.Trade ReviewMemoirs about family experiences of the Holocaust continue to proliferate, but when they are as poignant as The Memory Keeper, they are a necessary reminder of an apparently unfathomable evil that happened not so long ago. Kohnstamm's account is unashamedly personal . . . and she proves a warm and witty guide to what turns into an anguished journey into her past * * Observer * *A moving and original real-time history of what it was like for ordinary Germans who happened to be Jewish to carry on as each new repressive law made their lives smaller and scarier until eventually, having failed to get out, they are ordered to the train station . . . Heartbreaking * * Telegraph * *Jackie Kohnstamm has created a beautifully heartbreaking book about remembering and forgetting, loving and missing, the deep impact of absences in any life and the wonderful, terrible interconnectedness of our selves. She wears her research lightly, deftly and just writes so well. Kohnstamm becomes historian for her family and, in a way, for millions of families shattered and evaporated by hatred, obsession and war. Our journey with her has great darkness, but also great tenderness, wisdom, joy -- A. L. KENNEDYOne of the most moving accounts of Holocaust family research that I have read, insightfully penned by a British Holocaust descendant who does not wish to be defined by the past * * Family Tree Magazine * *Following years of tireless research, The Memory Keeper is the powerful and thought-provoking account of Jackie's journey . . . a moving narrative * * Jewish Telegraph * *Personal and compelling . . . Readers walk alongside Kohnstamm as she travels to Germany and discovers intimate details about her family and their lives * * Who Do You Think You Are? * *
£18.99
Amber Books Ltd German Luftwaffe in World War II
Book SynopsisThe Luftwaffe – the German Air Force – played a crucial role in the Wehrmacht’s blitzkrieg tactics, providing both air cover and air artillery for Germany’s panzer troops on the ground. Germany’s successful invasions of France, the Low Countries, the Balkans and the Soviet Union are due in no small part to the professionalism, dedication and skill of the Luftwaffe. Broken down by campaign and key battles within each theatre of war, German Luftwaffe in World War II illustrates the strengths and organizational structures of the Third Reich’s Air Force, building into a detailed compendium of information. Full-colour order of battle tree diagrams at Luftflotte, Gruppe and Geschwader level help the reader understand how and where the fighters and bombers of the German Air Force were employed at any given time between 1939–45. Reference tables provide squadron strengths while organizational diagrams show the types and numbers of aircraft employed in specific operations, such as in the Battle of Britain in the summer of 1940 and the opening stages of Operation Zitadelle in July 1943. With extensive organizational diagrams and full-colour operations maps, German Luftwaffe in World War II is an easy-to-use guide to the German Air Force. The book is an essential reference for any serious enthusiast of air warfare in World War II.Table of ContentsThe Pre-War Luftwaffe Invasion of Poland: 1939 Denmark and Norway: 1940 France and the Low Countries: 1940 Battle of Britain and the Blitz: 1940–41 North Africa and the Mediterranean: 1941–45 The Balkans and Greece: 1941–45 Eastern Front: 1941–45 Northwest Europe: 1942–45 Maritime Operations: 1939–45 End of the Reich: 1945 Glossary of Key Abbreviations Acknowledgements Index
£999.99
Atlantic Books The Collaborators: Three Stories of Deception and
Book Synopsis'A multiple biography with overlapping chronology is a tricky feat and Buruma pulls it off magnificently.' Ben Macintyre, The TimesOn the face of it, the three characters here seem to have little in common - aside from the fact that each committed wartime acts that led some to see them as national heroes, and others as villains. All three were mythmakers, larger-than-life storytellers, for whom the truth was beside the point. Felix Kersten was a plump Finnish pleasure-seeker who became Heinrich Himmler's indispensable personal masseur - Himmler calling him his 'magic Buddha'. Kersten presented himself after the war as a resistance hero who convinced Himmler to save countless people from mass murder. Kawashima Yoshiko, a gender fluid Manchu princess, spied for the Japanese secret police in China, and was mythologized by the Japanese as a heroic combination of Mata Hari and Joan of Arc. Friedrich Weinreb was a Hasidic Jew in Holland who took large amounts of money from fellow Jews in an imaginary scheme to save them from deportation, while in fact betraying some of them to the German secret police. Sentenced after the war as a traitor and a con artist, he is still regarded by supporters as the 'Dutch Dreyfus'. All three figures have been vilified and mythologized, out of a never-ending need, Ian Buruma argues, to see history, and particularly war, and above all World War II, as a neat tale of angels and devils. In telling their often-self-invented stories, The Collaborators offers a fascinating reconstruction of what in fact we can know about these fantasists and what will always remain out of reach. It is also an examination of the power and credibility of history: truth is always a relative concept but perhaps especially so in times of political turmoil, not unlike our own.Trade ReviewA fascinating book, sometimes disturbing, sometimes entertaining, never dull. -- Noel Malcolm * Daily Telegraph *A multiple biography with overlapping chronology is a tricky feat and Buruma pulls it off magnificently, maintaining the distinct dramas, filleting fact from fiction with sympathy and balance, but maintaining the overarching psychological narrative. He never misses a mordant aside or a telling detail... Superb. -- Ben Macintyre * The Times *Fascinating... Buruma's powerful book is also a warning for our own times. -- Rana Mitter * Financial Times *Richly enjoyable, vital and astute -- Richard Davenport-Hines * Literary Review *Fascinating * Observer *Buruma's intriguing narrative reads like a spy thriller. * Sunday Independent *In his subtle, carefully constructed book, Ian Buruma weaves their stories into an unsettling tapestry. * Times Literary Supplement *The Collaborators is at once fascinating and frightening, an apposite tract for our increasingly mendacious, treacherous times. The accounts Ian Buruma gives of the lives and dark doings of three egregious collaborators starkly illustrate our depthless capacity for betrayal and subsequent self-justification; they are also fascinating life studies. It would be shocking to be entertained by such a book, but I was. -- John BanvilleWith impressive skill and meticulous research, Buruma has woven three very different wartime characters into a fascinating tale of alternative realities, riven by mythomania, perfidy and collusion. -- Caroline MooreheadCompulsively readable as always, Buruma has taken a riveting subject - collaboration - and delved deep into it, probing concepts of national identity, self-reinvention, loyalty and treason. -- Simon CallowThese unforgettable true stories from terrible days show ruthless survivors using all the tricks of stage farce - storytelling, double-crossing, cross-dressing - to avoid the firing squads or the gas chambers. The human comedy has never been so bleak - or so human. -- James HawesMythmakers, duplicitous self-aggrandizers and deluders star in these three wartime narratives of both East and West. Ian Buruma weaves their stories together with great skill and panache, all the while challenging "history" and our own time's elision of wish and truth. -- Lisa AppignanesiWe are slowly coming to an understanding that the Second World War is a more twisted tale than our black-and-white stories about heroes made us believe. The evil guys remain evil, but what about the good ones? Time allows us a more nuanced look, and The Collaborators does a formidable job at navigating the muddy waters of an epic battle that was a challenge to each person going through it - a challenge that truly makes for an interesting history. -- Norman OhlerAt a time when manifold forms of authoritarianism are on the rise, this book could not be more welcome and necessary. By masterfully exploring the complicity, guilt and ambivalence pervading three parallel lives in imperial Japan, Nazi Germany and occupied Holland, Buruma conjures up and richly evokes a thick web of history, allowing contemporary readers to understand how easy it is to condone systematic violence and untold suffering in the name of misguided ideals. -- Ariel DorfmanBuruma sifts through his subjects' complex, multinational backgrounds in fluid prose and brings a welcome measure of sympathy to their lives without minimizing the repercussions of their actions. It's a captivating portrait of what happens when survival turns into self-deception. * Publishers Weekly *Meticulously, relentlessly, Buruma dissects these collaborators' contradictory and self-serving accounts and cross-references with other sources to get closer to the truth. A powerful exploration of complicity, ambivalence, and the human capacity for deception and self-rationalization. * Library Journal *Table of Contents1: PARADISE LOST 2: IN ANOTHER COUNTRY 3: MIRACLES 4: A LOW, DISHONEST DECADE 5: CROSSING THE LINE 6: BEAUTIFUL STORIES 7: THE SHOOTING PARTY 8: THE ENDGAME 9: FINALE 10: AFTERMATH
£20.00
Bloomsbury USA The British Reconnaissance Corps in World War II
£12.74
Vintage Publishing The Forgers: The Forgotten Story of the
Book Synopsis**A Telegraph Best History Book 2023 and Spectator Book of the Year**The inspirational story of the ordinary people who forged the documents that saved thousands of Jewish lives in World War Two.'Powerful ... gripping ... inspiring' JONATHAN DIMBLEBYBetween 1940 and 1943, a small group of Polish diplomats and Jewish activists in Switzerland engaged in a wholly remarkable - and until now, almost completely unknown - humanitarian operation. Under the leadership of the Polish Ambassador, Aleksander Lados, they undertook a systematic programme of forging identity documents for Latin American countries, which were then smuggled into German-occupied Europe to save the lives of thousands of Jews facing extermination in the Holocaust.The Lados operation was one of the largest rescue missions of the entire war, and The Forgers tells this extraordinary story for the first time. We follow the desperate bids of Jews to obtain these life-saving documents, and their painful uncertainty over whether they will be granted protection from the Nazis' murderous fury. And we witness the quiet heroism of those who decided to act in an attempt to save thousands of lives.'Fascinating' The Times'Remarkable' Sunday Times'As gripping as it is moving' JULIA BOYD'An astonishing book' KATJA HOYERTrade ReviewThe Forgers is a well-constructed and agreeably concise book with a clear narrative drive and fascinating detail ... Moorhouse's most laudable achievement is the light he shines on Lados and his team, who saved at least 2,000 Jews from extermination. Until now, they have not received the recognition they deserve * Gerard de Groot, The Times *Among the many remarkable aspects of The Forgers is the fact that the prime movers were Poles, many of whom were notorious for antisemitism ... [Moorhouse] does well to highlight that some Poles displayed admirable compassion. * Max Hastings, Sunday Times *Roger Moorhouse, the leading historian on Poland's war, publishes a full account of Lados's efforts in an excellent book on the passport ring * Daniel Finkelstein, The Times *Absorbing... It is a story that seems not to have been told much outside the academic literature, and it is deeply researched and well reported here * Spectator *In this fascinating book, Roger Moorhouse shines a light on extraordinary, audacious and little-known rescue operation * Mail on Sunday *
£23.75
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Tigers at Dunkirk: The Leicestershire Regiment
Book SynopsisIn this compelling new study of the disastrous 1940 campaign in France and Flanders, Matthew Richardson reconstructs in vivid detail the British army's defeat as it was experienced by the soldiers of a single battalion, the 2nd/5th Leicesters. These men typified the ill-equipped, under-trained British battalions that faced the blitzkrieg and the might of Hitler's legions. They were thrown into a series of desperate, one-sided engagements that resulted in a humiliating retreat, then evacuation from Dunkirk. This is their story.Matthew Richardson is curator of social history at Manx National Heritage and was formerly assistant keeper of the Liddle Collection at the University of Leeds. He has a long-term interest in military history and research, focusing in particular on the First and Second World Wars and on the history of the Leicestershire Regiment. In addition to writing many magazine articles on military history, he has published the following books: The Tigers and Fighting Tigers. He is currently working on 1914: Clash of Empires.
£15.29
Ashgrove Publishing Ltd Berlin Embassy
Book Synopsis
£9.99
Dalton Watson Fine Books The Tuskegee Airmen & Beyond: The Road to
Book SynopsisIt follows the earliest struggle for liberty from slavery,when some 200,000 African American slaves and freemen fought on both sides in return for the promise of freedom. Some, but pitifully few, did achieve their freedom, though most returned to the lot that had been dealt to them by their owners and the abolition of slavery did not give them equality. The Spanish American War was followed twenty years later by the "GreatWar" - the war to endall wars, where over three hundred African American soldiers were awarded the Croix deGuerre, France's highest award for valor, yet only one was awarded the Medal of Honor by the United States - seventy-three years after his death on the battlefield. World War II brought the first-ever all-black-crewed fighter squadron, the 99th, followed by the 332nd Fighter Group, the most highly decorated group of men in their theaters of war. These men were also the catalyst of political action to bring desegregation to the Armed Forces, by means of President Harry Truman's Executive Order 9981, which preceded the Civil Rights Act by twenty years. Since President Lyndon Johnson's signing of the Civil Rights Act into law, we have seen sometimes great, but faltering, steps forward. African Americans have finally risen to the top in their chosen careers - four-star generals, astronauts and ultimatelyan African American President. This book is that story.
£26.10
Sally Milner Publishing Pty Ltd Deadly Secrets: The Singapore Raids 1942-45
Book Synopsis
£16.14
Woodfield Publishing RAF / UXB: The Wartime Exploits of RAF Bomb Disposal Veterans
£18.58
Spinifex Press Last Walk in Naryshkin Park
Book SynopsisNaryshkin Park is a place where lovers once walked. On 2 October 1941, it became the site of a mass grave. Rose Zwi deftly weaves together clues from survivors’ accounts, old photographs, official documents and archival research to form a many-layered account of the proud history and tragic destruction of the Jews of Lithuania.
£17.95
Samuel Wachtman's Sons, Inc. Suitcases & Backpacks: Growing Through the
Book SynopsisThis is a testimony of intricate detail that describes a young girl''s survival in ghettos and concentration camps between 1942 and 1945. Readers follow her heart-breaking journey from Vienna to the Theresienstadt Ghetto to Auzchwitz to a labour camp near Breslau, followed by the alienation she feels upon returning to Vienna, her subsequent journey to Prague, and finally the realization of her dream to immigrate to Palestine. Chava Kohavi Pines was born Eva Hirsch in 1927 in Vienna, Austria, to a middle-class Jewish family. Since immigrating to Palestine in 1946, the author has resided in Kibbutz Dorot in the northern Negev where she worked as a teacher and counsellor for years. Only with forty years'' distance from the trauma of her youth has she been able to write an account of some of her experiences under Hitler.
£7.43
Granville Island Publishing Escape from Pannonia: A Tale of Two Survivors
Book SynopsisForced to work in a Hungarian slave labour battalion under the command of Hitler''s Third Reich, Steve Floris managed to survive thanks to his skills as a cook and the decency of his commanding officer. After escaping and returning to Budapest, he married his sweetheart, who had also survived the Holocaust. Together they escaped Soviet occupied Hungary and went to Austria. They worked in UN refugee camps, then made their way to Salzburg and were accepted for immigration to Canada.
£14.39
