True war and combat stories Books

Book SynopsisTHE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE 21ST CENTURYNow an FX TV series streaming on DISNEY+''Unquestionably one of the greatest literary achievements of the 21st century'' Nick HornbyFrom the author of Empire of Pain a stunning, intricate narrative about a notorious killing in Northern Ireland and its devastating repercussions.One night in December 1972, Jean McConville, a mother of ten, was abducted from her home in Belfast and never seen alive again. Her disappearance would haunt her orphaned children, the perpetrators of this terrible crime and a whole society in Northern Ireland for decades.In this powerful, scrupulously reported book, Patrick Radden Keefe offers not just a forensic account of a brutal crime but a vivid portrait of the world in which it happened. The tragedy of an entire country is captured in the spellbinding narrative of a handful of characters, presented in lyrical and unforgettable detail.A poem by Seamus Heaney inspires the title: Whatever You Say, Say Nothing'. By defying the culture of silence, Keefe illuminates how a close-knit society fractured; how people chose sides in a conflict and turned to violence; and how, when the shooting stopped, some ex-combatants came to look back in horror at the atrocities they had committed, while others continue to advocate violence even today.Say Nothing deftly weaves the stories of Jean McConville and her family with those of Dolours Price, the first woman to join the IRA as a front-line soldier, who bombed the Old Bailey when barely out of her teens; Gerry Adams, who helped bring an end to the fighting, but denied his own IRA past; Brendan Hughes, a fearsome IRA commander who turned on Adams after the peace process and broke the IRA's code of silence; and other indelible figures. By capturing the intrigue, the drama and the profound human cost of the Troubles, the book presents a searing chronicle of the lengths that people are willing to go to in pursuit of a political ideal, and the ways in which societies mend or don't in the aftermath of a long and bloody conflict.Trade Review A Best Book of the Year: The Times, New York Times, Washington Post, Time Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Economist, GQ, Slate, NPR, Variety, Slate, Buzzfeed ‘Breathtaking in its scope and ambition… Keefe has produced a searing examination of the nature of truth in war and the toll taken by violence and deceit… Will take its place alongside the best of the books about the Troubles’ Sunday Times, A Book of the Year ‘Keefe’s narrative is an architectural feat, expertly constructed out of complex and contentious material, arranged and balanced just so… This sensitive and judicious book raises some troubling, and perhaps unanswerable, questions’ New York Times, A Book of the Year ‘Unforgettable… Radden Keefe examines the profound human cost of the Troubles in Northern Ireland and the lengths that people will go to in pursuit of a political ideal’ Dua Lipa, A Book of the Year ‘A horrible, chilling tale and I’m glad someone has at last had the guts to tell it. There have been, thus far, only two good books to emerge from the Troubles. This is the third’ Jeremy Paxman ‘A gripping and profoundly human explanation for a past that still denies and defines the future… Only an outsider could have written a book this good … If conclusions are possible, Radden Keefe’s is that everyone became complicit in the terror… I can’t praise this book enough: it’s erudite, accessible, compelling, enlightening. I thought I was bored by Northern Ireland’s past until I read it’ The Times ‘An exceptional new book, Say Nothing explores this brittle landscape to devastating effect’ Wall Street Journal

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Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.In 1936, George Orwell volunteered as a soldier in the Spanish Civil War. In Homage to Catalonia, first published just before the outbreak of World War II, Orwell documents the chaos and bloodshed of that moment in history and the voices of those who fought against rising fascism.His experience of the civil war would spark a significant change in his own political views, which readers today will recognise in much of his later literary work; a rage against the threat of totalitarianism and control.

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Book SynopsisFROM THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF SKY WARRIORS AND SBS, COMES AN EPIC HISTORY ABOUT THE NORTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR.

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Book SynopsisThe true story of the greatest battle of World War II and the basis of the film of the same name, directed by Richard Attenborough. The true story of the greatest battle of World War II and the basis of the 1977 film of the same name, directed by Richard Attenborough.Trade Review'The most brilliant reporter now alive' * Malcolm Muggeridge, 1973 *'I know of no other work of literature of World War II as moving, as awesome and as accurate in its portrayal of human courage.' * General James A Gavin *

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES NO 1. BESTSELLER''Astonishing . . . Sheds riveting new light on this breathtaking plan'' Daily Mail''A rollicking read'' Max Hastings, Sunday Times''Brilliant and almost absurdly entertaining'' Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker____________________April, 1943: a sardine fisherman spots the corpse of a British soldier floating in the sea off the coast of Spain and sets off a train of events that would change the course of the Second World War.Operation Mincemeat was the most successful wartime deception ever attempted. It hoodwinked the Nazi espionage chiefs and saved thousands of lives by deploying a secret agent who was different from any spy before or since: he was dead. His mission: to convince the Germans that instead of attacking Sicily, the Allied armies planned to invade Greece.The brainchild of an eccentric RAF officer and a brilliant Jewish barrister, the great hoax involved an extraordinary cast of characters including a famous forensic pathologist, a gold-prospector, an inventor, a beautiful secret service secretary, a submarine captain, three novelists, an irascible admiral who loved fly-fishing, and a dead Welsh tramp.This is the true story of the most extraordinary deception ever planned by Churchill''s spies: an outrageous lie that travelled from a Whitehall basement all the way to Hitler''s desk.

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Book SynopsisThe stories of three individual careers combine seamlessly to tell the dramatic story of the RAF from the era of biplanes and into the jet age of the Cold War.

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Book SynopsisA thrilling and highly newsworthy military adventure in the burning rubble of Islamic State.

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Book SynopsisTHE INSTANT #1 New York Times BESTSELLERThe title "Bullfrog" is given to the Navy SEAL who has served the longest on active duty. Admiral McRaven was honoured to receive this honour in 2011 when he took charge of the United States Special Operations Command. When McRaven retired in 2014, he had 37 years as a Navy SEAL under his belt, leading men and women at every level of the special operations community. In the ensuing four years, he served as Chancellor to the entire University of Texas System, with its 230,000 students and 100,000 faculty and health care workers.During those four decades, Admiral McRaven dealt with every conceivable leadership challenge, from commanding combat operations-including the capture of Saddam Hussein, the rescue of Captain Phillips, and the raid for Osama bin Laden. THE WISDOM OF THE BULLFROG draws on these and countless other experiences from Admiral McRaven's incredible life, including crisis situations, management debates, organizational transitions, and ethical dilemmas, to provide readers with the most important leadership lessons he has learned over the course of his forty years of service. Each chapter provides a Make Your Bed-like parable, rich with insights like those featured in his bestselling memoir, Sea Stories, about the specific leadership traits required to be at the top of your game, including: * Who Dares, Wins* Run to the Sound of the Guns* No Plan Survives First Contact with the Enemy THE WISDOM OF THE BULLFROG is Admiral McRaven's clear-eyed treatise on the leadership qualities that separate the good from the truly great.

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Book SynopsisJason Fox joined the Royal Marine Commandos at sixteen, serving for ten years, after which he passed the gruelling selection process for the Special Forces, serving with the Special Boat Service for over a decade and reaching the rank of Sergeant.Today you are most likely to find him gracing our television screens and giving us a taste of action and adventure around the world.Trade ReviewA must read. * Ant Middleton *The most important book you’ll ever read… Battle Scars will save lives. * Tom Marcus, author of SOLDIER SPY *A vivid, searing account of a life at war, that tells of some incredible moments of strength and courage. * Bear Grylls *Get hold of a copy of Battle Scars. A brutally honest account of war and all that follows from the perspective of a Special Forces soldier. * Andy McNab *

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Book SynopsisA former US Navy SEAL, the author tells the story of his legendary career, from 1999-2009, during which time he recorded the most confirmed sniper kills in the history of the United States military, any branch, from 1776 to present. He also tells the story of the men of SEAL Team 3 who fought and died as brothers with him.Trade Review"Chris Kyle tells his story with the same courage and grit he displayed in life and on the battlefield. American Sniper is a compelling read." -- CLINT EASTWOOD "An amazingly detailed account of fighting in Iraq--a humanizing, brave story that's extremely readable." -- PATRICIA CORNWELL, New York Times Book Review "In the elite community of warriors, one man has risen above our ranks and distinguished himself as unique. Chris Kyle is that man. A master sniper, Chris has done and seen things that will be talked about for generations to come." -- MARCUS LUTTRELL, author of Lone Survivor "Chris Kyle was incredible, the most celebrated war hero of our time, a true American hero in every sense of the word." -- D Magazine "The raw and unforgettable narrative of the making of our country's record-holding sniper, Chris Kyle's memoir is a powerful book, both in terms of combat action and human drama. Chief Kyle is a true American warrior down to the bone, the Carlos Hathcock of a new generation." -- CHARLES W. SASSER, Green Beret (US Army Ret.) and author of One Shot, One Kill "Reads like a first-person thriller narrated by a sniper. The bare-bones facts are stunning. ... A first-rate military memoir." -- BOOKLIST #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER -- No Source "American Sniper is the inside story of what it's like to be in war. A brave warrior and patriot, Chris Kyle writes frankly about the missions, personal challenges, and hard choices that are part of daily life of an elite SEAL Sniper. It's a classic!" -- RICHARD MARCINKO (USN, Ret.), First Commanding Officer of SEAL Team Six and #1 bestselling author of Rogue Warrior

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Book Synopsis#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The author of The Splendid and the Vile brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War in this 'riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult' (Los Angeles Times).

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Book SynopsisTHE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERThe second bestselling book from ''the most joyous and brain-enhancing podcast out there'' (The Times) - also including puzzles and a quiz!Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook bring you an alphabetical miscellany, taking on some of history's best and most bizarre moments. Charge forth against the traitors of the American Revolution, journey through Baghdad to discover the origins of the Arabian Nights and head to Sicily to witness the first face-off between Carthage and Rome. Along the way you''ll find the answers to questions like: - Was Henry V''s great-grandfather, Edward III, the biggest lad in British history?- Which Mitford sister tried to seduce her girlish crush, Adolf Hitler? - Who are history''s top 10 monkeys?- Why did the Romans inspire so much American science fiction?Dust off your tricorne hat, grab your lasso and get ready for a rollicking rollercoaster ride through the past . . . All history podcasts have to be measured against The Rest is History. To listen to anyone else attempt to tell historical stories in audio form is to realise just how good Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland are' James Marriott, The TimesHolland and Sandbrook have reached a peak of listenability at which you'd happily hear them chortle through a history of paperclips or phonebooks' Jasper Rees, TelegraphA global sensation . . . Dives into the past with raucous good cheer' Wall Street Journal

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Book SynopsisA magisterial history of the greatest and most terrible event in history, from one of the finest historians of the Second World War. A book which shows the impact of war upon hundreds of millions of people around the world- soldiers, sailors and airmen; housewives, farm workers and children..Reflecting Max Hastings's thirty-five years of research on World War II, All Hell Let Loose describes the course of events, but focuses chiefly upon human experience, which varied immensely from campaign to campaign, continent to continent.The author emphasises the Russian front, where more than 90% of all German soldiers who perished met their fate. He argues that, while Hitler's army often fought its battles brilliantly well, the Nazis conducted their war effort with stunning incompetence'. He suggests that the Royal Navy and US Navy were their countries' outstanding fighting services, while the industrial contribution of the United States was much more important to allied victory than that of thTrade Review“This is the book he was born to write: a work of staggering scope and erudition, narrated with supreme fluency and insight, it is unquestionably the best single-volume history of the war ever written….. he writes with a wonderfully clear, unsentimental eye……and has a terrific grasp of the grand sweep and military strategy……But what makes his book a compelling read are the human stories……at the end of this gruesome, chilling but quite magnificent book, you never doubt that the war was worth fighting”. Sunday Times “No other general history of the war amalgamates so successfully the gut-wrenching personal details and the essential strategic arguments. Melding the worm’s eye view and the big picture is a difficult trick to pull of – but Hastings has triumphed”. The Times “majestic…it is impossible to emerge without a sense of the sheer scale of human tragedy…..To gather all these anecdotes together is a task in itself, but to assemble them in a way that makes sense is something entirely different….Hastings shapes all these stories, almost miraculously, into a single coherent narrative”. Daily Telegraph “In this massive work, the crowning volume of the 10 impressive books he has written about the Second World War, Sir Max Hastings spares us nothing in portraying the sheer bloody savagery of the worst war that the world has yet seen….this magnificent book….is hypnotically readable from the first page to the last”. Sunday Telegraph “A fast-moving, highly readable survey of the entire war…Hastings combines a mastery of the military events with invariably sound judgment and a sharp eye for unusual telling detail….this is military history at its most gripping. Of all Max Hastings’s valuable books, this is possibly his best – a veritable tour de force”. Evening Standard

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Book SynopsisScientists have always kept secrets. But rarely in history have scientific secrets been as vital as they were during World War II. In the midst of planning the Manhattan Project, the U.S. Office of Strategic Services created a secret offshoot - the Alsos Mission - meant to gather intelligence on and sabotage if necessary, scientific research by the Axis powers. What resulted was a plot worthy of the finest thriller, full of spies, sabotage, and murder. At its heart was the 'Lightning A' team, a group of intrepid soldiers, scientists, and spies - and even a famed baseball player - who were given almost free rein to get themselves embedded within the German scientific community to stop the most terrifying threat of the war: Hitler acquiring an atomic bomb of his very own.While the Manhattan Project and other feats of scientific genius continue to inspire us today, few people know about the international intrigue and double-dealing that accompanied those breakthroughs. Bastard Brigade recounts this forgotten history, fusing a non-fiction spy thriller with some of the most incredible scientific ventures of all time.Trade ReviewAn exciting history of the battle for atomic supremacy during World War II [...] Throughout, Kean eschews erudite fastidiousness for consistent action and brio. Beginning with the title, the narrative is an engrossing cinematic drama. * Kirkus *Proving that history can be as exciting as adventure fiction * Choice magazine *

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Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZESHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZEA wake-up call' Amal ClooneyDevastating rape and sexual abuse continue to be a pervasive and all-too-often hidden feature of conflict zones the world over' HM Queen CamillaFrom award-winning war reporter and co-author of I Am Malala, this is the first major account to address the scale of rape and sexual violence in modern conflict.Christina Lamb has worked in war and combat zones for over thirty years. In Our Bodies, Their Battlefield she gives voice to the women of conflicts, exposing how in today's warfare, rape is used by armies, terrorists and militias as a weapon to humiliate, oppress and carry out ethnic cleansing.Speaking to survivors first-hand, Lamb encounters the suffering and bravery of women in war and meets those fighting for justice. From Southeast Asia where comfort women' were enslaved by the Japanese during World War Two to the Rwandan genocide, when an estimated quarter of a million women were rTrade Review Shortlisted for the Baillie Gifford Prize 2020 Shortlisted for the Orwell Prize 2021 ‘A wake-up call to the magnitude and horrors of rape in war – the world's most neglected war crime. These women’s stories will make you weep, and then rage at the world's indifference.’ Amal Clooney ‘Sharing these stories is necessary and incredibly brave’ Sheryl Sandberg 'Christina Lamb has done the impossible – and written women into history … An extraordinary achievement of in depth journalism, powerful storytelling, grit and heart. A wake up call to the magnitude and horror of rape of women throughout history and the world. If you read one book this year, read this. Astounding.' Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues ‘For millennia mass rape has been a weapon of war. But the testimony of abuse is almost entirely absent from all recorded history. At last this brave, beautiful and brutal book allows victims to speak – devastatingly, inspirationally’ Bettany Hughes ‘This is the most powerful and disturbing book I have ever read. It must have taken courage to research and write this book. Christina Lamb has more than accomplished her duty. It is now our duty to face this terrible truth – that of man’s inhumanity to woman.’ Anthony Beevor, Spectator ‘A brave and harrowing book, and were there justice in the world, would be at the top of the bestsellers list for weeks.’Melanie Reid, The Times ‘A deeply traumatic and important book … Provides a corrective that is by turns horrific and profoundly moving … Lamb is an extraordinary writer. Her compassion for those she talks to and deep understanding of how to tell their stories makes this a book that should be required reading for all – even though (and perhaps because) it is not an enjoyable experience … Powerful’ Peter Frankopan, Guardian

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Book SynopsisRobert Mason is married and lives in the United States.Trade ReviewIt will stun readers * Time *Compelling... A hypnotic narrative * The New York Times *Chickenhawk is one bloody, painfully honest and courageous book -- Martin Cruz Smith, authorThe best book to come out of Vietnam -- John Del Vecchio, author of The 13th Valley

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Book SynopsisEVAN WRIGHT is the author of Generation Kill, one of the most celebrated books on the Iraq War and recently adapted by David Simon into a 7-hour HBO miniseries. He is a recipient of the National Magazine Award, a Los Angeles Times Book Award, a PEN/Faulkner Award and a Lukas Book Prize. He is also a contributing editor to Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair.Trade ReviewThis is war reporting up there with such greats as Michael Herr's Dispatches * Financial Times magazine *Easily the best book on the Iraq war so far. A deeply disturbing, compulsively readable narrative offering profound insights into the lives of America's young soldiers * New Statesman *An adrenaline rush of intelligent prose. One of the best books to come out of the Iraq war * Financial Times *

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Book SynopsisThe first-person account of a 26-year-old who fought in the war in Sierra Leone as a 12-year-old boy.My new friends have begun to suspect that I haven''t told them the full story of my life.Why did you leave Sierra Leone?Because there is a war.You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?Yes, all the time.Cool.I smile a little.You should tell us about it sometime.Yes, sometime.'This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. There are more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide and it is estimated there are some 300,000 child soldiers fighting. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived. Ishmael Beah, now twenty-fivTrade Review'A corrosive, eloquent and illuminating account of a child soldier's life, and it makes you look at the news with a fresh eye. What he has done is to make his situation imaginable for us, and stop us from simply turning away in horror. That is the best gift he could give the world.' Hilary Mantel ‘Gives the war a painfully human dimension and reminds us of its pointlessness…If the pathos of this book helps to persuade the puppeteers of the estimated 300,000 child soldiers fighting today to put down their guns, then Beah will have done more than all those A47s ever have.' The Times ‘A lucid, pensive, beautifully written account of a madness that he has the bravery to revisit head–on.’ TLS ‘Few of those boy soldiers have told their story as eloquently as Ishmael Beah.’ Sunday Telegraph 'The arming of children is one of the greatest evils of the modern world, and yet we know so little about it because the children themselves are swallowed up by the very wars they are forced to wage. Ishmael Beah has not only emerged intact from this chaos, he has become one of its most eloquent chroniclers. “A Long Way Gone” is one of the most important war stories of our generation. We ignore its message at our peril.' Sebastian Junger 'A ferocious and desolate account of how ordinary children were turned into professional killers.' The Guardian 'Beah makes no excuses for his actions and is entirely lacking in self pity, but the honesty of his memoir reveals the full horror of a war in which the brutalisation of children was commonplace…Beah is a living testament to the endurance of the human spirit.' Sunday Times ‘Ishmael Beah has achieved the seemingly impossible task of helping us to imagine the reality behind the statistics by empathising with just one of the many thousands of children who are soldiers around the world – a remarkable book.’ The Guardian

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Book Synopsis Meet the unit that posed as Nazi stormtroopers in the most daring mission ever undertaken SAS Ghost Patrol is the explosive true story of the day in 1942 when the SAS donned Nazi uniforms to perpetrate the most audacious and daring mission of the war. Beyond top secret, deniable in the extreme (and of course enjoying Churchill's enthusiastic blessing), this is one of the most remarkable stories of wartime lawlessness, eccentricity and raw courage in the face of impossible odds - a thoroughly British undertaking.What unfolded - the longest mission ever undertaken by Allied special forces - was an epic of daring, courage, tragedy and survival that remains unrivalled to this day, and which rightly became a foundation stone of Special Forces legend. It may read like the stuff of impossible myth or folklore, but every single word is true.PRAISE FOR SAS GHOST PATROL'Intensively researched and powerfully written. One of the great untold stories of WWII' Bear Grylls'Lewis has done a terrific job in resurrecting Heaven Platoon, portraying them as the brave, buccaneering heroes they undoubtedly were' Daily Mail'Another true tale of military derring-do from Lewis' Sunday Express'In SAS Ghost Patrol Lewis reveals a tale of suicidal bravery, untold daring and breath-taking deceit. Told with the panache and verve of a born storyteller, Lewis is in a class of his own' Saul David'Amazing tale of WWII great escaper's Nazi ruse . . . The extraordinary Second World War saga of the SIG and its legacy is revealed.' The Daily Mirror'British troops dressed in German uniforms and mounted a daredevil raid to take the Libyan port of Tobruk during the Second World War, reveals a fascinating new book' Daily Express'Lewis's account . . . reads like a Boy's Own adventure, except it isn't a work of fiction and the heroes don't come through unscathed. His storytelling enhances the bravery of the men and the danger of the missions without over-dramatising anything. There is no need to' Soldier Magazine'Reveals the true story of an ultra-secret fighting unit that posed as Nazi Storm Troopers to seize the German-held port city of Tobruk during the Second World War' Richard Hatch and Verity Geere, Forces Radio breakfast show

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Book SynopsisA landmark in travel writing, this is the incredible true story of Heinrich Harrer's escape across the Himalayas to Tibet, set against the backdrop of the Second World War.Heinrich Harrer, already one of the greatest mountaineers of his time, was climbing in the Himalayas when war broke out in Europe. He was imprisoned by the British in India but succeeded in escaping and fled to Tibet. Settling in Lhasa, the Forbidden City, where he became a friend and tutor to the Dalai Lama, Heinrich Harrer spent seven years gaining a more profound understanding of Tibet and the Tibetans than any Westerner before him.More recently made into a film starring Brad Pitt, Seven Years in Tibet is a stunning story of incredible courage and self-reliance by one of the twentieth century's best travel writers.Trade Review‘It deserves its place among the few great travel stories of our times.’ The Times ‘This is an absorbing and remarkable travel tale that also gives unparalleled accounts of the life and customs of an inaccessible region.’ Sunday Times ‘Few adventurers in this century have had the combined luck and hardihood to return with such news as this. Fewer still have rendered it so powerfully unadorned.’Times Literary Supplement ‘Some books, like some mountains, are lonely and unrivalled peaks. This is one of them.’ Economist

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Book SynopsisRed Hands is a deeply compelling tale of a woman caught inside the destruction of a regime. Iordana is a normal girl, brought up with all the perks of Romania's corrupt communist regime. Then she falls in love and marries the eldest son of her parents' arch-rival, Romania's monstrous dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. They become the in-laws from hell, but she brings them their only grandson. And then there's the 1989 revolution, when crowds will kill anyone with the Ceausescu name. In all the blood and chaos, can Iordana keep her little son alive? Drawn from eighty hours of unique interviews and told in Iordana's own voice; a true-life tale that spins readers into the pleasures, excesses and horrors of late twentieth-century Europe. AUTHOR: Colin Sargent is the founding editor and publisher of the award-winning Portland Magazine in Maine, USA. Colin teaches Creative Writing at William & Mary in Williamsburg and is the author of Museum of Human Beings and The Boston Castrato, currently optioned for film by Gideon Films. He has a PhD in creative writing from Lancaster University and has also written 3 collections of poetry. Colin edited Approach Magazine, the US Navy's international flying magazine, whose contributors included Tom Wolfe. SELLING POINTS: . The remarkable fictionalised life of Iordana Ceausescu, who married Nicolae Ceausescu's eldest son,Valentin and became the mother of the Ceausescu's only grandson . A true-life tale that spins readers into the pleasures, excesses and horrors of late twentieth-century Europe . Drawn from 80 hours of unique interviewsTrade Review'Red Hands gives a unique insider’s view of the rise and fall of the dystopian regime of Nicolae and his wife, Elena. It is also a love story of Iordana for the couple’s eldest son, Valentin, as told to Sargent by Iordana during her exile in Old Orchard Beach, where she hid for several years after the bloody 1989 revolution... The taut, vivid writing in Red Hands – there are no wasted words – makes for a fast-paced, heartfelt book for our time.' - Maine Sunday Telegram“Sargent’s work reads like memoir, written in Iordana’s voice. But Sargent’s skilled writing provides vivid images, lively character studies, a portrait of a brutal, controlling regime, insights into the nature of love, friendship and courage, and tension maintained at such a pitch, that it was almost a relief when the blood eventually began to spill. In an era of books geared to gendered markets, there’s more than enough of both romance and political intrigue to satisfy both groups.”- Historical Novel Society“A very personal story of love and loss amidst senior political families. Sargent’s description of the street battles and looting in Bucharest are palpitatingly told, fully engaging the reader in the narrowness of their survival. This is a fine book and an excellent read.” – Morning Star, UK"Colin Sargent describes crafting Red Hands, his latest novel about Iordana Ceausescu, like salvaging scattered crystals from a shattered chandelier... Sargent's depiction restores her as a luminescent and resilient whole set against a turbulent background." Midwest Book Review"Sargent’s novel is both a personal story of deep romantic love and a terrifying historical lesson about life in a police state helmed by a ruthless, cult-of-personality dictator... Poignant, frightening, packed with historical nuggets—a cautionary tale for contemporary times." - Kirkus Reviews

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Book SynopsisOn October 7, Israeli territory around the Erez border of Gaza Strip was invaded in a surprise attack by Hamas's Al Qassam Brigades. In response to this, the people of Gaza have been subjected to nearly three months of wholesale genocide. Over 20,000 civilians have been killed, an estimated million made homeless and displaced, tens of thousands injured, and an entire population traumatised. Never in living history has such an atrocity been perpetrated in plain sight of the world's leaders and mainstream media, who have all somehow managed to give it their complete backing. Images and video clips of hourly horrors and tragedies have spread around the world, combatted by fake news propagated not by dark conspiratorial corners on the web, but by corporate media outlets and politicians. Baseless Israeli propaganda and deliberately-biased framing has been fed to journalists and repeated, without question, on the front pages of the world's newspapers and in the mouths of TV pundits and politicians. One of the few voices of Gaza to make it out into Western media has been that of writer Atef Abu Saif', whose diary entries have been occasionally serialised (with edits and framing) in places like The New York Times, Washington Post, Le Monde and elsewhere. Here, the complete, unedited diaries show the journey of a man who arrived in Gaza just a few days before October 7 as a government minister and ended the period, like most other Palestinians, living in a tent in a refugee camp. If we allow our understanding of world events to be corrupted and spun by lazy, compliant journalism, we will never understand them, even those happening in real-time, before our very eyes. These diaries give us a rare exit ramp from this state of ignorance. WITH A FOREWORD BY PULITZER PRIZE WINNER CHRIS HEDGES

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Book SynopsisIn June 2005 four US Navy SEALs left their base in Afghanistan for the Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al-Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force. Less than twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs was alive.This is the story of team leader Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of Operation Redwing. Blasted unconscious by a rocket grenade, blown over a cliff, but still armed and still breathing, Luttrell endured four desperate days fighting the al-Qaeda assassins sent to kill him, before finding unlikely sanctuary with a Pashtun tribe who risked everything to protect him from the circling Taliban killers.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“A historical bombshell…Compelling…The most controversial book yet on Japan’s previous emperor.” — The Economist “The author’s virtuoso scholarship and accessible narrative invite us into Hirohito’s world and change the way we think of recent history; his portrayal of a monarch rationalizing evil is superb.” — The New Yorker “”The triumph of Mr. Bix is that of a tailor able to assemble disparate scaps of material and sew them into a seamless whole.”” — The New York Times “Myth-shattering…[T]his superb biography should jog loose a few suppressed memories.” — Newsweek “Nothing published since the Berlin Wall’s fall quite comes up to Herbert Bix’s new book…It’s a startling work—awesomely ambitious, faultlessly researched, daring in its thesis, and profound in its implications.” — Business Week “Persuasive. . . . Bix proves, in an immensely readable 800 pages, that good imperial biography is still possible.” — The Times Literary Supplement

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Book Synopsis***Winner of the Booker Prize***''ONE OF THE WORLD''S GREATEST WRITERS'' Spectator''Extraordinary'' Graham Greene ''Powerful'' The Times ''Marvellous'' Sunday TimesThe acclaimed bestselling classic of Holocaust literature, adapted into the award-winning film Schindler''s ListIn the shadow of Auschwitz, as thousands faced death in Nazi-occupied Poland, an unlikely saviour emerged. Oskar Schindler was a heavy-drinking, womanising industrialist who defied and outwitted the SS to save more Jews from the gas chambers than any other single person during World War II.Based on a true story, Schindler''s Ark is an astonishing tale of huge risks and great courage in the face of unspeakable evil.PRAISE FOR THOMAS KENEALLY''A superb storyteller'' Alan Sillitoe''One of the historical novel''s most expert practitioners'' Guardian''A grTrade ReviewAn extraordinary achievement -- Graham Greene, author of BRIGHTON ROCKBrilliantly detailed, moving, powerful and gripping * The Times *Thomas Keneally has done marvellous justice to a marvellous story * Sunday Times *This remarkable book has the immediacy and the almost unbearable detail of a thousand eye witnesses who forgot nothing * New York Times Book Review *Keneally is a superb storyteller. With Schindler's Ark he has given us his best book yet, a magnificent novel which held me from the first page to the last -- Alan Sillitoe, author of SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNINGAn extraordinary tale . . .no summary can adequately convey the stratagems and reverses and sudden twists of fortune . . . A notable achievement * New York Review of Books *A magnificent book, powerful, harrowing and beautifully written * Sunday Express *A fine and moving story * Evening Standard *Fascinating, expertly told and impossible to put down * Bookseller *Magnificent . . . Beautifully written * Mail on Sunday *A masterful account of the growth of the human soul * Los Angeles Times *An astounding story . . . in this case the truth is far more powerful than anything the imagination could invent * Newsweek *

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Book Synopsis''If you want to know what is was like to go to Vietnam as a young American... and find yourself caught in ferocious, remorseless combat with an enemy as courageous and idealistic as you were, then you must read this book. Moore and Galloway have captured the terror and exhilaration, the comradeship and self-sacrifice, the brutality and compassion that are the dark heart of war'' THE TIMESTHE MUST READ CLASSIC OF THE VIETNAM WARIn November 1965, 450 men of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, under the command of Lt.Col. Hal Moore, were dropped by helicopter into a small clearing in the Ia Drang Valley. They were immediately surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. Three days later, only two and a half miles away, a sister battalion was chopped to pieces. Together, these actions at the landing zones X-Ray and Albany constituted one of the most savage and significant battles of the Vietnam War. How these men persevered - how they sacrificed themTrade ReviewBetween experiencing combat and reading about it lies a vast chasm. This book makes you almost smell it * Wall Street Journal *A stunning achievement... I read it and thought of The Red Badge of Courage, the highest compliment I can think of -- David HalberstamThe best account of infantry combat I have ever read, and the most significant book to come out of the Vietnam War -- Colonel David HackworthThere are stories here that freeze the blood... The men who fought at Ia Drang could have no finer memorial * The New York Times Book Review *If you want to know what is was like to go to Vietnam as a young American... and find yourself caught in ferocious, remorseless combat with an enemy as courageous and idealistic as you were, then you must read this book. Moore and Galloway have captured the terror and exhilaration, the comradeship and self-sacrifice, the brutality and compassion that are the dark heart of war * The Times *

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Book Synopsis'One of the most successful MI5 undercover surveillance officers of his time.' - Sun'The brutal truth about the war against terror. Fast-paced and gripping.' - Ant Middleton The explosive book from ex-MI5 surveillance officer Tom Marcus takes the reader on a non-stop, adrenalin-fuelled ride as he hunts down those who would do our country harm. Tom spent years working covertly to stop those who want to do us harm. In his bestselling memoir Soldier Spy, he told how he was recruited and described some of his top-secret operations. In I Spy, he takes us deeper undercover as he puts his life on the line once more.I Spy plunges the reader straight into the action as Tom and his team race to prevent terrorists from causing carnage on our streets and outsmart Russian agents, blocking a daring plot that threatens the security of the nation. Relying on their quick wits, training and courage, the extraordinary men and women of MI5 are under intense pressure every day. Not everyone is suited for the work, and Tom shows how the incredibly tough challenges he faced growing up gave him the mental strength and skills to survive in a dangerous world.Gritty and eye-opening, this is a unique insight into a hidden war and the sacrifices made by those who fight it. You will never take your safety for granted again.Trade ReviewOne of the most successful MI5 undercover surveillance officers of his time. * Sun *The brutal truth about the war against terror. Fast-paced and gripping. -- Ant MiddletonA massive operational insight into the war fought on our streets. -- Jason FoxSecret wars fought by heroes who seek no reward. A brilliant read written by a true legend. -- Ollie Ollerton

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Book SynopsisSOLDIER FIVE is an elite soldier's explosive memoir of his time within the Special Air Service (SAS) and, in particular, his experiences during the 1991 Gulf War. As a member of the Special Forces patrol now famously known by its call sign Bravo Two Zero, he and seven others were inserted hundreds of kilometres behind enemy lines. Their mission to reconnoitre targets, undertake surveillance of Scud missil sites and sabotage Iraqi communications links was to end in desperate failure.From the outset, the patrol was dogged by problems that contributed both directly and indirectly to the demise of the mission. The patrol's compromise, and subsequent attempts to evade Iraqi troops, resulted in four members of Bravo Two Zero being captured and a further three killed. One escaped. But the story goes further that the Gulf War itself. Despite numerous books, films and articles on the same subject, the British Government has done its utmost to thwart the release of SOLDIER FIVE, at one stage claiming the book in its entirety was confidential. A campaign of harassment that took some four and a half years of litigation to resolve has now resulted in this controversial publication. SOLDIER FIVE is a gripping and suspenseful account of one man's experiences as a Special Forces soldier. Revealing his conflicts and loyalties, and the relationships he forged both on and off the battlefield, this book is the resolution of a soldier's determined fight to see his story told.

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Book Synopsis'The wartime spy career of Mathilde Carre - aka the Cat and Agent Victoire - is so extraordinary it almost defies belief' The Times'A truly astonishing story, meticulously and brilliantly told' Philippe Sands, author of The RatlineRESISTANCE, COLLABORATION AND BETRAYALOccupied Paris, 1940. A woman in a red hat and a black fur coat hurries down a side-street. She is Mathilde Carre, codenamed 'the Cat', later known as Agent Victoire. She is charismatic, daring, and a spy; her story is one of heroism and survival against the odds. These are the darkest days for France, half-occupied by Nazi Germany, half-governed by the collaborationist Vichy regime; and dark days for Britain, isolated and under threat of invasion. Yet Mathilde is driven by a sense of destiny that she will be her nation's saviour. With little training or support, Mathilde and her Polish collaborator, Roman Czerniawski, create a huge web of agents in a matter of weeks to form the first great Allied intelligence network

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Book SynopsisYou don't have to be born confident. You can learn to be confident. Here's how.Dr Nate Zinsser works with the cream of the US military to prepare them mentally for leadership and for action. He also trains top sportsmen and women to develop the self-belief essential for world-class performance. Now he shares the tried and tested techniques he has perfected over many years to help anyone who wants to acquire the confidence that will enable them to perform at their very best, whatever the environment, however stressful the situation. In the process he shows how to make positive use of nervousness, what acquiring a 'success cycle' involves, and why self-assurance, like all skills, requires constant practice.Drawing on the latest research, and packed with real-life examples, this is a supremely practical - and inspirational - guide to achieving bullet-proof confidence.__________________________________________'The new definitive guide to building and mastering confidence.' Forbes'Gamechanging advice on how to dispel those pesky naysaying voices.' GuardianTrade Review[The] new definitive guide to building and mastering confidence. * Forbes *Gamechanging advice on how to dispel those pesky naysaying voices. * Guardian *Practical, proven methods that will allow you to develop and maintain reliable self-confidence . . . They really work. -- Jon Krakauer, author of INTO THIN AIRStudying confidence with Dr. Zinsser helped me win two Super Bowls. I recommend The Confident Mind to competitors everywhere. -- Eli ManningConfidence is the key that unlocks every player's and every person's potential. You won't find a better, more helpful book on confident anywhere than Dr. Nate Zinsser's The Confident Mind. -- Dr Bob Rotella, author of HOW CHAMPIONS THINKThe Confident Mind is a must-read for all those who 'perform' in their chosen field. Dr Nate Zinsser shares constructive and practical insights to empower the reader through stories and science to claim the confidence we each have within ourselves. This book will resonate with anyone who dares to dream. -- Margaret Tracey, director of the Boston Ballet School and former principal dancer, New York City Ballet

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Book SynopsisBlackwell's Non-Fiction Book of the Month'A formidable achievement' Rory Stewart'Thoughtful [and] heartfelt' Observer'Profound [and] compelling' Spectator'A noble endeavour' New StatesmanWithout a permanent home, a wife or a job, and with no clear sense of where his life was going, Anthony Seldon set out on a 35-day pilgrimage from the French-Swiss border to the English Channel.The route of his 1,000 kilometre journey was inspired by a young British soldier of the First World War, Alexander Douglas Gillespie, who dreamed of creating a 'Via Sacra' that the men, women and children of Europe could walk to honour the fallen. Tragically, Gillespie was killed in action, his vision forgotten for a hundred years, until a chance discovery in the archive of one of England's oldest schools galvanised Anthony into seeing the Via Sacra permanently established.Tracing the historic route of the Western Front, he traversed some of Europe's most beautiful and evocative scenery, from the Vosges, Argonne and Champagne to the haunting trenches of Arras, the Somme and Ypres. Along the way, he wrestled heat exhaustion, dog bites and blisters as well as a deeper search for inner peace and renewed purpose. Touching on grief, loss and the legacy of war, The Path of Peace is the extraordinary story of Anthony's epic walk, an unforgettable act of remembrance and a triumphant rediscovery of what matters most in life.***A WATERSTONES BEST BOOKS OF 2022 PICK***____________________________________________'The Western Front Way, an idea that waited 100 years for its moment, is the simplest and fittest memorial yet to the agony of the Great War. Anthony Seldon's account of how he walked it, and what it means to all of us, will be an inspiration to younger generations.' Sebastian Faulks'A deeply informed meditation on the First World War, an exploration of walking's healing power, a formidable physical achievement... and above all a moving enactment of a modern pilgrimage.' Rory Stewart'A journey of self-discovery and a pilgrimage of peace... A remarkable book by a remarkable man.' Michael Morpurgo'An incredible journey that will move and inspire.' Bear GryllsTrade ReviewA thoughtful, heartfelt journey on foot along the western front of the great war * Tim Adams, Observer *Profound [and] compelling... there are many layers to this book, many cultural references, insights, thoughts and intriguing speculation. * Spectator *A noble endeavour * New Statesman *There is much to admire in [The Path of Peace]... Seldon has a historian's eye for spotting and recounting good stories. * Observer *A haunting, intense, enjoyable and memorable book. * Tristan Gooley, author of How to Read a Tree *A deeply informed meditation on the First World War, an exploration of walking's healing power, a formidable physical achievement... and above all a moving enactment of a modern pilgrimage. * Rory Stewart *In this compelling and well-balanced book, Seldon reaches some valuable and poignant insights, both about the ways we commemorate and remember the War and about his own life. * Times Literary Supplement *A journey of self-discovery and a pilgrimage of peace... A remarkable book by a remarkable man. * Michael Morpurgo *The Western Front Way, an idea that waited 100 years for its moment, is the simplest and fittest memorial yet to the agony of the Great War. Anthony Seldon's account of how he walked it, and what it means to all of us, will be an inspiration to younger generations. * Sebastian Faulks *An incredible journey that will move and inspire. * Bear Grylls *Timely, poignant and passionate. Seldon skilfully weaves the personal with the historical * Katya Adler *A dazzling journey... The Path of Peace is a beautiful and generous gift. * Olivette Otele *A beautifully-written heartfelt book. * Cherie Lunghi *A timely, eloquent and convincing reminder that to forget the carnage of the past is to open the door to it happening again. If anyone needs persuading that a 1,000 kilometre Western Front Way would be both civilising and educational this is the book they should read * George Alagiah *A compelling mix of travelogue and history, nature-writing and reflection * Church Times *A mesmerising and deeply impressive book unlike any other on the First World War. * David Yelland *[A] great read. * The Great Outdoors *[I]n a book market packed with every type of First World War tome, this one truly deserves to be read. * Military History Matters *Table of Contents1: The Silent Witnesses 2: Kilometre Zero 3: Alsace 4: The Vosges 5: Lorraine 6: Verdun 7: Champagne-Argonne 8: The Aisne and Marne 9: Picardy 10: The Somme 11: Artois 12: Forgotten Flanders 13: Ypres Salient 14: To the Sea 15: Epilogue

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Book SynopsisThis is the remarkable story of one of the Second World War's most unusual animal heroes - a 14-stone St Bernard dog who became global mascot for the Royal Norwegian Forces and a symbol of freedom and inspiration for Allied troops throughout Europe. From a happy and carefree puppyhood spent as a family pet in the Norwegian fishing town of Honningsvag, the gentle giant Bamse followed his master at the outbreak of the war to become a registered crew member of the mine-sweeper Thorodd. Often donning his own steel helmet as he took his place in the Thorodd's bow gun turret, Bamse cut an impressive figure and made a huge contribution to the morale of the crew, and he gallantly saved the lives of two of them. After Norway fell to the Germans in 1940, the Thorodd operated from Dundee and Montrose, where Bamse became a well-known and much-loved figure, shepherding the Thorodd's crew-members back to the boat at pub closing time, travelling on the local buses, breaking up fights and even taking part in football matches. Mourned both by locals and Norwegians when he died in 1944, Bamse's memory has been kept alive both in Norway, where he is still regarded as a national hero, and in Montrose, where a larger-than-life statue of him was unveiled in 2006 by HRH Prince Andrew. Written from extensive source material and eyewitness accounts, Sea Dog Bamse is a fitting tribute to the extraordinary life of an extraordinary dog.Trade Review'This story should have been told ages ago ... a magnificent book about one of the most unusual war heroes to come from Norway. It isn’t a second too late' * Maritime Logg Norway *'Why all this fuss for a dog? You’ll find the answer in an entertaining ... touching story' * The Scots Magazine *'Prepare to read this fantastic story in one sitting. Very highly recommended' * Sea Breezes *'A well-researched, carefully crafted and hugely enjoyable account of one of the most remarkable animals to play a part in World War II' * Aberdeen Press & Journal *'a highly readable book, a useful piece of living local history … the best possible memorial’‘a lively and affectionate account of Bamse’s life' * Montrose Review *'a fitting tribute to the extraordinary life of and extraordinary dog' * SCOTS: The Journal of the Scots Heritage Society *'A stirring memorial to a pet who inspired two war torn nations' * The Mail on Sunday *'Angus Whitson and Andrew Orr have succeeded in piecing together fact and folklore to give as full an account as possible of the life of a singular animal. This is a well researched, carefully crafted and hugely enjoyable account of one of the most remarkable animals to play a part in World War II' * Press & Journal *'Bamse’s extraordinary life is told … by the people who knew and loved him' * PDSA Companions Magazine *'It is a great story, easy to read, with an excellent index' * The Naval Review *'It tells the tale of how he raised the morale of the Norwegian Navy and recounts his extraordinary interactions with the sailors and civilians who knew him' * The Times Daily Universal Register *'New literary tribute to the Norwegian dog who captured Scottish hearts' * Sunday Herald *'The British love a heroic dog, none more so than Bamse … Charming' * Scottish Legion News *'This fascinating book tells not just the story of a remarkable dog – it also gives an insight into life during the war' * Dundee Courier *'One of the most charming, enterprising, and charismatic characters in the story of World War II' -- Jilly Cooper

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Book SynopsisPre-order this remarkable account of the moving and sometimes astonishing ways animals have enriched our lives, from national treasure Martin ClunesGuide-dog Laura needed a new home. And, after listening to her owner, Jaina, talk on the radio about what would happen to her much loved guide and companion when she retired, Martin Clunes picked up the phone. He'd always been a soft touch when it came to animals. One more couldn't hurt.Adopting Laura opened his eyes to the extraordinary care provided by assistance dogs, but also piqued his curiosity. Throughout history, our meetings with remarkable animals have eased, enriched, and sometimes saved our lives in countless and surprising ways.Our canine friends have guided us, rescued us, led us, protected us and even given early warning of illness, but dogs are only part of the story. From the horses that went to war with the Light Brigade, to the mine-clearing Gambian Pouched Rat called Courage that

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Book SynopsisBlaine Harden is a reporter for PBS Frontline and a contributor to the Economist, based in Seattle, having completed a tour as the Washington Post's bureau chief in Tokyo. He is the prize-winning, acclaimed author of two books: Africa: Dispatches from a Fragile Continent and A River Lost: The Life and Death of the Columbia and the author of Escape from Camp 14.Trade ReviewThis is a story unlike any other because Shin is one of the few, if not only, long-term prisoners to have escaped from the North Korean gulag . . . The integrity of this book, shines through on every page. -- Barbara Demick, author of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea‘Harrowing . . . Harden’s account of Shin’s extraordinary, perilous journey through North Korea and into China (which has a history of sending asylum seekers back to North Korea) and later to South Korea is gripping stuff . . . bearing witness will be Shin’s legacy’ Daily Mail‘Harden sheds light on the horrors of North Korea, with a gripping account of the story of Shin In Geun’ Financial Times - Favourite Books of 2012'Until recently, full accounts of life in this famine-riven dystopia were hard to come by. Then a couple of years ago, Barbara Demick's Nothing to Envy provided excoriating testimonies of refugees who had managed to escape into China and then on to South Korea. The picture those witnesses drew of North Korea was of one vast and brutal gulag. Now comes Escape From Camp 14, a still more harrowing account of the gulag within the gulag, the huge prison camps that litter the more remote provinces of this benighted country. Written by Blaine Harden, an experienced American journalist, it tells the extraordinary story of Shin Dong-hyuk, the only person born in the gulag to have escaped’ Guardian‘Harden knows a lot about North Korea and he wears his knowledge lightly . . . Harden deserves a lot more than ‘wow’ for this terrifying, grim and, at the very end, slightly hopeful story of a damaged man still alive only by chance, whose life, even in freedom, has been dreadful’ Literary ReviewHarrowing story of a young man’s flight from one of the slave labor camps where as many as 200,000 political unreliables — a category that includes not just those who run afoul of authority but their relatives for three generations — are sent to be starved, tortured and ultimately worked to death. Harden’s book, besides being a gripping story, unsparingly told, carries a freight of intelligence about this black hole of a country’ * New York Times *‘A skilfully researched piece of book-length journalism uncluttered, as far as seems reasonable, with emotion. It is old now, the saying that for evil to exist, good men must do nothing. And that is what you take away, more than anything, from Harden's book. More than why the crimes against humanity are happening in the first place, more than whose responsibility it is to stop them, the question is why — for the sake not of politics but of mankind — is nobody in power doing anything about it?’ SpectatorIn depicting the depravity of North Korean prison life, Harden’s book is an important portrait of man’s inhumanity to man’ Washington Post

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Book SynopsisWanted: Volunteers for Project Delta. Will guarantee you a medal. A body bag. Or both. When the author issued this call to arms in Vietnam in 1965, he revolutionized American armed combat. This title tells the story of what would eventually come to be known as Delta Force.Trade Review"Delta Force, considered the equivalent of SEAL Team 6, are far more tight-lipped than the SEALs." -- New York Times "Delta Force is arguably the most effective fighting unit in the world." -- Washington Post "Absolutely compelling...nations without men like this simply don't survive." -- The Wall Street Journal "The Army's most elite commando unit." -- Los Angeles Times "A page turner. ... Hard to put down. ... One of those rare books that military people will annotate and underline and hesitate ever to lend out. ... Beckwith's candor is extraordinary." -- Armed Forces Journal

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Book SynopsisA gripping new collection from Max Hastings that puts you at the heart of the battle Compelling' Daily MailAn unmissable read' Sunday TimesSoldiers is a very personal gathering of sparkling, gripping tales by many writers, about men and women who have borne arms, reflecting bestselling historian Max Hastings's lifetime of studying war. It rings the changes through the centuries, between the heroic, tragic and comic; the famous and the humble. The nearly 350 stories illustrate vividly what it is like to fight in wars, to live and die as a warrior, from Greek and Roman times through to recent conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.Here you will meet Jewish heroes of the Bible, Rome's captain of the gate, Queen Boudicca, Joan of Arc, Cromwell, Wellington, Napoleon's marshals, Ulysses S. Grant, George S. Patton and the modern SAS. There are tales of great writers who served in uniform including Cobbett and Tolstoy, Edward Gibbon and Siegfried Sassoon, Marcel Proust and Evelyn Waugh, George Orwell and George MacDonald Fraser. Here are also stories of the female abosi' fighters of Dahomey and heroic ambulance drivers of World War I, together with the new-age women soldiers who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. The stories reflect a change of mood towards warfare through the ages: though nations and movements continue to inflict terrible violence upon each other, most of humankind has retreated from the old notion of war as a sport or pastime, to acknowledge it as the supreme tragedy.This is a book to inspire in turn fascination, excitement, horror, amazement, occasionally laughter. Max Hastings mingles respect for the courage of those who fight with compassion for those who become their victims, above all civilians, and especially in the twenty-first century, which some are already calling the Post-Heroic Age'.

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Book Synopsis#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The author of The Splendid and the Vile brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War in this ''riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult'' (Los Angeles Times).On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fuelled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter.Master storyteller Erik Larson offers a gripping account of the chaotic months between Lincoln's election and the Confederacy's shelling of Sumter a period marked by tragic errors and miscommunications, enflamed egos and craven ambitions, personal tragedies and betrayals. Lincoln himself wrote that the trials of these fiv

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Book SynopsisWATERSTONES NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE MONTH AUGUST 2018 AND A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'An astonishingly detailed picture of espionage in the 1980s, written with pacey journalistic verve and an eerily contemporary feel.' Ben Macintyre, The Times'A gripping story of courage, professionalism, and betrayal in the secret world.' Rodric Braithwaite, British Ambassador in Moscow, 1988-1992'One of the best spy stories to come out of the Cold War and all the more riveting for being true.' Washington PostJanuary, 1977. While the chief of the CIA's Moscow station fills his gas tank, a stranger drops a note into the car.In the years that followed, that stranger, Adolf Tolkachev, became one of the West's most valuable spies. At enormous risk Tolkachev and his handlers conducted clandestine meetings across Moscow, using spy cameras, props, and private codes to elude the KGB in its own backyard - until a shocking betrayal put them all at risk. Drawing on previously classified CIA documents and interviews with first-hand participants, The Billion Dollar Spy is a brilliant feat of reporting and a riveting true story from the final years of the Cold War.Trade ReviewIt is the human factor that elevates The Billion Dollar Spy to a different level: non-fiction as rich and resonant as a spy novel by John Le Carré or Graham Greene. * Mail on Sunday *The Pulitzer prizewinning American journalist David E Hoffman has had access to CIA files and the result is an astonishingly detailed picture of espionage in the 1980s, written with pacey journalistic verve and an eerily contemporary feel ... Essential reading for anyone who wants to know how the spy mind works. -- Ben Macintyre * The Times *A fabulous read that also provides chilling insights into the Cold War spy game between Washington and Moscow that has erupted anew under Vladimir Putin. * Michael Dobbs, author of One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War *A gripping story of courage, professionalism, and betrayal in the secret world. * Rodric Braithwaite, British Ambassador in Moscow, 1988-1992 *

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER From bestselling historian Saul David, a riveting new history of the British airborne experience across the Second World War.

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Book SynopsisTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERFrom bestselling historian Saul David, a riveting new history of the British airborne experience across the Second World War.The legendary Red Devils' were among the finest combat troops of the Second World War. Created at Churchill's instigation in June 1940, they began as a single parachute battalion of 500 men and grew into three 10,000-strong airborne divisions: the 1st, 6th and 44th Indian, each composed of parachutists and glider-borne troops.Wearing their distinctive maroon berets, steel helmets and Dennison smocks, they served with distinction in every major theatre of the conflict including North Africa, Sicily, mainland Europe and the Far East. They played a starring role in some most iconic airborne operations in history: the Bruneval Raid of February 1942; the capture of the Primasole, Pegasus and Arnhem Bridges in July 1943, June 1944 and September 1944 respectively; and Operation Varsity, the biggest parachute drop in history, near Wesel in Ger

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Book SynopsisSniper One is the gritty, awe-inspiring true story that takes you right into the heart of the Iraq war from Sunday Times No.1 bestseller Sgt. Dan Mills. ''One of the best first-hand accounts of combat that I''ve ever read'' Andy McNab We all saw it at once. Half a dozen voices screamed ''Grenade!'' simultaneously. Then everything went into slow motion. The grenade took an age to travel through its 20 metre arc. A dark, small oval-shaped package of misery the size of a peach . . . April 2004: Dan Mills and his platoon of snipers fly into southern Iraq, part of an infantry battalion sent to win hearts and minds. They were soon fighting for their lives. Back home we were told they were peacekeeping. But there was no peace to keep. Because within days of arriving in theatre, Mills and his men were caught up in the longest, most sustained fire fight British troops had faced for over fifty years.This awe-

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Book SynopsisFishers of Men is the true account of secret operations in Northern Ireland carried out by the British Army's most clandestine unit. It tells the unique story, through Rob Lewis's own extraordinary experiences, of an essential instrument in the fight against terrorism, that of covert intelligence gathering. The men and women who work in this field are a special breed who undertake hazardous risks with unflinching tenacity and professionalism - the price of negligence is high, and the need for secrecy must be preserved even at the expense of personal relationships. The sheer determination and single-mindedness required to achieve selection to this secret world is graphically described, as well as how, against seemingly impossible odds, the operators of the FRU managed to persuade terrorists and their close associates to turn informer. The methods the unit used to target, recruit and handle their contacts, how they protected their informants, and the terrifying life their agents led are all told by an agent handler, using many of his cases to illustrate the sharpness, intelligence (and sense of humour) essential to the job. Fishers of Men fills a gap in the available information about the secret war against terrorism in Northern Ireland. It is a gap that has so far remained largely unexplored - until Rob Lewis's informative and explosive book.

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Book SynopsisA Telegraph Book of the Year, soon to be a BBC Radio 4 dramatisation.'Extraordinary.' Philippe Sands'We are touched by the courage and dignity of Andrew Harding's characters - qualities that the author must surely possess in equal measure.' - Andrey Kurkov'A story of extraordinary heroism by ordinary people. - James Meek'This gripping account is the Russian invasion of Ukraine in microcosm.' - Lindsey HilsumIt's March 2022 and Russian tanks are roaring across the vast, snow-dusted fields of Ukraine. Their destination: Voznesensk, a town with a small bridge that could change the course of the war.The heavily-armed Russians are expecting an easy fight - or no fight at all. After all, Voznesensk is a quiet farming town, full of pensioners. But the locals appear to have other ideas.Svetlana, a grandmother with arthritis, reacts in fury when Russian troops turn her cottage into their blood-soaked headquarters. Valentin, a quick-talking lawyer, joins the town's 'Dads Army' defenders, crouching in a trench with an AK47. Meanwhile, 21-year-old Sergei grabs a Molotov cocktail and lies in wait for Russian tanks as they push towards Dead Water Bridge.The odds are terrible. But a plan is emerging, and there's a chance it could save not just Voznesensk, but the rest of southern Ukraine. Meanwhile, inside the tanks, an inner battle rages. As Russian officer Igor Rudenko prepares to invade, he has a secret. He is Ukrainian himself.A gripping work of reportage that tells the story of a pivotal moment in Ukraine's war, this is a real-life thriller about ordinary people facing extraordinary circumstances with resilience, humour and ingenuity.'[Andrew Harding is] one of our most gifted and sensitive journalists' - Jon SnowTrade Review'A short, brilliant book... Its characters could have walked out of a novel' * Financial Times *'A cracking story ... that never loses sight of the "murderous absurdity" of Russia's war' -- Justin Marozzi * The Spectator *'[A] remarkable story ... propulsive' * The Irish Times *'Riveting and vividly written ... this gripping story is the literary equivalent of a superb miniature painting' * The Observer *'The story of Ukraine in perfect microcosm - ordinary people doing absolutely extraordinary things - beautifully told' -- Christina Lamb'A short, brilliant book on the battle for Voznesensk. Harding captures the mixture of courage, bewilderment and mania of Ukrainians who decide to fight the invasion' -- Gideon Rachman * Financial Times *'Harding has told a mesmerising story of how in the face of a mighty army, ordinary people can sometimes turn and simply say, "No."' -- Sinclair McKay * Mail on Sunday *'Elegantly told ... a deceptively simple narrative that explains a great deal about the dynamics of this war and many others' -- Roger Boyes * The Times *'Harding recreates the fighting blow by-blow ... [and] the personalities of his interviewees come to life' * The Telegraph *'Reads like a daring tale from WW2' -- Will Brown * Tortoise Media *'Extraordinary; filled with a deep sense of enduring humanity. Immensely powerful, timely and real.' -- Philippe Sands, author of East West Street'It would be wonderful if the story told in this beautiful little book were the author's invention. But alas, the story itself is pure truth. Andrew Harding's characters invite the reader into their daily struggle which we witness with awe and empathy. We are touched by their courage and dignity - qualities that the author must surely have possessed in equal measure to record these extraordinary events.' -- Andrey Kurkov'A piercing book: the story of extraordinary heroism by ordinary people, and an accessible, limpid account of what battle is actually like. -- James Meek'This gripping account is the Russian invasion of Ukraine in microcosm.' -- Lindsey Hilsum'Fascinating, vivid, often harrowing, and deeply moving. A must-read for anyone trying to grasp both the human dimension and larger dynamics of this brutal contemporary war.' -- Fiona Hill, author of There Is Nothing for You Here'A captivating tale of one Ukrainian town and a heartening story of people's defiance, ingenuity and spirit. Originally reported and beautifully written.' -- Arkady Ostrovsky, author of The Invention of Russia'Maybe the most compelling book on Ukraine published in English this year[...] A Small Stubborn Town reads like a novel, both in light of its beautifully wrought prose, and the extraordinary story of the remarkable civilian defence mounted by the town's eclectic residents' * The Telegraph *'A gripping account of why Ukraine managed to so effectively thwart Russia's attempts to fully overrun its territory. With snapshot clarity and a real-time narrative structure, it reminds readers that Ukrainians know for exactly what, and exactly why, they are fighting.' -- Nicole Yurcaba * The New Voice of Ukraine *

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