Search results for ""author james wyllie""

They were the most unlikely siblings - one, Adolf Hitler's most trusted henchman, the other a fervent anti-Nazi. Hermann Goering was a founder member of the Nazi Party, who became commander of the Luftwaffe, ordering the terror bombing of civilians and prompting the use of slave labour in his factories. His brother, Albert, loathed Hitler's regime and saved hundreds - possibly thousands - across Europe from Nazi persecution. He deferred to Hermann as head of the family but spent nearly a decade working against his brother's regime. If he had been anyone else, he would have been imprisoned or executed. Despite their extreme and differing beliefs, Hermann sheltered his brother from prosecution and they remained close throughout the war. Here, for the first time, James Wyllie brings Albert out of the shadows and explores the extraordinary relationship of the Goering brothers.

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The biggest drug bust in British history occurred in the early hours of 25 March 1977: 800 officers made 120 arrests and seized a staggering 6,000,000 tabs of LSD.The raids focused on two acid manufacturing centres: one hidden in an isolated farmhouse in deepest Wales, the other in a suburban house on a leafy residential street in south-west London. Between them they supplied acid to most of the UK, Europe, America and beyond. Tabs bearing their logo were recovered as far away as Australia.James Wyllie tells the extraordinary story of how a middle-aged American academic, two idealistic British students, a public school cad and an American hustler formed the Microdot Gang and created an acid production line designed to turn on the world. It is the story of Operation Julie – a police operation unprecedented in scale, sophistication and complexity, the brainchild of an old-school detective who led an investigation that would eventually involve the security services, the FBI, the DEA, the Canadian authorities and the Swiss police.Ranging over a decade and across several continents, The Microdot Gang is also a tale of how a cultural movement became a criminal enterprise, inspiring the war on drugs and launching a revolution that left an enduring and complex legacy.

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Goering, Goebbels, Himmler, Heydrich, Bormann, Hess – names synonymous with power and influence in the Third Reich. Perhaps less familiar are Carin, Emmy, Magda, Margaret, Lina, Gerda and Ilse … These are the women behind the infamous men – complex individuals with distinctive personalities who were captivated by Hitler and whose everyday lives were governed by Nazi ideology. Throughout the rise and fall of Nazism these women loved and lost, raised families and quarrelled with their husbands and each other, all the while jostling for position with the mighty Führer himself. And yet they have been treated as minor characters, their significance ignored, as if they were unaware of their husband’s murderous acts, despite the evidence that was all around them: the stolen art on their walls, the slave labour in their homes, and the produce grown in concentration camps on their tables. Nazi Wives explores these women in detail for the first time, skilfully interweaving their stories through years of struggle, power, decline and destruction into the post-war twilight of denial and delusion.

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Goering, Goebbels, Himmler, Heydrich, Bormann, Hess – names synonymous with power and influence in the Third Reich. Perhaps less familiar are Carin, Emmy, Magda, Margaret, Lina, Gerda and Ilse … These are the women behind the infamous men – complex individuals with distinctive personalities who were captivated by Hitler and whose everyday lives were governed by Nazi ideology. Throughout the rise and fall of Nazism these women loved and lost, raised families and quarrelled with their husbands and each other, all the while jostling for position with the mighty Führer himself. And yet they have been treated as minor characters, their significance ignored, as if they were unaware of their husband’s murderous acts, despite the evidence that was all around them: the stolen art on their walls, the slave labour in their homes, and the produce grown in concentration camps on their tables. Nazi Wives explores these women in detail for the first time, skilfully interweaving their stories through years of struggle, power, decline and destruction into the post-war twilight of denial and delusion.

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