A thrilling history of MI9-the WWII organization that engineered the escape of Allied forces from behind enemy lines "A fitting tribute to the hundreds of men and women who risked their lives in assisting Allied escapees."-Giles Milton, Sunday Times (London) "A masterful retelling with a fascinating cast of characters straight out of a John le Carre thriller."-Mark Felton, author of Castle of the Eagles When Allied fighters were trapped behind enemy lines, one branch of military intelligence helped them escape: MI9. The organization set up clandestine routes that zig-zagged across Nazi-occupied Europe, enabling soldiers and airmen to make their way home. Secret agents and resistance fighters risked their lives and those of their families to hide the men. Drawing on declassified files and eye-witness testimonies from across Europe and the United States, Helen Fry provides a significant reassessment of MI9's wartime role. Central to its success were figures such as Airey Neave, Jimmy Langley, Sam Derry, and Mary Lindell-one of only a few women parachuted into enemy territory for MI9. This astonishing account combines escape and evasion tales with the previously untold stories behind the establishment of MI9-and reveals how the organization saved thousands of lives.

Strange Allies examines three intersecting themes of fundamental importance to the international history of the period between the two world wars. First, and most broadly, it is a study of the international history of the pivotal 'hinge years', running from the onset of the Depression in late 1929 to the Nazi capture of power in Germany in early 1933. The second theme is the strategic relationship between Britain and France, the critical dynamic in the management of global and European international relations during this time of great fluidity and uncertainty. The most contentious and intractable issue that divided the two countries was the pursuit of international disarmament, which forms the third theme of the book. Strange Allies is based upon extensive research in British and French archives, as well as in the archives of the League of Nations in Geneva. The book's focus on 1929-31 in particular makes a major contribution to the international history of the interwar period by re-examining the security and strategic policies of the second Labour government in Britain and of foreign minister Aristide Briand in the post-Locarno years in France. For 1931-33, the book looks at the impact of the great financial and economic crisis of 1931 on security and disarmament planning in Britain and France. It then considers the impact of the Anglo-French relationship on the instability of Europe and on the failure of the World Disarmament Conference. This book is the first detailed study of the Anglo-French relationship during a critical period which saw a reshaping of the boundaries of global security. Although the Anglo-French alliance is rightly seen to be pivotal to both the initial phase of implementing the Versailles settlement of 1919 and the efforts to contain Hitler and protect Europe after 1936, Strange Allies demonstrates the degree to which these states' conflicting views of security were central to international relations in the years leading up to Hitler's accession to power.

On the eve of the first Chechen war in the 1990s, Mikail Eldin was a young and naive arts journalist. By the end of the second war, he had become a battle-hardened war reporter and mountain partisan who had endured torture and imprisonment in a concentration camp. His compelling memoir traces the unfolding of the conflict from day one, with vivid scenes right from the heart of the war. The Sky Wept Fire presents a unique glimpse into the lives of the Chechen resistance, providing testimony of great historical value. Yet it is not merely the story of the battle for Chechnya: this is the story of the battle within the heart, the struggle to conquer fear, hold on to faith and preserve one's humanity. Eldin was fated to witness key events in Chechnya's history: from the first day of the attack on Grozny, and the full-scale Russian invasion that followed it, to the siege of Grozny five years later that razed the city to the ground and has been compared to the destruction of Dresden. Resurrecting these memories with extraordinary lyricism, Eldin observes the sights, the sounds and smells of war. Having fled Grozny alongside the droves of refugees, he joins the defending army - yet he always considers his role as that of journalist and witness. Shortly after joining the Chechen resistance, Eldin is captured in the mountains. He undergoes barbaric torture as his captors attempt to break his will. They fail to make him talk, and he is eventually transferred to a concentration camp. There a new struggle awaits him: the battle to overcome his own suicidal thoughts and ensuing insanity.

Covers the design and multiple uses of the Heinkel He 115.

For a brief period, the attention of the international community has focused once again on the plight of religious minorities in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. In particular, the abductions and massacres of Yezidis and Assyrians in the Sinjar, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Baghdad, and Hasakah regions in 2007-2015 raised questions about the prevention of genocide. This book, while principally analyzing the Assyrian genocide of 1914-1925 and its implications for the culture and politics of the region, also raises broader questions concerning the future of religious diversity in the Middle East. It gathers and analyzes the findings of a broad spectrum of historical and scholarly works on Christian identities in the Middle East, genocide studies, international law, and the politics of the late Ottoman Empire, as well as the politics of the Ottomans' British and Russian rivals for power in western Asia and the eastern Mediterranean basin. A key question the book raises is whether the fate of the Assyrians maps onto any of the concepts used within international law and diplomatic history to study genocide and group violence. In this light, the Assyrian genocide stands out as being several times larger, in both absolute terms and relative to the size of the affected group, than the Srebrenica genocide, which is recognized by Turkey as well as by international tribunals and organizations. Including its Armenian and Greek victims, the Ottoman Christian Genocide rivals the Rwandan, Bengali, and Biafran genocides. The book also aims to explore the impact of the genocide period of 1914-1925 on the development or partial unraveling of Assyrian group cohesion, including aspirations to autonomy in the Assyrian areas of northern Iraq, northwestern Iran, and southeastern Turkey. Scholars from around the world have collaborated to approach these research questions by reference to diplomatic and political archives, international legal materials, memoirs, and literary works.

It is the summer of 1945, the last and very dangerous days of World War II. The Office of Strategic Services is in close, cooperative contact with Ho Chi Minh and the fighting cadre of the Viet Minh, working against the Japanese. In the closing months of the war, the OSS parachute a team of special operations soldiers into Tonkin, northern Viet Nam. Led by Major John Guthrie and his second-in-command, Captain Edouard Parnell, both experienced officers from their earlier assignments in occupied France and Belgium, the team are tasked with working with Ho Chi Minh against the Japanese in the midst of various groups vying for control of Indochina. Guthrie and his team have to adapt to the entirely different context of Vietnamese politics in order to encourage communist operations against the Japanese. Guthrie in particular, struggles with both his personal and professional conflicts. The relationship that Guthrie and the rest of the OSS team develops with the Viet Minh leadership is of distinct annoyance to French ambitions to regain control of their colony, Indochina. Based on the little-known true story of American and Viet Minh collaboration in 1945, this novel challenges the later-accepted dogma of both those supporting and those opposing the American role in the Viet Nam conflict. This novel notes how what is seen at a later time is often inadequate to understand what actually went on. Its contemporary relevance is simply a mirror of what is always the case in international affairs: today's enemies can and may be tomorrow's friends - and most importantly, the reverse is true also.

August 1939 was a time of great flux. The fear of impending war fueled by the aggression of Nazi Germany forced many changes. Young people pursuing academic research were plunged into an entirely different kind of research and development. For Bernard Lovell, the war meant involvement in one of the most vital research projects of the war-radar. Echoes of War: The Story of H2S Radar presents a passionate first-hand account of the development of the Home Sweet Home (H2S) radar systems during World War II. The book provides numerous personal insights into the scientific culture of wartime Britain and details the many personal sacrifices, setbacks, and eventual triumphs made by those actively involved. Bernard Lovell began his work on airborne interception radar in Taffy Bowen's airborne radar group. He was involved in the initial development of the application of the 10 centimeter cavity magnetron to airborne radar that revolutionized radar systems. In the autumn of 1941, the failure of Bomber Command to locate its target over the cloudy skies of Europe prompted the formation of a new group to develop a blind bombing system. Led by Lovell, this group developed the H2S radar system to identify towns and other targets at night or during heavy cloud cover. H2S first saw operational use with the Pathfinder Squadrons in the attack on Hamburg during the night of January 30-31, 1943. Two months later, modified H2S units installed in Coastal Command aircraft operating over the Bay of Biscay had a dramatic tactical effect on the air war against U-boats. The tide had begun to turn. In this fascinating chronicle of the H2S radar project, Sir Bernard Lovell recreates the feel and mood of the wartime years.

The standard reference now revised and expanded. Dr. Robinson has opened up his vast photo archives to enhance this new edition of his classic work. Much of the new photographic material is published here for the first time.

This volume provides the English-speaking reader with little-known perspectives of Central and Eastern European historians on the topic of the Russian Revolution. Whereas research into the Soviet Union's history has flourished at Western universities, the contribution of Central and Eastern European historians, during the Cold War working in conditions of imposed censorship, to this field of academic research has often been seriously circumscribed. Bringing together perspectives from across Central and Eastern Europe alongside contributions from established scholars from the West, this significant volume casts the year 1917 in a new critical light.

The Rubber Soldiers were an army of 55,000 men from the Brazilian northeast, who were sent to the Amazon basin to harvest rubber for the Allied War effort under an agreement between Brazil and the US. Approximately 26,000 of these men died in the Amazon of malaria, yellow fever, and other jungle afflictions. Many of the original tappers are still alive, now in their late nineties, and living in slums in major Amazonian cities, still awaiting compensation. This book proves the US did pay for the rubber, contrary to common belief in Brazil that they did not. The book also shows that the Allied air bases on Brazil's northeastern coast were critical in defeating the Germans in North Africa, and containing the German U-boat effort in the south Atlantic. This aspect of WWII has rarely been reported and yet it may have been one of the most important events of the war.

During the war, Geraldine Schwarz's grandparents were neither heroes nor villains - they just followed the current. Afterwards they wanted to forget, to bury it all under the wreckage of the Third Reich. But decades later, delving through the basement of their apartment building, Geraldine discovers that her grandfather Karl profited from the forced 'Aryanisation' of Jewish businesses - and so she is compelled to investigate her ancestors' past. On her mother's side, she delves into the role of her French grandfather, a policeman during the Vichy regime. How guilty were they? Combining generations of family stories with the history of Europe's post-war reckoning, Geraldine asks: how did Germans transform their collective guilt into democratic responsibility? And, given rising populism in Europe today, how can we ensure we learn from history?

Most of the Cypriot population, especially the lower classes, remained loyal to the British cause during the Great War and the island contributed significantly to the First World War, with men and materials. The British acknowledged this yet failed to institute political and economic reforms once the war ended. The obsession of Greek Cypriot elites with enosis (union with Greece), which only increased after the war, and the British dismissal of increasing the role of Cypriots in government, bringing the Christian and Muslim communities closer, and expanding franchise to all classes and sexes, led to serious problems down the line, not least the development of a democratic deficit. Andrekos Varnava studies the events and the impact of this crucial period.

The 44th Bomb Group, which flew the B-24 Liberator, was the pioneer unit for what evolved from the Mighty Eighth's 2nd Bomb Wing into a full-scale Bomb (and later Air) Division. The Group amassed an impressive 343 missions and won two Distinguished Unit Citations between November 1942 and April 1945, dropping nearly 19,000 tons of ordnance in the process including the legendary August 1943 Ploesti mission. These statistics were achieved at a material cost of around 200 aircraft, and a human cost of some 2,000 airmen MIA, as the 8th USAAF focused its strategic bombing campaign in the face of determined Luftwaffe opposition.

WINNER OF THE MILITARY HISTORY MATTERS AWARD 'Hart is a historian and author at the peak of his powers' Richard van Emden The best way to understand what it was like to fight in the Second World War is to see it through the eyes of the soldiers who fought it. The South Notts Hussars fought at almost every major battle of the Second World War, from the Siege of Tobruk to the Battle of El Alamein and the D-Day Landings. Here, Peter Hart draws on detailed interviews conducted with members of the regiment, to provide both a comprehensive account of the conflict and reconstruct its most thrilling moments in the words of the men who experienced it. This is military history at its best: outlining the path from despair to victory, and allowing us to share in soldiers' hopes and fears; the deafening explosions of the shells, the scream of the diving Stukas and the wounded; the pleasures of good comrades and the devastating despair at lost friends.

This book is a detailed history of the 23rd Waffen-SS Panzergrenadier Division "Nederland," the Dutch volunteer SS combat formation. Employed exclusively on the eastern front, except for a brief period in Croatia, the "Nederland" formations participated in many of the most difficult defensive battles on the northeastern front: Leningrad, the Narva bridgehead, the Tannenberg line, Dorpat in Kurland, Pomerania, and the Oder front, until the desperate battle of the Halbe Pocket where the remnants of the division managed to avoid total annihilation, escaping the Soviets and surrendering to American forces. In all of these battles the "Nederland" volunteers showed their valor as true Waffen-SS combatants, always in the front lines and always under constant enemy pressure. This complete treatment fills a large gap in Waffen-SS history. Informative appendices not only relate to the unit's operational history, but also provide details on some of its members, as well as uniforms and insignia.

The history of Special Operations Executive (SOE) seems to spring a never-ending run of surprises, and here are some more. This book explores the mysterious world of the tools SOE used for their missions of subversion and sabotage. An often grim reality is confronted that is more akin with the world of James Bond and Q's workshop than previously believed. Written by two scientists, one of whom served in the SOE and one who was tasked with clearing up after it was disbanded; their insider knowledge presents a clear account of the way in which SOE's inventors worked. From high explosive technology to chemical and biological devices; from the techniques of air supply to incendiarism; from camouflage to underwater warfare; and from radio communications to weaponry. SOE: The Scientific Secrets is a revelation about the tools that allowed the murky world of spying and spies to operate during wartime.

The Libellus de expugnatione Terrae Sanctae per Saladinum (or Little Book about the Conquest of the Holy Land by Salah al-Din) is the most substantial contemporary Latin account of the conquest of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in 1187. Seemingly written by a churchman who was in Jerusalem itself when the city was besieged and captured, the Libellus fuses historical narrative and biblical exegesis in an attempt to recount and interpret the loss of the Holy Land, an event that provoked an outpouring of grief throughout western Christendom and sparked the Third Crusade. This book provides an English translation of the Libellus accompanied by a new, comprehensive critical edition of the Latin text and a detailed study in the introduction.

While a plethora of studies have discussed why so many men decided to volunteer for the army during the Great War, the experiences of those who were called up under conscription have received relatively little scrutiny. Even when the implementation of the respective Military Service Acts has been investigated, scholars have usually focused on only the distinct minority of those eligible who expressed conscientious objections. It is rare to see equal significance placed on the fact that substantial numbers of men appealed, or were appealed for, on the grounds that their domestic, business, or occupational circumstances meant they should not be expected to serve. David Littlewood analyses the processes undergone by these men, and the workings of the bodies charged with assessing their cases, through a sustained transnational comparison of the British and New Zealand contexts.

25 years after her passing, Audrey Hepburn remains the most beloved of all Hollywood stars. Several biographies have chronicled her stardom, but none has covered her intense experiences through five years of Nazi occupation in the Netherlands. According to her son, 'The war made my mother who she was.' Audrey Hepburn's war included participation in the Dutch Resistance, working as a doctor's assistant during the 'Bridge Too Far' battle of Arnhem, the brutal execution of her uncle, and the ordeal of the Hunger Winter of 1944. She also had to contend with the fact that her father was a Nazi agent and her mother was pro-Nazi for the first two years of the occupation. Audrey's own reminiscences, new interviews with people who knew her in the war, wartime diaries, and research in classified Dutch archives shed light on the riveting, untold story of Audrey Hepburn under fire in World War II.

"Absolute War" tells the story of the greatest and most terrible land-air conflict of all time: the war between Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. There have been many individual accounts of particular moments in the vicious war between the Nazi regime and the Sovet behemoth, but none which sets out to tell the full and dreadful story of that absolute war: absolute because both sides aimed to 'exterminate the opponent, to destroy his political existence' and total because it was fought by all elements of society, not simply the armed forces, but civilians - men, women, children - too. Chris Bellamy, Profesor of Military Science at Cranfield University, is one of the wolrd's leading experts on this subject and has been working on this book for almost a decade. It benefits from his remarkable insight into strategic issues as well as exhaustive research in hitherto unopened Russian archives. It is the definitive study of what the Soviets called - and what their fifteen successor states still call - the Great Patriotic War.

Sheila Mills's story is a unique perspective of the Second World War. She is a clever, middle-class Norfolk girl with a yen for adventure and joins the WRNS in 1940 to escape the shackles of secretarial work in London, her unhappy childhood and her social-climbing mother. From a first posting in Scotland in 1940, she progresses through the ranks, first to Egypt and later to a vanquished Germany. Extraordinary and fascinating encounters and personalities are seen through the eyes of a young Wren officer: Admiral Ramsay, the Invasion of Sicily and Operation Mincemeat that triggered it, The Flap, the sinking of the Medway, the surrender of the Italian fleet and the Belsen Trials. These observations are peppered with humorous insights into the humdrum preoccupations of a typical Wren - boys, appearance and having fun, while worrying about home and family. This treasure trove of hundreds of letters, along with scrapbooks and memorabilia, some of which are reproduced here, was discovered in bin liners shortly after Sheila died. Her daughter, Vicky, has pieced together a fascinating and unusual record of the Second World War from a woman's perspective.

The New York Times said of Jozef Hieronim Retinger that he was on intimate terms with most leading statesmen of the Western World, including presidents of the United States. He has been repeatedly acknowledged as one of the principle architects of the movement for European unity after the World War II, and one of the outstanding creative political influences of the post war period. He has also been credited with being the dark master behind the so-called "Bilderberg Group," described variously as an organization of idealistic internationalists, and a malevolent global conspiracy. Before that, Retinger involved himself in intelligence activities during World War II and, given the covert and semi-covert nature of many of his activities, it is little wonder that no biography has appeared about him. This book draws on a broad range of international archives to rectify that.

Looking to ally yourself with World War II knowledge? More than 75 years after its end, World War II remains one of the most devastating and impactful events in human history. It was a global war, and the nations that fought it employed every available resource, harnessing both technology and people to one purpose. Today, we remember WWII for its battles, tragedies, and horrors, but also for its outcome: a greater good that triumphed over evil. The breadth of World War II facts and history can be overwhelming, which is why World War II For Dummies is the perfect book for any reader, from history buffs to WWII novices. Full of accurate and easy-to-understand information (so you don't have to speak military to comprehend), this book will help you explore a war that defined and shaped the world we live in today. You'll discover all the players--individuals as well as nations--who participated in the war and the politics that drove them. Battle by battle, you'll find out how the Axis powers initially took control of the war and how the Allies fought back to win the day. World War II for Dummies also covers: The origins and causes of World War II The rise of Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich How the war was handled at home Germany's invasion of Poland, France, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, and Luxembourg Great Britain's refusal to surrender after 42 days of German aerial attack The United States' entrance into the war after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor The Allied invasion of Normandy (D-Day) Germany's last-ditch effort to stop the Allies at the Battle of the Bulge The use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Become an expert on this historical catalyst with World War II For Dummies--grab your copy today. P.S. If you think this book seems familiar, you're probably right. The Dummies team updated the cover and design to give the book a fresh feel, but the content is the same as the previous release of World War II For Dummies (9780764553523). The book you see here shouldn't be considered a new or updated product. But if you're in the mood to learn something new, check out some of our other books. We're always writing about new topics!

As World War II raged, millions of men and women confronted injury, destruction, separation from home and loved ones, chaos, and death. These challenges and traumas and many others forced an entire generation of everyday heroes to take stock of their lives. And in the process, many turned to God in ways they never had before.

In "Faith Under Fire," you'll experience scenes of astonishing bravery, moments of heart-breaking loss, and a pervasive sense of love for God, neighbor, and country that was strong enough to transcend denominational and national differences, inspiring selfless acts of courage and compassion under the worst of circumstances.

From the Catholic chaplain who offered mercy among the carnage of Iwo Jima, to the Pentecostal boy who was saved from an incoming shell by the voice of God calling his name, to the young wife praying that her husband would survive life in a concentration camp, to the Tuskegee Airman who fought both totalitarianism and racism, these stories reveal the power of faith that sustained these heroes when there was nowhere else to turn.

Award-winning author Steve Rabey presents more than twenty firsthand accounts of faith under pressure, many of them illustrated with war-time photos, letters, and journal entries. At a time when many who lived through these trying times are dying, their stories live on, passing on a legacy of faith and fortitude to future generations.

In June 1944, the United States launched a crushing assault on the Japanese navy in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The capture of the Mariana Islands and the accompanying ruin of Japanese carrier airpower marked a pivotal moment in the Pacific War. No tactical masterstroke or blunder could reverse the increasingly lopsided balance of power between the two combatants. The War in the Pacific had entered its endgame. Beginning with the Honolulu Conference, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt met with his Pacific theater commanders to plan the last phase of the campaign against Japan, Twilight of the Gods brings to life the harrowing last year of World War II in the Pacific, when the U.S. Navy won the largest naval battle in history; Douglas MacArthur made good his pledge to return to the Philippines; waves of kamikazes attacked the Allied fleets; the Japanese fought to the last man on one island after another; B-29 bombers burned down Japanese cities; and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were vaporized in atomic blasts. Ian W. Toll's narratives of combat in the air, at sea, and on the beaches are as gripping as ever, but he also reconstructs the Japanese and American home fronts and takes the reader into the halls of power in Washington and Tokyo, where the great questions of strategy and diplomacy were decided. Drawing from a wealth of rich archival sources and new material, Twilight of the Gods casts a penetrating light on the battles, grand strategic decisions and naval logistics that enabled the Allied victory in the Pacific. An authoritative and riveting account of the final phase of the War in the Pacific, Twilight of the Gods brings Toll's masterful trilogy to a thrilling conclusion. This prize-winning and best-selling trilogy will stand as the first complete history of the Pacific War in more than twenty-five years, and the first multivolume history of the Pacific naval war since Samuel Eliot Morison's series was published in the 1950s.