`There followed a blue flash accompanied by a ver y bright magnesium-type flare ... Then came a frighteningly loud but rather flat explosion, which was followed by a blast of hot air ... All this was followed by eerie silence.' This was Cork doctor Aidan MacCarthy's description of the atomic bomb explosion above Nagasaki in August 1945, just over a mile from where he was trembling in a makeshift bomb shelter in the Mitsubishi POW camp. At the end of the war, a Japanese officer did the unthinkable: he surrendered his samurai sword to MacCarthy, his enemy and former prisoner. This is the astonishing story of the wartime adventures of Dr Aidan MacCarthy, who survived the evacuation at Dunkirk, burning planes, sinking ships, jungle warfare and appalling privation as a Japanese prisoner of war. It is a story of survival, forgiveness and humanity at its most admirable.

Storytelling is an art form, a descriptive account of an event, or a succession of events. In this case, all 118 stories within its pages are true and for the most part, describe a calamitous event in each individual's life during the 2nd World War. They all add emotion and physical details to plain facts. We all have the story's to convey and when you think about them, the really good ones will actually move us, and in this case, all of them will make us think to some degree because they come from an era we often cannot relate to. Some will shock you; others will bring you to tears, some may even make you smile or laugh. All of them will definitely make you ponder about your life, and what it could have been like if Britain and her allies had not won the Second World War.

'A COMPELLING, FAST-PACED NARRATIVE THAT THRUSTS US INTO THE COCKPIT. A MUST-READ!' Dan Hampton April 1982. Argentina invades the Falkland Islands. In response, Britain dispatches a naval Task Force. Eight thousand miles from home, its fate hinges on just twenty Sea Harrier fighters against the two hundred-strong might of the Argentine Air Force. The odds against them are overwhelming. British Defense Chiefs' own estimates suggest that half the Harriers will be lost within a week. Against this background, 809 Naval Air Squadron is reformed, trained and sent south to fight. Not since WWII had so much been expected of such a small band of pilots... Combining groundbreaking research with the pace of a thriller, Rowland White reveals the full story of the fleet's knife-edge fight for survival for the first time, and shows how the little jump jet went from airshow novelty to writing its name in aviation legend. And of how a small band of heroes won victory against impossible odds. 'A military adventure, written with expertise...a tale of initiative, skill and courage, of pushing beyond the rules.' THE SPECTATOR 'Harrier 809 reads like a fast-paced military adventure novel only better because every word is true. White has brought us an up-close, inside-the-cockpit saga of a band of heroes. Riveting.' ROBERT GANDT, author of Skygods 'Utterly thrilling and totally absorbing. White conveys brilliantly the spirit of a great aircraft - and the men who flew it.' PATRICK BISHOP 'Utterly brilliant. The very best kind of narrative history, Harrier 809 is a fantastically exciting book. It reads like a thriller and has some of the best aerial action sequences I've ever read. A page-turner from start to finish.' JAMES HOLLAND, author of Normandy '44 'Set against the broader context of the Falklands War, Harrier 809 brings the squadron's story to life in fine and highly readable detail.' GARTH ENNIS, author of The Boys, Preacher and Hellblazer