Originally published in 1940, Why England Slept was written by then-Harvard student and future American president John F. Kennedy. It was Kennedy's senior thesis that analyzed the tremendous miscalculations of the British leaders in facing Germany on the advent of World War II, and in doing so, also addressed the challenges that democracies face when confronted directly with fascist states. In Why England Slept, at the book's core, John F. Kennedy asks: Why was England so poorly prepared for the war? He provides a comprehensive analysis of the tremendous miscalculations of the British leadership when it came to dealing with Germany and leads readers into considering other questions: Was the poor state of the British army the reason Chamberlain capitulated at Munich, or were there other, less-obvious elements at work that allowed this to happen? Kennedy also looks at similarities to America's position of unpreparedness and makes astute observations about the implications involved. This re-publication of the classic book contains excerpts from the foreword to the 1940 original edition by Henry R. Luce, an American magazine magnate during that era; the foreword to the 1961 edition, also written by Luce; and a new foreword by Stephen C. Schlesinger, written in 2015. Provides fascinating insights into the young mind and worldview of then-Harvard senior John F. Kennedy via his thesis, for which he'd toured Europe, the Balkans, the Soviet Union, and Czechoslovakia in the late 1930s Presents both a pointed indictment of British policy leading up to World War II as well as an examination of the weaknesses, merits, and pitfalls for democratic governments based on capitalist economies Features a new foreword written by Stephen C. Schlesinger, senior fellow at the Century Foundation in New York; author of Act of Creation: The Founding of The United Nations, winner of the 2004 Harry S. Truman Book Award; former director of the World Policy Institute at the New School (1997-2006); and former publisher of the magazine The World Policy Journal

On 6 June 1944 when the allied armies landed on D-Day, the Second World War had already lasted almost five years.

Yet many of the British and American troops who invaded Normandy were virgin soldiers, never before committed to battle. They quit summer England to face within hours a storm of machine-gun and mortar fire. They witnessed scenes, above all of sudden death, such as no exercise had prepared them for.

In Sword, veteran chronicler of war Max Hastings explores with extraordinary vividness the actions of the Commando brigade, Montgomery’s 3rd Infantry and 6th Airborne divisions on and around a single British beach. He describes their frustrations, hopes, loves and fears through the apparently interminable years training and preparing in England, then their triumphs and tragedies on the beach and beyond. Here are the airborne assaults on the Caen Canal bridge and Merville Battery, the battles on the shoreline and against the German strongpoints inland, narrated and explained with all the insights that Hastings’ decades of study, veterans’ interviews and new archive research enable him to deploy. The book offers a searching analysis of why British troops did not reach Caen on 6 June, as Montgomery had promised Churchill that they would – and the story of the brigadier who was sacked for that failure. There is also a host of personal portraits of key figures from commando leader Lord Lovat, famously brave but supremely arrogant, to tank colonel Jim Eadie, whose tanks of the Staffordshire Yeomanry repulsed a panzer division in the last hours of 6 June, and some of the humbler participants to whom extraordinary things happened.

This is D-Day as you have never read the story told before, with the blend of narrative, analysis and human insight that made Max Hastings’ last book Operation Biting, like many of his earlier works, a Sunday Times No.1 bestseller.

During the American Civil War, thousands of citizens in the Deep South remained loyal to the United States. Though often overlooked, they possessed broad symbolic importance and occupied an outsized place in the strategic thinking and public discourse of both the Union and the Confederacy. In True Blue, Clayton J. Butler investigates the lives of white Unionists in three Confederate states, revealing who they were, why and how they took their Unionist stand, and what happened to them as a result. He focuses on three Union regiments recruited from among the white residents of the Deep South-individuals who passed the highest bar of Unionism by enlisting in the United States Army to fight with the First Louisiana Cavalry, First Alabama Cavalry, and Thirteenth Tennessee Union Cavalry. Northerners and southerners alike thought a considerable amount about Deep South Unionism throughout the war, often projecting their hopes and apprehensions onto these embattled dissenters. For both, the significance of these Unionists hinged on the role they would play in the postwar future. To northerners, they represented the tangible nucleus of national loyalty within the rebelling states on which to build Reconstruction policies. To Confederates, they represented traitors to the political ideals of their would-be nation and, as the war went on, to the white race, making them at times a target for vicious reprisal. Unionists' wartime allegiance proved a touchstone during the political chaos and realignment of Reconstruction, a period when many of these veterans played a key role both as elected officials and as a pivotal voting bloc. In the end, white Unionists proved willing to ally with African Americans during the war to save the Union but unwilling to protect or advance Black civil rights afterward, revealing the character of Unionism during the era as a whole.

Many aspects of Britain's involvement in World War Two only slowly emerged from beneath the barrage of official secrets and popular misconception. One of the most controversial issues, the internment of 'enemy aliens' (and also British subjects) on the Isle of Man, received its first thorough examination in this remarkable account by Connery Chappell of life in the Manx camps between 1940 and 1945. At the outbreak of war there were approximately 75,000 people of Germanic origin living in Britain, and Whitehall decided to set up Enemy Alien Tribunals to screen these 'potential security risks'. The entry of Italy into the war almost doubled the workload. The first tribunal in February 1940 considered only 569 cases as high enough risks to warrant internment. The Isle of Man was chosen as the one place sufficiently removed from areas of military importance, but by the end of the year the number of enemy aliens on the island had reached 14,000. With the use of diaries, broadsheets, newspapers and personal testimonies, the author shows how a traditional holiday isle was transformed into an internment camp. of earning extra income. Eventually the internees took part in local farm work, ran their own camp newspapers and even set up internal businesses. With inmates of the calibre of Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, Lord Weidenfeld, Sir Charles Forte, Professor Geoffrey Elton and R.W. 'Tiny' Rowland, the life of the camp quickly took on a busy and constructive air; but the picture was not always such a happy one, as angry disputes flared between Fascist inmates and their Jewish neighbours, and a dangerous riot forced the intervention of the Home Office. Even now, there remains the persistent question never settled satisfactorily. Were the internments ever justified or even consistent?

For years, the history of the anti-Nazi resistance in Germany was hidden and distorted by Cold War politics. Providing a much-needed corrective, Red Orchestra presents the dramatic story of a circle of German citizens who opposed Hitler from the start, choosing to stay in Germany to resist Nazism and help its victims. The book shines a light on this critical movement which was made up of academics, theatre people, and factory workers; Protestants, Catholics and Jews; around 150 Germans all told and from all walks of life. Drawing on archives, memoirs, and interviews with survivors, award-winning scholar and journalist Anne Nelson presents a compelling portrait of the men and women involved, and the terrifying day-to-day decisions in their lives, from the Nazi takeover in 1933 to their Gestapo arrest in 1942. Nelson traces the story of the Red Orchestra (Rote Kapelle) resistance movement within the context of German history, showing the stages of the Nazi movement and regime from the 1920s to the end of the Second World War. She also constructs the narrative around the life of Greta Kuckhoff and other female figures whose role in the anti-Nazi resistance fight is too-often unrecognised or under appreciated. This revised edition includes: * A new introduction which explores elements of the Red Orchestra’s experience that resonate with our times, including: the impact of new media technologies; the dangers of political polarization; and the way the judiciary can be shaped to further the ends of autocracy. The introduction will also address the long-standing misconception that the German Resistance only took action when it was clear that Germany was losing the war. * Historiographic updates throughout the book which take account of recent literature and additional archival sources

The Sunday Times bestselling author of Dresden on the most important city of the 20th century.

An almighty storm hit Berlin in the last days of April 1945. Enveloped by the unstoppable force of East and West, explosive shells pounded buildings while the inhabitants of a once glorious city sheltered in dark cellars - just like their Fuhrer in his bunker. The Battle of Berlin was a key moment in history; marking the end of a deathly regime, the defeated city was ripped in two by the competing superpowers of the Cold War.

In Berlin, bestselling historian Sinclair McKay draws on never-before-seen first-person accounts to paint a picture of a city ravaged by ideology, war and grief. Yet to fully grasp the fall of Berlin, it is crucial to also explore in detail the years beforehand and to trace the city being rebuilt, as two cities, in the aftermath. From the passionate and austere Communists of 1919 to the sleek and serious industrialists of 1949, and from the glitter of innovation from artists such as George Grosz to the desperate border crossings for three decades from 1961, this is a story of a city that shaped an entire century, as seen through the eyes not of its rulers, but of those who walked its streets.

This is the third and final 'stand-alone' account of C Squadron SAS's thrilling operations against the relentless spread of communist backed terrorism in East Africa. Drawing on first-hand experiences the author describes operations against communist-backed terrorists in Angola and Mozambique, aiding the Portuguese and Renamo against the MPLA and Frelimo respectively. Back in Southern Rhodesia SAS General Peter Walls, realising the danger that Mugabe and ZANU represented, appealed directly to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This correspondence, published here for the first time, changed nothing and years of corruption and genocide followed. Although C Squadron was disbanded in 1980 many members joined the South African special forces. Operations undertaken included unsuccessful and costly destabilisation attempts against Mugabe and missions into Mozambique including the assassination of Samora Machel. By 1986 deteriorating relationships with the South African authorities resulted in the break-up of the SAS teams who dispersed worldwide. Had Mike Graham not written his three action-packed books, C Squadron SAS's superb fighting record might never have been revealed. For those who are fascinated by special forces soldiering his accounts are 'must reads'.

Back from 44 - The Sacrifice and Courage of a Few. Nick Bentas, Staff Sergeant US Army Air Force, finds himself in a severely crippled B-26 Marauder, trying to return to base, he remembers the different times in his life that led him up to this point. From enlistment to basic training to saying goodbye to his new wife, he remembers his deadly missions around France, Germany and the wider Mediterranean. Experience how it was first hand to encounter enemy flak and fighter attacks, while dealing with the emotional impact of losing close friends. Back From 44 is an in-depth look into the bravery and sacrifice of ordinary men who did extraordinary things during WWII.