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Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > War fiction > Second World War fiction
Having escaped from a Nazi concentration camp in Germany in 1937, and later a camp in Rouen, the nameless twenty-seven-year-old German narrator of Anna Seghers's multilayered masterpiece, Transit, ends up in the dusty seaport of Marseilles. Along the way he is asked to deliver a letter to a man named Weidel in Paris and discovers Weidel has committed suicide, leaving behind a suitcase with letters and the manuscript of a novel inside. As he makes his way to Marseilles to find Weidel's wife, the narrator assumes the identity of a refugee named Seidler, though the authorities think he is really Weidel. There in the giant waiting room of Marseilles, the narrator converses with the refugees, listening to their stories over pizza and wine, while also gradually piecing together the story of Weidel, whose manuscript has shattered the narrator's "deathly boredom," bringing him to a deeper awareness of the transitory world the refugees inhabit as they wait and wait for their transit papers, some leaving, only to disappear into internment camps. Several years before Waiting for Godot, Seghers wrote this existential, political, literary thriller that explores the significance of literature and the agonies of boredom and waiting with extraordinary compassion and insight.
The Allies have landed, the liberation of Europe has begun.In the Pas de Calais, Nathalie Mercier, a young British Special Operations Executive secret agent working with the French Resistance, disappears. In London, her husband Owen Quinn, an officer with Royal Navy Intelligence, discovers the truth about her role in the Allies' sophisticated deception at the heart of D-Day. Appalled but determined, Quinn sets off on a perilous hunt through France in search of his wife. Aided by the Resistance in his search, he makes good progress. But, caught up by the bitterness of the war and its insatiable appetite for revenge, he risks total destruction. Based on real events of the Second World War, this is a thrilling tale of international intrigue, love, deception and espionage, perfect for fans of Robert Harris, John le Carre and Len Deighton.
For Abraham de Bruyn and the young men of The Island, World War II offers more than a chance to prove their mettle. Compensation for signing up to fight is a dream come true: each soldier will receive a piece of land to call his own. Having been removed to The Island years before from land at the foot of the majestic Outeniqua Mountains in the southern Cape, where they had lived and farmed for generations, they believe that Jan Smuts's war will finally put things right. Leaving his young wife and family behind, Abraham travels to North Africa. With him is his brother, Stanley, and Kobus, a wayward Afrikaner who is fighting alongside the Allies against the wishes of his Nationalist father. In Egypt, a fateful bullet sends Abraham home, but his battle is far from over as promises of land turn to dust. When in 1950 Abraham and his people are forced to move again, circumstances become almost unbearable. What does a good man have to endure for his own handful of earth? Simon Bruinders's novel, first published in Afrikaans as Die Sideboard, is not only the story of a family caught up in the throes of history. It is also a rich chronicle of an often overlooked community that toiled on South African soil for centuries, and bears witness to the resilience of the human spirit.
Diamond Head, Hawaii, 1941. Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt is a champion welterweight and a fine bugler. But when he refuses to join the company's boxing team, he gets "the treatment" that may break him or kill him. First Sgt. Milton Anthony Warden knows how to soldier better than almost anyone, yet he's risking his career to have an affair with the commanding officer's wife. Both Warden and Prewitt are bound by a common bond: the Army is their heart and blood . . .and, possibly, their death.
'Moving, complex, romantic, and beautifully written, Karen Campbell's saga ... is a triumph' Allan Massie, Scotsman Divided by loyalties, brought together by war September, 1943. Tuscany, Italy. In the hilltop town of Barga, everyone holds their breath. Even the bells fall silent. Everything Vittoria Guidi knows and loves is at risk. German troops occupy the mountains around her home, as America's Buffalo Soldiers prepare to invade. As Vittoria's country is torn in two, so is her conscience. Should she side with her Scots-Italian father or her Fascist mother? Should she do what she is told - or what she believes in? Frank Chapel, a young, black American soldier fighting with the Buffalo soldiers for a country that refuses him the vote, is unlike anyone Vittoria has ever met. In the chaos, they find each other - but can their growing love overcome prejudice and war?
**THE NINTH NOVEL IN THE BESTSELLING SHIPYARD GIRLS SERIES** 'Emotional and gripping' Take a Break ______________________________ Sunderland, 1943: As Christmas approaches in the shipyards, everyone is hoping for a little magic... Helen would love to find the courage to tell the dashing Dr Parker of her true feelings for him. But how can she when he clearly has eyes for someone else? More than a year has passed since Bel's wedding to sweetheart Joe. She knows she has much to feel thankful for and yet there is still one burning desire which she cannot ignore. And as Polly grows with child, she hopes against hope for a safe delivery - and that her husband Tommy can soon return from the front line to meet their new arrival. There will be storms to weather, but guided by their strength and friendship there is still hope for each of the shipyard girls that their Christmas wishes will come true. ______________________________ Praise for Nancy Revell 'Nancy Revell knows how to stir the passions and soothe the heart!' Northern Echo 'Stirring and heartfelt storytelling' Peterborough Evening Telegraph 'The author is one to watch' Sun 'Well-drawn, believable characters combined with a storyline to keep you turning the pages' Woman
'A dazzling novel of great compassion' Laura Moriarty 'An extraordinary read, the kind of book that makes you sob and smile' Tatiana de Rosnay 'Blum plumbs the depths of loss and love in this exquisite page-turner' People In 1960s Manhattan, patrons flock to Masha's to savor its brisket Wellington and impeccable service, and to admire its dashing owner and head chef, Peter Rashkin. With his movie-star good looks and tragic past, Peter, a survivor of Auschwitz, is the most eligible bachelor in town. But he has resigned himself to a solitary life. Running Masha's consumes him, as does the terrible guilt of having survived the horrors of a Nazi death camp while his wife, Masha - the restaurant's namesake - and two young daughters perished. Then exquisitely beautiful June Bouquet, an up-and-coming model, appears at the restaurant, piercing Peter's guard. Though she is twenty years his junior, the two begin a passionate, whirlwind courtship. When June unexpectedly becomes pregnant, Peter proposes, believing that beginning a new family with the woman he loves will allow him to let go of the atrocities of the past, even though he cannot forget all that he has lost. But over the next twenty years, the indelible sadness of those memories will overshadow Peter, his new wife, June, and their daughter, Elsbeth, transforming them in heartbreaking and unexpected ways. The Lost Family is a charming, funny, and elegantly bittersweet study of the repercussions of loss and love that spans a generation, from the 1960s to the 1980s. It is a vivid portrait of marriage, family, and the haunting grief of World War II.
A shocking insight into the realities of war, the conditions endured by ordinary soldiers and their unwavering solidarity. It was supposed to be Hitler's glorious conquest of Russia... The 27th Penal Regiment has been ordered to invade the Soviet Union. They are half-starved and ill-equipped. To reach Moscow they must defeat the fearsome Red Army. But instead, they find themselves at the mercy of an even deadlier enemy: the killer cold of the Russian winter. As they advance across the icy wastes, they think only of survival.
A masterpiece of literary craft and concision; sparse, beautiful and hugely affecting - Daily Mail Since the liberation of the Netherlands, Emma Verweij has been living in Rotterdam, in a street which became a stronghold of friendships for its inhabitants during the Second World War. She marries Bruno, they have two sons, and she determines to block out the years she spent in Nazi Berlin during the war, with her first husband Carl. But now, ninety-six years old and on the eve of her death, long- forgotten memories crowd again into her consciousness, flashbacks of happier years, and the tragedy of the war, of Carl, of her father, and of the friends she has lost. In The Longest Night, his impressive, reflective new novel after News from Berlin, Otto de Kat deftly distils momentous events of 20th-century history into the lives of his characters. In Emma, the past and the present coincide in limpid fragments of rare, melancholy beauty. Translated from the Dutch by Laura Watkinson
'Gripping' Wall Street Journal ________________________ At first, gunner Clarence Smoyer and his fellow crewmen in the legendary 3rd Armored Division - 'Spearhead' - thought their tanks were invincible. Then they met the German Panther, with a gun so murderous it could shoot through one Sherman and into the next. Soon a pattern emerged: the lead tank always gets hit. After seeing his friends cut down breaching the West Wall and holding the line in the Battle of the Bulge, Clarence and his crew are given a weapon with the power to avenge their fallen brothers: the Pershing, a state-of-the-art 'super tank', one of twenty in the European theatre. But with it comes a harrowing new responsibility: now they will spearhead every attack and, in doing so, will lead the US Army into its largest urban battle of the war, the fight for Cologne, the 'Fortress City' of Germany... 'Spearhead shimmers in eclipsing moments of valor, luck and compassion.' Washington Times
The hero of this book was not a saint, nor even a tzadik - the nearest Jewish equivalent - but he was a hero. Someone who risked his own life to make a difference to the life of another. Were his motives selfless? No. He was after all flesh and blood. A man. And a very young one. But life is not black and white. Heroes are not without their flaws. This is his story. Tholdi is a romantic. A musical prodigy whose brilliant future is extinguished when the horror unfolding across Europe arrives at his door. One day he's captivated by the beautiful, mysterious Lyuba who he meets on his sixteenth birthday; the next he wakes to the terrors of war as the Nazi-allied Romanians attack his town of Czernowitz. A ghetto is built to imprison the town's Jews before herding them onto trains bound for the concentration camps of Transnistria. With each passing day, Tholdi and his parents await their turn. And then Fate intervenes, giving them all a reprieve. At the weaving mill Tholdi secures work that spares him. He is elated. Until he discovers the two brothers who run the mill are Nazi collaborators hiding a terrible secret: the threat of transportation remains. When Tholdi sees one of the brothers with Lyuba, he glimpses a way to save himself and his family. But the stakes of his gamble are high. Will Lyuba be the key to their survival, or will Tholdi's infatuation with her become a dangerous obsession that guarantees their death? NIGHT LESSONS IN LITTLE JERUSALEM is an unforgettable debut novel of war, family and love.
Thomas Mann arrived in Princeton in 1938, in exile from Nazi Germany, and feted in his new country as "the greatest living man of letters." This beautiful new book from literary critic Stanley Corngold tells the little known story of Mann's early years in America and his encounters with a group of highly gifted emigres in Princeton, which came to be called the Kahler Circle, with Mann at its center. The Circle included immensely creative, mostly German-speaking exiles from Nazism, foremost Mann, Erich Kahler, Hermann Broch, and Albert Einstein, all of whom, during the Circle's nascent years in Princeton, were "stupendously" productive. In clear, engaging prose, Corngold explores the traces the Circle left behind during Mann's stay in Princeton, treating literary works and political statements, anecdotes, contemporary history, and the Circle's afterlife. Weimar in Princeton portrays a fascinating scene of cultural production, at a critical juncture in the 20th century, and the experiences of an extraordinary group of writers and thinkers who gathered together to mourn a lost culture and to reckon with the new world in which they had arrived.
The great Russian 20th-century novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Stalingrad. Life and Fate is an epic tale of a country told through the fate of a single family, the Shaposhnikovs. As the battle of Stalingrad looms, Grossman's characters must work out their destinies in a world torn by ideological tyranny and war. Completed in 1960 and then confiscated by the KGB, this sweeping panorama of Soviet Society remained unpublished until it was smuggled into the West in 1980, where it was hailed as a masterpiece. 'A literary genius. His Life and Fate is rated by many as the finest Russian novel of the 20th Century' Mail on Sunday VINTAGE CLASSICS RUSSIAN SERIES - sumptuous editions of the greatest books to come out of Russia during the most tumultuous period in its history.
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Light We Lost comes a sweeping and achingly romantic story of the course of fate, the meaning of family and the power of love. . . Genoa, Italy, 1946. Vincenzo and Giovanna fall in love the moment they set eyes on each other. The son of a count and the daughter of a tailor, they belong to opposing worlds - but the undeniable spark between them quickly burns into a deep and passionate relationship, played out against their post-war city, and Vincenzo's family's beautiful vineyard. But when shifts in political power force them each to choose a side and commit what the other believes is a betrayal, the bright future they dreamed of together is shattered. New York, 2017. Cassandra and Luca are in love. Although neither quite fits with the other's family, Cass and Luca have always felt like a perfect match for each other. But when Luca, an artist, convinces his grandfather and Cass's grandmother to pose for a painting, past and present collide to reveal a secret that changes everything . . . *** 'A gorgeous, epic novel . . . Jill Santopolo writes heartbreak like no other' Emily Giffin, author of Meant to Be 'A shimmering love story for the ages. Stars in an Italian Sky is about the course of fate, the meaning of family and the power of love. Bellissima!' Adriana Trigiani, author of The Good Left Undone 'Woven together as intricately as the fine fabrics of the Genoese tailor shop where the star-crossed lovers meet . . . A poignant tale of love, loss, class, and fate, infused with the hopefulness of true love written in the stars' Kristin Harmel, author of The Book of Lost Names and The Winemaker's Wife 'A spellbinding, deeply compassionate story centered around the fraught legacy of a pair of young lovers. Sensual, heartfelt, and incredibly moving, Santopolo's latest will bring you to tears' Fiona Davis, author of The Magnolia Palace 'I was swept away by Stars in an Italian Sky, Jill Santopolo's charming novel of love, both lost and found' Lisa Scottoline, author of Loyalty 'Filled with pathos, longing and romance, this book is a love letter to the human heart, and a testimony to the timelessness of true and lasting love' Allison Pataki, author of The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post 'A warm, poignant story of enduring love and loss, spanning generations and set against the background of post WWII Italy' Rhys Bowen, author of The Tuscan Child and The Venice Sketchbook 'Powerful, emotional, and steeped in beauty and romance, Stars in an Italian Sky is a breathtaking tale of star-crossed lovers that stretches across generations. A sweeping story brimming with passion' Ann Mah, author of The Lost Vintage and Jacqueline in Paris
An Amazon Charts and Washington Post bestseller. A novel of love, courage, and danger unfolds as World War II's brightest heroines-the best of friends-take on the front lines. 1944: Fiona Denning has her entire future planned out. She'll work in city hall, marry her fiance when he returns from the war, and settle down in the Boston suburbs. But when her fiance is reported missing after being shot down in Germany, Fiona's long-held plans are shattered. Determined to learn her fiance's fate, Fiona leaves Boston to volunteer overseas as a Red Cross Clubmobile girl, recruiting her two best friends to come along. There's the outspoken Viviana, who is more than happy to quit her secretarial job for a taste of adventure. Then there's Dottie, a shy music teacher whose melodious talents are sure to bring heart and hope to the boys on the front lines. Chosen for their inner strength and outer charm, the trio isn't prepared for the daunting challenges of war. But through it all come new friendships and romances, unforeseen dangers, and unexpected dreams. As the three friends begin to understand the real reasons they all came to the front, their courage and camaraderie will see them through some of the best and worst times of their lives.
Throughout the occupied territories, Catholic sisters were active in resistance to the Nazis Based on letters and documents - not seen for seventy years - written by the Catholic Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur during the Nazi occupation of Belgium, this book tells the remarkable story of these brave and faithful women, and how they resisted the German forces. In great detail, these letters document the lives of the sisters and convents under the Nazi regime, revealing the hardships of being bombed and constant hunger, and the executions of innocents. But they also tell the story of how these remarkably courageous women worked to help defeat the Nazis. Throughout the occupied territories, Catholic sisters were active members of the resistance. From running contraband to hiding resisters and Jews, and from spying for the allies to small acts of sabotage, these extraordinary women risked their lives to save others and to help bring an end to the war. This is a story that deserves to be told.
July 1940: A month after the evacuation of the defeated and battered Allied forces from Dunkirk, a German invasion of England threatens. In this thrilling historical "what-if," Prime Minister Winston Churchill has resigned without naming a successor and leaders of Parliament are calling for an armistice with Hitler. Meanwhile, the Deputy Director of Counter-Espionage at MI5, Adam Strachan, faces his own daunting task. During a botched burglary, the fugitive Billy Houston commits murder and discovers his victim was in possession of Britain's plans to thwart the German invasion. No patriot, Houston is determined to get the information to the right people and help bring about a Nazi-run Britain. Strachan soon finds himself pursuing Houston through England, from London's blacked-out streets and seedy narrow lanes to the thinly guarded Channel coast and the Isle of Wight, in a desperate bid to stop the missing defense plans from falling into German hands. The clock is ticking, and Britain's immediate future is anything but secure.
Night is one of the masterpieces of Holocaust literature. First published in 1960, it is the autobiographical account of an adolescent boy and his father in Auschwitz. Elie Wiesel writes of their battle for survival, and of his battle with God for a way to understand the wanton cruelty he witnesses each day. In the short novel Dawn (1961), a young man who has survived the Second World War and settled in Palestine is apprenticed to a Jewish underground movement, where the former victim is commanded to execute a British officer who has been taken hostage. In Day (previously titled The Accident, 1962), Wiesel questions the limits of the spirit and the self: Can Holocaust survivors forge a new life without the memories of the old? Wiesel's trilogy offers meditations on mankind's attraction to violence and on the temptation of self-destruction.
It is Rosh Hashanah -- the Jewish New Year and Day of Judgment -- in Moscow during the Stalinist purges of 1936. In the Lubyanka secret police prison, senior investigator Grisha Shwartzman masterfully pursues the rigorous logic and obsessive legalism of the Soviet witch-hunt. Facing an extraordinary prisoner, Grisha realizes that the Soviet system he has faithfully served is murderously corrupt and that he himself will be the next victim -- but not an innocent one. In despair, he flees to his home, where his deranged wife and an unexpected Rosh Hashanah letter from his father-in-law, the enigmatic Krimsker Rebbe in America, await him. The Day of Judgment proves to be a startling experience as Grisha, the once idealistic radical, judges himself, accepts his responsibilities, and is guided to sublime passion and possible redemption by his mad wife, who for twenty years has been patiently awaiting him in a closed wardrobe. In 1942 a train of imprisoned Jews leaves the Warsaw ghetto for "resettlement in the East". It is Yom Kippur -- the Day of Atonement and the holiest day of the Jewish year. In a crowded cattle car stands a lonely, defeated individual who is ashamed that he cannot even remember his own name. During the tortuous journey Yechiel Katzman will overhear a talmudic debate and meet a dull-witted giant who turns out to be none other than Itzik Dribble, also from Krimsk. As they arrive in the death camp of Treblinka, Yechiel remembers not only his name but also the Krimsker Rebbe's prophetic curse that exiled him from Krimsk forty years earlier. Yet as death approaches, that curse will prove a blessing. Stalin and Hitler decree certain death, but Grisha and Yechiel discoverJewish fates. The devil incites loneliness, degradation, despair, and even complicity; through memory, the victims elicit community, dignity, and the awareness of sanctity. Grisha's "Soviet" Rosh Hashanah and Yechiel's "Nazi" Yom Kippur are truly "Days of Awe". Even when death is certain, life can be lived.
THE ELEVENTH NOVEL IN THE BESTSELLING SHIPYARD GIRLS SERIES Sunderland, 1944 As the promise of victory draws closer, this Christmas will surely be one to remember. It should be a magical time for Dorothy, who has just been proposed to by her sweetheart Toby. But with each day that passes, Dorothy's feelings for someone else are growing stronger. Now she has an impossible choice to make. Gloria is thrilled that her sweetheart Jack is finally home after more than two years away. But his past is continuing to catch up with them both - creating untold heartache for Gloria and everyone she holds dear. Meanwhile Helen must contend with the fall-out of a shocking family secret that has repercussions for all the Shipyard Girls, while holding out hope for her own happy ending... Can a little festive magic help them win the day? ___________________________________________ Praise for Nancy Revell: 'Nancy Revell knows how to stir the passions and soothe the heart!' Northern Echo 'Stirring and heartfelt storytelling' Peterborough Evening Telegraph 'Emotional and gripping' Take a Break
An extraordinary narrative inspired by true events. 1938. Eli Stoff and his parents, Austrian Jews, escape to America just after Germany takes over their homeland. Within five years, Eli joins the US Army and, like all those who became known as Ritchie boys, he works undercover in Intelligence on the European front to help the Allies win World War II. In A Ritchie Boy, different characters tell interrelated stories that, together, form a cohesive narrative that follows Eli from Vienna to New York, from Ohio to Maryland, and then to war-torn Europe before he returns to the heartland of his new country to set down his roots. Set during the dawn of World War II and the disruptive decade to follow, A Ritchie Boy is the poignant, compelling tale of one young immigrant's triumph over adversity. |
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