Few escapades of the Second World War have captured the public's imagination more than the successful abduction of German General Kreipe from enemy-occupied Crete in 1944. It was an operation instigated and daringly executed by two British SOE officers - Patrick Leigh Fermor and William (Billy) Stanley Moss. The war didn't stop for Billy Moss after this operation though, and it is his continuing story that is told here. He reflects movingly on what it means to fight and deal in death, how the success of operations behind enemy lines in a foreign country is dependent on the goodwill of local inhabitants, and, surprisingly, on moments of high humour that punctuate the turmoil of war. War of Shadows is a book in three parts - each displaying differing aspects of World War II and its eventual conclusion, and all told with that tell-tale blend of poignancy and humour so characteristic of the time.

To understand the turnaround in Spain's stance towards Japan during World War II, this book goes beyond mutual contacts and explains through images, representations, and racism why Madrid aimed at declaring war on Japan but not against the III Reich -as London ironically replied when it learned of Spain's warmongering against one of the Axis members.

Early in 1945 the British Liberation Army (BLA), who had battled their way from the Normandy beaches to the borders of Germany, embarked on Operation Eclipse. This was the 'end-game' of the Second World War, the unique military campaign to invade and conquer Hitler's Third Reich and liberate 20 million enslaved nationals from Holland, Denmark and Norway; to free multitudes of displaced persons (DPs) or slaves; and inter alia to free the survivors of twenty concentration camps and many Allied POW camps. The Allied Military Government (AMG) brought law and order to 23 million German nationals in the allocated British zone of occupation (BAOR) and appropriate retribution too. A thrilling race with Stalin's Red Army ensued to reach the Baltic. A matter of a few hours and Denmark and Norway would have been swept into the evil Soviet empire. The author fought vigorously as a junior RHA officer in the five great river battles - Rhine, Dortmund-Ems, Weser, Aller and the Elbe. Soon after VE Day he was the junior officer in War Crimes Tribunals in Hamburg and Oldenburg and witnessed Mr Alfred Pierrepoint administering the hanging of prison camp guards.