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Books > Humanities > History > World history > From 1900 > Second World War
Again available in paperback is Eric Sevareid's widely
acclaimed Not So Wild a Dream. In this brilliant first-person
account of a young journalist's experience during World War II,
Sevareid records both the events of the war and the development of
journalistic strategies for covering international affairs. He also
recalls vividly his own youth in North Dakota, his decision to
study journalism, and his early involvement in radio reporting
during the beginnings of World War II.
In May 1944, with American forces closing in on the Japanese
mainland, the Fifth Fleet Amphibious Force was preparing to invade
Saipan. Control of this island would put enemy cities squarely
within range of the B-29 bomber. The navy had assembled a fleet of
landing ship tanks (LSTs) in the West Loch section of Pearl Harbor.
On May 21, an explosion tore through the calm afternoon sky,
spreading fire and chaos through the ordnance-packed vessels. When
the fires had been brought under control, six LSTs had been lost,
many others were badly damaged, and more than 500 military
personnel had been killed or injured. To ensure the success of
those still able to depart for the invasion--miraculously, only one
day late--the navy at once issued a censorship order, which has
kept this disaster from public scrutiny for seventy years.
"The Second Pearl Harbor" is the first book to tell the full story
of what happened on that fateful day. Military historian Gene
Salecker recounts the events and conditions leading up to the
explosion, then re-creates the drama directly afterward: men
swimming through flaming oil, small craft desperately trying to
rescue the injured, and subsequent explosions throwing flaming
debris everywhere. With meticulous attention to detail the author
explains why he and other historians believe that the official
explanation for the cause of the explosion, that a mortar shell was
accidentally detonated, is wrong.
This in-depth account of a little-known incident adds to our
understanding of the dangers during World War II, even far from the
front, and restores a missing chapter to history.
Allied Fighters 1939-45 offers an highly-illustrated guide to
Allied fighter aircraft that fought in Europe during World War II.
Featuring all the main models flown by the Allied air forces from
1939 to 1945, the book offers a wealth of detail, including unit
markings, organization, numbers of aircraft flown by campaign and
exhaustive specifications for each model. The book is arranged
first by country and then chronologically by campaign so that every
aspect of the air war in Europe is covered. The guide features
fighters from throughout World War II, including early models, such
as the Morane Saulnier MS.406C.1, Hawker Hurricane Mk I and Fokker
D XXI, and the most advanced fighters of the period, such as the
Lavochkin La-7, P-51K Mustang and Gloster Meteor Mk I.The book also
covers aircraft that were used for air-to-air combat (Supermarine
Spitfire), ground attack (P-47 Thunderbolt), bomber escort (P-51B
Mustang), night defence (Bristol Beaufighter) and photographic
reconnaissance (P-38 Lightning). Packed with more than 200 profiles
and dozens of archive photographs of every major Allied fighter
aircraft, Allied Fighters 1939-45 is a core reference volume for
modellers and World War II aviation enthusiasts.
They called themselves Legionnaires of the Waffen SS, the new
European Army. They came from all nations of Europe, and they were
wearing the same uniform to fight for the same cause: fighting the
strong Russian Armed Forces. Almost one million of these young men
fought next to the Wehrmacht during WWII. It was during this era
that the ideal of a united Europe was born. There is no other
period in history that has been documented like the 6 years that
ranged from the invasion of Poland in 1939 to the capitulation in
Berlin in 1945. They left their homes, families, and friends with
their heart full of joy and pride. They had to endure extreme
weather from +40 to -50 while fighting on several fronts. They were
battle hardened because of this. They became good soldiers because
they knew how to survive in any situation. These young men were
prepared to give their lives for Germany and, in their eyes, for a
better Europe.
Crime, Regulation and Control during the Blitz looks at the social
effect of bombing on urban centres like Liverpool, Coventry and
London, critically examining how the wartime authorities struggled
to regulate and control crime and offending during the Blitz.
Focusing predominantly on Liverpool, it investigates how the
authorities and citizens anticipated the aerial war, and how the
State and local authorities proposed to contain and protect a
population made unruly, potentially deviant and drawn into a new
landscape of criminal regulation. Drawing on a range of
contemporary sources, the book throws into relief today's
experiences of war and terror, the response in crime and deviancy,
and the experience and practices of preparedness in anticipation of
terrible threats. The authors reveal how everyday activities became
criminalised through wartime regulations and explore how other
forms of crime such as looting, theft and drunkenness took on a new
and frightening aspect. Crime, Regulation and Control during the
Blitz offers a critical contribution to how we understand crime,
security, and regulation in both the past and the present.
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.
The experiences of the Irish in France during the war were
overshadowed by the threat of internment or destitution. Up to
2,000 Irish people were stuck in occupied France after the defeat
by Nazi Germany in June 1940. This population consisted largely of
governesses and members of religious orders, but also the likes of
Samuel Beckett, as well as a few individuals who managed to find
themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time and ended up in
internment camps (or worse). The book examines the engagement of
the Irish in various forms of resistance. It also reveals that the
attitude of some of the Irish towards the German occupiers was not
always as clear-cut as politically correct discourse would like to
suggest.There are fascinating revelations, most notably that
Ireland's diplomatic representative in Paris sold quantities of
wine to Hermann Goering; that Irish passports were given out very
liberally (including to a convicted British rapist); that, in the
early part of the war, some Irish ended up in internment camps in
France and, through the slowness of the Irish authorities to
intervene, were subsequently sent to concentration camps in
Germany; and that a couple of Irish people faced criminal
proceedings in France after the Liberation because of their wartime
dealings with the Germans.
With the same drama and excitement as Panzer Aces, Panzer Aces II
relates the combat careers of six more decorated German Panzer
officers. Extensively researched, these gripping accounts follow
the men and their tanks across three continents into some of World
War II's bloodiest engagements. They campaigned with Rommel in the
deserts of North Africa, participated in the monumental tank battle
at Kursk, and, maneuvering only by muzzle flashes, fought
frightening small-unit contests in the dark of night. Master
tacticians and gutsy leaders, these men, including Hermann von
Oppeln-Bronikowski, Kurt Knispel, Karl Nicolussi-Leck, and others,
are legends.
On June 22, 1941, Germany launched the greatest land assault in
history on the Soviet Union, an attack that Adolf Hitler deemed
crucial to ensure German economic and political survival. As the
key theater of the war for the Germans, the eastern front consumed
enormous levels of resources and accounted for 75 percent of all
German casualties. Despite the significance of this campaign to
Germany and to the war as a whole, few English-language
publications of the last thirty-five years have addressed these
pivotal events. In Ostkrieg: Hitler's War of Extermination in the
East, Stephen G. Fritz bridges the gap in scholarship by
incorporating historical research from the last several decades
into an accessible, comprehensive, and coherent narrative. His
analysis of the Russo-German War from a German perspective covers
all aspects of the eastern front, demonstrating the interrelation
of military events, economic policy, resource exploitation, and
racial policy that first motivated the invasion. This in-depth
account challenges accepted notions about World War II and promotes
greater understanding of a topic that has been neglected by
historians.
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