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Books > Humanities > History > World history > From 1900 > Second World War
This, quite simply, is the definitive book on the life of the man who prepared the ground for victory in the Battle of Britain. Without him, Britain and the world would have entered a dark age. Making full use of archival sources and information provided by family members, respected historian Professor Vincent Orange has produced a masterful biography of a truly remarkable man.
Holocaust survivor Eddie Jaku made a vow to smile every day and believed he was the 'happiest man on earth'. In his inspirational memoir, he paid tribute to those who were lost by telling his story and sharing his wisdom. 'Eddie looked evil in the eye and met it with joy and kindness . . . [his] philosophy is life-affirming' - Daily Express Life can be beautiful if you make it beautiful. It is up to you. Eddie Jaku always considered himself a German first, a Jew second. He was proud of his country. But all of that changed in November 1938, when he was beaten, arrested and taken to a concentration camp. Over the next seven years, Eddie faced unimaginable horrors every day, first in Buchenwald, then in Auschwitz, then on a Nazi death march. He lost family, friends, his country. The Happiest Man on Earth is a powerful, heartbreaking and ultimately hopeful memoir of how happiness can be found even in the darkest of times. 'Australia's answer to Captain Tom . . . a memoir that extols the power of hope, love and mutual support' - The Times
THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK IS 'A MONUMENT TO THE HUMAN SPIRIT' One of the most famous accounts of living under the Nazi regime comes from the diary of a thirteen-year-old Jewish girl, Anne Frank. Edited by her father Otto H. Frank and German novelist Mirjam Pressler, this is a true story to be rediscovered by each new generation. _________________________________ 12th July 1944: 'It's difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.' In the summer of 1942, fleeing the horrors of the Nazi occupation, Anne Frank and her family were forced into hiding in the back of an Amsterdam warehouse. Aged thirteen, Anne kept a diary of her time in the secret annexe. She movingly revealed how the eight people living under these extraordinary conditions coped with hunger, the daily threat of discovery and death and isolation from the outside world. A thought-provoking record of tension and struggle, adolescence and confinement, anger and heartbreak, the diary of Anne Frank is a testament to the atrocities of the past and a promise they will never be forgotten. _________________________________ 'One of the greatest books of the century' Guardian 'Rings down the decades as the most moving testament to the persecution of innocence' Daily Mail 'Astonishing and excruciating. Its gnaws at us still' New York Times Book Review
The history of Special Operations Executive (SOE) seems to spring a never-ending run of surprises, and here are some more. This book explores the mysterious world of the tools SOE used for their missions of subversion and sabotage. An often grim reality is confronted that is more akin with the world of James Bond and Q's workshop than previously believed. Written by two scientists, one of whom served in the SOE and one who was tasked with clearing up after it was disbanded; their insider knowledge presents a clear account of the way in which SOE's inventors worked. From high explosive technology to chemical and biological devices; from the techniques of air supply to incendiarism; from camouflage to underwater warfare; and from radio communications to weaponry. SOE: The Scientific Secrets is a revelation about the tools that allowed the murky world of spying and spies to operate during wartime.
The significant and sustained popular interest in the Second World War is matched by the scale and scope of scholarly engagement in the subject. The articles selected for this volume cover a wide range of topics reflecting the fact that the largest recorded war in history and the most intense period of global instability in the twentieth century, was fought by many different states, large and small, over differing periods of time and for many different reasons. In an area where there is no shortage of material to choose from, the articles presented here are distinguished for their depth of scholarship, stylistic elegance and inter-disciplinary confidence.
Alan Turing was an extraordinary man who crammed into his 42 years the careers of mathematician, codebreaker, computer scientist and biologist. He is widely regarded as a war hero grossly mistreated by his unappreciative country, and it has become hard to disentangle the real man from the story. Now Dermot Turing has taken a fresh look at the influences on his uncle's life and creativity, and the creation of a legend. He discloses the real character behind the cipher-text, answering questions that help the man emerge from his legacy: how did Alan's childhood experiences influence him? How did his creative ideas evolve? Was he really a solitary genius? What was his wartime work after 1942, and what of the Enigma story? What is the truth about the conviction for gross indecency, and did he commit suicide? In Alan Turing Decoded, Dermot's vibrant and entertaining approach to the life and work of a true genius makes this a fascinating and authoritative read.
The Home Guards are an attacking force lying in wait for, and ready to destroy, and enemy who dares to set foot on out shores.' The Home Guard has been immortalised in British culture in the TV series Dad's Army. Formed by men not eligible for active service - too old, too young, in reserved occupations vital to the war effort - who were expected to resist a German invasion with any resources they had to hand, the Home Guard is the embodiment of plucky British resolve against the odds. The Home Guard Pocket-Book evokes this spirit. Written by Brig-Gen Green, commanding 4th battalion, Sussex Home Guard and Training Adviser for the Sussex Zone, this book is based on his experience and, in his own words, 'is the result of my ransacking the dusty pigeon-holes of memory and the condensation of many books, official instructions and writings'. Its tone is informal and colloquial, such as: 'March discipline. Troops will always march off the parade ground at the Slope. As soon as this has been done the order "March at Ease" should be given. When marching at ease the rifle may be carried in any way a soldier fancies.' Nevertheless, the book is full of sound advice on training, organisation and discipline, fire arms, reconnaissance and field engineering, the responsibilities of the Group Pigeon Officer, the proper position to adopt for surviving a dive bomb attack, and how to set a trap for an unwary advancing German cyclist!
When the Soviet Union invaded Finland in late 1939, what transpired was a true “David and Goliath†conflict. When Finland refused a number of Soviet demands, including the ceding of substantial border territories ostensibly to enable the Soviets to protect Leningrad, the Soviets responded by launching an invasion. The invasion involved a large Soviet army, with several thousand tanks, and a large air force. But to the world's surprise the Finnish Army - many of them reservists without proper uniforms and limited ammunition - and Air Force battled overwhelming odds, and managed to resist Russian attacks for over two months, inflicting serious losses. Geography played its part as much of the Finnish-Soviet border was impassable, meaning that Soviet numerical superiority was of less import. Operating in the winter, with temperatures ranging as low as -43F, the Finns’ determined resistance won them international reputation. Although hostilities finally ended in a peace treaty that saw Finland cede 9% of its territory, Soviet losses had been heavy, and Finland retained its sovereignty. This fully illustrated text will cover the forces involved and all stages of the Winter War.
With devastating clarity and gentle humour, Mabel Hewitt relives her extraordinary childhood in the shadow of two world wars. Born in the thirties when the threat of the poorhouse hung over working families, 92-year-old Mabel remembers a chaotic home life dominated by a father traumatised after years in the trenches at Ypres. She was just 10 when war clouds gathered again, as sirens wailed and Mabel took shelter underground with her mother and sisters. Mabel's riveting account of the years that followed, and particularly Coventry's terrible Blitz, bombs whistling down and the cries of pain and fury all around her, mixes with her memories of every-day experiences of a child in wartime. Mabel was growing up fast and, by the end of the war, she was a young woman falling in love. This extraordinary account is an inspiring story of love and hope, following Mabel's journey right up to the present day.
Wendy Lower's stunning account of the role of German women on the
World War II Nazi eastern front powerfully revises history, proving
that we have ignored the reality of women's participation in the
Holocaust, including as brutal killers. The long-held picture of
German women holding down the home front during the war, as loyal
wives and cheerleaders for the Fuhrer, pales in comparison to
Lower's incisive case for the massive complicity, and worse, of the
500,000 young German women she places, for the first time, directly
in the killing fields of the expanding Reich.
"It's long been assumed of the region where my grandmother was born...that at some point each year the dead will come home," Inara Verzemnieks writes in this exquisite story of war, exile, and reconnection. Her grandmother's stories recalled one true home: the family farm left behind in Latvia, where, during WWII, her grandmother Livija and her grandmother's sister, Ausma, were separated. They would not see each other again for more than 50 years. Raised by her grandparents in Washington State, Inara grew up among expatriates, scattering smuggled Latvian sand over the coffins of the dead, singing folk songs about a land she had never visited. When Inara discovers the scarf Livija wore when she left home, in a box of her grandmother's belongings, this tangible remnant of the past points the way back to the remote village where her family broke apart. There it is said the suspend their exile once a year for a pilgrimage through forests and fields to the homes they left behind. Coming to know Ausma and the trauma of her exile to Siberia under Stalin, Inara pieces together Livija's survival through years as a refugee. Weaving these two parts of the family story together in spellbinding, lyrical prose, she gives us a profound and cathartic account of loss, survival, resilience, and love.
Allene Carter's father-in-law was a decorated veteran. Yet it was not until the Carter family received a call from the White House that she discovered he was a heroic force in the Rhineland campaign. President Clinton awarded the Medal of Honor to several black soldiers who served in World War II. Sergeant Edward A. Carter Jr. was among the recipients. Shocked to learn the extent of Carter's service, Allene was determined to uncover both the truth about her father-in-law's wartime record and why his official recognition was so long in coming. Here is the story not only of Sergeant Carter but also of his family's fight to restore his honor. Theirs is a journey that takes them from local veterans organizations to the office of the president and front pages of the national media. An important piece of American history, "Honoring Sergeant Carter" is an enduring story of determination and family love.
The Pacific War is an umbrella term that refers collectively to a disparate set of wars, however, this book presents a strong case for considering this assemblage of conflicts as a collective, singular war. It highlights the genuine thematic commonalities in the legacies of war that cohere across the Asia-Pacific and shows how the wars, both individually and collectively, wrought dramatic change to the geo-political makeup of the region. This book discusses the cultural, political and social implications of the Pacific War and engages with debates over the war's impact, legacies, and continuing cultural resonances. Crucially, it examines the meanings and significance of the Second World War from a truly international perspective and the contributors present fascinating case studies that highlight the myriad of localised idiosyncrasies in how the Pacific War has been remembered and deployed in political contexts. The chapters trace the shared legacy that the individual wars had on demographics, culture and mobility across the Asia Pacific, and demonstrate how in the aftermath of the war political borders were transformed and new nation states emerged. The book also considers racial and sexual tensions which accompanied the arrival of both Allied and Axis personnel and their long lasting consequences, as well as the impact returning veterans and the war crime trials that followed the conflict had on societies in the region. In doing so, it succeeds in illuminating the events and issues that unfolded in the weeks, months, and indeed decades after the war. This interdisciplinary volume examines the aftermaths and legacies of war for individuals, communities, and institutions across South, Southeast, and East Asia, Oceania, and the Pacific world. As such, it will be welcomed by students and scholars of Asian history, modern history and cultural history, as well as by those interested in issues of memory and commemoration.
The Blitz of 1940-41 is one of the most iconic periods in modern British history - and one of the most misunderstood. The 'Blitz spirit' is celebrated by some, whereas others dismiss it as a myth. Joshua Levine's thrilling biography rejects the tired arguments and reveals the human truth: the Blitz was a time of extremes of experience and behaviour. People werepulling together and helping strangers, but they were also breaking rules and exploiting each other. Life during wartime, the author reveals, was complex and messy and real. From the first page readers will discover a different story to the one they thought they knew - from the sacrifices made by ordinary people to a sudden surge in the popularity of nightclubs; from secret criminal trials at the Old Bailey to a Columbine-style murder in an Oxford college. There were new working opportunities for women and the appearance of unfamiliar cultures: whilst prayers were offered up in a south London mosque, Jamaican sailors were struggling to cross the country.Unlikely friendships were fostered and surprising sexualities explored - these years saw a boom in prostitution and even the emergence of a popular weekly magazine for fetishists. On the darker side, racketeers and spivs made money out of the chaos, and looters prowled the night to prey on bomb victims. From the lack of cheese to the decreased suicide rate, this astonishing and entertaining book takes the true pulse of a 'blitzed nation'. And it shows how social change during this time led to political change - which in turn has built the Britain we know today.
In French and in English, one side shows the position of the different armies and the progression of the Battle of Normandy. The other side features a photograph which shows the magnitude of the D-Day landing in Normandy.
'Victor Gregg is the most remarkable spokesman for the war generation' Dan Snow 'A classic' Mail on Sunday 'Astonishing' James Holland Born in 1919, Victor Gregg enlisted in the Rifle Brigade aged just eighteen and began a life of adventure. A soldier throughout the Second World War, he saw action across North Africa, was a driver for the Long Range Desert group and fought at the battle of Alamein. Taken into captivity at the Battle of Arnhem in 1944, he was sentenced to death for sabotaging a Dresden factory; he escaped only when the Allies' infamous air raid blew apart his prison and very soon encountered the advancing Red Army. Revised and expanded with exclusive new material in time for Gregg's 100th birthday, Rifleman is the extraordinary story of an independent-minded and quick-witted survivor.
"Compellingly chronicles one of the least studied great episodes of World War II with power and authority...A riveting read" (Donald L. Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Masters of the Air) about World War II's largest airborne operation--one that dropped 17,000 Allied paratroopers deep into the heart of Nazi Germany.On the morning of March 24, 1945, more than two thousand Allied aircraft droned through a cloudless sky toward Germany. Escorted by swarms of darting fighters, the armada of transport planes carried 17,000 troops to be dropped, via parachute and glider, on the far banks of the Rhine River. Four hours later, after what was the war's largest airdrop, all major objectives had been seized. The invasion smashed Germany's last line of defense and gutted Hitler's war machine; the war in Europe ended less than two months later. Four Hours of Fury follows the 17th Airborne Division as they prepare for Operation Varsity, a campaign that would rival Normandy in scale and become one of the most successful and important of the war. Even as the Third Reich began to implode, it was vital for Allied troops to have direct access into Germany to guarantee victory--the 17th Airborne secured that bridgehead over the River Rhine. And yet their story has until now been relegated to history's footnotes. In this viscerally exciting account, paratrooper-turned-historian James Fenelon "details every aspect of the American 17th Airborne Division's role in Operation Varsity...inspired" (The Wall Street Journal). Reminiscent of A Bridge Too Far and Masters of the Air, Four Hours of Fury does for the 17th Airborne what Band of Brothers did for the 101st. It is a captivating, action-packed tale of heroism and triumph spotlighting one of World War II's most under-chronicled and dangerous operations.
Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this book raises new questions and provides different perspectives on the roles, responsibilities, ethics and protection of interpreters in war while investigating the substance and agents of Japanese war crimes and legal aspects of interpreters' taking part in war crimes. Informed by studies on interpreter ethics in conflict, historical studies of Japanese war crimes and legal discussion on individual liability in war crimes, Takeda provides a detailed description and analysis of the 39 interpreter defendants and interpreters as witnesses of war crimes at British military trials against the Japanese in the aftermath of the Pacific War, and tackles ethical and legal issues of various risks faced by interpreters in violent conflict. The book first discusses the backgrounds, recruitment and wartime activities of the accused interpreters at British military trials in addition to the charges they faced, the defence arguments and the verdicts they received at the trials, with attention to why so many of the accused were Taiwanese and foreign-born Japanese. Takeda provides a contextualized discussion, focusing on the Japanese military's specific linguistic needs in its occupied areas in Southeast Asia and the attributes of interpreters who could meet such needs. In the theoretical examination of the issues that emerge, the focus is placed on interpreters' proximity to danger, visibility and perceived authorship of speech, legal responsibility in war crimes and ethical issues in testifying as eyewitnesses of criminal acts in violent hostilities. Takeda critically examines prior literature on the roles of interpreters in conflict and ethical concerns such as interpreter neutrality and confidentiality, drawing on legal discussion of the ineffectiveness of the superior orders defence and modes of individual liability in war crimes. The book seeks to promote intersectoral discussion on how interpreters can be protected from exposure to manifestly unlawful acts such as torture.
In Hitler's Foreign Executioners, Heinrich Himmler's secret master plan for Europe is revealed: an SS empire that would have no place for either the Nazi Party or Adolf Hitler. His astonishingly ambitious plan depended on the recruitment of tens of thousands of 'Germanic' peoples from every corner of Europe, and even parts of Asia, to build an 'SS Europa'. This revised and fully updated book, researched in archives all over Europe and using first-hand testimony, exposes Europe's dirty secret: nearly half a million Europeans and more than a million Soviet citizens enlisted in the armed forces of the Third Reich to fight a deadly crusade against a mythic foe, Jewish Bolshevism. Even today, some apologists claim that these foreign SS volunteers were merely soldiers 'like any other' and fought a decent war against Stalin's Red Army. Historian Christopher Hale demonstrates conclusively that these surprisingly common views are mistaken. By taking part in Himmler's murderous master plan, these foreign executioners hoped to prove that they were worthy of joining his future 'SS Europa'. But as the Reich collapsed in 1944, Himmler's monstrous scheme led to bitter confrontations with Hitler - and to the downfall of the man once known as 'loyal Heinrich'.
In 1953, Ian Fleming's literary sensation James Bond emerged onto the world's stage. Nearly seven decades later, he has become a multi-billion-pound film franchise, now equipped with all the gizmos of the modern world. Yet Fleming's creation, who battled his way through the fourteen novels from 1953 to 1966, was a maverick - a man out of place. Bond even admits it, wishing he was back in the real war ... the Second World War. Indeed, the thread of the Second World War runs through the whole of the Bond series, and many were inspired by the real events and people Fleming came across during his time in Naval Intelligence. In Ian Fleming's War, Mark Simmons explores these remarkable similarities, from Fleming's scheme to capture a German naval codebook that appears in Thunderball as Plan Omega, to the exploits of 30 Assault Unit, the commando team he helped to create, which inspired Moonraker.
'An important contribution to our recent history' ANDREW MARR 'Absorbing and important' JOAN BAKEWELL 'One of my favourite reads of 2021' GARETH RUSSELL Poignant and inspiring, Women in the War tells the first-hand stories of ten of the last surviving female members of Britain's 'Greatest Generation'. Whether flying Spitfires to the frontline, aiding code breaking at Bletchley Park, plotting the Battle of the Atlantic or working with Churchill in the Cabinet War Rooms, each of these women made a crucial contribution to the conflict overseas and helped to buttress the home front. Here they recount their remarkable experiences during the Second World War, recalling how their formative years were shaped by danger and trauma, and how friendship and romance fortified their spirits. Drawing on the insight that comes with age, they contemplate how the conflict helped women prove their worth, transforming society and sparking the later battles for equal rights. With a reporter's eye for detail, Lucy Fisher artfully weaves together moving contemporary interviews with gripping wartime diaries and letters. This is a vivid oral history that will stay with you long after you've put it down. |
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