World War II was the first conflict in which air power was a deciding and indispensable factor. "May Day! May Day! Close Encounters (An Instructor Pilot Remembers)" reveals the personal stories of the aircrews who flew and maintained the planes and who upheld a continuous supply of trained personnel for the war effort. Full of rich, historical detail, author and former World War II pilot Jack Scott shares his experiences and those of others, giving an insightful view into the American home front and the war overseas.

"While assigned to Walker Air Base, we were subjected to all of the restrictions of rationing. Shoes, food, clothes and just about everything was rationed. One thing, however never ceased to amaze us. We were allowed only a minimum amount of gasoline for our personal autos, yet we were encouraged to practice touch and go landings as often as we personally desired and were often reminded that at the end of every mission we should make a few extra landings and take offs. The paradox of this was that on one 'go around" we would burn a minimum of 80 gallons of aviation fuel. Rationing did not apply here."

The Japanese bombing of Wake Island began a mere few hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, on December 8, 1941. Thirty-six Japanese aircraft blasted the atoll's US base and destroyed eight of twelve aircraft. For fifteen days American troops suffered endless bombardments until the second major Japanese offensive was launched on 23rd December. The battle took place on and around the atoll and its minor islets by the air, land, and naval forces of the Japanese Empire against those of the United States, with Marines playing a prominent role on both sides. Against overwhelming forces the Marines and other troops that were stationed on the island fought valiantly, but after forty-nine men had lost their lives in the fight, the remaining American men and civilians were captured by the Japanese.

"I have decided to prepare for, and if necessary to carry out, an invasion against England."--Adolph Hitler, July 16, 1940
Operation Sealion was the codename for the Nazi invasion of Britain that Hitler ordered his generals to plan after France fell in June 1940. Although the plan ultimately never came to fruition, a few sets of the Germans' detailed strategy documents are housed in the rare book rooms of libraries across Europe. But now the Bodleian Library has made documents from their set available for all to peruse in this unprecedented collection of the invasion planning materials.
The planned operation would have involved landing 160,000 German soldiers along a forty-mile stretch of coast in southeast England. Packets of reconnaissance materials were put together for the invading forces, and the most intriguing parts are now reproduced here. Each soldier was to be given maps and geographical descriptions of the British Isles that broke down the country by regions, aerial photographs pinpointing strategic targets, an extensive listing of British roads and rivers, strategic plans for launching attacks on each region, an English dictionary and phrase book, and even a brief description of Britain's social composition.
Augmenting the fascinating documents is an informative introduction that sets the materials in their historical and political context. A must-have for every military history buff, "German Invasion Plans for the British Isles, 1940" is a remarkable revelation of the inner workings of Hitler's most famous unrealized military campaign.

On 19 February 1942 the Japanese air force bombed Darwin. Whilst this fact is well known, very few people know exactly what happened. Timothy Hall was the first writer to be given acess to all the official reports of the time and as a result he has been able to reveal exactly what happened on that dreadful day - a day which Sir Paul Hasluck (17th Governor-General of Australia) later described as 'a day of national shame'. The sequence of events in Darwin that day certainly did not reflect the military honour that the War Cabinet wanted people to believe. On the contrary, for what really happened was a combination of chaos, panic and, in many cases, cowardice on an unprecented scale.

Ruth SchwertfegerThis is the first book in English on Theresienstadt (Terezin) concentration camp in former Czechoslovakia and the only one of its kind which focuses on the women who were forced to live in it. Interwoven with the description of everyday life in the camp are memoirs and poems selected from the work of over twenty women. Carefully translated into English, these testimonies form an extraordinary and moving collection.

As expansive as it is personal, this chronicle of World War II is a firsthand account by a journalist and the woman he would marry of the dramatic events that engulfed the world in the middle of the twentieth century. The correspondence between Charles Kiley and Billee Gray also tells the poignant tale of two young people in love but forced apart by the circumstances of war. Edited by Charles and Billee's daughter, son, and son-in-law, this never-before-published compilation of letters is a striking example of the heroic, call-to-duty spirit that characterized "the greatest generation." Charles was a soldier-journalist for the U.S. Army's Stars and Stripes newspaper and reported on the war from London, Normandy, Paris, Reims, Belgium, and Germany. As the sole reporter allowed direct access to Eisenhower's staff, he was the only reporter on the scene when the German high command was negotiating its unconditional surrender on May 7, 1945. Among his army newspaper friends and colleagues was Andy Rooney, later CBS correspondent and 60 Minutes commentator. Billee, like many young women of her time, witnessed the war years from the home front and filled vital civilian roles--defense-industry plant worker, Red Cross volunteer, war bonds salesgirl, and civil defense plane-spotter--and wrote about it all in her letters to Charles. Peppered with fascinating details about soldiers' and civilians' lives, and including Stars and Stripes articles and personal photographs of the era, Writing the War is both important history and a tribute to two remarkable people as well as their extraordinary generation.

This book is the first comprehensive survey of resistance movements in Western Europe in World War II. Until now, most work on resistance has centred either on espionage networks, partisans and their external links, or on comparisons between national movements and theories of resistance. This book fills a major gap in the existing literature by providing an analysis of individual national historiographies on resistance, the debates they have engendered and their relationship to more general discussions of the occupation and postwar reconstruction of the countries concerned. Explaining the context, underlying motivations and development of resistance, contributors analyze the variety of movements and organizations as well as the extent of individual acts against the occupying power within individual states. While charting the growth of resistance activity as the war turned against the Axis, this book will also deal with the roles of specific groups and the theories which have been put forward to explain their behaviour. This includes patterns of Jewish resistance and the participation of women in what has largely been considered a male sphere. The conclusion then provides a comparative synthesis, and relates the work of the contributors to existing theories on the subject as a whole.This book will not only be core reading on courses on the social or military history of World War II but also, more generally, all courses covering the social and political history of Western European states in the twentieth century.

The murder of six million Jews during the Holocaust is a crime that has had a lasting and massive impact on our time. Despite the immense, ever-increasing body of Holocaust literature and representation, no single interpretation can provide definitive answers. Shaped by different historical experiences, political and national interests, our approximations of the Holocaust remain elusive. Holocaust responses-past, present, and future-reflect our changing understanding of history and the shifting landscapes of memory. This book takes stock of the attempts within and across nations to come to terms with the murders. Volume editors establish the thematic and conceptual framework within which the various Holocaust responses are being analyzed. Specific chapters cover responses in Germany and in Eastern Europe; the Holocaust industry; Jewish ultra-Orthodox reflections; and the Jewish intellectuals' search for a new Jewish identity. Experts comment upon the changes in Christian-Jewish relations since the Holocaust; the issue of restitution; and post-1945 responses to genocide. Other topics include Holocaust education, Holocaust films, and the national memorial landscapes in Germany, Poland, Israel, and the United States.

With the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War looming, this new edition of the Wartime Scrapbook revives memories of this evocative time in Britain's history. Life on the home front revolved around rationing, blackouts, and air raid precautions, bringing out that British spirit - humour coupled with making-do and determination. Poster propaganda kept the population digging for victory during the years of the Home Guard, Women's Land Army and austerity with dried eggs. Drawn from Robert Opie's unrivalled collection, this new edition of The Wartime Scrapbook profusely illustrates a unique period in history - the song sheets, magazine covers, comic postcards, fashion and food, games, propaganda posters and a wealth of wartime ephemera whose very survival is remarkable.

This book is a 'hidden' history of Bletchley Park during the Second World War, which explores the agency from a social and gendered perspective. It examines themes such as: the experience of wartime staff members; the town in which the agency was situated; and the cultural influences on the wartime evolution of the agency.

This study throws light for the first time on a neglected but very important aspect of Jewish life in the Third Reich, the Jewish press. This term does not refer to the significant number of Jews involved in the German media up to the Second World War but to the 65 newspapers and magazines published by 53 publishing houses with a specific German-Jewish readership in mind. These publications appeared until the end of 1938 and allow a valuable insight into the situation of the German Jews under the Nazi regime. They movingly document the efforts of the Jews to cope with the increasing precariousness of their existence in Germany and to find solutions to the growing problems of survival.

A Mail on Sunday book of the year.

In 1940, Europe was on the brink of collapse. Country after country had fallen to the Nazis, and Britain was known as ‘Last Hope Island’, where Europeans from the captive nations gathered to continue the war effort.

In this epic, character-driven narrative, acclaimed historian and New York Times–bestselling author Lynne Olson takes us back to those perilous days when the British and their European guests joined forces to combat the mightiest military force in history.

From the Polish and French code breakers who helped crack Enigma, to the Czech pilots who protected London during German bombings, Olson tells the stories of the courageous men and women who came together to defeat Hitler and save Europe.

In this fifth volume of Starr's history of California life and culture, the focus is on the positive aspects of California life during the 1930s -- especially how the state developed a style of life that would greatly influence American society as a whole.

This is the story of American volunteer pilots who risked their lives in defense of Britain during the earliest days of World War II--more than a year before Pearl Harbor, when the United States first became embroiled in the global conflict. Based on interviews, diaries, personal documents, and research in British, American, and German archives, the author has created a colorful portrait of this small group who were our nation's first combatants in World War II. As the author's research shows, their motives were various: some were idealistic; others were simply restless and looking for adventure. And though the British air force needed pilots, cultural conflicts between the raw American recruits and their reserved British commanders soon became evident. Prejudices on both sides and lack of communication had to be overcome. Eventually, the American pilots were assembled into three squadrons known as the Eagle squadrons. They saw action and suffered casualties in both England and France, notably in the attack on Dieppe. By September 1942, after America had entered the war, these now experienced pilots were transferred to the US air force, bringing their expertise and their British Spitfires with them. As much social as military history, Yanks in the RAF sheds new light on a little-known chapter of World War II and the earliest days of the sometimes fractious British-American alliance.

'AMERICAN EAGLES' is the thrilling, true story of the US 101st Airborne Division. From their rigorous training in 'Old Jolly' (England) to their first operational jump in Normandy, Whiting tells the story of this 'Band of Brothers', who fought, suffered and died in the eleven month campaign that followed. From Normandy through Holland, Bastogne, French Alsace till their final date with destiny at Hitler's Eagle's Nest in the Bavarian Alps, we gain a picture of a brave elite division 'warts and all'. Drawing on his own youthful experiences when his regiment was under the command of 101st Airborne in Holland, through painstaking research on the site of each of the 101st's battles, plus survivors stories, Whiting, perhaps Britain's most renowned popular WWII military historian, provides an ideal companion for the viewers of Steven Spielberg's celebrated $100 million TV series 'Band of Brothers'.