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Books > History > World history > From 1900 > Second World War
For years, the history of the anti-Nazi resistance in Germany was
hidden and distorted by Cold War politics. Providing a much-needed
corrective, Red Orchestra presents the dramatic story of a circle
of German citizens who opposed Hitler from the start, choosing to
stay in Germany to resist Nazism and help its victims. The book
shines a light on this critical movement which was made up of
academics, theatre people, and factory workers; Protestants,
Catholics and Jews; around 150 Germans all told and from all walks
of life. Drawing on archives, memoirs, and interviews with
survivors, award-winning scholar and journalist Anne Nelson
presents a compelling portrait of the men and women involved, and
the terrifying day-to-day decisions in their lives, from the Nazi
takeover in 1933 to their Gestapo arrest in 1942. Nelson traces the
story of the Red Orchestra (Rote Kapelle) resistance movement
within the context of German history, showing the stages of the
Nazi movement and regime from the 1920s to the end of the Second
World War. She also constructs the narrative around the life of
Greta Kuckhoff and other female figures whose role in the anti-Nazi
resistance fight is too-often unrecognised or under appreciated.
This revised edition includes: * A new introduction which explores
elements of the Red Orchestra’s experience that resonate with our
times, including: the impact of new media technologies; the dangers
of political polarization; and the way the judiciary can be shaped
to further the ends of autocracy. The introduction will also
address the long-standing misconception that the German Resistance
only took action when it was clear that Germany was losing the war.
* Historiographic updates throughout the book which take account of
recent literature and additional archival sources
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.
'Lucid and damning ... an absorbing - and infuriating - tale of
complicity, coverup and denial' PATRICK RADDEN KEEFE, author of
EMPIRE OF PAIN A groundbreaking investigation of how the Nazis
helped German tycoons make billions from the horrors of the Third
Reich and World War II - and how the world allowed them to get away
with it. In 1946, Gunther Quandt - patriarch of Germany's most
iconic industrial empire, a dynasty that today controls BMW - was
arrested for suspected Nazi collaboration. Quandt claimed that he
had been forced to join the party by his arch-rival, propaganda
minister Joseph Goebbels, and the courts acquitted him. But Quandt
lied. And his heirs, and those of other Nazi billionaires, have
only grown wealthier in the generations since, while their
reckoning with this dark past remains incomplete at best. Many of
them continue to control swaths of the world economy, owning iconic
brands whose products blanket the globe. The brutal legacy of the
dynasties that dominated Daimler-Benz, cofounded Allianz and still
control Porsche, Volkswagen and BMW has remained hidden in plain
sight - until now. In this landmark work, investigative journalist
David de Jong reveals the true story of how Germany's wealthiest
business dynasties amassed untold money and power by abetting the
atrocities of the Third Reich. Using a wealth of untapped sources,
de Jong shows how these tycoons seized Jewish businesses, procured
slave labourers and ramped up weapons production to equip Hitler's
army as Europe burnt around them. Most shocking of all, de Jong
exposes how the wider world's political expediency enabled these
billionaires to get away with their crimes, covering up a
bloodstain that defiles the German and global economy to this day.
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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