When 3 Para began their assault under cover of darkness on Mount Longdon in June 1982, nobody knew what to expect. The three platoons of B Company each approached the mountain silently, treading carefully through a series of defensive minefields. But following an explosion, fighting quickly escalated with shocking speed and severity, resulting in some of the bloodiest close hand fighting, terrible injuries and shocking loss of life experienced by British troops since the Korean war.

Forty years on, James O'Connell - who fought there and was injured himself - recreates this bloody battle in a gut-wrenching 360 degree classic.

Frustrated by highly inaccurate books about the battle, O'Connell decided to set the record straight. He revisited the Falkland's five times with comrades and Argentine soldiers and literally walked through the battle with them, step-by-step, creating an unprecedented masterpiece of immersive military publishing.

Combined with rare access to the Battalion's records and radio logs, the resulting book is the last word in Mount Longdon, and might be the most harrowingly realistic description of modern warfare you will ever read.

A moving and personal account of a young woman's experiences of the Second World War from the mother of Sir Tim Rice. Joan Rice had the same ambitions as many young women of her generation: she wanted to write; wanted to travel; wanted to be famous. With the outbreak of World War II she hurried to enlist - aged 20 - in the Women's Auxillary Air Force, hoping for change, for adventure, and for the chance to 'swank around in uniform'. Throughout the early years of the conflict she kept a regular diary of her life as a WAAF. Working first at RAF Hendon, she soon moved to a job in British Intelligence, and ultimately to postings in Egypt and Palestine. She witnessed the 'phoney war' explode into the Battle of Britain, lived through the London Blitz and was forced by Rommell's advance to flee Cairo. But her diary also tells the story of everyday war life, of the social whirl of service society and of her very first encounter with the man who would become her husband. 'Sand in my Shoes' is a compelling first-hand account of life and love in a defeated Europe. Written with flair and exuberance, Joan's story has lain untouched for some fifty years. Incorporating additional material from her husband's own notes, her diary is a testament to the many women who kept the RAF in the air.

From the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning history The Dead Hand comes the riveting story of a spy who cracked open the Soviet military research establishment and a penetrating portrait of the CIA's Moscow station, an outpost of daring espionage in the last years of the Cold War

While driving out of the American embassy in Moscow on the evening of February 16, 1978, the chief of the CIA's Moscow station heard a knock on his car window. A man on the curb handed him an envelope whose contents stunned U.S. intelligence: details of top-secret Soviet research and developments in military technology that were totally unknown to the United States. In the years that followed, the man, Adolf Tolkachev, an engineer in a Soviet military design bureau, used his high-level access to hand over tens of thousands of pages of technical secrets. His revelations allowed America to reshape its weapons systems to defeat Soviet radar on the ground and in the air, giving the United States near total superiority in the skies over Europe.

One of the most valuable spies to work for the United States in the four decades of global confrontation with the Soviet Union, Tolkachev took enormous personal risks--but so did the Americans. The CIA had long struggled to recruit and run agents in Moscow, and Tolkachev was a singular breakthrough. Using spy cameras and secret codes as well as face-to-face meetings in parks and on street corners, Tolkachev and his handlers succeeded for years in eluding the feared KGB in its own backyard, until the day came when a shocking betrayal put them all at risk.

Drawing on previously secret documents obtained from the CIA and on interviews with participants, David Hoffman has created an unprecedented and poignant portrait of Tolkachev, a man motivated by the depredations of the Soviet state to master the craft of spying against his own country. Stirring, unpredictable, and at times unbearably tense, The Billion Dollar Spy is a brilliant feat of reporting that unfolds like an espionage thriller.

Many of the most famous escapes in history took place during the Second World War. These daring flights from Nazi-occupied Europe would never have been possible but for the assistance of a hitherto secret British service: MI9. This small, dedicated and endlessly inventive team gave hope to the men who had fallen into enemy hands, and aid to resistance fighters in occupied territory. It sent money, maps, clothes, compasses, even hacksaws - and in return coded letters from the prisoner-of-war camps and provided invaluable news of what was happening in the enemy's homeland. Understaffed and under-resourced, MI9 nonetheless made a terrific contribution to the Allied war effort. First published in 1979, this book tells the full, inside story of an extraordinary organisation.

From the shattered land of Israel and Occupied Palestine comes a vivid account of anguish and determination. In his passionate essays penned during the violence of the Second Intifada, writer Henry Ralph Carse, practical theologian, pilgrim and scholar, seeks meaning in the seemingly senseless conflict. Living in the heart of East Jerusalem, Carse is an educator and the father of four children growing up in the midst of the mayhem. Driven by hope and concern, he chronicles his daily ventures into No-One Land, engaging both Israelis and Palestinians in the terrible and inspiring realities of their lives in the crossfire.

Darkly funny, shockingly honest, Brothers in Arms is an unforgettable account of a soldier's tour of Afghanistan, the brutal reality of war - every scary, exciting moment - and the bonds of friendship that can never be destroyed. 'If you could choose which two limbs got blown off, what would you go for?' Danny said. 'Your arms or your legs?' In July 2009, Geraint (Gez) Jones was sitting in Camp Bastion, Afghanistan with the rest of The Firm - Danny, Jay, Toby and Jake, his four closest friends, all junior NCOs and combat-hardened infantrymen. Thanks to the mangled remains of a Jackal vehicle left tactlessly outside their tent, IEDs were never far from their mind. Within days they'd be on the ground in Musa Qala with the rest of 3 Platoon - a mixed bunch of men Gez would die for. As they fight furiously, are pushed to their limits, hemmed in by IEDs and hampered by the chain of command, Gez starts to wonder what is the point of it all. The bombs they uncover on patrol, on their stomachs brushing the sand away, are replaced the next day. Firefights are a momentary victory in a war they can see is unwinnable. Gez is a warrior - he wants more than this. But then death and injury start to take their toll on The Firm, leaving Gez with PTSD and a new battle just beginning. 'Jones writes of his brothers and their Afghan experience, from its adrenalin-filled highs to the many lows, with passion and candour.' - Major Adam Jowett, bestselling author of No Way Out 'A gritty, brutal book about men at war. Raw and real. Brilliant.' - Tom Marcus, author of Soldier Spy

'A fast-paced, thrilling account of British heroism, brave men surrounded and fighting against overwhelming odds. This is the real, sometimes shocking, and deeply personal story of modern warfare and PTSD.' Andy McNab 'This hugely timely book reveals in gripping detail the personal stories of its hidden victims - lest we forget.' Damien Lewis Trapped in an isolated outpost on the edge of the Helmand desert, a small force of British and Afghan soldiers is holding out against hundreds of Taliban fighters. Under brutal siege conditions, running low on food and ammunition, he experiences the full horror of combat. As the casualties begin to mount and the enemy closes in, Evans finds both his leadership and his belief in the war severely tested. Returning home, he is haunted by the memories of Afghanistan. He can't move on and his life begins to spin out of control. Under the Bearskin was previously published as Code Black.

In the tradition of 'Agent Zigzag' comes a breathtaking biography of WWII's 'Scarlet Pimpernel' as fast-paced and emotionally intuitive as the best spy thrillers. This celebrates unsung hero Robert de La Rochefoucauld, an aristocrat turned anti-Nazi saboteur, and his exploits as a British Special Operations Executive-trained resistant When the Nazis invaded France during the Second World War and imprisoned his father, Robert de La Rochefoucauld - a scion of one of the oldest aristocratic families in France - escaped to England and trained in the dark arts of anarchy and combat. Under the guidance of SOE spies, he learned to crack safes, plant bombs and kill enemies with his bare hands. Then, back in France, he organised Resistance cells, killed Nazi officers and interfered with German missions. He survived unbearable torture and escaped Nazi confinement on not one but two occasions, to live well into his eighties. The adventures of de La Rochefoucauld offer rare insight into a unique moment in history, revealing brand new information about a network of commandos who battled evil and bravely worked together to change the course of history.

Escape from Paris is the true story of a small group of U.S. aviators whose four B-17 Flying Fortresses were shot down over German-occupied France on a single, fateful day: July 14, 1943, Bastille Day. They were rescued by brave French civilians and taken to Paris for eventual escape out of France. In the French capital, where German troops walked on every street and Gestapo agents hid around every corner, the flyers met a brave Parisian resistance family living and working in the Hotel des Invalides, a complex of buildings and military memorials, where Nazi officials had set up offices. Hidden in the complex the Americans, along with dozens of other downed Allied pilots and resistance operatives, hatched daring escape plots. The danger of discovery by the Nazis grew every day, as did an unlikely romance when one of the American airmen begins a star-crossed wartime romance with the twenty-two-year old daughter of the family sheltering him-a noir tale of war, courage and desperation in the shadows of the City of Light. Based on official American, French, and German documents, histories, personal memoirs, and the author's interviews with several of the story's key participants, Escape from Paris crosses the traditional lines of World War II history with tense drama of air combat over Europe, the intrigue of occupied Paris, and courageous American and Allied pilots and French resistance fighters pitted against Nazi thugs. All of this set in one of the world's most beautiful and captivating cities.

Simon Chase's life is a maze of burner phones, encrypted emails, secret meetings, and weaponry - all devoted to executing missions too sensitive for government acknowledgement. Working for shadowy British and American organisations, Chase has been on the trail of Bin Laden in Afghanistan, protected allied generals in Iraq, and been part of an operation directly related to the attack in 2012 on the US consulate in Benghazi. Zero Footprint takes us to this dangerous and thrilling world, and tells the true story of a private military contractor whose work forms the foundation for western security abroad, especially when the UK and US military, intelligence agencies, and departments of state need something done that they can't - or won't - do themselves.

Homage to Catalonia remains one of the most famous accounts of the Spanish Civil War. With characteristic scrutiny, Orwell questions the actions and motives of all sides whilst retaining his firm beliefs in human courage and the need for radical social change.

Part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library; a series of stunning, clothbound, pocket sized classics with gold foiled edges and ribbon markers. These beautiful books make perfect gifts or a treat for any book lover. This edition is introduced by Helen Graham, a leading historian on the Spanish Civil War.

When George Orwell arrived in Spain in 1936, he signed up to fight with the Republican army against Fascism. Homage to Catalonia is his bracing personal account of his experiences in the Spanish Civil War. From the front line he describes, with brutal honesty, the frustrations and inefficiencies of battle; he is caught up in vicious street fighting in Barcelona and must flee for his life when Republican factions turn on each other.

From master storyteller Andy McNab, this is the opening book in an adventure-filled and action-packed new series telling, for the first time ever, the true stories of Special Forces missions. 'McNab's first major non-autobiographical work of non-fiction ... The operation is told like a novel [...] and it is as refreshingly informal and compellingly immediate as his other books' Daily Express 'Part history lesson, part military manual, part fixed-bayonets thriller. A must for Special Forces fans' The Sun It is the early 2000s and 9/11 is fresh in the world's memory. The Taliban have taken over Afghanistan, and armed militants and explosive devices are terrorising the people. And now a new threat is emerging in the country: suicide bombings, ordered by military commander of the Taliban, Mullah Dadullah. Special Forces are sent in to stop him. The Hunt is the thrilling story of the secret mission to catch Dadullah, one of the most dangerous men alive. Using classified sources and his unique insight into the way the SAS works, Andy McNab gives a page-turning account of what it took the Special Forces to find their target and what they would have to do to take him down. An explosive story of hostage negotiations, undercovers missions and a final, epic assault on Dadullah's compound that could leave only one side alive, The Hunt is a powerful retelling of a real-life Special Forces mission.

In this definitive history, William R. Keylor traces the tumultuous relationship between Charles de Gaulle and a host of other key twentieth-century figures: his former mentor Marshal Philippe Petain, who headed the collaborationist government in the southern French city of Vichy as the German army occupied the northern two-thirds of the country; Sir Winston Churchill, the British prime minister whose government supported and financed de Gaulle and the Free French, but who clashed with the French leader on a number of hot-button issues; and, most critically, the six American presidents from FDR to Nixon. Keylor uses the metaphor "thorn in the side" to emphasize the fact that challenges from the intrepid French leader were often an annoyance to the Americans, who all had many more important issues to deal with-World War II for Roosevelt and Truman, the Cold War for Eisenhower, and the Vietnam War for Kennedy and Johnson. Richard Nixon alone had an excellent relationship, but the two men overlapped for only four months before de Gaulle's retirement. Thoroughly researched and deeply knowledgeable, this gripping book will appeal to all readers interested in contemporary French and US history.

In 1990, in a drafty basement archive in Prague, two American historians made a startling discovery: a detailed Nazi roster from 1945 that no Western investigator had ever seen. The dusty document, containing more than 700 names, helped unravel the details behind one of the most skilful mass murder operations in World War Two. In the tiny Polish village of Trawniki, the SS built a training camp for murder and then recruited a roving army of foot soldiers, 5,000 men strong, to annihilate the Jewish population of occupied Poland. After the war, some of these men vanished, making their way to the U.S. and blending into immigrant communities in cities and suburbs across America. "The Trawniki Men" were behind the most lethal operation of the Holocaust but for years in the West, their loyal service to the SS had largely gone undetected. In a story spanning 75 years, Citizen 865 is the exclusive, definitive account of the unheralded lawyers and historians at the U.S. Department of Justice who, up against the forces of time and political opposition, battled to identify these men and hold them accountable for their unspeakable crimes.

On September 11, 2008, Warrant Officer Dominic Hagans of the 1st Battalion the Royal Irish Regiment became the latest casualty of the Afghan war when an improvised enemy bomb exploded under his vehicle, wrecking his legs and changing his life forever. As he embarked on the long road to rehabilitation and partial recovery, WO2 Hagans decided to record his experiences and those some of his comrades in print. Wounded Rangers is a compilation of no-punches-pulled true stories from the front line, plus the heart-rending story of a mother whose son was critically injured on the battlefield. Harrowing and often shocking as these accounts are, the professional soldier's determination to do his duty and his indomitable sense of humour shine through. All the proceeds from this book will go to the welfare fund of the 1st Battalion the Royal Irish Regiment, to help meet the cost of caring for their wounded and helping them to adapt and adjust to their injuries.

The British Hurt Locker. In the Iraq War, Cpt Kevin Ivison defused bombs and IEDs left by the Taliban. Each time he took the 'longest walk' to a bomb, it could have been his last. How many times can a man stare death in the face before he breaks? Even the most skilful operators can only roll the dice so many times before they get unlucky . . . This was my bomb, my task and my fate alone. There was nothing left to do but walk. When two of his colleagues are killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq, young bomb disposal officer Kevin Ivison is called in to defuse a second, even deadlier bomb just a hundred yards from the bodies of his friends. To make things worse, the entire area is under fire from snipers, and a crowd of angry Iraqis have begun to hurl petrol bombs... With little chance of living through this impossible task, Kevin leaves final messages for his loved ones and sets out alone towards the bomb that he is sure will be the last thing he sees. In this gut-wrenching and terrifying true story of heroism and survival, Kevin Ivison explains why he chose to be a bomb disposal expert in the first place, how he found the courage to face his death, and the unendurable stress that has given him nightmares ever since. An absorbing, honest, true story of life on the front lines in the Iraq War. Perfect for fans of The Hurt Locker, Sniper One and Bomb Hunters. 'The honesty with which Kevin relays his fear, his overwhelming sense that he is going to die, is impressive . . . unpretentious and accessible' Daily Telegraph 'Absorbing ... At the heart of the book is a taut, riveting account of the events of a single day - February 28, 2006 - when Ivison rushed to the scene of an IED ambush on a road known as RED ONE' - DAILY MAIL 'RED ONE is plain-spoken, heart-thumping stuff' - THE TIMES

The Iraq War's only living Medal of Honor recipient reveals the untold story of the remarkable brotherhood behind one of the war's legendary acts of valor In 2004, he stormed an enemy stronghold to save his platoon. Fourteen years later, his unit reunited and saved him. This is their story. "Acting on instinct to save the members of his platoon from an imminent threat, Staff Sergeant Bellavia ultimately cleared an entire enemy-filled house." So reads the Medal of Honor citation describing one of the Iraq War's most celebrated acts of heroism. But the full story of the brotherhood at the heart of these events is untold-and far more remarkable. In 2004, David Bellavia's U.S. Army unit, an infantry bat talion known as the Ramrods-2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division-fought and helped win the Battle of Fallujah, the bloodiest episode of the Iraq War. On November 10, 2004, Bellavia single-handedly cleared a forti fied enemy position that had pinned down a squad from his platoon. Fourteen years later, Bellavia got a call from the pres ident of the United States: he had been awarded a Medal of Honor for his actions in Fallujah and would receive America's highest award for bravery in combat during a ceremony at the White House. The news was not welcome. Bellavia had put the war behind him, created a quiet life for himself in rural western New York, and lost touch with most of his fellow Ramrods, who were once like brothers to him. The first time they gath ered as a unit after the war was at Bellavia's medal ceremony, six days in Washington, D.C., that may have saved them all. As they revisited what they had seen and done in battle and revealed to one another their journeys back into civilian life, they discovered that the bonds had not been broken by time. A decoration for one became a healing event for all. This book-beginning in brutal war and ending with this momentous, transformative reunion-covers the journey of Bellavia's platoon through fifteen years. A quintessential and timeless American tale, it is the story of how forty battle-hardened soldiers became ordinary citizens again; what they did during that time, and how November 10, 2004, rattled within them; and how their reunion brought them home at last.

Scientists have always kept secrets. But rarely in history have scientific secrets been as vital as they were during World War II. In the midst of planning the Manhattan Project, the U.S. Office of Strategic Services created a secret offshoot - the Alsos Mission - meant to gather intelligence on and sabotage if necessary, scientific research by the Axis powers. What resulted was a plot worthy of the finest thriller, full of spies, sabotage, and murder. At its heart was the 'Lightning A' team, a group of intrepid soldiers, scientists, and spies - and even a famed baseball player - who were given almost free rein to get themselves embedded within the German scientific community to stop the most terrifying threat of the war: Hitler acquiring an atomic bomb of his very own. While the Manhattan Project and other feats of scientific genius continue to inspire us today, few people know about the international intrigue and double-dealing that accompanied those breakthroughs. Bastard Brigade recounts this forgotten history, fusing a non-fiction spy thriller with some of the most incredible scientific ventures of all time.

'Powerful . A humbling and important first-hand account of a brutal civil war in which as many as 500,000 people have died' Guardian

'A memoir of resistance and survival unique in the annals of modern war . If the shedding of blood can be beautiful in words, he makes it so' Wall Street Journal

Born to Palestinian refugees, Kassem Eid grew up in the small town of Moadamiya on the outskirts of the ancient city of Damascus, playing in streets perfumed with jasmine. But it didn't take long for Kassem to realise that he was treated differently at school because of his family's resistance to the brutal government regime. When Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father in 2000, hopes that things might change for the better were swiftly crushed. When the 2011 Arab Spring protests in Syria were met with extreme violence, it was yet another blow - and as Kassem reached young adulthood, the country spiralled into civil war.

Then, on 21 August 2013, Kassem nearly died in a sarin gas attack that killed hundreds of civilians. Later that day, he would pick up a gun for the first time, to join the Free Syrian Army as they fought government forces. For Kassem, this marked the moment that he and his country changed forever - even as the rest of the world turned its face away.

A Daily Telegraph History Book of the Year 'An astonishing story... brilliantly told' Antony Beevor 'Gripping... Will appeal to anyone who relishes Ben Macintyre's tales of wartime espionage and cryptic codes.' Sunday Telegraph 'A detailed and meticulously researched tale about a pair of young German resisters that reads like a thriller.' New York Times 'Deeply engaging, enticingly written and extremely affecting.' Philippe Sands, Spectator Summertime, 1935. On a lake near Berlin, a young man is out sailing when he glimpses a woman reclining in the prow of a passing boat. Their eyes meet - and one of history's greatest conspiracies is born. Harro Schulze-Boysen had already shed blood in the fight against Nazism by the time he and Libertas Haas-Heye began their whirlwind romance. She joined the cause, and soon the two lovers were leading a network of antifascists that stretched across Berlin's bohemian underworld. Harro himself infiltrated German intelligence and began funnelling Nazi battle plans to the Allies, including the details of Hitler's surprise attack on the Soviet Union. But nothing could prepare Harro and Libertas for the betrayals they would suffer in this war of secrets - a struggle in which friend could be indistinguishable from foe. Drawing on unpublished diaries, letters and Gestapo files, Norman Ohler spins an unforgettable tale of love, heroism and sacrifice.

Winner of the Booker Prize and international bestseller, made into the award-winning film Schindler's List. In the shadow of Auschwitz, a flamboyant German industrialist grew into a living legend to the Jews of Cracow. He was a womaniser, a heavy drinker and a bon viveur, but to them he became a saviour. This is the extraordinary story of Oskar Schindler, who risked his life to protect Jews in Nazi-occupied Poland and who was transformed by the war into a man with a mission, a compassionate angel of mercy.