From the bestselling author of The Piano Tuner, comes Daniel Mason's The Winter Soldier, a story of love and medicine through the devastation of the First World War. Vienna, 1914. Lucius is a twenty-two-year-old medical student when World War One explodes across Europe. Enraptured by romantic tales of battlefield surgery, he enlists, expecting a position at a well-organized field hospital. But when he arrives, at a commandeered church tucked away high in a remote valley of the Carpathian Mountains, he finds a freezing outpost ravaged by typhus. The other doctors have fled, and only a single, mysterious nurse named Sister Margarete remains. But Lucius has never lifted a surgeon's scalpel. And as the war rages across the winter landscape, he finds himself falling in love with the woman from whom he must learn a brutal, makeshift medicine. Then one day, an unconscious soldier is brought in from the snow, his uniform stuffed with strange drawings. He seems beyond rescue, until Lucius makes a fateful decision that will change the lives of doctor, patient and nurse forever. From the gilded ballrooms of Imperial Vienna to the frozen forests of the Eastern Front; from hardscrabble operating rooms to battlefields thundering with Cossack cavalry, The Winter Soldier is the story of war and medicine, of family, of finding love in the sweeping tides of history, and, finally, of the mistakes we make, and the precious opportunities to atone. 'Part mystery, part war story, part romance, The Winter Soldier is a dream of a novel' - Anthony Doerr, author of All The Light We Cannot See.

The Eagle Has Landed, by international bestselling author Jack Higgins, is the ultimate WWII thriller. In the early morning hours of 6 November 1943, SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler receives the coded message he has been waiting for: 'The Eagle has landed'. It was to become known as the most daring enemy mission of the entire war: Operation Eagle, Himmler's audacious plan to kidnap Winston Churchill on British soil. But, despite spectacular secrecy, there was to be no surrender without a fight . . . For in that remote corner of Norfolk, an elite unit is gathered together. Ready to do battle for a nation against the most ruthless task force ever assembled. First published in 1975, The Eagle Has Landed is a classic tale of the ultimate act of wartime treachery, and one of the bestselling thrillers of all time. Every one of Jack Higgins' subsequent publications has been an international blockbuster bestseller, including The White House Connection and Day of Reckoning. Praise for The Eagle Has Landed: 'A compulsively readable storyteller' Sunday Express '100 per cent proof adventure' New York Times Jack Higgins was brought up in Belfast and later moved to Leeds. Leaving school with no qualifications, he became a circus hand, a tram conductor and a teacher before turning to writing.

Vilna, the Russian Empire, 1905. En route to deliver a secret pamphlet entrusted to him by his elder brothers, a young boy falls into the clutches of the Czar's secret police. Another decade will pass before the Crown gives way, not to liberally-minded revolutionaries like Vladimir Romm, the boy now a young man, but to the pitiless disciples of an embittered lawyer named Lenin. For the next three-quarters of a century, Marxism in its cruelest form will rule over Russia. Returning to Vilna during the winter of 1918 for the first time since his youth, Romm finds it occupied by Polish troops. He takes charge of a Communist militia and leads the Red Army to a small yet significant win for the fledgling Soviet state. As World War I yields to an uneasy peace, Romm joins Soviet intelligence. He is posted under various guises to Germany, France, Japan and Geneva. In 1934 Romm is named Izvestia's inaugural correspondent to Washington where he is given orders to bring key Americans to the Soviet side. But as his career reaches its zenith, Romm is suddenly recalled, arrested and forced to serve with four others as 'witnesses' at the notorious 1937 Moscow show trial. "Stalin's Witnesses" is a novel. While it sticks closely to the historical record, the witnesses speak in their own voices, guiding our journey through a tangle of fascinating events to tease out the underlying truths. It's their story, and it helped set the stage for our own.

Set in ancient Rome, Your Caius Aquilla is composed of hilarious letters between a doting and brave but quite bumbling legionary and his beautiful, zaftig wife, Lora. While Caius fights barbarians (and fights off--often unsuccessfully--homosexual feelings for his fellow soldiers), Lora cossets her to-her adorable (and very cruel) children, and fends off (read: encourages/takes) lovers of both sexes. An act of fate and mistaken identity eventually brings Caius home for good from campaign--where, as he and Lora truly love each other, he belongs. Despite the fact that handsome Caius Aquilla is a singularly brave Roman legionnaire, his brother-soldiers keep on having mishaps (fatal, no less) whenever he's around. A situation which doesn't endear him to them one little bit. One day, however, humping back to base camp with his platoon after a successful fray against some Gauls or Picts (he never seems to know which barbarians he's subduing), he spies a diminutive general being attacked by a swarm of killer wasps. Thinking fast, Caius throws himself upon the general (who, in attempting to swat away the mad, deadly insects, has fallen from his horse), thus sparing the superior officer a possible fatal fate. Caius thusly goes from pariah to golden boy, and shortly the hand of destiny (and a spelling error in the ranks' roll sheet) sends him home from campaigning--home to his to-say-the-least fanciful and beautiful wife Lora, where things really go off the rails. A satire of U.S. militarism and imperialism, Your Caius Aquilla is a gem of a novel and a smart and sometimes too real portrait of a society beholden to its military.

Numbed by grief and harboring shameful secrets, Lt. Adler Paxton ships to England with the US 357th Fighter Group in 1943. Determined to become an ace pilot, Adler battles the German Luftwaffe in treacherous dogfights in the skies over France as the Allies struggle for control of the air before the D-day invasion. Violet Lindstrom wanted to be a missionary, but for now she serves in the American Red Cross, where she arranges entertainment for the men of the 357th in the Aeroclub on base and sets up programs for local children. Drawn to the mysterious Adler, she enlists his help with her work and urges him to reconnect with his family after a long estrangement. Despite himself, Adler finds his defenses crumbling when it comes to Violet. But D-day draws near. And secrets can't stay buried forever. Bestselling author Sarah Sundin returns readers to the shores of Normandy, this time in the air, as the second Paxton brother prepares to face the past--and the most fearsome battle of his life.

A lost child, a family divided, the bitter backdrop of war - the ingredients of a classic Diney Costeloe story, set in 19th-century France. After the Franco-Prussian War and the siege of 1870-71, the St Clair family return to Paris, seeking refuge and security, only to be swept up into the terrible cruelties and violence of the Commune. Here their young daughter, Helene, falls ill and in an unlucky twist of fate, becomes separated from her family. Alone and frightened, she has to fend for herself on the war-torn streets. Meanwhile, her two brothers face each other as mortal enemies across the barricades. Heart-stopping and gripping, this classic Diney Costeloe story shows the courage of one family in the face of ugly violence and great danger.

A soldier falls asleep on duty and is threatened with being court-martialled. An officer lies in mud, fighting for his life and the life of his men. A young man walks across Waterloo Bridge, explosives in his rucksack, heart pounding. In this powerfully moving book, Faulks shows us the true face of war. These are stories of death and survival, of hope and despair, and of ordinary people whose lives will never be the same again. Selected from the books Birdsong, A Possible Life and A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS. A series of short books by the world's greatest writers on the experiences that make us human Also in the Vintage Minis series: Home by Salman Rushdie Fatherhood by Karl Ove Knausgaard Work by Joseph Heller Dreams by Sigmund Freud

Set in early 1990s Manhattan and in eastern Afghanistan circa 2012, Blue Hours deftly explores identity, self-determination, and the consequences of neocolonialism. When we first meet Mim, a recent college graduate in NYC, she has disavowed her working-class roots, befriending Kyra, a dancer and daughter of privilege, until calamity causes their estrangement. Twenty years later, Kyra has gone missing abroad, and Mim-now a recluse in rural New England-embarks on a mid-life journey to find her. Anchored by an uninvited voyage into an extraordinary place, with female friendship at its core, Blue Hours combines the moral complexity and surprise of Lillian Hellman's Julia and Ann Patchett's State of Wonder-Daphne Kalotay has crafted an unconventional tale about venturing beyond borders and of citizens persisting amid protracted war. In its ethical provocations, Blue Hours is timely and resonant, confronting the dissonance of America's role in the conflicted, interconnected world.

It is 1914 and Lieutenant T.O.M. Gunn, Tommy Gunn to his pals, is a young infantry lieutenant in the Sherwood Foresters, just back on leave from India as war is declared in Europe. The British Expeditionary Force is off to fight in France, and Gunn is determined to join in the fray. He throws in his lot with a hastily-formed battalion of reservists, regulars and territorial soldiers who soon find themselves pitchforked into the mayhem of the Western Front. As autumn turns to winter and the men find themselves floundering in the freezing mud of the trenches and facing an implacable German foe, Tommy and his fellow soldiers begin to realise that this is going to be a long war - and they will be lucky to survive.

A FAST-PACED THRILLER WHOSE CHARACTERS REPRESENT THE COURAGE, HONOR, AND COMMITMENT OF A GREAT NATION The marines have landed (finally) in the genre...stand by for action!"--Captain Dale Dye, USMC (Ret) Marine, Author, Actor and Filmmaker When a small town terrorist invasion results in a tragic death, retired Marine Master Sergeant James "Johnny" Johansen agonizes over questions whose answers threaten his loved ones, his career, and his company. The most serious question of all--is Johnny's family linked to Islamic extremists in the United States? Johnny turns to his former brothers-in-arms, Willie, Corey, and Josh. Relying on their skills as highly trained marines, the team uncovers a treacherous plot involving renegade defense contractor and co-conspirators at the highest levels of U.S. intelligence. Risking their lives to reveal the shocking details of the operation, Johnny and his friends discover that hundreds of terrorists are poised to launch a coast-to-cast attack on American soil. Time is running out! Who can Johnny trust? No one, except...the Secret Corps.

In Thong Tran's Vietnam, everyone is at war and no one is who they seem-not his adopted father, a French civil servant, not his Blood Father, the Viet Cong rooster master, not his pro-American journalist tutor. Like them, the boy from the Mekong Delta cannot escape the war. And like them, he too must create shades of himself to survive. But even a conflicted heart needs a home. Thong yearns for a true father and a cause to give himself to. He chooses independence, liberty and happiness-his tutor and the Viet Cong. Tragically, there's no independence, liberty or happiness at war's end. Re-invented as an American aerospace engineer, husband and father-the Viet Cong informer must spend another half a lifetime crossing the Pacific as a defense industry dealmaker before he can set down the bones rankling in his heart.

Amid the chaos of the Second World War comes a charming story of courage and friendship, from the author of Green Dolphin Country and A City of Bells. In the summer of 1940, as the darkest days of the Second World War approach, a chance encounter on a train leads Miss Brown to become housekeeper at the Castle. Hidden in a quiet, rural corner of England, the crumbling castle is home to lonely historian Mr Birley and his nephews, fighter pilot Richard and fair, peace-loving Stephen. With young evacuees Moppet and Poppet, and mysterious violinist Jo Isaacson, this unexpected family of strangers come to rely on each other as the devastations of war rage on.

The Battle of France saw German forces sweep across the Low Countries and towards Paris, crushing Allied resistance in just six weeks. From Fall Gelb and the British withdrawal from Dunkirk to the decisive Fall Rot, this new supplement for Bolt Action allows players to take command of the bitter fighting for France, and to refight the key battles of this campaign. Linked scenarios and new rules, troop types, and Theatre Selectors offer plenty of options for novice and veteran players alike.

This book has won high praise from those who served in Vietnam, those who protested it, and from younger people learning about the war as history. The story begins in 1968 in Vietnam. Master Sergeant Isaiah Ross and Lt. Patric Gallo don't have much in common, but they share mutual concern about a twice-wounded young soldier who, they suspect, abandoned his unit while under enemy fire. Is it possible that the young man, Billy Kern, could still be alive? After returning to civilian life, Ross and Gallo keep in touch for the next 30 years, finally deciding they must return to Vietnam to find out what really happened. Their guide, Truong, is a former Viet Cong soldier who carries his own scars and memories. Their journey takes them to the Monastery of the Purple Sun, then back around the world to the mountains of Wyoming, where a small-town newspaper editor becomes entangled in the mystery. The plot takes as many twists and turns as the mountainous trails, with a surprise outcome.

What was hidden will be revealed... When Frances' best friend Bronwyn disappeared over twenty years ago, her body was never found. The mystery over what happened has cast a shadow over Frances' life ever since. Now, it's 1942 and bombs are raining down on Bath. In the chaos a little boy - Davy Noyle - goes missing. Frances was meant to be looking after him and she is tortured by guilt at his disappearance. Where has he gone, and could he possibly have survived? But bombs conceal, and they reveal - and as quiet falls and the dust settles, a body is disturbed from its hiding place. What happened all those years ago? And can Frances put the wrongs of the past right again...?

Kipling's The Eyes of Asia takes the reader on a remarkable journey of discovery into the heart and soul of four soldiers of the Indian Army who fought for King and the British Empire in the First World War.Their touching stories are narrated through a series of imagined letters written in the blood-drenched battlefields of war-torn France and makeshift hospitals on England's coastline to their loved ones back home in the relative peace of their villages in India and the North-West Frontier. Kipling brings the experiences of these uneducated Sikh, Hindu and Muslim military men to life, weaving the horrors of a foreign war like no other with acts of kindness arising from cultural encounters with French farmers and British military personnel.Through unofficial access to translations of scores of intercepted Indian Army letters, Kipling gained an intimate understanding of the plight and humanity of men neglected in Western literature after the War. To Kipling, they were unsung heroes whose sacrifices had made a decisive impact on the British war effort.

From the bestselling author of The Girl From the Train, comes another compelling coming of age story of delayed love, loss, and reconciliation in WWII-era South Africa.

Lettie has always felt different from and overshadowed by the women around her– this friend is richer, that friend is more beautiful, those friends are closer. Still, she doesn’t let this hold her back. She works hard to apply her mind, trying to compensate for her perceived lack of beauty with diligent academic work and a successful career as a doctor. She learns to treasure her friendships, but she still wonders if any man will ever return her interest.

Marco’s experience in the second world war have robbed him of love and health. When winters in his native Italy prove dangerous to his health even after the war has ended, he moves to South Africa to be with his brother, husband to one of Lettie’s best friends. Marco is Lettie’s first patient, and their relationship grows as she aids him on the road back to restored health.

In the company of beloved characters from The Child of the River, Marco and Lettie find a happiness that neither of them thought possible. With that joy comes pain and loss, but Lettie learns that life—while perhaps a crooked path—is always a journey worth taking.

The gripping new Cato and Macro adventure in Simon Scarrow's bestselling Eagles of the Empire series, not to be missed by readers of Conn Iggulden and Bernard Cornwell. It is AD 55. As trouble brews on the eastern fringes of the Roman Empire, Tribune Cato and Centurion Macro must prepare for war . . . The wily Parthian Empire has invaded Armenia, a frontier territory claimed by Rome, ousting King Rhadamistus. The king is ambitious and ruthless, but he is vital to Rome's strategic interests. General Corbulo must restore him to power, while also readying the troops for war with the powerful Parthian Empire. Corbulo orders new arrivals Cato and Macro, and their elite cohort of Praetorian Guards, to carry out the task. Marching into unmapped and unfamiliar terrain to restore an unpopular king is a perilous mission. Allies cannot be trusted and foes lurk on all sides. The bravery and skill of the Roman army will be tested to the limit . . . Praise for Scarrow's bestselling novels: 'Blood, gore, political intrigue...A historical fiction thriller that'll have you reaching for your gladius' Daily Sport

'One of the most memorable characters of post-war fiction' Daily Express A classic novel set in the siege of Malta 1940-1942 from the bestselling author of The Cruel Sea Father Salvatore was a simple, lumbering priest, a Kappillan serving the poor Valetta, when war came out of the blue skies to pound the island to dust. Now amid the catacombs discovered by a chance bomb, he cared for the flood of homeless, starving, frightened people who sought shelter from the death that fell unceasingly from the sky. His story, and the story of Malta, is told in superbly graphic pictures of six days during the siege. Each of those days brought forth from the Kappillan a message of inspiration to keep them going - the legendary tales of six mighty events of Malta's history which shone through the centuries and gathered them together in a fervent belief in their survival.