Showing titles in World War II

In the summer of 1940, darkness was falling over Europe. Led by Winston Churchill, the British rediscovered the virtues that had made a humble people the rulers of the world. In June 1940, Winston Churchill called the battle Britain's "finest hour", and he was right.

John Olivey, an officer in the Long Range Desert Group, saw action in the Western Desert, where he was awarded the Military Cross; he fought in the Dodecanese, for which he was decorated a second time; and saw active service on mainland Greece, and in Istria. In autumn 1943, he was deployed to the Aegean and in October tasked with leading 'Olforce' in an ill-conceived operation to take the island of Levitha. Of some fifty LRDG, he was one of only seven to avoid capture. During the battle for Leros in November, he commanded X2 Patrol at Clidi, a key hilltop position. 

In mid-1943 James Megellas, known as “Maggie” to his fellow paratroopers, joined the 82d Airborne Division, his new “home” for the duration. His first taste of combat was in the rugged mountains outside Naples. In October 1943, when most of the 82d departed Italy to prepare for the D-Day...

When Richard Hayes, a gifted polymath and cryptographer, was drafted by Irish intelligence services to track the movements of a prolific Nazi spy, Hermann Görtz, it set in motion one of the most remarkable episodes in Irish history. What followed was a high-stakes game of cat and mouse that would wind its way through the capital and its suburbs, reverberate through the corridors of power, test the sympathies of those in high society and even expand to jeopardise the Allied war effort.

Ernest "Andy" Andrews's company, part of the 1st Infantry Division, departed England on the evening of June 5. Fighting in Normandy, Andy was nicked by a bullet and evacuated to England in late July when the wound became infected. He rejoined H Company in time to fight in the Battle of the Bulge. Andy's outfit ends the war fighting in Czechoslovakia, where Andy witnesses the German surrender in early May. The war shaped Andy's postwar life in countless ways. This vivid firsthand account takes the listener along from Normandy to victory with Andy and his machine-gun crew.

In Guadalcanal Marine, Lt. Col. Kerry L. Lane recounts the dark reality of combat experienced by the men of the 1st Marine Division fighting on Guadalcanal and Cape Gloucester. With 80 gripping photographs and his text, he brings to life the struggles of his companions as they achieve these two astonishing victories.

This book provides a complete overview of U.S. and British escape and evasion during World War II. It tells the story of the escape and evasion organizations, the Resistance-operated lines, and the dangers faced by the escapers and the evaders in a logical and compelling narrative. Heroism, betrayal, sacrifice, and cowardice are all elements of this fascinating part of the rich tapestry of World War II.

As a teenager Audie Murphy left his home in Texas to join in the fight against the Nazis. By the end of the war, he had fought in the bloody battle of Anzio, helped liberate Rome, marched his way across France, repelled German counterattacks in Alsace, before finishing in Germany. He was wounded three times, killed over two hundred enemies, and won every medal for valor that the United States had to offer.

Many indeed are the biographies of Winston Churchill, one of the most influential figures of the 20th century. But what was that influence, and how did he use it in the furtherance of his and his country's ambitions? For the first time, Professor William Nestor has delved into the life and actions of Churchill to examine just how skillfully he manipulated events to place him in positions of power.

On the day that Roswell K. Doughty graduated from Boston University, he also received a commission as a second lieutenant in the army of the United States of America. It was not until 1942 that he was called to active duty—to face some of the toughest fighting of the Second World War. He subsequently saw action in North Africa, then at the disastrous Salerno landings in Italy - where the Allied divisions involved suffered 4,000 casualties—about which the author reveals that suspected intelligence breaches led to the Allies' plans becoming known to the Germans.

The P-38 Lightning was one of the fastest operational fighters of World War II, famous for its successes in North Africa and the Pacific. In The P-38 Lightning and the Men Who Flew It, Wolfgang W. E. Samuel shares the stories of the young men who climbed into the cockpits of the P-38 to fight for freedom, and of those who created, tested, and deployed these fearsome machines. The P-38 was the product of the Lockheed Corporation, the first fighter they ever built, principally conceptualized by Kelly Johnson, whose design was to meet Air Corps specifications. But it was no easy plane to fly.

The death of General George S. Patton is shrouded in mystery. While officially the result of an unfortunate car accident, the evidence points to a far more malevolent plot: murder. So says investigative and military journalist Robert K. Wilcox in his book Target: Patton: The Plot to Assassinate General George S. Patton. Written like a WWII spy thriller and meticulously researched, Target: Patton leads you through that fateful December day in 1945, revealing a chilling plan to assassinate General Patton.

Heinz Wilhelm Guderian was one of the most respected commanders and theoreticians of World War II. An innovative tank commander, he was a pioneer of German Blitzkrieg tactics and therefore a hugely influential figure in the way the war was fought. Guderian's profile was not always what might have been expected for a man of his abilities and influence, due to the shape of his career.

The untold WWII story of a former NFL player turned White House insider who worked with Churchill’s undercover agents in New York City to conduct the biggest foreign spy operation ever within the US, and inspired Ian Fleming's James Bond, for fans of Ben Macintyre and Erik Larson. As a tough...

Im Frühjahr 1940 verlässt Amon Leopold Göth die Familie und bricht auf in den "Gangster Gau" des großmäuligen Hans Frank, hier winken Abenteuer und Karriere: Im Februar 1943 wird Göth zum Kommandanten des Zwangsarbeitslagers Plaszów bei Krakau ernannt. 500 Tage wird er als "König von Plaszów" herrschen, Herr über Leben und Tod sein, gefürchtet von Zehntausenden, die schutzlos seiner entsetzlichen Lust am "Abknallen" und "Umlegen" ausgesetzt sind.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY LIBRARY JOURNAL The extraordinary life of forgotten World War II hero Evans Carlson, commander of America’s first special forces, secret confidant of FDR, and one of the most controversial officers in the history of the Marine Corps, who dedicated...

December 1943. A German fort sits impregnable atop a mountain. Standing between the Allied forces and their path to Rome is a steep climb up a 200-foot cliff, in the snow, in the middle of the night. As the future of civilisation hangs in the balance, with Axis forces sprawled around the world...

Som ganske ung fik Birgitte Possing af sin mor overdraget en skotøjsæske med strenge pålæg om først at åbne den, når hun selv var blevet gammel. Æsken viste sig at indeholde et utal af breve, Birgitte Possings forældre havde skrevet til hinanden i deres ungdom under Anden Verdenskrig.

Errett Lujan served during World War II with the U.S. Army 200th/515th Coast Artillery (Anti-aircraft) Regiment in the Philippines, the largest regiment on the islands when the Japanese invaded just hours after Pearl Harbor. The regiment was credited as both the first and the last to fire on the enemy before surrendering. Lujan survived the invasion, the Bataan Death March and more than three years in POW camps. After the war, he said little to his family about his harrowing experiences.

A fascinating personal memoir of underwater combat in World War II, told by a man who played a major role in those dangerous operations. Frank and beautifully written, this book will be of lasting value as a submarine history by an expert and as an enduring military and political analysis.