Showing titles in World War II

Loss of life, destruction, unending pain and misery - the results of war never seem to make sense. But war is also a breeding ground for illogical occurrences, coincidences, premonitions, mysteries, and twists of fate. Over 100 of these events are detailed here.

Durch Görings Leben zieht sich wie ein roter Faden das Streben nach Macht und Geltung, von der Kindheit bis zur Verurteilung beim Nürnberger Kriegsverbrechertribunal und dem Selbstmord in der Gefängniszelle. Andreas Molitor zeigt, dass der selbsternannte «Mann der Tat» mit der «Entjudung der deutschen Wirtschaft» den wirtschaftlichen und sozialen Niedergang der deutschen Juden besiegelt und bei der Vorbereitung des Holocaust eine Hauptrolle gespielt hat.

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.

Roza Shanina's biography reads like a comic book hero come to life, a heroic female assassin fighting off the Nazi forces at the height of World War II. Seeking vengeance for the death of her brother, Roza Shanina sacrificed her life for service in the Red Army's fight against the invading Nazis during World War II.

Robert Ley war Reichorganisationsleiter der NSDAP und baute die Deutsche Arbeitsfront zum größten NS-Verband auf. Nach dem Krieg war er im Nürnberger Prozess einer der 24 Hauptangeklagten. Sein Enkel Axel Spilcker erzählt nun die Lebensgeschichte seines Großvaters und die seiner Familie. Einem Urteil in den Kriegsverbrecherprozessen entzieht sich Robert Ley 1945 durch Selbstmord. Achtzig Jahre später, in einer Zeit, in der die Demokratie wieder unter Druck steht, macht sich sein Enkel auf Spurensuche.

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.

One of Hitler’s most notorious henchmen, Hermann Göring was the bulldog who obediently followed orders while destroying countless lives. In his early career as the leader of the SA, also known as the Brownshirts or Stormtroopers, Göring played a pivotal role in suppressing any and all opposition to the Nazi Party. He was also implicated in the Reichstag Fire of 1933, an event that resulted in the suspension of civil liberties in Germany and greatly aided in the consolidation of Nazi control.

Regarded as the standard biography of World War II naval hero Adm. Raymond A. Spruance. Spruance, victor of the battles of Midway and the Philippine Sea and commander of the Fifth Fleet in the invasions of the Gilberts, the Marshalls, the Marianas, and Okinawa, is one of the towering figures in American naval history. Yet his reserved, cerebral personality did not make "good copy" for correspondents, and until the publication of The Quiet Warrior he remained an elusive figure.

June 30, 1944: Fifty members of the United States 460th Bomb Group embarked on an important mission to destroy German oil refineries in Silesia, Hungary, only to come under heavy attack. Sgt. John L. Lenburg, on his 36th mission, was shot down along with the crew of their B-24, "Miss Fortune", over enemy lines near Lake Balaton, Hungary. Taken prisoner (or "Kriegsgefangenen #6410", the code name the Germans gave him), he never knew if he would see his homeland again.

My dearest Mr Snippet… World War II has just begun, and newly-married John, a young cadet army officer from London, has been forced to leave behind his beloved wife Rita. As each of them desperately try to hold onto their joint hopes and dreams, will fate grant them the future they dream of, or will the unpredictabilities of a relentless war conspire against them?

Bowed but unbroken, Miller survived because of his faith and lifelong devotion to his beloved wife of sixty-five years, a relationship that shines brightly in this distinctly American journey. With uncommon wisdom, intelligence, and humility, this member of the Greatest Generation spins a gripping tale through peace and war, work and family, love and redemption across ten tumultuous decades.

The incredible account of Sister Betty Jeffrey OAM and the Australian war nurses who survived the bombing of evacuation ship SS Vyner Brooke in February 1942, and subsequently spent three years in Japanese prison camps in Sumatra. During those perilous years surviving in squalid conditions...

Das Leben von Reinhold Beckmanns Mutter Aenne war von Verlusten gezeichnet. Bereits mit fünf Jahren war sie Vollwaise. Vier Brüder hatte sie, alle im Krieg gefallen. Und doch war es ein gelungenes Leben. Anders als viele ihrer Generation hat sie über ihre Trauer und Ängste nie geschwiegen. Aennes Brüder und Eltern blieben immer gegenwärtig, in Gesprächen, Fotos, Gedenktagen und Erinnerungen. In diesem Hörbuch erzählt Reinhold Beckmann die Geschichte seiner Mutter und von Franz, Hans, Alfons und Willi, zwischen hartem Alltag auf dem Dorf, katholischer Tradition und beginnender Diktatur.

There are doers and there are preachers. The people who were executing orders or abusing people in World War Two wouldn’t have been able to commit any atrocities if the country hadn’t warmed up to an inhumane narrative. That’s where propaganda came in. Propaganda has long been part of various countries and societies to make the population believe something, and to find culprits, create feelings of animosity, and glorify local leaders or military campaigns.

From the tragic loss of courageous airmen who gave their lives for our freedom to the gentle breezes that swirl through graves in a quiet cemetery in Belgium’s countryside, Bob Steele takes us on a personal journey of history and revelation as he recounts the story of his uncle, a gunner on a World War II bomber, and his own personal quest to uncover the fates of the crewmen, their families, and gracious Europeans who honored them.

This is the story of Nancy Harkness Love who, early in World War II, recruited and led the first group of 28 women to fly military aircraft for the US Army. Love was hooked on flight at an early age. At 16, after just four hours of instruction, she flew solo “a rather broken down Fleet biplane that my barnstorming instructor imported from parts unknown”. The year was 1930: Record-setting aviator Jacqueline Cochran (and Love’s future rival) had not yet learned to fly, and the most famous woman pilot of all time, Amelia Earhart, had yet to make her acclaimed solo Atlantic flight.

Hans-Erdmann Schönbeck lag mit schwersten Verletzungen und erblindet vor Stalingrad und hatte keine Hoffnung. Doch er wurde gerettet. Als einer der letzten wurde er aus der Hölle geflogen. Fast 80 Jahre später, mit knapp 100 Jahren Lebensweisheit, blickt Schönbeck nun gemeinsam mit Spiegel-Bestseller-Autor Tim Pröse zurück: Auf seinen inneren Widerstand gegen Hitler. Auf die verpasste Gelegenheit, ihn zu töten, als Schönbeck nach der Schlacht in Hitlers Nähe kommandiert wird. Ein paar Nächte schläft er auch neben Graf Stauffenbergs Bombe.

With his delicate phraseology and deft massaging of truth and deception, Joseph Goebbels was the mouthpiece of a monstrous regime, dishing out propaganda for Nazi Germany throughout World War II. It was his mission to entirely subsume the consciousness of the German people with the warped ideals of the Nazi Party. Through this means, he convinced everyday Germans to look the other way while some of the worst atrocities in history were committed.

Generals during World War II usually stayed to the rear, but not Matthew Ridgway and Maxwell Taylor. During D-Day and the Normandy campaign, these commanders of the 82nd "All-American" and the 101st "Screaming Eagle" Airborne Divisions refused to remain behind the lines and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their paratroopers in the thick of combat. Jumping into Normandy during the early hours of D-Day, Ridgway and Taylor fought on the ground for six weeks of combat that cost the airborne divisions more than 40 percent casualties.

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.