Showing titles in 20th Century

Brinley Knight has a photographic memory. Bored with his mundane job, he accepts an offer from MI5 to become a full-time spy in a shadowy world of espionage. As Britain stands at the edge of war, Brin learns to his cost that "defending the realm" means duty before family. Hitler’s fifth columnists in Britain emerge from the darkness as Germany’s military might eyes new territories east of the Rhine. German spies and fascists operate in opulent dining rooms and in the back alleys of London’s East End. Menacing predators, they hunt for information that could aid the Führer.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER From the multi-million copy bestselling historian, the remarkable, unknown Cold War story of how one spy saved the world from nuclear war The year is 1981. Tehran is in violent turmoil in the wake of the Iranian Revolution. The Soviets are planning to overthrow the...

BEN MACINTYRE'S NEXT AUDIOBOOK, REDWOOD, IS AVAILABLE TO BUY NOW THE NO.1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER An exciting Cold War story about a KGB double agent, by one of Britain's greatest historians and the ultimate gift for anyone who loves a good spy thriller! On a warm July evening in 1985, a...

Bloomsbury presents Double Cross written and read by Ben Macintyre. 'Addictive and deeply moving' Independent 'Utterly gripping' Anthony Beevor, Daily Telegraph 'Enthralling . . . A reminder that heroism can be found in the most unlikely places' Evening Standard 'I have seldom enjoyed a spy...

This third and final volume of the unexpurgated diaries of Sir Henry 'Chips' Channon begins as the Second World War is turning in the Allies' favour. It ends with a prematurely aged Chips descending into poor health but still socially active and able to turn a pointed phrase about the political events that swirl around him and the great and the good with whom he mingles.

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE 21ST CENTURY Now an FX TV series streaming on DISNEY+ 'Unquestionably one of the greatest literary achievements of the 21st century' Nick Hornby From the author of London Falling – a stunning, intricate narrative about a notorious...

THE SUNDAY TIMES #1 BESTSELLER A Book of the Year in The Times and Financial Times ‘The biographer who brought down Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’ THE OBSERVER ‘This isn’t a book; it’s a case for revolution’ SUNDAY TIMES 'Undoubtedly the most important book of the last year, if not the...

Perhaps thanks to TV period dramas, the popular imagination may picture the Edwardian era as an idyllic window between the wars, a time of manners and tea on the lawn. But below the surface lies a frenetic and often bizarre age where scientific leaps forward went hand in hand with belief in fairies, and secrets of sex, lies and murder simmered. Across 12 episodes, in this sequel to his Victorian Secrets, Stephen Fry uncovers some of the startling and unexpected hidden histories of the Edwardians.

Here is a gripping account of the major postwar trial of the Nazi hierarchy in World War II. The Nuremberg Trial brilliantly recreates the trial proceedings and offers a reasoned, often profound examination of the processes that created international law. From the whimpering of Kaltenbrunner and Ribbentrop on the stand to the icy coolness of Goering, each participant is vividly drawn.

Brought to you by Penguin. THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER A groundbreaking narrative history of the motivations and mentalities behind the Nazis and their supporters, from the bestselling author of THE HOLOCAUST and President Zelenskyy’s most-read book, HITLER AND STALIN. How could the Nazis have...

In Neither Here nor There Bill Bryson brings his unique brand of humour to bear on Europe as he shoulders his backpack, keeps a tight hold on his wallet, and journeys from Hammerfest, the northernmost town on the continent, to Istanbul on the cusp of Asia.

A magisterial, single-volume history of the greatest conflict the world has ever known by our foremost military historian. The Second World War began in August 1939 on the edge of Manchuria and ended there exactly six years later with the Soviet invasion of northern China. The war in Europe...

Are you ready for the truth about World War Two? In the first of an extraordinary three-volume account of the war on land, in the air and at sea, James Holland reveals not only the truth behind the familiar legends of the Second World War but he also unveils those lesser known events which were...

Bloomsbury presents The Rest is History by The Rest is History, read by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook. 'An idiosyncratic ride through history' Independent 'Holland and Sandbrook have pretty much reinvented popular history for the modern age' The Times The nation’s favourite historians, Tom...

The bestselling biography of Britain's 'Queen of Crime' by acclaimed historian Lucy Worsley OBE 'Every Christie fan should read this' - THE TIMES To Lucy Worsley, Agatha Christie was 'thrillingly, scintillatingly modern'. She went surfing in Hawaii, she loved fast cars, and she was intrigued by...

Brought to you by Penguin. More than twenty years after her death, Princess Diana remains a mystery. Was she "the people's princess," who electrified the world with her beauty and humanitarian missions? Or was she a manipulative, media-savvy neurotic who nearly brought down the monarchy? The...

Bloomsbury presents A Spy Among Friends written and read by Ben Macintyre. THE SUNDAY TIMES No. 1 BESTSELLER WITH AN AFTERWORD BY JOHN LE CARRÉ 'Riveting, astounding . . . An unputdownable postwar thriller' Observer 'Irresistibly readable' Sunday Times 'Worthy of John le Carré at his best'...

In the early 1970s, Britain seemed to be tottering on the brink of the abyss. Under Edward Heath, the optimism of the '60s had become a distant memory. Now the headlines were dominated by strikes and blackouts, unemployment and inflation. As the world looked on in horrified fascination, Britain seemed to be tearing itself apart. And yet, amid the gloom, glittered a creativity and cultural dynamism that would influence our lives long after the nightmarish '70s had been forgotten.

'This book gives military history a good name … Max Hastings brings the conflict to life in such detail it leaves you reeling' DOMINIC SANDBROOK, THE TIMES The last weeks of World War II on the Western Front in Europe witnessed extraordinary scenes of heroism, horror, melodrama and pathos. In...

This second volume of the best-selling diaries of Henry 'Chips' Channon takes us from the heady aftermath of the Munich agreement, when the prime minister Chips so admired was credited with having averted a general European conflagration, through the rapid unravelling of appeasement, and on to the tribulations of the early years of the Second World War. It closes with a moment of hope, as Channon, in recording the fall of Mussolini in July 1943, reflects: 'The war must be more than half over.'