Showing titles in World War II

Bloomsbury presents Leningrad by Anna Reid, read by Kristin Atherton When Hitler attacked the Soviet Union in June 1941, he intended to capture Leningrad before turning on Moscow. Soviet resistance forced him to change tactics: with his forward troops only thirty kilometres from the city's...

On August 9th 1940, 300 German aircraft flew over England and as the Battle of Britain was being fought, an invasion force was being assembled on the other side of the Channel. Goering had promised the Führer that his pilots would deliver the "greatest of all victories", however he hadn't counted on the bravery of those whom Churchill proudly called 'the few'. The Battle of Britain gratefully tells their story.

Winston Churchill became Great Britain's Prime Minister on 10th May 1940 after the country had finally lost all faith in the great appeaser, Neville Chamberlain and he went on to become a symbol of national unity throughout World War 2. This programme will be a lasting tribute and commemoration to the man who defined 'their finest hour'.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was concerned that middle-aged men were being cold-shouldered from service and so on 14th May 1940, Anthony Eden broadcast to the nation, announcing the formation of the Local Defence Volunteers. Within 24 hours over ¼ million men had offered their services, grateful for the chance at last to do something for their Country's defence. At the end of July this force was proudly renamed, and the Home Guard were born. Featuring stories told by Ronald Quartington, Keith Chisman, John Smythe and James Roffey.

Between the 26th May and 4th June 1940, 338,226 men were evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk, after having been surrounded by German troops during the Battle of France. 222 naval vessels and 665 civilian craft had continuously ferried between Dunkirk and the British coast, a miraculous landmark in modern history. This is their story. Their real story. Featuring stories told by Ernie Wiggins, Walter Sullivan, Alan Wayland, Tom Waldren, Wally Stokes and Dick Sharpe.

On the evening of 20 April 1944, 16-year-old Ferenc Göndör is crushed into the overcrowded synagogue in Ujfehértó. All the Jews in the Hungarian city are to be deported. Ferenc, his mother and his sister are transported to the Auschwitz concentration camp, where his new identity "A-6171" is tattooed on his arm. Ferenc suffers unimaginable atrocities and lives his days surrounded by death. After the liberation, he returns to Hungary, but none of his closest relatives are alive anymore.

Jehuda Bacon ist einer der letzten Überlebenden von Auschwitz, und was er über diese Zeit zu sagen hat, ist eindringlich und unglaublich zugleich. Im Gespräch mit dem Psychologen und Bestsellerautor Manfred Lütz erzählt er auf berührende Weise erstmals ausführlich über seine Erlebnisse im KZ. Eindringlich bringt er uns nahe, wie er trotz tiefer Erschütterung den Glauben an die Würde des Menschen zurückgewann und sogar im Leiden Sinn erleben konnte – gelesen von Jaap Achterberg.

A Times History Book of the Year 2022 From Sunday Times bestselling historian Saul David, the dramatic tale of the first American troops to take the fight to the enemy in the Second World War, and also the last. The ‘Devil Dogs’ of K Company, 3/5 Marines, were part of the legendary first...

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER From bestselling historian Saul David, a riveting new history of the British airborne experience across the Second World War. The legendary ‘Red Devils’ were among the finest combat troops of the Second World War. Created at Churchill’s instigation in June 1940...

Few images more shocked the French population during the Occupation than the photograph of Marshal Philippe Pétain - the great French hero of the First World War - shaking the hand of Hitler on 20 October 1940. In the radio speech after this meeting, Pétain said 'It is I alone who will be judged by History.' Five years later, in July 1945, the hour of judegment - if not yet the judgement of History - arrived.

Sidekick to SS Chief Heinrich Himmler and supervisor of Nazi rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, General Hans Kammler was responsible for the construction of Hitler's slave labor sites and concentration camps. He personally altered the design of Auschwitz to increase crowding, ensuring that epidemic diseases would complement the work of the gas chambers. Why has the world forgotten this monster? Kammler was declared dead after the war. But the aide who testified to Kammler's supposed "suicide" never produced the general's dog tags or any other proof of death.

One of the most famous true stories from the last war, The Great Escape tells how more than 600 men in a German prisoner-of-war camp worked together to achieve an extraordinary break-out. Every night for a year, they dug tunnels, and those who weren't digging forged passports, drew maps, faked weapons and tailored German uniforms and civilian clothes to wear once they had escaped. All of this was conducted under the very noses of their prison guards. 

“This beautifully braided story...reveals the best and worst of humanity. A magnificent work of narrative nonfiction, true to the past and essential for the present.”—Mitchell Zuckoff, New York Times bestselling author of Lost in Shangri-La and 13 Hours An epic true story of the triumph of...

“Sobering, unforgettable reading. This is a standout of its kind.” – Publishers Weekly “A riv­et­ing, deeply mov­ing mem­oir. The writ­ing is descrip­tive and dra­mat­ic, pre­serv­ing Lewkowicz’s deep emo­tions.” – Jewish Book Council This is the remarkable story of...

Named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews and Air Mail “A fascinating and instructive book . . . elegantly written and perceptive.” —Wall Street Journal “Kaleidoscopic . . . A fascinating exploration of individual agency that never loses sight of the larger context . . . Just the...

The life of Franklin Roosevelt's most trusted and powerful advisor, Admiral William D. Leahy, Chief of Staff to the Commander-in-Chief “Fascinating… greatly enriches our understanding of Washington wartime power.”—Madeleine Albright Aside from FDR, no American did more to shape World War...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The acclaimed author of A Higher Call and Devotion presents the “engrossing” (CNN) true story of an American tank gunner’s journey into the heart of the Third Reich during World War II, where he will meet destiny in an iconic armor duel—and forge an enduring...

The fierce, bloody battles of Bataan and Corregidor in the Philippines are legendary in the annals of World War II. Those who survived faced the horrors of life as prisoners of the Japanese. In Conduct Under Fire, John A. Glusman chronicles these events through the eyes of his father and three...

November 11, 1918. The final hours pulsate with tension as every man in the trenches hopes to escape the melancholy distinction of being the last to die in World War I. The Allied generals knew the fighting would end precisely at 11:00 A.M, yet in the final hours they flung men against an...

Keggie Carew grew up in the gravitational field of an unorthodox father who lived on his wits and dazzling charm. As his memory begins to fail, she embarks on a quest to unravel his story, and soon finds herself in a far more consuming place than she had bargained for. Tom Carew was a maverick...