Showing titles in World War II

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. 

In 1940, Private Raymond Bailey, a 21 year old Vauxhall motors apprentice, serving with the 1st Kensington Regiment, was captured in Northern France, becoming a Nazi prisoner of war. But he wouldn't remain one for long... The Longest Walk Home is the incredible account of his daring 2,000 mile...

Als bekennender Gegner des Nationalsozialismus wurde Eugen Kogon im September 1939 in das Konzentrationslager Buchenwald deportiert, wo er bis 1945 inhaftiert blieb. Nach seiner Rettung war er als Chronist für die US-Army tätig und arbeitete parallel an einem Manuskript, das er mehrmals vernichten wollte, so furchtbar war sein Inhalt. 1946 veröffentlichte er das Buch »Der SS-Staat« dann doch – eine umfassende Darstellung der KZ-Gräuel und die erste historische Analyse des NS-Terrorsystems.

1931 trat Albert Speer der NSDAP bei und avancierte zu einem der engsten Vertrauten Hitlers, 1942 wurde er Rüstungsminister und organisierte den »totalen Krieg« und die Vernichtungsmaschinerie. Dennoch behauptete er nach dem Kriegsende, kein Nazi gewesen zu sein – eine Legende, die der renommierte Zeithistoriker Magnus Brechtken eindrucksvoll dekonstruiert.

"A well-written and rewarding memoir that provides keen insight into the mindset of a patriotic young man willing to make sacrifices for his country." —Robert Forczyk In this masterful two-volume account, Prussian solider and officer Karl Knoblauch draws on his wartime diaries to detail his...

On August 23rd 1940 the Luftwaffe launched the biggest bombing on Great Britain since The Day of the Eagle. One flight of bombers, confused by heavy cloud, dropped its bombs and headed for home. On August 25th, British bombers struck in Berlin and incensed, Hitler ordered that London be "razed to the ground". Shortly before 4 o'clock on September 7th, 300 German bombers arrived and dropped their incendiaries on some of the poorest streets of London. The Blitz had begun!

On the seventy-fifth anniversary, the authors of Pulitzer Prize finalist The Eleventh Day unravel the mysteries of Pearl Harbor to expose the scapegoating of the admiral who was in command the day 2,000 Americans died, report on the continuing struggle to restore his lost honor—and clear...

Le 9 novembre 1942 dans la prison militaire de Berlin, après 18 mois de détention commune et quelques heures avant son exécution, Fernand Rahier faisait parvenir à André Thielemans ses mémoires destinées à sa femme. Le 10, André quitte Fernand et profite d'un transfert pour dissimuler dans ses propres affaires ces pages. Les divers magasins d'habillement des prisons furent donc pendant plus de deux ans et demi les fidèles gardiens des mémoires de Rahier.

August von Kageneck, fils d'un aide de camp de Guillaume II, neveu de von Papen, a revêtu l'uniforme en 1939 - il n'avait pas dix-sept ans - et ne l'a quitté qu'en 1955. Son récit sincère et lucide est l'un des plus remarquables témoignages qu'on puisse lire sur les douze années du IIIe Reich, telles que les a vécues, de l'intérieur, un jeune homme de la vieille noblesse allemande, des ivresses de la victoire à l'humiliation de la défaite.

Les expériences médicales réalisées sur les déportés des camps de concentration sont l'un des chapitres les plus atroces de l'histoire nazie. Des médecins allemands, des professeurs d'université choisis par Himmler et encouragés par Hitler, renièrent toutes les règles morales de leur profession et utilisèrent ce « matériel humain voué à l'extermination ». Des sept ou huit mille cobayes, moins de cinq cents sont rentrés chez eux. L'auteur a recherché et retrouvé ces survivants.

Four days before Christmas 1943, a badly damaged American bomber struggled to fly over wartime Germany. At its controls was a 21-year-old pilot. Suddenly, a German Messerschmitt fighter pulled up on his tail. Worse, the German pilot was an ace, a man able to destroy the American bomber in the squeeze of a trigger. What happened next would later be called 'the most incredible encounter between enemies in World War II.'

In this riveting personal account, an authentic American hero relives the perils and triumphs of eight harrowing patrols aboard one of America's most successful World War II submarines. Courageous deeds and terror-filled moments - as well as the endless hard work of maintaining and operating a combat sub - are vividly recalled in Calvert's candid portrait.

The incredible true story of nine Hellcat submarines assigned to penetrate the dense minefields protecting the sea of Japan. In 1945-with no knowledge of the development of the atomic bomb- American submarine commanders, desperate to avoid an invasion of the home islands, believed that if the...

Can a single night define a man's life? From the summer of 1943 to early 1945, John Basilone was one of the most famous and admired people in America. As the first enlisted man to be awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II, for extraordinary bravery under fire at Guadalcanal, he toured the...

As Hitler was attempting to conquer the western world, his armies were methodically pillaging the finest art in Europe, from Michelangelos to Vermeers, all stolen for the Führer. The Monuments Men had a mandate from President Roosevelt to find these artworks, but no vehicles, typewriters, or authority. In a race against time to save the world’s greatest cultural treasures from destruction at the hands of Nazi fanatics, each man constructed his own treasure map....

When the Germans invaded Norway in 1940, teenager Odd Bjerke bid his family farewell and confidently made his way to Sweden alone, on skis, with the intention of traveling to Britain to fight for his country. His wartime odyssey began when he joined the Norwegian Free Army in Scotland in 1940...

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Six Weeks of Blenheim Summer by Alastair Panton, read by Jonathan Keeble. As I write, I can clearly recall the stinging heat of aburning Blenheim, smells, tastes, expressions, sounds of voices and, most ofall, fear gripping deep in me. Flying Officer...

Erik Wallin served with his unit in all of these locations, and provides the listener with a fascinating glimpse into these final battles. The book is written with a "no holds barred" approach which will captivate, excite, and maybe even shock the listener - his recollections do not evade the brutality of fighting against the advancing Red Army. Twilight of the Gods is destined to become a classic memoir of the Second World War. 

The Old Breed... The Complete Story Revealed brings to life an abundance of new material from the original manuscript of Eugene Sledge's classic memoir With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa. By interspersing his own personal anecdotes throughout, Henry Sledge takes his father's work and gives it newfound context, sharing memories of conversations between father and son. The result is a flowing narrative that portrays an intimate look at a WWII veteran and his struggles to adapt to civilian life following the war.

The unmissable account of the events of D-Day, featuring the wartime prime minister's papers and never-seen-before documents: a must-listen for anyone interested in WW2 'Buy this definitive and excellent book. It is not only excellent narrative but has superb analysis as well. The combination of...