Soviet War

The Russian war effort to defeat invading Axis powers, an effort that assembled the largest military force in recorded history and that cost the lives of more than twenty-five million Soviet soldiers and civilians, was the decisive factor for securing an Allied victory. Now with access to the wealth of film archives and interview material from Russia used to produce the ten-hour television documentary Russia's War, Richard Overy tackles the many persuasive questions surrounding this conflict. 

From the dark days of World War II through the Cold War, Sergey A. Kondrashev was a major player in Russia’s notorious KGB espionage apparatus. Rising through its ranks through hard work and keen understanding of how the spy and political games are played, he “handled” American and British defectors, recruited Western operatives as double agents, served as a ranking officer at the East Berlin and Vienna KGB bureaus, and tackled special assignments from the Kremlin.

The explosive first-hand account of America's secret history in Afghanistan With the publication of Ghost Wars, Steve Coll became not only a Pulitzer Prize winner, but also the expert on the rise of the Taliban, the emergence of Bin Laden, and the secret efforts by CIA officers and their agents...

From bestselling author Stephen Kinzer, the untold story of the secret 75-year American campaign that set the stage for war in Ukraine Until the Russian invasion in 2022, few Americans could find Ukraine on a map. Once the fighting began, however, support for its cause surged. The reason was...

Bloomsbury presents The Finnish-Soviet Winter War 1939-40: Stalin's Hollow Victory by David Murphy, read by Kris Dyer An informative study exploring the Soviet invasion of Finland, a fascinating David vs Goliath type struggle. On 23 August 1939, a secret protocol was appended to the...

In Israel and the West, it is called the Six Day War. In the Arab world, it is known as the June War, or simply as “the Setback.” Never has a conflict so short, unforeseen, and largely unwanted by both sides so transformed the world. The Yom Kippur War, the war in Lebanon, the Camp David...

Often called the greatest novel ever written, War and Peace is at once a historical war epic, a philosophical study, and a celebration of the Russian spirit. Noted for its mastery of realistic detail and psychological analysis, War and Peace follows the metamorphosis of five aristocratic...

Flying combat missions in wartime is always dangerous. But imagine doing so in a slow, rickety biplane, at night, with no lights or navigational equipment of any kind. Sound impossible? It wasn't for the Soviet Night Witches. This unit of incredibly brave women flew hundreds of missions to attack German forces on the front lines during World War II. Learn all about these brave women and how their skill and courage in battle helped defeat the Nazis to win the war.

Bloomsbury presents On a Knife's Edge: The Ukraine, November 1942–March 1943 by Prit Buttar, read by Leighton Pugh From critically acclaimed Eastern Front expert Prit Buttar, this is the engrossing story of the often-overlooked German counteroffensive post-Stalingrad, and how it prevented the...

Bloomsbury presents Case White: The Invasion of Poland 1939 by Robert Forczyk, read by James Parsons. This fascinating title from renowned World War II historian Robert Forczyk tells the story of Case White. The German invasion of Poland on 1 September, 1939, designated as Fall Weiss (Case...

Early in 1968, a nuclear-armed Soviet submarine sank in the waters off Hawaii, hundreds of miles closer to American shores than it should have been. Compelling evidence strongly suggests that the sub sank while attempting to fire a nuclear missile.

Bloomsbury presents The Soviet–Afghan War by Gregory Fremont-Barnes, read by Chris Courtenay. An overview of the USSR’s bloody conflict in Afghanistan and its long legacy. The Soviet invasion of its neighbour Afghanistan in December 1979 sparked a nine-year conflict until Soviet forces...

The first in Ken Follett's breathtaking Century Trilogy, Fall of Giants is a captivating tale that follows five families through the world-shaking dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for votes for women. A World in Chaos 1911, a thirteen-year-old boy, Billy...

Bloomsbury presents Between Giants by Prit Buttar, read by Gordon Griffin. From an expert on the Eastern Front of World War II, this book chronicles the cataclysmic experience of the region that includes modern-day Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. The Baltic States suffered more than almost any...

Bloomsbury presents Red Dawn Over China by Frank Dikötter, read by Daniel York Loh. A FINANCIAL TIMES HIGHLIGHT FOR 2026 'The most important reappraisal of modern China to appear in years' PETER FRANKOPAN, author of The Silk Roads and The Earth Transformed From renowned, prize-winning historian...

Revised and updated to reflect recent Russian and Western scholarship on the subject, this new edition maintains the 1995 original's distinction as a crucial volume in the history of World War II and of the Soviet Union and the most informed and compelling perspective on one of the greatest military confrontations of all time.

Winter of the World is the second novel in Ken Follett's uniquely ambitious Century trilogy. On its own or read in sequence with Fall of Giants and Edge of Eternity, this is a spellbinding epic of global conflict and personal drama during World War II. A Battle of Ideals It is 1933 and, at...

A Book of the Year in the Daily Telegraph and Economist LONGLISTED for the CWA ALCS Gold Dagger for Non-Fiction 2026 'This book reads like a spy novel' FINANICAL TIMES 'Entertaining and vivid' OBSERVER...

Bloomsbury presents Retribution: The Soviet Reconquest of Central Ukraine, 1943 by Prit Buttar, read by Jonathan Oliver From critically acclaimed Eastern Front expert Prit Buttar comes this audio edition of his detailed and engrossing account of the World War II’s Eastern Front as German...

Bloomsbury presents Battleground Prussia by Prit Buttar, read by James Parsons An engrossing history of the last year of the Second World War, charting the battles fought between the Soviet Red Army and the Nazis across German soil. The terrible months between the arrival of the Red Army on...