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Acclaimed travel writer Rick Antonson (Full Moon Over Noah’s Ark) tackles his most challenging adventure yet: a formidable trail through…
the remote jungles of Papua New Guinea. Rick Antonson has traveled to parts of the world that are not simply exotic but sometimes damned near inaccessible. He has climbed to the summit of Mount Ararat in eastern Turkey, traveling beyond to Iraq and Iran and Armenia. He has undertaken an improbable overland journey to the ancient city of Timbuktu, an enlightening look into efforts to preserve the city’s priceless manuscripts. Now he has traversed the notorious Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea, a country some call “the last wild place on earth.” The trail is a narrow, 60-mile footpath featuring rough jungle, 6,000 feet in elevation change, and punishing weather extremes. In a country unfairly locked in Western misperceptions, the track is inhospitable terrain yet home to hospitable indigenous peoples, who live among the rusting reminders of the Japanese, Australian, and American armies that clashed in some of the deadliest protracted combat of World War II. In Walking With Ghosts in Papua New Guinea, Antonson shares a journey of physical and mental endurance in his inimitable way, in the company of a mixed band of resolute adventurers, blending fascinating historical context with the tribulations of unexpected discoveries in faraway lands.Hitler's Girls: Doves Amongst Eagles
Par Tim Heath. 2018
The &“frank, tragic, bittersweet, brutal, emotional&” true story of the Third Reich&’s so-called she-devils of the League of German Girls…
(Gerry Van Tonder, author of Berlin Blockade). They were ten to eighteen years old: German girls who volunteered for the war effort, and were indoctrinated into the Nazi youth organizations, Jungmädelbund and Bund Deutcscher Mädel. At first they were schooled in a very narrow education: how to cook, clean, excel at sports, birth babies, and raise them. But when Hitler called, they were trained, militarized, and exploited for the ultimate goal of the Third Reich. From the prosperous beginnings of the League of German Girls in 1933 to the cataclysmic defeat of 1945, Hitler&’s Girls is an insightful, disturbing, and revealing exploration of their specific roles: what was expected of them, and how they delivered, as defined by the Nazi state. Were they unwitting pawns or willing accessories to genocide? Historian Tim Heath searches for the answers and provides a definitive voice for this unique, and until now, unheard generation of German females. &“An essential account of the women who served Hitler during his years of power. Stunning photographs but a chilling narrative, in view of what they were required to do.&” —Books MonthlyBaltic Countdown: A Nation Vanishes
Par Peggie Benton. 2011
A firsthand account of Latvia during World War II: &“A British diplomat&’s wife&’s beautifully observed eye-witness account of the Soviet…
occupation.&” —Condé Nast Traveler With her husband in the British Foreign Service, Peggie Benton had already lived through the Nazi invasion of Austria in 1938 and had settled comfortably into the day-to-day life of Riga, the capital of Latvia. But the country&’s uneasy history with Russia and tensions brewing with Germany just prior to the outbreak of World War II meant their peace was not to last. In this compelling memoir, Benton captures both the small details of life in the city—the markets, the winter customs, the Baltic character—and the terrifying moments during the evacuation of Baltic Germans and the Soviet invasion that left the couple homeless and with an uncertain fate. Their world comes crashing down during the chaos of war, and the Bentons are forced to flee more than twenty-two thousand miles eastward across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Railway to Japan, then through Canada to England, crossing both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans.Baltic Countdown is a tribute to the people of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia—their resilience through the trials of history and their never-ending hope of independence. &“An engaging account in its own right . . . A bittersweet memoir of a city on the edge of disaster. Her compelling depiction of Riga and its inhabitants conjures up a world that is almost unknown in the West.&” —Studies in Intelligence, CIA journalA Songbird in Wartime
Par Karen Dickson. 2021
A wartime family saga, perfect for fans of Rosie Goodwin and Val Wood Shaftesbury, 1936. Mansfield House Hotel has…
been a refuge for Emily ever since she was orphaned at the age of 16. Not only did they give her employment as a chambermaid, but it&’s also where she met her fiancé Tom. When theatre agent Roland stays at the hotel and hears Emily singing, he is determined to take her away to Bristol and make her a star. But knowing she'd never leave her fiancé, he hatches a plan to get Emily away from Tom. Six years later, Emily has made a name for herself as 'The Bristol Songbird'. Her love for Tom is still as strong as ever, but she's not heard from him since that fateful night so long ago. And with the world enveloped in a war, it seems unlikely the two will ever meet again. Will Emily and Tom ever find their way back to one another? Or will the war – and Roland – succeed in keeping them apart? Praise for Karen Dickson: &‘A compelling saga that will hold you fast from the first page to the last. Loved it&’ VAL WOOD, author of The Lonely Wife 'This rollercoaster of a novel draws you in from the first page… I devoured this in one sitting and look forward to more from this author. In short a gem of a read' FIONA FORD, author of Wartime at Liberty's 'A delight to read... Lily Hayter is a wonderful heroine whose resilience and integrity shine through as she struggles to claim a life of her choosing and find a family. At the heart of the story is a warmth and humanity that makes it a truly uplifting read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was sorry when I reached the end because I wanted to linger in Dickson&’s world. I eagerly await more from Karen Dickson' VICKI BEEBY, author of The Ops Room Girls &‘An exciting, fresh and talented new voice – a five-star read!&’ CAROL RIVERS, author of Molly&’s Christmas Orphans'The characters in this novel are so believable that I cared deeply about them from the first chapter. A heartfelt, hopeful account of one young woman&’s fight to keep her child safe when all the odds are against her. Atmospheric and beautifully written' JAN CASEY, author of The Women of Waterloo BridgeA Brilliant Life: My Mother's Inspiring True Story of Surviving the Holocaust
Par Rachelle Unreich. 2023
The powerful, true story of a Holocaust survivor told by her daughter—a tale that reminds us of the resilience of…
the soul and the ability of the heart to heal.As Mira is nearing the end of her life, her daughter Rachelle wants to find out how her mother had lived through four concentration camps, including Auschwitz, and a Death March. There was a mystery to her survival, it seemed—which perhaps had something to do with the strange things that always happened around her. And, incredibly, when giving testimony later in life, she says that it was during this time—despite witnessing the depths of man’s cruelty—that she learned about “the goodness of people.”Born in Czechoslovakia, Mira was only 12 years old when World War II broke out. At 88, living in Australia, she is diagnosed with cancer, and her journalist daughter decides to interview her to distract her from her illness. What Rachelle discovers about her mother helps her fit together the jigsaw pieces of her own life. A Brilliant Life portrays not only how remote a prospect it was to live through the Holocaust, but what it is like to be the child of a survivor. A story of love, loss, wonder and the deepest kind of faith, A Brilliant Life questions the role that fate, chance and destiny play in one's life. It is a tribute to family, a story of incredible resilience and a chronicle of the deep connection between mother and child that not even death can destroy.December 1941: Twelve Days that Began a World War
Par Evan Mawdsley. 2011
An account of the dramatic turning point in World War II that marked &“the dawn of American might and the…
struggle for supremacy in Southeast Asia&” (Times Higher Education). In far-flung locations around the globe, an unparalleled sequence of international events took place between December 1 and December 12, 1941. In this riveting book, historian Evan Mawdsley explores how the story unfolded . . . On Monday, December 1, 1941, the Japanese government made its final decision to attack Britain and America. In the following days, the Red Army launched a counterthrust in Moscow while the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and invaded Malaya. By December 12, Hitler had declared war on the United States, the collapse of British forces in Malaya had begun, and Hitler had secretly laid out his policy of genocide. Churchill was leaving London to meet Roosevelt as Anthony Eden arrived in Russia to discuss the postwar world with Stalin. Combined, these occurrences brought about a &“new war,&” as Churchill put it, with Japan and America deeply involved and Russia resurgent. This book, a truly international history, examines the momentous happenings of December 1941 from a variety of perspectives. It shows that their significance is clearly understood only when they are viewed together. &“Marks the change from a continental war into a global war in an original and interesting way.&”—The Sunday Telegraph Seven (Books of the Year) &“Suspenseful . . . Mawdsley embarks on the action from the first day and never lets up in this crisp, chronological study . . . A rigorous, sharp survey of this decisive moment in the war.&”—Kirkus ReviewsThe Sinking of the Prince of Wales & Repulse: The End of the Battleship Era
Par Martin Middlebrook, Patrick Mahoney. 2014
The author of The First Day on the Somme recounts the sinking of two British Royal Navy ships by the…
Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. On the third day of the war with Japan, two Royal Navy capital ships were sunk off Malaya by air torpedo attack. They had not requested the air support that could have saved them and 840 men died in the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battle cruiser HMS Repulse. The authors re-create for the reader not only what happened, but also what it was like for the men involved. They dispose of several myths to explain the events of those confused hours, and address the uncertainty, controversy, and strong emotions that surrounded the militarily disastrous sinkings.A true story of downed B-24s in Japanese-occupied Borneo and a native tribe that &“makes us—like the airmen—rethink our definitions…
of civilized and savage&” (Entertainment Weekly). November 1944: Their B-24 bomber shot down on what should have been an easy mission off the Borneo coast, a scattered crew of Army airmen cut themselves loose from their parachutes—only to be met by loincloth-wearing natives silently materializing out of the mountainous jungle. Would these Dayak tribesmen turn the starving airmen over to the hostile Japanese occupiers? Or would the Dayaks risk vicious reprisals to get the airmen safely home in a desperate game of hide-and-seek? A cinematic survival story featuring a bamboo airstrip built on a rice paddy, a mad British major, and a blowpipe-wielding army that helped destroy one of the last Japanese strongholds, The Airmen and the Headhunters is also a gripping tale of wartime heroism unlike any other you have read.The Latter Days at Colditz
Par Major Reid. 1953
In THE COLDITZ STORY, Pat Reid told the story of the escape academythat sprang up inside the most impregnable German…
POW camp of the Second World War, ending appropriately with his own incredible escape from Colditz. But Reid's own break-out was by no means the last. In this enthralling sequel, he follows the fortunes of the escape academy right up until the arrival of the allied forces in April 1945. These tales of fantastic bravery and stunning ingenuity are every bit as mesmerising as the original.A true classic, LATTER DAYS AT COLDITZ is the bestselling conclusion to the story of the infamous German P.O.W. camp.The author of Saturday at M.I.9 and former British soldier recounts his escape from Nazi captivity during World War II…
in this military memoir. Wounded and captured at Calais in May 1940, Second Lieutenant Airey Neave wasted little time before attempting to escape. Always a thorn in his captors&’ sides, he earned his place in the &“escape-proof&” Colditz Castle. Undeterred, he had the distinction of being the first British officer to make a &“home run,&” via Switzerland, Vichy France, and Spain. Soon back in France working with the French Resistance as a member of M.I.9, rescuing Allied airmen, he found himself playing a leading role saving stranded survivors of 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem. Neave&’s extraordinary memoir continues even after Germany&’s surrender. Having arrested the directors of the mighty Krupp empire, he served with the Nuremburg War Crimes Tribunal where he came into personal contact with leading Nazis, gaining a unique insight into their characters and deeds. If ever there was a great and true story well told, it is They Have Their Exits. Reprinted once again it is a fitting memorial to a man of exceptional energy, initiative, and courage.Praise for They Have Their Exits&“One of the best escape memoirs to emerge from the Second World War, combining the adventure story of most with a deeper examination of the mental impact of captivity and escape, and the stresses and risks all the way along the escape routes.&” —History of WarThe Ratline: Love, Lies and Justice on the Trail of a Nazi Fugitive
Par Philippe Sands. 2019
*FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF EAST WEST STREET* As Governor of Galicia, SS Brigadeführer Otto Freiherr von Wächter presided over…
an authority on whose territory hundreds of thousands of Jews and Poles were killed, including the family of the author's grandfather. By the time the war ended in May 1945, he was indicted for 'mass murder'. Hunted by the Soviets, the Americans, the Poles and the British, as well as groups of Jews, Wächter went on the run. He spent three years hiding in the Austrian Alps, assisted by his wife Charlotte, before making his way to Rome where he was helped by a Vatican bishop. He remained there for three months. While preparing to travel to Argentina on the 'ratline' he died unexpectedly, in July 1949, a few days after spending a weekend with an 'old comrade'.In The Ratline Philippe Sands offers a unique account of the daily life of a senior Nazi and fugitive, and of his wife. Drawing on a remarkable archive of family letters and diaries, he unveils a fascinating insight into life before and during the war, on the run, in Rome, and into the Cold War. Eventually the door is unlocked to a mystery that haunts Wächter's youngest son, who continues to believe his father was a good man - what happened to Otto Wächter, and how did he die? *** 'A gripping adventure, an astounding journey of discovery and a terrifying and timely portrait of evil in all its complexity, banality, self-justification and madness. A stunning achievement' STEPHEN FRY 'Hypnotic, shocking and unputdownable' JOHN LE CARRÉ'Breathtaking, gripping, and ultimately, shattering. Philippe Sands has done the unimaginable: look a butcher in the eye and tell his story without flinching' ELIF SHAFAK'A triumph of research and brilliant storytelling' ANTONY BEEVORA WWII Air Force Cadet shares his incredible story of serving his country and being shot down over Japan in…
this vivid POW memoir.The day after Fisk Hanley graduated from Texas Technical College, in May of 1943, he boarded a train for Boca Raton, Florida, where he would begin his training as an Air Force Aviation Cadet. Like so many other young men that year, Hanley had been drafted to serve the United States in the Second World War. Assigned to the 504th Bombardment Group in the Pacific Theater, Hanley became a flight engineer on a B-29 bomber squad. On his seventh mission, he and his crew were shot down over Japan. In Accused War Criminal, Hanley shares his experiences from his training and commissioning to his deployment on a failed mission that led to his capture. He recounts how he managed to survive as a prisoner of war until his eventual rescue and recovery. With candid honesty and telling details, this is a humbling and harrowing tale of one man&’s bravery under unimaginable circumstances.A Soldier's Story: Neville ‘Timber' Wood's War, from Dunkirk to D-Day
Par Mike Wood. 2020
'This captivating account . . . is the story of an ordinary soldier, but an extraordinary man. I commend this…
book most warmly.'Richard Dannatt, General The Lord Dannatt GCB CBE MC DL, Chief of the General Staff 2006-9'The amazing account of a young man, Neville 'Timber' Wood, who, despite fighting in many of the major engagements of the Second World War, including Dunkirk, El Alamein and D-Day, survived to become a much-loved husband and father . . . brilliantly written . . . I highly recommend it'Eleanor TomlinsonThe son of a Hull butcher, Neville 'Timber' Wood volunteered in 1939, at the age of eighteen, to join the British Army's Tyne-Tees 50th Northumbrian Division. Timber was in many ways an entirely unremarkable soldier - he won no medals for gallantry, though he exhibited conspicuous bravery day after day, for years, and he rose no higher through the ranks than Lance Corporal. Nonetheless, he had an extraordinary war. As a driver for the Royal Army Service Corps, Timber's job was to get ammunition and high explosives to the front line. It was a job with a high casualty rate, sometimes higher than front-line troops. The 50th Division was the principal fighting division of the British Army in the Second World War. Four men of the 50th were awarded Victoria Crosses, more than any other division. It was last off the beach at Dunkirk and the first back on it on D-Day; the division was at the heart of El Alamein and the major actions which followed; it took part in the invasion of Sicily and fought all the way from Normandy to Germany, where Timber saw first-hand the horrors of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Timber's story is pretty much the British war experience from the point of view of an ordinary soldier. He was even captured, saw Rommel and escaped. This book, written by his son Mike, is based on Neville's extensive wartime diaries and original documents he retained from the war as well as on long conversations between the two of them when Mike transcribed the diaries as a gift for his father in 2006. Timber died in 2015.Edward Aitken-Davies (1899-1981) served as an Education Control Officer in the British Zone of occupied Germany from the early summer…
of 1945 until December 1949. He thus experienced the implementation of policy in the Zone from the very beginnings of the occupation until the founding of the Federal Republic of German y in 1949. During the period 1945 to 1947 he wrote weekly letters home to his mother. Those letters, together with the many speeches he gave in Germany during his time as a leading British officer in the Hanover region have not hitherto been available to researchers but can now be made accessible in edited form. The letters are placed in the context of developments in British policy and with explanatory notes on the detail. Taken together, his letters and other documents provide insights into the day-to-day lives of the impressive group of individuals who oversaw the development of education in Germany from post-war chaos to the reform and stability which restored the education system of the country to a pre-eminent status in Europe.Operation Fall Weiss: German Paratroopers in the Poland Campaign, 1939
Par Stephan Janzyk. 2017
While the fledgling German paratroop operations in Belgium and the Netherlands in 1940, and on Crete in 1941, attracted worldwide…
attention, what is not as well known is that the use of paratroopers was planned for the invasion of Poland in 1939, in an act that began the Second World War. This has given rise to the myth that Adolf Hitler wanted to keep this new, and hitherto little-known, branch of the armed services secret for future projects.However, on several occasions the men of Parachute Regiment 1 were sat ready in their Ju52 transport planes, fully equipped and ready to go. 'Operation Fall Weiss' describes the role of the German paratroopers in the Polish campaign, using war diaries, maps, contemporary documents and photographs, including those from various private collections around the world.Children in the Second World War: Memories from the Home Front
Par Amanda Herbert-Davies. 2017
&“Stunning photographs&” and firsthand accounts propel a book that &“brings together the memories of more than 200 child survivors of…
the Blitz&” (Daily Mail). It was not just the upheaval caused by evacuation and the blitzes that changed a generation&’s childhood, it was how war pervaded every aspect of life. From dodging bombs by bicycle and patrolling the parish with the vicar&’s WWI pistol, to post air raid naps in school and being carried out of the rubble as the family&’s sole survivor, children experienced life in the war zone that was Britain. This reality, the reality of a life spent growing up during the Second World War, is best told through the eyes of the children who experienced it firsthand. Children in the Second World War unites the memories of over two hundred child veterans to tell the tragic and the remarkable stories of life, and of youth, during the war. Each veteran gives a unique insight into a childhood that was unlike any that came before or after. This book poignantly illustrates the presence of death and perseverance in the lives of children through this tumultuous period. Each account enlightens and touches the reader, shedding light on what it was really like on the home front during the Second World War.The Kindertransport: Contesting Memory (Studies In Antisemitism Ser.)
Par Jennifer Craig-Norton. 2019
A timely study of the effects of family separation on child refugees, using newly discovered archival sources from the WWII…
era: “Highly recommended.” —ChoiceThe Kindertransport—an organized effort to extract children living under the threat of Nazism—lives in the popular memory as well as in literature as a straightforward act of rescue and salvation, but these celebratory accounts leave little room for a deeper, more complex analysis. This volume reveals that in fact many children experienced difficulties with settlement: they were treated inconsistently by refugee agencies, their parents had complicated reasons for giving them up, and their caregivers had a variety of motives for taking them in. Against the grain of many other narratives, Jennifer Craig-Norton emphasizes the use of newly discovered archival sources, which include the correspondence of refugee agencies, carers, Kinder and their parents, and juxtaposes this material with testimonial accounts to show readers a more nuanced and complete picture of the Kindertransport. In an era in which the family separation of refugees has commanded considerable attention, this book is a timely exploration of the effects of family separation as it was experienced by child refugees in the age of fascism.World War II in the Pacific: An Encyclopedia (Military History of the United States)
Par Sandler Stanley. 2001
Stanley Sandler, one of America's most respected and best-known military historians, has brought together over 300 entries by some 200…
specialists in the field to create the first encyclopedia specifically devoted to the Pacific Theatre of World War II.Extending far beyond battles and hardware, the coverage ranges from high policy-making, grand strategy, and the significant persons and battles of the conflict, to the organization of the Allied and Japanese divisions, aircraft, armor, artillery, psychological warfare, warships, and the home fronts, covering the interactions of each topic along the way.Heroes in Dungarees
Par John Bunker. 1995
A World War II merchant seaman, John Bunker takes a thorough look at the American merchant marines' significant contributions to…
the war effort. There are plenty of fascinating facts about their extensive supply operations, but the focus of the book is on the men and their often-heroic actions. Bunker draws from his own experiences to describe the action at sea and also includes the personal stories of many other civilian participants. It is a engaging portrayal of the courage, bravery, and ingenuity demonstrated by these merchant seamen. All theaters of operation using U.S. merchant ships are covered, and in addition, Bunker provides information on events before the country entered the war when efforts were being made to build more ships and to recruit the men necessary to crew the huge fleet.Escape from Arnhem: A Glider Pilot’s Story
Par Godfrey Freeman. 2010
This is the remarkable true story of a young army glider pilots experience of the last days in the defense…
of Arnhem Bridge, his eventual capture and then escape to be adopted by the Resistance, the hair-raising journey through occupied Europe and his eventual return to the UK. After capture Freeman was first taken to Apeldoorn where he was hospitalized, claiming shell-shock. Although quite sane, he feigned trauma with escape in mind, until being punished for aiding the escape of four Allied inmates. Then he was put on a train bound for Germany, from this he escaped and eventually made contact with the Dutch underground. He is given civilian cloths and a bicycle and rides overnight to Barnveld where he stays with a schoolmaster and church organist. Then another cycle ride to a farm where he sleeps in the hayloft and finally still on his bike, he rides through the German front lines. He eventually is returned to RAF Broadwell by Dakota to resume his part in the war, from capture to freedom within a month. The text is interspersed with flashbacks to the authors childhood and early training, capturing the true spirit of a typical modest and yet outstandingly brave young man of the wartime era.