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Black May: The Epic Story of the Allies' Defeat of the German U-Boats in May 1943
Par Michael Gannon. 1998
In May 1943, Allied sea and air forces won a stunning, dramatic, and vital victory over the largest and most…
powerful submarine force ever sent to sea, sinking forty-one German U-boats and damaging thirty-seven others. It was the forty-fifth month of World War II, and by the end of May the Germans were forced to acknowledge defeat and recall almost all of their remaining U-boats from the major traffic lanes of the North Atlantic. At U-Boat Headquarters in Berlin, despondent naval officers spoke of "Black May." It was a defeat from which the German U-boat fleet never recovered.Black May is a triumph of scholarship and narrative, an important work of history, and a great sea story. Acclaimed historian Michael Gannon, author of Operation Drumbeat, has done enormous research and produced the most thoroughly documented study ever done of these battles. In his compelling historical saga, the people are as significant as the technical information.Given the strategic importance of the events of May 1943, it is natural to ask, How did Black May happen and why? Who or what was responsible? Were new Allied tactics adopted or new weapons employed?This book answers those questions and many others. Drawing on original documents in German, British, U.S., and Canadian archives, as well as interviews with surviving participants, Gannon describes the exciting sea and air battles, frequently taking the reader inside the U-boats themselves, aboard British warships, onto the decks of torpedoed merchant ships, and into the cockpits of British and U.S. aircraft.Throughout, Gannon tells the Black May story from both the German and Allied perspectives, often using the actual words of captains and crews. Finally, he allows the reader to "listen in" on secretly recorded conversations of captured U-boat men in POW quarters during that same incredible month, giving intimate and moving access to the thoughts and emotions of seamen that is unparalleled in naval literature. Rarely, if ever, has the U-boat war been presented so accurately, so graphically, and so personally as in Black May.No Surrender: The Story of an Ordinary Soldier's Extraordinary Courage in the Face of Evil
Par Christopher Edmonds, Douglas Century. 2019
Part contemporary detective story, part World War II historical narrative, No Surrender is the inspiring true story of Roddie Edmonds, a Knoxville-born…
enlistee who risked his life during the final days of World War II to save others from murderous Nazis, and the lasting effects his actions had on thousands of lives—then and now.Captured in the Battle of the Bulge, Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds was the highest-ranking American soldier at Stalag IXA, a prisoner of war camp near Ziegenhain, Germany. A native of Knoxville, Tennessee, Roddie was a simple, soft-spoken man of deep inner strength and unwavering Christian faith. Though he was driven to the limits of endurance, Roddie refused to succumb to Nazi brutality toward the Jewish-American GIs with whom he was serving. Through his inspiring leadership and bravery Roddie saved the lives of hundreds of U.S. infantrymen in those perilous final days of the Second World War. His fearless actions continue to reverberate today.Growing up, Pastor Chris Edmonds knew little of his father’s actions in the war. To learn the truth, he followed a trail of clues, a journey that spanned seven decades and linked a sprawling cast of heroes, both known and unknown, from every corner of the country. In No Surrender, Pastor Chris, joined by New York Times bestselling co-author Douglas Century, chronicles his odyssey to tell the unforgettable story of his father and his remarkable valor. He also provides startling details (and vantage points) of some of the major events of World War II and United States Army initiatives that helped the Allies win the war, including the Battle of the Bulge, the massacre at Malmedy, and the now-little-known Army Specialized Training Program which prepared brilliant young “soldier-scholars”—or “Quiz Kids”—from across the nation to battle the Nazis.As compelling as the number-one New York Times bestsellers Unbroken, Boys on the Boat, Band of Brothers, and Schindler’s List, illustrated with photographs and historical documents throughout, No Surrender is an epic story of bravery, compassion, and faith, and an inspiring testament to man’s goodness. It is also a clarion call for our narcissistic age—a shining example of the transformative and redemptive power of moral courage.The Enemy I Knew: German Jews in the Allied Military in World War II
Par Steven Karras. 2010
Jewish refugees who fled the Nazis—then returned to fight them as Allied soldiers—share their experiences: “Heroic, poignant [and] compelling.” —The…
Daily NewsEven Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel struggled with the question: Why didn’t the Jews fight back? But he finally concluded that the real question was how so many of them did. As he put it, “Tormented, beaten, starved, where did they find the strength—spiritual and physical—to resist?” In fact, over 10,000 German Jews fought in the Allied armies of World War II. This book honors those European-born combat veterans—refugees from the Nazi regime in Germany and Austria who faced their persecutors by joining the Allied forces in a fight against the country of their birth. These twenty-seven interviews take us into the unique and harrowing experiences of brave men—and one brave woman—whose service restored a sense of dignity and allowed them to rise above their former victimization. All burned with anger at the Germans who’d subjected them, often as young children, to cruelty in everyday life in their hometowns, and to ridicule in the national media. As soldiers who knew the language and psychology of the enemy better than any of their comrades, they struck back with newfound pride against the rampant injustice that had annihilated their families, destroyed their prospects, and subjected many of them to the worst forms of physical abuse, both random and terrifying. In The Enemy I Knew they tell their stories—and the world is richer for their heroic acts, and for their testimony.“It is rare to come across a book about a forgotten story from World War II, but Steve Karras has found one of the most compelling, little-known accounts from the war and he tells it brilliantly. Harrowing, breathtaking in parts, and completely absorbing.” —Andrew Carroll, New York Times–bestselling editor of War Letters“Few stories can rival the ones told in The Enemy I Knew.” —Library Journal (starred review)Holocaust Journey: Travelling In Search Of The Past
Par Sir Martin Gilbert. 1997
Includes a new foreword by Rob RinderWhat readers are saying about HOLOCAUST JOURNEY:'Brilliant ... A must read for everybody' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Devastating'…
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Fascinating, thought provoking and shocking' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Everybody should read this' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Informative and emotional' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐In June 1996 Martin Gilbert took a group of students on a two-week journey across middle-Europe which encompassed all the major places in the Holocaust - from Wannsee where the extermination of the Jews was decreed, to the camps themselves, via deserted Jewish communities and synagogues as well as the sites of the ghettos and deportation.'The achievement of Gilbert's HOLOCAUST JOURNEY is to reduce to comprehensible, human terms of the scale of the genocide that to many is still unimaginable' LITERARY REVIEW'Filled with short, well-informed and often heart-rending accounts of the fate of the Jews' TLS'HOLOCAUST JOURNEY travels along the tracks of a history we would rather forget to the sites of wartime horror, and is also a moving excavation of the past' INDEPENDENTMelting Point: A groundbreaking family history for fans of Edmund de Waal and Philippe Sands
Par Rachel Cockerell. 2024
'A truly radical book; radical in subject, radical in form. For the most tragic reasons, it could not feel more…
immediate; and yet it's a fluid, fast-paced, hugely enjoyable and engaging read.' - Andrew Marr'Meticulously researched, elegantly constructed, unforgettable.' - Jonathan Freedland'This is an extraordinarily original way of writing memoir, history and truth. An enthralling book and a wonderful new writer.' - Laura CummingOn June 7th 1907, a ship packed with Russian Jews sets sail not to Jerusalem or New York, as many on board have dreamt, but to Texas. The man who persuades the passengers to go is David Jochelmann, Rachel Cockerell's great-grandfather. It marks the beginning of the Galveston Movement, a forgotten moment in history when 10,000 Jews fled to Texas in the lead-up to WWI.The charismatic leader of the movement is Jochelmann's closest friend, Israel Zangwill, whose novels have made him famous across Europe and America. As Eastern Europe becomes infected by anti-Semitic violence, Zangwill embarks on a desperate search across the continents for a temporary homeland: from Australia to Canada, Angola to Antarctica. He reluctantly settles on Galveston, Texas. He fears the Jewish people will be absorbed into the great American melting pot, but there is no other hope. In a highly inventive style, Cockerell uses exclusively source material to capture history as it unfolds, weaving together letters, diaries, memoirs, newspaper articles and interviews into a vivid account of those who were there. Melting Point follows Zangwill and the Jochelmann family through two world wars, to London, New York and Jerusalem - as their lives intertwine with some of the most memorable figures of the twentieth century, and each chooses whether to cling to their history or melt into their new surroundings. It is a story that asks what it means to belong, and what can be salvaged from the past.Holocaust Journey: Travelling In Search Of The Past
Par Sir Martin Gilbert. 1997
Includes a new foreword by Rob RinderWhat readers are saying about HOLOCAUST JOURNEY:'Brilliant ... A must read for everybody' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Devastating'…
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Fascinating, thought provoking and shocking' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Everybody should read this' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Informative and emotional' ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐In June 1996 Martin Gilbert took a group of students on a two-week journey across middle-Europe which encompassed all the major places in the Holocaust - from Wannsee where the extermination of the Jews was decreed, to the camps themselves, via deserted Jewish communities and synagogues as well as the sites of the ghettos and deportation.'The achievement of Gilbert's HOLOCAUST JOURNEY is to reduce to comprehensible, human terms of the scale of the genocide that to many is still unimaginable' LITERARY REVIEW'Filled with short, well-informed and often heart-rending accounts of the fate of the Jews' TLS'HOLOCAUST JOURNEY travels along the tracks of a history we would rather forget to the sites of wartime horror, and is also a moving excavation of the past' INDEPENDENTMelting Point: A groundbreaking family history for fans of Edmund de Waal and Philippe Sands
Par Rachel Cockerell. 2024
'A truly radical book; radical in subject, radical in form. For the most tragic reasons, it could not feel more…
immediate; and yet it's a fluid, fast-paced, hugely enjoyable and engaging read.' - Andrew Marr'Meticulously researched, elegantly constructed, unforgettable.' - Jonathan Freedland'This is an extraordinarily original way of writing memoir, history and truth. An enthralling book and a wonderful new writer.' - Laura CummingOn June 7th 1907, a ship packed with Russian Jews sets sail not to Jerusalem or New York, as many on board have dreamt, but to Texas. The man who persuades the passengers to go is David Jochelmann, Rachel Cockerell's great-grandfather. It marks the beginning of the Galveston Movement, a forgotten moment in history when 10,000 Jews fled to Texas in the lead-up to WWI.The charismatic leader of the movement is Jochelmann's closest friend, Israel Zangwill, whose novels have made him famous across Europe and America. As Eastern Europe becomes infected by anti-Semitic violence, Zangwill embarks on a desperate search across the continents for a temporary homeland: from Australia to Canada, Angola to Antarctica. He reluctantly settles on Galveston, Texas. He fears the Jewish people will be absorbed into the great American melting pot, but there is no other hope. In a highly inventive style, Cockerell uses exclusively source material to capture history as it unfolds, weaving together letters, diaries, memoirs, newspaper articles and interviews into a vivid account of those who were there. Melting Point follows Zangwill and the Jochelmann family through two world wars, to London, New York and Jerusalem - as their lives intertwine with some of the most memorable figures of the twentieth century, and each chooses whether to cling to their history or melt into their new surroundings. It is a story that asks what it means to belong, and what can be salvaged from the past.Unsinkable: Five Men and the Indomitable Run of the USS Plunkett
Par James Sullivan. 2020
In the bestselling tradition of Indianapolis and In Harm&’s Way comes a &“captivating…gripping&” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) account of the…
USS Plunkett—a US Navy destroyer that sustained the most harrowing attack on any Navy ship by the Germans during World War II, later made famous by John Ford and Herman Wouk.&“A reflection on the nature of storytelling itself&” (The Wall Street Journal), Unsinkable traces the individual journeys of five men on one ship from Casablanca in North Africa, to Sicily and Salerno in Italy and then on to Plunkett&’s defining moment at Anzio, where a dozen-odd German bombers bore down on the ship in an assault so savage, so prolonged, and so deadly that one Navy commander was hard-pressed to think of another destroyer that had endured what Plunkett had. After a three-month overhaul and with a reputation rising as the &“fightin&’est ship&” in the Navy, Plunkett (DD-431) plunged back into the war at Omaha Beach on D-Day, and again into battle during the invasion of Southern France—perhaps the only Navy ship to participate in every Allied invasion in the European theatre.Featuring five incredibly brave men—the indomitable skipper, who will receive the Navy Cross; the gunnery officer, who bucks the captain every step of the way to Anzio; a first lieutenant, who&’s desperate to get off the ship and into the Pacific; a seventeen-year-old water tender, who&’s trying to hold onto his hometown girl against all odds, and another water tender, who mans a 20mm gun when under aerial assault—the dramatic story of each plays out on the decks of the Plunkett as the ship&’s story escalates on the stage of the Mediterranean. Based on Navy logs, war diaries, action reports, letters, journals, memoirs, and dozens of interviews with the men who were on the ship and their families, Unsinkable is a timeless evocation of young men stepping up to the defining experience of their lives. &“If you were moved by Norman Maclean&’s A River Runs Through It, by William Kent Krueger&’s This Tender Land…by the values we hold dear, decency, sacrifice, steadfastness, then Unsinkable will take you to a place long dead in your soul, and flood it with light&” (Doug Stanton, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Horse Soldiers).Hitler's Father: Hidden Letters: Why the Son Became a Dictator
Par Roman Sandgruber. 2022
The bundle of 31 letters, the pages of which had long yellowed with age, had lain hidden in the attic…
where they were found for over a century. Only when the razor-sharp script was examined further did historians discover just who had written them – and that person, Alois, was Adolf Hitler’s father. Born Alois Schicklgruber on 7 June 1837, the identity of his biological father still undisclosed, Alois eventually became a civil servant in the Austrian customs service. At around the age of 40, Alois changed his family name from Schicklgruber to Hitler – his infamous son being born some eleven years later. The contents of the re-discovered letters have allowed the renowned historian and author Roman Sandgruber to reassess the image that we have of Alois, offering the world a completely new and authentic impression of the man. In Hitler’s Father, Sandgruber re-examines Alois’ personality and how he significantly shaped the young Adolf. The letters also shed further light onto the everyday life of the Hitler family as whole, a story which is often characterized by myths, inventions and assumptions. They have given the author the opportunity to recount the childhood and youth of the future dictator, painting a dramatic picture of the ‘Führer’ growing up. These letters also help answer the question that is so often asked: How could a child from an Upper Austrian province, seemingly a failure and self-taught, rise to a position of such power? Indeed, Adolf Hitler’s father and ‘the province’ seemingly lay heavily on him until his suicide in the Führerbunker in 1945. The author examines how the young Hitler’s lowly upbringing may have affected him in the years that followed – years which shaped the history of the whole world.My German Question: Growing Up in Nazi Berlin
Par Peter Gay. 2008
&“Not only a memoir, it&’s also a fierce reply to those who criticized German-Jewish assimilation and the tardiness of many…
families in leaving Germany&” (Publishers Weekly). In this poignant book, a renowned historian tells of his youth as an assimilated, anti-religious Jew in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1939—&“the story,&” says Peter Gay, &“of a poisoning and how I dealt with it.&” With his customary eloquence and analytic acumen, Gay describes his family, the life they led, and the reasons they did not emigrate sooner, and he explores his own ambivalent feelings—then and now—toward Germany its people. Gay relates that the early years of the Nazi regime were relatively benign for his family, yet even before the events of 1938–39, culminating in Kristallnacht, they were convinced they must leave the country. Gay describes the bravery and ingenuity of his father in working out this difficult emigration process, the courage of the non-Jewish friends who helped his family during their last bitter months in Germany, and the family&’s mounting panic as they witnessed the indifference of other countries to their plight and that of others like themselves. Gay&’s account—marked by candor, modesty, and insight—adds an important and curiously neglected perspective to the history of German Jewry. &“Not a single paragraph is superfluous. His inquiry rivets without let up, powered by its unremitting candor.&” —Los Angeles Times Book Review &“[An] eloquent memoir.&” —The Wall Street Journal &“A moving testament to the agony the author experienced.&” —Chicago Tribune &“[A] valuable chronicle of what life was like for those who lived through persecution and faced execution.&” —ChoiceA Bridge Too Far: The Classic History of the Greatest Battle of World War II
Par Cornelius Ryan. 1974
The classic account of one of the most dramatic battles of World War II.A Bridge Too Far is Cornelius Ryan's…
masterly chronicle of the Battle of Arnhem, which marshalled the greatest armada of troop-carrying aircraft ever assembled and cost the Allies nearly twice as many casualties as D-Day.In this compelling work of history, Ryan narrates the Allied effort to end the war in Europe in 1944 by dropping the combined airborne forces of the American and British armies behind German lines to capture the crucial bridge across the Rhine at Arnhem. Focusing on a vast cast of characters—from Dutch civilians to British and American strategists to common soldiers and commanders—Ryan brings to life one of the most daring and ill-fated operations of the war. A Bridge Too Far superbly recreates the terror and suspense, the heroism and tragedy of this epic operation, which ended in bitter defeat for the Allies.1941: The Year Germany Lost The War
Par Andrew Nagorski. 2019
Bestselling historian Andrew Nagorski &“brings keen psychological insights into the world leaders involved&” (Booklist) during 1941, the critical year in…
World War II when Hitler&’s miscalculations and policy of terror propelled Churchill, FDR, and Stalin into a powerful new alliance that defeated Nazi Germany. In early 1941, Hitler&’s armies ruled most of Europe. Churchill&’s Britain was an isolated holdout against the Nazi tide, but German bombers were attacking its cities and German U-boats were attacking its ships. Stalin was observing the terms of the Nazi-Soviet Pact, and Roosevelt was vowing to keep the United States out of the war. Hitler was confident that his aim of total victory was within reach.But by the end of 1941, all that changed. Hitler had repeatedly gambled on escalation and lost: by invading the Soviet Union and committing a series of disastrous military blunders; by making mass murder and terror his weapons of choice, and by rushing to declare war on the United States after Japan&’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Britain emerged with two powerful new allies—Russia and the United States. By then, Germany was doomed to defeat.Nagorski illuminates the actions of the major characters of this pivotal year as never before. 1941: The Year Germany Lost the War is a stunning and &“entertaining&” (The Wall Street Journal) examination of unbridled megalomania versus determined leadership. It also reveals how 1941 set the Holocaust in motion, and presaged the postwar division of Europe, triggering the Cold War. 1941 was &“the year that shaped not only the conflict of the hour but the course of our lives—even now&” (New York Times bestselling author Jon Meacham).The Liberation of Paris: How Eisenhower, de Gaulle, and von Choltitz Saved the City of Light
Par Jean Edward Smith. 2019
Prize-winning and bestselling historian Jean Edward Smith tells the &“rousing&” (Jay Winik, author of 1944) story of the liberation of…
Paris during World War II—a triumph achieved only through the remarkable efforts of Americans, French, and Germans, racing to save the city from destruction.Following their breakout from Normandy in late June 1944, the Allies swept across northern France in pursuit of the German army. The Allies intended to bypass Paris and cross the Rhine into Germany, ending the war before winter set in. But as they advanced, local forces in Paris began their own liberation, defying the occupying German troops.Charles de Gaulle, the leading figure of the Free French government, urged General Dwight Eisenhower to divert forces to liberate Paris. Eisenhower&’s advisers recommended otherwise, but Ike wanted to help position de Gaulle to lead France after the war. And both men were concerned about partisan conflict in Paris that could leave the communists in control of the city and the national government. Neither man knew that the German commandant, Dietrich von Choltitz, convinced that the war was lost, schemed to surrender the city to the Allies intact, defying Hitler&’s orders to leave it a burning ruin.In The Liberation of Paris, Jean Edward Smith puts &“one of the most moving moments in the history of the Second World War&” (Michael Korda) in context, showing how the decision to free the city came at a heavy price: it slowed the Allied momentum and allowed the Germans to regroup. After the war German generals argued that Eisenhower&’s decision to enter Paris prolonged the war for another six months. Was Paris worth this price? Smith answers this question in a &“brisk new recounting&” that is &“terse, authoritative, [and] unsentimental&” (The Washington Post).The War Below: The Story of Three Submarines That Battled Japan
Par James Scott. 2013
“Beautifully researched and masterfully told” (Alex Kershaw, New York Times bestselling author of Escape from the Deep), this is the…
riveting story of the heroic and tragic US submarine force that helped win World War II in the Pacific.Focusing on the unique stories of three of the war’s top submarines—Silversides, Drum, and Tang—The War Below vividly re-creates the camaraderie, exhilaration, and fear of the brave volunteers who took the fight to the enemy’s coastline in World War II. Award-winning journalist James Scott recounts incredible feats of courage—from an emergency appendectomy performed with kitchen utensils to sailors’ desperate struggle to escape from a flooded submarine—as well as moments of unimaginable tragedy, including an attack on an unmarked enemy freighter carrying 1,800 American prisoners of war.The casualty rate among submariners topped that of all other military branches. The war claimed almost one out of every five submarines, and a submarine crewman was six times more likely to die than a sailor onboard a surface ship. But this valorous service accomplished its mission; Silversides, Drum, and Tang sank a combined sixty-two freighters, tankers, and transports. The Japanese were so ravaged from the loss of precious supplies that by the war’s end, pilots resorted to suicidal kamikaze missions and hungry civilians ate sawdust while warships had to drop anchor due to lack of fuel. In retaliation, the Japanese often beat, tortured, and starved captured submariners in the atrocious prisoner of war camps.Based on more than 100 interviews with submarine veterans and thousands of pages of previously unpublished letters and diaries, The War Below lets readers experience the battle for the Pacific as never before.The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled Hitler and Changed the World
Par Kati Marton. 2006
The “intensely gripping story” of John von Neumann, Leo Szilard, Arthur Koestler, and six other world-renowned Hungarian Jews who fled…
the Nazis (The Washington Post Book World).In this book, New York Times–bestselling author Kati Marton tells the stunning tale of nine men who grew up in Budapest’s brief Golden Age, then, driven from Hungary by anti-Semitism, fled to the West, especially to the United States, and changed the world. These nine men, each celebrated for individual achievements, were part of a unique group who grew up in a time and place that will never come again. Four helped usher in the nuclear age and the computer, two were major movie myth-makers, two were immortal photographers, and one was a seminal writer. From a Peabody Award–winning journalist and finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award, The Great Escape is a groundbreaking, poignant American story and an important untold chapter of the tumultuous last century.“Describes the crossroads where art and politics meet, the perils of dictatorship and the horrors of war, all of it punctuated by the frantic struggle to create the atomic bomb. . . . Deserves a special place on bookshelves alongside Budapest 1900.” —The New York Times Book Review“By looking at these nine lives—salvaged, and crucial—Marton provides a moving measure of how much was lost.” —The New Yorker“[Marton has] a keen understanding of what it means to leave one’s country behind.” —The Seattle Times“A haunting tale of the wartime Hungarian diaspora. . . . Marton writes beautifully.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)“Filled with a number of wonderful anecdotes.” —Chicago Sun-Times“An engrossing book.” —Library JournalHouse of Glass: The Story and Secrets of a Twentieth-Century Jewish Family
Par Hadley Freeman. 2020
Writer Hadley Freeman investigates her family&’s secret history in this &“exceptional&” (The Washington Post) &“masterpiece&” (The Daily Telegraph) uncovering a…
story that spans a century, two World Wars, and three generations.Hadley Freeman knew her grandmother Sara lived in France just as Hitler started to gain power, but rarely did anyone in her family talk about it. Long after her grandmother&’s death, she found a shoebox tucked in the closet containing photographs of her grandmother with a mysterious stranger, a cryptic telegram from the Red Cross, and a drawing signed by Picasso.This discovery sent Freeman on a decade-long quest to uncover the significance of these keepsakes, taking her from Picasso&’s archives in Paris to a secret room in a farmhouse in Auvergne to Long Island to Auschwitz. Freeman pieces together the puzzle of her family&’s past, discovering more about the lives of her grandmother and her three brothers, Jacques, Henri, and Alex. Their stories sometimes typical, sometimes astonishing—reveal the broad range of experiences of Eastern European Jews during the Holocaust.This &“frightening, inspiring, and cautionary&” (Kirkus Reviews) family saga is filled with extraordinary twists, vivid characters, and famous cameos, illuminating the Jewish and immigrant experience in the World War II era. Reviewers have asked: &“is there a better book about being Jewish?&” (The Daily Telegraph) Addressing themes of assimilation, identity, and home, House of Glass is &“a triumph&” (The Bookseller) and a powerful story about the past that echoes issues that remain relevant today.Pegasus Bridge: D-Day -- The Daring British Airborne Raid
Par Stephen E. Ambrose. 1985
In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, a small detachment of British airborne troops stormed the German defense…
forces and paved the way for the Allied invasion of Europe. Pegasus Bridge was the first engagement of D-Day, the turning point of World War II.This gripping account of it by acclaimed author Stephen Ambrose brings to life a daring mission so crucial that, had it been unsuccessful, the entire Normandy invasion might have failed. Ambrose traces each step of the preparations over many months to the minute-by-minute excitement of the hand-to-hand confrontations on the bridge. This is a story of heroism and cowardice, kindness and brutality—the stuff of all great adventures.The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II
Par Denise Kiernan. 2013
The New York Times bestseller, now available in paperback—an incredible true story of the top-secret World War II town of…
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the young women brought there unknowingly to help build the atomic bomb.“The best kind of nonfiction: marvelously reported, fluidly written, and a remarkable story...As meticulous and brilliant as it is compulsively readable.” —Karen Abbott, author of Sin in the Second CityAt the height of World War II, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, was home to 75,000 residents, and consumed more electricity than New York City, yet it was shrouded in such secrecy that it did not appear on any map. Thousands of civilians, many of them young women from small towns across the U.S., were recruited to this secret city, enticed by the promise of solid wages and war-ending work. What were they actually doing there? Very few knew. The purpose of this mysterious government project was kept a secret from the outside world and from the majority of the residents themselves. Some wondered why, despite the constant work and round-the-clock activity in this makeshift town, did no tangible product of any kind ever seem to leave its guarded gates? The women who kept this town running would find out at the end of the war, when Oak Ridge’s secret was revealed and changed the world forever.Drawing from the voices and experiences of the women who lived and worked in Oak Ridge, The Girls of Atomic City rescues a remarkable, forgotten chapter of World War II from obscurity. Denise Kiernan captures the spirit of the times through these women: their pluck, their desire to contribute, and their enduring courage. “A phenomenal story,” and Publishers Weekly called it an “intimate and revealing glimpse into one of the most important scientific developments in history.”“Kiernan has amassed a deep reservoir of intimate details of what life was like for women living in the secret city...Rosie, it turns out, did much more than drive rivets.” —The Washington PostBeverly Hills Spy: The Double-Agent War Hero Who Helped Japan Attack Pearl Harbor
Par Ronald Drabkin. 1936
"A beguiling tale of espionage and double-dealing in the years leading up to World War II. ... Strap in for…
a narrative that demands a suspension of disbelief—and richly rewards it." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review); Best Books of February SelectionThe untold story of the World War I hero who became a fixture of high society in Golden Age Hollywood—all while acting as a double agent for the Japanese Empire as it prepared to attack Pearl HarborFrederick Rutland’s story is a rags-to-riches coup for the ages—a lower-class boy from England bootstraps his way up the ranks of the British military, becoming a World War I pilot, father of the modern aircraft carrier, cosmopolitan businessman, and Hollywood A-list insider. He oversaw this small empire from his mansion on the fabled Bird Streets of Beverly Hills. Snubbed for promotion in the Royal Air Force due to little more than jealousy and class politics, Rutland—to all appearances—continued to spin gold from straw, living an enviably lavish lifestyle that included butlers, wild parties, private clubs, and newsworthy living . . .. . . and it was all funded by the Japanese Empire.Beverly Hills Spy reveals the story of Rutland’s life of espionage on behalf of the Axis, selling secrets about fleet and aircraft design to the Japanese Imperial Navy that would be instrumental in its ability to attack Pearl Harbor, while collecting a salary ten times larger than the best-paid Japanese admirals. Based on recently declassified FBI files and until-now untranslated documents from Japanese intelligence, Ronald Drabkin brings the scope of this unforgettable tale into full focus for the first time. Rutland hides in plain sight, rubbing elbows with Amelia Earhart and hosting galas and fundraisers with superstars like Charlie Chaplin and Boris Karloff, while simultaneously passing information to Japan through spy networks across North and Central America. Countless opportunities to catch Rutland in the act are squandered by the FBI, British Intelligence, and US Naval Intelligence alike as he uses his cunning and charm to misdirect and cast shadows of doubt over his business dealings, allowing him to operate largely unfettered for years.In the end, whether he fully intends to or not, Rutland sets in motion world events that are so monumental, their consequences are still being felt today.Beverly Hills Spy is a masterpiece of research on spy craft, a shocking narrative about an unknown but pivotal figure in history, and brings new information to light that helps us understand how Pearl Harbor happened—and how it could have been prevented.The Storm on Our Shores: One Island, Two Soldiers, and the Forgotten Battle of World War II
Par Mark Obmascik. 2019
This &“engrossing&” (The Wall Street Journal) national bestseller and true &“heartbreaking tale of tragedy and redemption&” (Hampton Sides, bestselling author…
of Ghost Soldiers) reveals how a discovered diary—found during a brutal World War II battle—changed our war-torn society&’s perceptions of Japan.May 1943. The Battle of Attu—called &“The Forgotten Battle&” by World War II veterans—was raging on the Aleutian island with an Arctic cold, impenetrable fog, and rocketing winds that combined to create some of the worst weather on Earth. Both American and Japanese forces tirelessly fought in a yearlong campaign, with both sides suffering thousands of casualties. Included in this number was a Japanese medic whose war diary would lead a Silver Star–winning American soldier to find solace for his own tortured soul.The doctor&’s name was Paul Nobuo Tatsuguchi, a Hiroshima native who had graduated from college and medical school in California. He loved America, but was called to enlist in the Imperial Army of his native Japan. Heartsick, wary of war, yet devoted to Japan, Tatsuguchi performed his duties and kept a diary of events as they unfolded—never knowing that it would be found by an American soldier named Dick Laird.Laird, a hardy, resilient underground coal miner, enlisted in the US Army to escape the crushing poverty of his native Appalachia. In a devastating mountainside attack in Alaska, Laird was forced to make a fateful decision, one that saved him and his comrades, but haunted him for years.Tatsuguchi&’s diary was later translated and distributed among US soldiers. It showed the common humanity on both sides of the battle. But it also ignited fierce controversy that is still debated today. After forty years, Laird was determined to return it to the family and find peace with Tatsuguchi&’s daughter, Laura Tatsuguchi Davis.Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Mark Obmascik &“writes with tremendous grace about a forgotten part of our history, telling the same story from two opposing points of view—perhaps the only way warfare can truly be understood&” (Helen Thorpe, author of Soldier Girls).