It lasted only 12. But those 12 years contained some of the most catastrophic events Western civilization has ever known.No other powerful empire ever bequeathed such mountains of evidence about its birth and destruction as the Third Reich. When the bitter war was over, and before the Nazis could destroy their files, the Allied demand for unconditional surrender produced an almost hour-by-hour record of the nightmare empire built by Adolph Hitler. This record included the testimony of Nazi leaders and of concentration camp inmates, the diaries of officials, transcripts of secret conferences, army orders, private letters—all the vast paperwork behind Hitler's drive to conquer the world.The famed foreign correspondent and historian William L. Shirer, who had watched and reported on the Nazis since 1925, spent five and a half years sifting through this massive documentation. The result is a monumental study that has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of one of the most frightening chapters in the history of mankind.This worldwide bestseller has been acclaimed as the definitive book on Nazi Germany; it is a classic work.The accounts of how the United States got involved and how Hitler used Mussolini and Japan are astonishing, and the coverage of the war-from Germany's early successes to her eventual defeat-is must reading

    In Nazi Germany this training took place in a horrific "factory," where the men received both military and ideological indoctrination, preparing them to fight successfully for the fatherland. When a murder occurs in the school, however, underlying tensions begin to surface. Another unforgettable novel by the world-renowned author of" Night of the Generals (made into a film with an all-star cast) and an incomparable journey into the heart of wartime Germany.

    

    During the 1950s, researchers in Washington, D.C. and London pored over more than 1,500 tons of photographs and documents seized after World War II. In 1960 Gerhard Schoenberner gathered some 200 photographs from the newly uncovered material, most of them taken by Nazis to chronicle their war against the Jews. Schoenberner named the book after the yellow badge that the Nazis forced the persecuted Jews to wear.With its comprehensive, authoritative presentation of visual and textual evidence, much of which had not yet not been seen before, The Yellow Star shocked the German population and introduced the world to many haunting images. The book endures as one of the most important documentary accounts of the Holocaust, reprinted in many German editions and published in eight languages.The photographs are accompanied by extracts from Nazi and German documents-laws, decrees, and other Reich memoranda, field reports from SS officers and concentration camp directors, newspaper editorials, and other writings. Schoenberner also provides detailed captions to the photographs. Organized chronologically, the book follows the growing scope and terror of the Holocaust, from the first anti-Jewish laws and Kristallnacht to ghetto uprisings and the Final Solution, culminating in the liberation of the death death camps. Each chapter has a narrative introduction by the author.While remaining true to the author's original concept, this new edition is a completely fresh presentation of the photographs and documents, with several enhancements. Schoenberner has added new photographs, replaced others, updated the captions and commentary when necessary, and updated and expanded the bibliography.Even if anti-Semitism were not on the rise in today's world, The Yellow Star would still be an essential book. In photograph after photograph, page after page, the Shoah unfolds as inexorable horror-captured with resonance that remains unequaled.Praise for The Yellow Star: One of the Books of the Century.-Frankfurter Allegemeine ZeitungSince the defeat of Nazism we have seen many books on this subject, yet there are few that could be compared to this one . . . An exceptional work.-Le MondeA must for any library, and school, and household where concern and conscience are alive.-Die Welt

     Britain’s Naval supremacy is being challenged for the first time since Trafalgar. At large in South American waters within reach of the convoy routes across the Atlantic and the Pacific was Vice-Admiral Graf von Spee with the East Asiatic Cruiser Squadron of the Imperial German Navy, including the armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Graf von Spee’s belief that a cruiser squadron was of more strategic value than independent raiders seemed amply justified at Coronel on 1st November, when the powerful German unit inflicted a heavy defeat on four courageous but weaker British ships under Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock. Reaction in Britain was immediate and violent. The Royal Navy had been seen as invincible. Now, in the first major engagement in which battle had been offered since the days of Nelson, it had suffered a morale-shattering blow. Public bewilderment turned swiftly to anger: the Royal Navy thirsted for revenge. The Admiralty, in the persons of the First Lord, Mr. Winston Churchill, and the First Sea Lord, Lord Fisher, ordered the destruction of the East Asiatic Squadron; everything must be done to recapture command of the Southern Seas. A powerful force including the two battle-cruisers Invincible and Inflexible, was sent to the Falkland Islands, prepared for a long search and a battle of annihilation. The Battle of the Falkland Islands was fought on 8th December. The desperate gallantry of the Imperial German Navy challenged the vengeful pride of the Royal Navy in a struggle for control over the ocean trade-routes of the Southern Seas. Two of the major participants, Cradock and von Spee, died with their ships. Basing his text upon German and British records, Pitt has reconstructed the events of the two ‘missing periods’: the fatal hours during which Cradock decided to fling his puny force against von Spee’s squadron; and the days when von Spee was forced to risk his ships and men upon the information contained in an ill-considered telegram and an unfounded rumour. In Coronel and Falkland Barrie Pitt presents a vivid picture of these epic battles of the First World War. His description of the actions are precise and graphic, his judgement of the motives and decisions of those in command, scrupulous and detailed. Praise for Zeebrugge “Mr. Barrie Pitt has done a splendid job in pulling together all the details of this operation and presenting it in a lively way, with plenty of maps and diagrams.” — News Chronicle “A breathless and unforgettable narrative.” — Sphere “Mr. Pitt’s description of the desperate action on Zeebrugge Mole itself must be one of the most graphic accounts ever written in the annals of sea warfare. This in truth was a magnificent feat by the Royal Navy.” — Yorkshire Evening Post “A lively and detailed narrative, admirably illustrated, of a particularly gallant effort, which will serve to keep alive the fame of that band of heroes.” — Naval Review Praise for Special Boat Squadron ‘Barrie Pitt’s account of the exploits of these brave men in the Mediterranean is as much a thriller as a history book’ - The Daily Mail, Hull (less)

    He took control of the most powerful European state. He unwound the alliances and treaties of Bismarck. He fortified the German navy to rival Britain’s and was then surprised when they took this as a threat to British naval supremacy and then refused to deploy his navy in the greatest war the world has witnessed. When supreme war lord during World War One, he fell far short of the task. He considered himself usurped of power whilst also neglecting the responsibility of Kaiser in wartime, preferring to parade at victorious battlefields than command them. However, many viewed the Kaiser as the reason the war started and at least part of the reason why it was lost. His vanity-fuelled naval project stifled relations with the British which led to their willingness to declare war. At the loss of the war, the Kaiser fled a revolution in Germany; his actions and the actions of the politicians around him changed Germany forever in a most volatile period of European history. In later life, he remained in exile in the Netherlands, but maintained that God had a plan to restate his authority and, at the promise of certain powers, he was a supporter of the Nazi Party. But, as this promise was betrayed, the Kaiser became a virulent opponent of Nazism. Virginia Cowles’s account of the Kaiser’s life is studded with the personal tribulations of other significant German politicians. Not only does Cowles shed light on the Kaiser’s life, but The Kaiser is also an insight into the Machiavellian world of late 19th Century and early 20th Century German politics. Virginia Cowles (1910-83) was a well-respected American journalist and biographer, especially known for her coverage of the Spanish Civil War and the Second World War. For her service as a war correspondent she was awarded an OBE by the British government in 1947. She authored fifteen books, about her journalistic experiences, various historical topics, figures and families, and was a contributor to Vogue and Harper’s. Praise for Virginia Cowles: ‘A fascinating historical read’ The Telegraph ‘A rarity and a joy – a witty novel’ Birmingham Daily Post ‘A luminously sketched view of human folly’ The New York Times ‘For the political background alone you must read Cowles’ book, which deals with it admirably’ Country Life

    Britain?s? darkest hour in North Africa and the Mediterranean, 1941-42.