Nearly three million people endured it; just under half of them died. For twenty-five years the distinguished journalist and historian Harrison Salisbury pieced together this remarkable narrative of villainy and survival, in which the city had much to fear-from both Hitler and Stalin.

    Shirer stood in the streets of Paris and watched the unending flow of gray German uniforms along its boulevards. In just six lovely weeks in the spring and summer of 1940 a single battle brought down in total military defeat one of the world's oldest, greatest, and most civilized powers—the second mightiest empire on earth and the possessor of one of the finest military machines ever assembled. How did it happen? After nearly a decade of research in the massive archives left from World War II and after hundreds of conversations with the Third Republic's leaders, generals, diplomats, and ordinary citizens, Shirer presents the definitive answer in his stunning re-creation of why and how France fell before Hitler's armies in 1940. His book is also a devastating examination of the confusion, corruption, and cynicism that drained the strength and toughness of a democracy which Thomas Jefferson once called "every man's second country." This book complements and completes the dramatic story of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and continues to rank as one of the most important works of history of our time.

    But who would have thought that the slim and pale looking boy would become one of the most successful fighter pilots of the war? Almost unknown outside the RAF, Sgt. Pilot J.H. Lacey shot down more enemy aircraft in the Battle of Britain than any other fighter pilot. He shot down the Heinkel 111 which had just bombed Buckingham Palace and had the highest score (twenty-three) of enemy aircraft destroyed, as late as 1941. Thereafter commissioned, early in 1941, he was for a time an instructor at an operational training unit, passing on to others the knowledge that he had won in the toughest series of air battles ever fought. Returning to operations, he served under another fabulous air fighter, ‘Paddy’ Finucane; then was posted to rocket (airborne weapons) development, a task almost as dangerous as combat flying. Later he commanded a famous fighter squadron in the Far East. and shot down the first Japanese he encountered. Unorthodox, autocratic in his command but resentful of unreasonable interference from those above him, Ginger Lacey was a boyish-looking figure with a fantastic gift for leadership, and sharp eyes, bravery and an innate sense of timing. He died in 1989, but his amazing story was recorded by an experienced writer who was a fellow officer in the RAF until 1951 and knew him well. It is a memorable and stirring biography. ‘The best all action war story yet produced.’ - Yorkshire Post ‘A top-scoring story.’ - Evening Standard ‘Fast-moving biography.’ - Sunday Times ‘The best biography of a fighter pilot ever written.’ - Yorkshire Evening Post Richard Townsend Bickers volunteered for the RAF on the outbreak of the second world war and served, with a Permanent Commission, for eighteen years. He wrote a range of military fiction and non-fiction books, including ‘Torpedo Attack’, ‘My Enemy Came Nigh’, ‘Bombing Run’, ‘Fighters Up’ and ‘Summer of No Surrender’. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.

    B&W photos.

    Higgins, major general, U.S. Army (ret.), from the ForewordIn the predawn darkness of D-Day, an elite fighting force struck the first blows against Hitler’s Fortress Europe. Braving a hail of enemy gunfire and mortars, bold invaders from the sky descended into the hedgerow country and swarmed the meadows of Normandy. Some would live, some would die, but all would fight with the guts and determination that made them the most famous U.S. Army division in World War II: the 101st Airborne “Screaming Eagles.” George Koskimaki was part of the 101st Airborne’s daring parachute landing into occupied France that day. Now, drawing on more than five hundred firsthand accounts–including the never-before-published experiences of the trailblazing pathfinders and glider men–Koskimaki re-creates those critical hours in all their ferocity and terror. Told by those who ultimately prevailed–ordinary Americans who faced an extraordinary challenge–D-Day with the Screaming Eagles is the real history of that climactic struggle beyond the beachhead.

    Dogfights in the sky, ruthless political maneuvers, legendary heroes of the air like Richthofen (the "Red Baron") and Douglas Bader, this book combines all of these colorful, dramatic, and evocative accounts of the furious air conflicts that saved Britain from German invasion.

    Army ever fought. More than a million GIs were involved and nearly 80,000 became casualties. The Allied generals had to rally beaten, dispirited troops in the face of an attack they had never dreamed possible.A study in command, from generals to squad leaders, The Bitter Woods follows von Runstedt, Dietrich, and of course Hitler, as closely as the Americans. As son of the supreme commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, a West Point graduate, a retired Army brigadier general, and a military historian, John Eisenhower is uniquely qualified to tell how the Allied generals (nearly all of whom he knew personally) met Hitler's challenge; how the two armies fought fiercely in the Ardennes from December 1944 to January 1945; and how the Allied victory broke the back of Nazi aggression.

    This special edition of The Cactus Air Force was commissioned by the Admiral Nimitz Foundation as part of the "CACTUS Remembered" symposium held at the Admiral Nimitz Museum in Fredericksburg, Texas on April 20,21, and 22 1990.

    Selected photographs and first-person reports on major events of the war as viewed by world leaders, correspondents, historians, etc.

    

    Incident at Eger; Prophets of Armageddon; The antipathetic alliance2 The road to Prague. "How long will this burlesque last?"; "Don't you see?...It's the German insurance companies that will have to pay!"; Hitler over Bohemia3 Warsaw or Moscow? The Führer is sick; The panic pact; Hitler briefs his generals; The conspirators are worried; "You must think we are nitwits & nincompoops!"; Slow boat to Leningrad4 Moment of truth. The walrus; Stalin makes up his mind; Hitler takes a hand; Ribbentrop's hour of triumph5 The sands run out. Mussolini reneges; The indefatigable Swede; Operation "Canned Goods"6 World War II. Common action or another conference?; At lastEpilogueSourcesNotesIndexMaps

    This is the story of a bomber crew in World War II, always accompanied by an eighth passenger - fear.

    In this comprehensive and engrossing narrative Angus Calder presents not only the great events and leading figures but also the oddities and banalities of daily life, and in particular the parts played by ordinary people: air raid wardens and Home Guards, factory workers and farmers, housewives and pacifists. Above all, his book reveals how, in those six years, the British people came closer to discarding their social conventions than at any time since Cromwell's republic.

    Translated and introduced by Alexander Jacob. The sensational semi-autobiographical work from the Waffen-SS’s most famous foreign volunteer, translated into English for the very first time.First published in French in French as Hitler pour 1000 ans in 1969, this suppressed work was Degrelle’s personal account of his pre-war political career, his personal interactions with Hitler, the formation of what became the Walloon SS, the war on the Eastern Front against the Soviet Union, his dramatic escape to Spain in 1945, and his life in exile.Along the way, Degrelle provides insight into some of the most pressing questions of World War II: why Hitler invaded the Soviet Union when he did; how Mussolini’s invasion of Greece wrecked Hitler’s plans; how lower-ranking German military commanders deliberately disobeyed Hitler’s orders on industrial production which directly affected the war’s outcome; how the defeat at Stalingrad occurred because the Sixth Army’s commander refused to follow Hitler’s orders to break out to the west; the turning point battle of Kursk, and much more.Degrelle also provides a fascinating personal view of Hitler, gained from a personal friendship. Finally, Degrelle describes the vision of a united Europe, which, he says, was Hitler’s ultimate vision. This belief in a strong united Europe gave rise to the saying of Hitler for a thousand years, the title of this book.“If objective historians still existed, I could be for them a very valuable witness with regard to their documents. Who, among the survivors of 1945, knew Hitler or Mussolini more directly than I? Who could explain with more precision than me, explain what type of men they were, men as they really were?“This ‘essential thing’ in the great tragedy of the Second World War, what was it for us? How did the ‘fascisms’ — which have been the essential thing of our lives — arise? How were they deployed ? How did they collapse? And, above all, after a quarter century: what balance sheet can one draw up of this whole gigantic affair?"

    Andrus, governor of Nuremberg Prison from May, 1945, to October, 1946.From the time they were assembled at an interrogation center until the end of their trial, it was Colonel Andrus' job to guard the twenty-one top war criminals and maintain the security of the tribunal that was deciding their fate. For eighteen months he worked among them at often stifling close quarters and talked with them almost every day. He saw all the facets of these men--depression, petulance, arrogance, and occasionally, courage and dignity. He saw them through their trial and walked with ten of them to the gallows as they went to their deaths. In writing this remarkable book, the author has drawn on literally thousands of confidential and unpublished documents. The drama of Goering's suicide is heightened by personal reminiscence and by the reproduction of his suicide note to Colonel Andrus. The exact circumstances of Goering's death, as well as the contents of a letter he wrote to General Eisenhower, are also disclosed for the first time.The thorny problems Colonel Andrus encountered in maintaining discipline, the feigned insanity of Hess, the vicious hysteria of Streicher, the self-pitying meekness of Ribbentrop, the prisoners' reactions to Nazi atrocity films, the doomed men's last Christmas and how they went to ther deaths--all are dealt with in vivid, exacting detail. Chilling, candid, and fully documented, "I Was the Nuremberg Jailer" adds the long-awaited final chapter to the history of the rise and fall of the Third Reich.

    But instead of being used in the specialised role for which it had been trained, most of the battalion's vehicles were taken away on arrival, and the riflemen were told that they were to be used as ordinary infantry. Stripped of its hard core of regulars, the battalion suffered one disastrous defeat after another until its hard-won reputation fell in tatters. 'Quite extraordinary realism in this worm's eye view ... The sweating, slogging, frightened infantryman in conditions of extreme stress and horror. It is a book to bring a shiver to the most grizzled veteran.' Sunday Times