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Showing 101 - 120 of 7274 items
By Leo Marks. 1998
Leo Marks, the head of Special Operations Executive, reveals many unknown truths about the Second World War in this memoir.…
Marks' ingenious work was to devise numeric codes printed on silk and to improve the security of the agent's codes. He played an important part in the deciphering of important enemy codes which culminated in the early end of the war.By Jan T. Gross. 2001
One summer day in 1941, half of the Polish town of Jedwabne murdered the other half, 1,600 men, women, and…
children, all but seven of the town's Jews. Neighbors tells their story. This is a shocking, brutal story that has never before been told. It is the most important study of Polish-Jewish relations to be published in decades and should become a classic of Holocaust literature. Jan Gross pieces together eyewitness accounts and other evidence into an engulfing reconstruction of the horrific July day remembered well by locals but forgotten by history. His investigation reads like a detective story, and its unfolding yields wider truths about Jewish-Polish relations, the Holocaust, and human responses to occupation and totalitarianism. It is a story of surprises: The newly occupying German army did not compel the massacre, and Jedwabne's Jews and Christians had previously enjoyed cordial relations. After the war, the nearby family who saved Jedwabne's surviving Jews was derided and driven from the area. The single Jew offered mercy by the town declined it. Most arresting is the sinking realization that Jedwabne's Jews were clubbed, drowned, gutted, and burned not by faceless Nazis, but by people whose features and names they knew well: their former schoolmates and those who sold them food, bought their milk, and chatted with them in the street. As much as such a question can ever be answered, Neighbors tells us why. In many ways, this is a simple book. It is easy to read in a single sitting, and hard not to. But its simplicity is deceptive. Gross's new and persuasive answers to vexed questions rewrite the history of twentieth-century Poland. This book proves, finally, that the fates of Poles and Jews during World War II can be comprehended only together.By Paul O Shea. 2011
The papacy of Pius XII (1939-1958) has been a source of near-constant criticism and debate since his death, particularly because…
of his alleged silence during the Holocaust. Paul O'Shea examines his little-studied pre-papal life to demonstrate that Pius was neither an anti-Semitic villain nor a 'lamb without stain. 'By Bernard Wasserstein. 2014
In May 1941, Gertrude van Tijn arrived in Lisbon on a mission of mercy from Germanâe#144;occupied Amsterdam. She came with…
Nazi approval to the capital of neutral Portugal to negotiate the departure from Hitler's Europe of thousands of German and Dutch Jews. Was this middleâe#144;aged Jewish woman, burdened with such a terrible responsibility, merely a pawn of the Nazis, or was her journey a genuine opportunity to save large numbers of Jews from the gas chambers? In such impossible circumstances, what is just action, and what is complicity? A moving account of courage and of all-too-human failings in the face of extraordinary moral challenges, The Ambiguity of Virtue tells the story of Van Tijn's work on behalf of her fellow Jews as the avenues that might save them were closed off. Between 1933 and 1940 Van Tijn helped organize Jewish emigration from Germany. After the Germans occupied Holland, she worked for the Naziâe#144;appointed Jewish Council in Amsterdam and enabled many Jews to escape. Some later called her a heroine for the choices she made; others denounced her as a collaborator. Bernard Wasserstein's haunting narrative draws readers into the twilight world of wartime Europe, to expose the wrenching dilemmas that confronted Jews under Nazi occupation. Gertrude van Tijn's experience raises crucial questions about German policy toward the Jews, about the role of the Jewish Council, and about Dutch, American, and British responses to the persecution and mass murder of Jews on an unimaginable scale.By Y. Michal Bodemann. 2005
Immediately after the Holocaust, it seemed inconceivable that a Jewish community would rebuild in Germany. What was once unimaginable has…
now come to pass: Germany is home to one of Europe's most vibrant Jewish communities, and it has the fastest growing Jewish immigrant population of any country in the world outside Israel. By sharing the life stories of members of one Jewish family--the Kalmans--Y. Michal Bodemann provides an intimate look at what it is like to live as a Jew in Germany today. Having survived concentration camps in Poland, four Kalman siblings--three brothers and a sister--were left stranded in Germany after the war. They built new lives and a major enterprise; they each married and had children. Over the past fifteen years Bodemann conducted extensive interviews with the Kalmans, mostly with the survivors' ten children, who were born between 1948 and 1964. In these oral histories, he shares their thoughts on Judaism, work, family, and community. Staying in Germany is not a given; four of the ten cousins live in Israel and the United States. Among the Kalman cousins are an art gallery owner, a body builder, a radio personality, a former chief financial officer of a prominent U. S. bank, and a sculptor. They discuss Zionism, anti-Semitism, what it means to root for the German soccer team, Schindler's List, money, success, marriage and intermarriage, and family history. They reveal their different levels of engagement with Judaism and involvement with local Jewish communities. Kalman is a pseudonym, and their anonymity allows the family members to talk with passion and candor about their relationships and their lives as Jews.By Margherita Sarfatti, Brian Sullivan. 2014
Margherita Sarfatti first met Benito Mussolini in 1911 at the socialist daily Avanti! In what became a turbulent love affair…
she emerged as an important writer, art critic, and major adviser to the founder of the Fascist party. Even though she converted to Catholicism, she was cast aside once Hitler came to power and fled to South America in 1938. During her long exile where she constantly feared for her children who had remained in Italy and were in danger during the war, Sarfatti decided to tell the story of her relationship with Mussolini and the role she played in many important Fascist artistic, cultural, and ideological issues until 1934. Most of Italy's modern architecture and many of its painters owe Sarfatti both their success and lasting legacy. At first she wrote her memoir in English under the title My Fault. But in 1945 a daily newspaper in Buenos Aires, Critica, published a Spanish version in fourteen installments. In the full text Sarfatti bares all about her stormy relationship with the intensely womanizing dictator whom she knew was quite incapable of any kind of monogamous relationship. Yet the attraction remained long irresistible and that passion jumps off these pages with unrelenting strength. Brian Sullivan is America's foremost authority on Fascist Italy. After a PhD at Columbia he taught at Yale University and at the War College. With the late Phil Cannistraro he is the co-author of Il Duce's Other Woman (William Morrow, 1993) a major biography of Margherita Sarfatti. He lives in Rockville, Maryland.By H. James Burgwyn. 2012
Fascist Italy has received far too little attention in the military history of the Axis partnership. This is the first…
comprehensive study of Benito Mussolini's military efforts to build an empire during World War II. It details the fascist dictator's attempt to build both a Mediterranean empire and Balkan empire, as well as a narrative history of his tragically flawed illusions; Italy's disastrous military performance; the heroism of Italian soldiers, sailors, and airmen; and the brutal counterinsurgency programs. Italy's various war theaters are discussed singly, with major battles outlined, military aptitude and results judged, and relations with the Axis partner described. Fascist ideology and the Italian army's conduct in the occupied territories--France, Yugoslavia, Albania, Greece, Russia, East Africa, and North Africa--are also analyzed. Mussolini was the single individual most responsible for Italy's failure during World War II. H. James Burgwyn is professor emeritus of history at Westchester University and the author of important works on modern Italian history.By John Weal. 2013
In Me-109s and FW-190s from the Battle of Britain to Stalingrad, Kursk, Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and Berlin,…
German aces from Jagdgeschwader 3 racked up a stunning aerial record.Jagdgeschwader 3 may not have the same immediate resonance as some of the more famous Luftwaffe fighter units, such Jagdgeschwader 2 'Richthofen', but it is arguably the archetypal German fighter formation of World War 2. Not only did it participate in every campaign fought by the Luftwaffe (with the exceptions of Poland and Norway), it flew every major variant of the two legendary German wartime fighters, the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 - starting with the Bf 109E in 1939 and ending with the Fw 190D-9 'Long-nose' in 1945. And, during the course of the hostilities, it numbered among its ranks more than 70 Knight's Cross winners (a total exceeded by only one other Jagdgeschwader). The wealth and variety of detail afforded by such a background - which includes the historic battles of Britain, Stalingrad, Kursk, Normandy, the Ardennes and Berlin - provides an ideal framework upon which to portray the multitude of stories, exploits and ultimate fates of the many aces themselves, from the now unknown trio who achieved their first five kills during the Blitzkrieg in France in the late spring/early summer of 1940 to the nearly two-dozen highly acclaimed and lauded 'centurions' who flew with JG 3.By Peter Dennis, Warlord Games. 0158
Tank War, the new supplement for Bolt Action, gives players the option to expand their games to a whole new…
level - armored warfare. Recreate such great engagements as the battle of Kursk with the scenarios, army options and special rules found in this book. Whether you want to add more armour to your existing armies or build an entirely armoured force, Tank War has you covered.By Frederick A. Johnsen. 2014
In Captured Eagles, Frederick A. Johnsen lays bare the once secret history of the American effort to understand and counter…
the Luftwaffe before and during World War II, and afterward to seize and exploit German technological advances in everything from jet fighters and bombers to ballistic missiles.Even before World War II, U.S. Army Air Force commanders were gravely concerned about the technological lead that German aviation seemed to hold. Once America entered the war, they were desperate to learn the secrets and capabilities of the Luftwaffe. From German defectors to battlefield trophies to combat action reports, the race to understand the Luftwaffe's technology took on heroic proportions. But even the end of the war didn't lessen the urgency of acquiring German technology. American intelligence teams scoured Europe to bring home the jewels of German aviation, from jet aircraft such as the Me 262 that far exceeded almost any aircraft in the Air Force's inventory, to ballistic missiles such as the V2 that were beyond anything the Allies possessed. This would be the technological foundation of American air power during the Cold War, and even give the U.S. the boost it needed to win the Space Race and land on the Moon.Drawing on rarely seen historical sources such as Air Force technical documents, as well as first person accounts from the airmen and engineers who were there, author Frederick A. Johnsen, tells the history of one of the most fascinating periods in both American and German aviation history.By Richard Caruana, Marco Mattioli. 2014
Italy's Sparviero (Sparrowhawk) saw combat with the Regia Aeronautica in France, Yugoslavia, Greece, North Africa, East Africa and in the…
Mediterranean versus the Royal Navy. Italy's most successful wartime bomber, the S.79 was also the most produced, with around 1370 built between 1936 and early 1944. Initially developed by Savoia-Marchetti as a transport aircraft it had evolved into a dedicated medium bomber by the time the S.79-I made its combat debut with the Aviazione Legionaria in the Spanish Civil War in 1936. The manufacturer then produced the S.79-II torpedo-bomber, fitted with 1000 hp Piaggio or Fiat radial engines in place of the original 780 hp Alfa Romeos. Entering service in 1939, the S.79-II saw much action over the next four years, particularly in its intended torpedo-bomber role against the Royal Navy in the Mediterranean. Indeed, the Sparviero crews tasked with targeting Allied shipping became national heroes in Italy thanks to their exploits, with men such as Buscaglia, Graziani, Erasi, Faggioni, Di Bella, Aichner and Cimicchi being as revered as fighter aces in other countries. Following Italy's surrender in September 1943, a large number of S.79s continued to see action against the Allies with the pro-German RSI, although they suffered heavy losses. This is the first of two proposed volumes on the S.79, the second book detailing its use as a bomber and transport.By John Stanaway. 2014
The first P-38s became operational with the 1st Fighter Group in April 1941, and the initial combat deployments were made…
in Alaska, the Southwest Pacific and North Africa during the latter part of 1942. Photographic reconnaissance versions of the P-38 were in action even sooner when F-4 (P-38E) models were rushed to frontline units a few months after Pearl Harbor. Often using modified field measures to equip aircraft and train pilots in this demanding fighter, early pilots wrote a remarkable record of accomplishments that displayed a high degree of courage and innovation. Every theatre in which the United States was involved saw deployment of the P-38, and more than 60 Lightning pilots were credited with at least five victories by the end of 1943. Some of the early aces to be featured are photo-reconnaissance ace Karl Polifka, who supposedly scored some of the first unofficial P-38 aerial victories in the period April through August 1942, and 39th Fighter Squadron aces Charles King, Dick Bong and Hoyt Eason, who scored some of the first victories for the squadron. Some of the aces of the Mediterranean were 37th FS pilots Leverette, Wilkins and Hanna, who flew older G-models during the period when the celebrated Stuka shootdown took place in October 1943. New information and insight on this operation, including the identity of some of the German participants, is now available. New photos and details are available regarding CBI aces Bob Schultz, Hampton Boggs, Harry Sealy and others too.By Anna Cichopek-Gajraj. 2014
This book tells a story of Polish and Slovak Holocaust survivors returning to homes that no longer existed in the…
aftermath of the Second World War. It focuses on their daily efforts to rebuild their lives in the radically changed political and social landscape of post-war Eastern Europe. Such an analysis shifts the perspective from post-war violence and emigration to post-war reconstruction. Using a comparative approach, Anna Cichopek-Gajraj discusses survivors' journeys home, their struggles to retain citizenship and repossess property, their coping with antisemitism, and their efforts to return to 'normality'. She emphasizes the everyday communal and personal experiences of survivors in the context of their relationships with non-Jews. In essence, by focusing on the daily efforts of Polish and Slovak Jews to rebuild their lives, the author investigates the limits of belonging in Eastern Europe after the Holocaust.By Johnny Shumate, Eugene Liptak. 2014
When the United States entered World War II, it was apparent that the war would only be won by taking…
the fight to the Axis, in the shape of large-scale amphibious landings. Accordingly, the US Navy developed several types of specialized unit to reconnoiter potential landing areas, degrade the enemy's ability to resist, and assist the landing forces on to the beaches. These operatives had to get there first, alone, and carry out their missions before the GIs and Marines could land with any chance of success.Formed in September 1942 and active in the Mediterranean, European, and Pacific theaters, the Scouts and Raiders were forerunners of the SEALs; they used canoes to secretly reconnoiter beaches before combat landings, and placed marker beacons. In the Mediterranean and the Philippines, the Beach Jumpers made elaborate simulated landings to fool the enemy as to real locations, including radar and sound deception.Active in the Mediterranean, Normandy, and the South West Pacific, the Naval Combat Demolition Units cleared beach obstacles in advance of combat landings, and guided landing craft to their destination, while the Underwater Demolition Teams carried out similar tasks in the Pacific theater only. In co-operation (and sometimes competition) with the Office of Strategic Services, Naval Group China gathered intelligence in that theater, and trained and fought with Chinese guerrillas behind Japanese lines.All these special warfare units played vital roles in the prosecution of the Allied war effort across the globe. Their distinctive uniforms, insignia, special clothing, equipment, and weaponry are illustrated and described in this engaging study.By Karl James. 2012
This edition features the exact same content as the traditional text in a convenient, three-hole-punched, loose-leaf version. Books a la…
Carte also offer a great value-this format costs significantly less than a new textbook. Bob Blitzer has inspired thousands of students with his engaging approach to mathematics, making this beloved series the #1 in the market. Blitzer draws on his unique background in mathematics and behavioral science to present the full scope of mathematics with vivid applications in real-life situations. Students stay engaged because Blitzer often uses pop-culture and up-to-date references to connect math to students' lives, showing that their world is profoundly mathematical.By Steve Ewing, John B. Lundstrom. 1997
Fighter pilot Butch O'Hare became one of America's heroes in 1942 when he saved the carrier Lexington in what has…
been called the most daring single action in the history of combat aviation. In fascinating detail the authors describe how O'Hare shot down five attacking Japanese bombers and severely damaged a sixth and other awe-inspiring feats of aerial combat that won him awards, including the Medal of Honor. They also explain his key role in developing tactics and night-fighting techniques that helped defeat the Japanese.In addition, the authors investigate events leading up to O'Hare's disappearance in 1943 while intercepting torpedo bombers headed for the Enterprise. First published in 1997, this biography utilizes O'Hare family papers and U.S. and Japanese war records as well as eyewitness interviews. It is essential reading for a true understanding of the development of the combat naval aviation and the talents of the universally admired and well-liked Butch O'Hare.By Akihiko Yoshida Yoshida, Carl Boyd. 1995
When first published in 1995, this book was hailed as an absolutely indispensable contribution to the history of the Pacific…
War. Drawing heavily from Japanese sources and American wartime intercepts of secret Japanese radio messages, a noted American naval historian and a Japanese mariner painstakingly recorded and evaluated a diverse array of material about Japan's submarines in World War II.The study begins with the development of the first Japanese 103-ton Holland-type submergible craft in 1905 and continues through the 1945 surrender of the largest submarine in the world at the time, the 5300-ton I-400 class that carried three airplanes. Submarine weapons, equipment, personnel, and shore support systems are discussed first in the context of Japanese naval preparations for war and later during the war. Both successes and missed opportunities are analyzed in operations ranging from the California coast through the Pacific and Indian Oceans to the coast of German-occupied France. Appendixes include lists of Japanese submarine losses and the biographies of key Japanese submarine officers. Rare illustrations and specifically commissioned operational maps enhance the text.By Ladislas Farago. 1961
Fought under the cover of elaborate deceptions and ruthless lies, the deadly intelligence operations of World War II produced victories…
and defeats that were often as important as any reached on the battlefield. A behind-the-scenes history of the war, this book offers an exciting picture of the whole range of clandestine activities, the various forms of intelligence, espionage and sabotage, subversion and counter-espionage--the entire secret war conducted apart from conventional warfare. The major exploits of the O.S.S., M.I.5, Abwehr, and the Deuxieme Bureau are described in colorful detail by an author considered one of the foremost civilian experts on intelligence during the war. Ladislas Farago's account of Allied and Axis spymasters at work offers compelling reading about real traitors and heroes in cloak-and-dagger-dom.By Johnny Shumate, David Higgins. 2014
With his forces having conquered a huge swathe of formerly Soviet territory in the months following the launch of Operation…
Barbarossa in June 1941, Hitler planned to continue the Germans' strategic offensive against the Soviet Union's oil-production capacity in the southern Caucasus region during the summer of 1942. To help pave the way for regular forces, the Abwehr (German military intelligence) sent forward 'Brandenburger' commando units to pave the way using tactics that had proven successful throughout the previous Western and Balkan campaigns. These commandos would secure oil-producing assets until more conventional forces from 1. Panzerarmee and 17. Armee could arrive in strength. Specially trained in foreign cultures and military vehicles, small-unit tactics, parachuting, sabotage, reconnaissance, assassination and deception techniques, these elite commandos usually operated in company-sized units or smaller and recruited many 'non-Aryan' native speakers of those languages spoken in the target countries.In early August 1942, a small Brandenburger unit of Baltic and Sudeten Germans led by Freiherr Adrian von Fölkersam penetrated far ahead of German regular forces to seize Soviet oil facilities around Maikop. Disguised as members of Stalin's NKVD, the repressive police organisation dreaded by most Soviet citizens and soldiers, Fölkersam's command passed through the Soviet front lines using captured trucks and moved deep into hostile territory, where the chaos of the Soviet battlefield situation aided in their passing as 'official'. As regular German forces approached after several days, the Brandenburgers went into action using grenades to simulate an artillery attack before disabling Maikop's military communication network. Having previously seen Fölkersam with their commander, and lacking any communications to rebut or confirm his statement, the Soviets began to evacuate Maikop at Fölkersam's urging. The German spearhead entered the city on 9 August 1942 against minimal resistance and found that several oil-production facilities were still functioning.Featuring specially drawn full-colour artwork and expert analysis of the Maikop operation, this assessment of the dramatic raid that delivered intact Soviet oil-production facilities into Nazi hands casts new light of the German special-forces operations on the Eastern Front.By Howard Gerrard, Ken Ford. 2002
At 0016hrs on 6 June 1944 a Horsa glider ground to a halt a mere 60 yards from the Orne…
Canal bridge at Bénouville in Normandy. A small group of British paratroopers burst from it and stormed the bridge within minutes. The Allied liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe had begun. Within a few hours landing craft would swarm towards Ouistreham as British 3rd Division stormed ashore at Sword Beach. The battle would then begin to break through to relieve the paratroopers. In the third of the D-Day volumes Ken Ford details the assault by British 6th Airborne Division and the British landings on Sword Beach that secured the vital left flank of the invasion.From the Trade Paperback edition.