Download or read book Finest Years written by Max Hastings and published by HarperCollins UK. This book was released on 2010 with total page 690 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "By looking at Churchill from the outside in, through the eyes of British soldiers, civilians and newspapers, and also those of Russians and Americans, Hastings provides new perspectives on the greatest Englishman and the precarious Grand Alliance. He condemns as folly Churchill's attempt to promote mass uprisings in occupied Europe through SOE, and describes the prime minister's disastrous but little-known Dodecanese campaign of 1943. He details Unthinkable, his amazing 1945 plan for an Allied offensive against the Russians to liberate Poland. Here is an intimate and affectionate portrait of Churchill as Britain's saviour, but also an unsparing examination of the wartime nation which he led and the performance of its armed forces."--Jacket.

Download or read book Winston s War written by Max Hastings and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2010-04-27 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vivid and incisive portrait of Winston Churchill during wartime from acclaimed historian Max Hastings, Winston’s War captures the full range of Churchill’s endlessly fascinating character. At once brilliant and infuriating, self-important and courageous, Hastings’s Churchill comes brashly to life as never before. Beginning in 1940, when popular demand elevated Churchill to the role of prime minister, and concluding with the end of the war, Hastings shows us Churchill at his most intrepid and essential, when, by sheer force of will, he kept Britain from collapsing in the face of what looked like certain defeat. Later, we see his significance ebb as the United States enters the war and the Soviets turn the tide on the Eastern Front. But Churchill, Hastings reminds us, knew as well as anyone that the war would be dominated by others, and he managed his relationships with the other Allied leaders strategically, so as to maintain Britain’s influence and limit Stalin’s gains. At the same time, Churchill faced political peril at home, a situation for which he himself was largely to blame. Hastings shows how Churchill nearly squandered the miraculous escape of the British troops at Dunkirk and failed to address fundamental flaws in the British Army. His tactical inaptitude and departmental meddling won him few friends in the military, and by 1942, many were calling for him to cede operational control. Nevertheless, Churchill managed to exude a public confidence that brought the nation through the bitter war. Hastings rejects the traditional Churchill hagiography while still managing to capture what he calls Churchill’s “appetite for the fray.” Certain to be a classic, Winston’s War is a riveting profile of one of the greatest leaders of the twentieth century.

Download or read book Winston s War written by Max Hastings and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2011-05-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vivid and incisive portrait of Winston Churchill during wartime from acclaimed historian Max Hastings, Winston’s War captures the full range of Churchill’s endlessly fascinating character. At once brilliant and infuriating, self-important and courageous, Hastings’s Churchill comes brashly to life as never before. Beginning in 1940, when popular demand elevated Churchill to the role of prime minister, and concluding with the end of the war, Hastings shows us Churchill at his most intrepid and essential, when, by sheer force of will, he kept Britain from collapsing in the face of what looked like certain defeat. Later, we see his significance ebb as the United States enters the war and the Soviets turn the tide on the Eastern Front. But Churchill, Hastings reminds us, knew as well as anyone that the war would be dominated by others, and he managed his relationships with the other Allied leaders strategically, so as to maintain Britain’s influence and limit Stalin’s gains. At the same time, Churchill faced political peril at home, a situation for which he himself was largely to blame. Hastings shows how Churchill nearly squandered the miraculous escape of the British troops at Dunkirk and failed to address fundamental flaws in the British Army. His tactical inaptitude and departmental meddling won him few friends in the military, and by 1942, many were calling for him to cede operational control. Nevertheless, Churchill managed to exude a public confidence that brought the nation through the bitter war. Hastings rejects the traditional Churchill hagiography while still managing to capture what he calls Churchill’s “appetite for the fray.” Certain to be a classic, Winston’s War is a riveting profile of one of the greatest leaders of the twentieth century.

Download or read book Churchill s Confidant written by Richard Steyn and published by Robinson. This book was released on 2018-02-01 with total page 343 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brought together first as enemies in the Anglo-Boer War, and later as allies in the First World War, the remarkable, and often touching, friendship between Winston Churchill and Jan Smuts is a rich study in contrasts. In youth they occupied very different worlds: Churchill, the rambunctious and thrusting young aristocrat; Smuts, the aesthetic, philosophical Cape farm boy who would go on to Cambridge. Both were men of exceptional talents and achievements and, between them, the pair had to grapple with some of the twentieth century's most intractable issues, not least of which the task of restoring peace and prosperity to Europe after two of mankind's bloodiest wars. Drawing on a maze of archival and secondary sources including letters, telegrams and the voluminous books written about both men, Richard Steyn presents a fascinating account of two remarkable men in war and peace: one the leader of the Empire, the other the leader of a small fractious member of that Empire who nevertheless rose to global prominence.

Download or read book His Finest Hour written by Christopher Catherwood and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2010-09-01 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Who was Winston Churchill? Even fifty years after his death, he is one of the most iconic figures in British history. As a young man he was a maverick journalist; his many positions in politics before 1940 marked him as a courageous but foolhardy man. Yet it is Churchill’s record in war, which has recently been questioned, that confirms his genius as a military commander and national leader—someone who understood the dangers of Nazi Germany before 1939 and someone uniquely capable to lead the empire through the turmoil of the Second World War. Christopher Catherwood argues that it was Churchill’s stand in 1940-41 that saved Britain and that only he was able to bring together the allies that eventually defeated Hitler in 1945. Catherwood has produced a challenging yet lively reassessment of the life and career of Winston Churchill, lion of British history and flawed hero.

Download or read book One Day in August written by David O'Keefe and published by Icon Books. This book was released on 2020-11-05 with total page 409 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A lively and readable account' Spectator 'A fine book ... well-written and well-researched' Washington Times In less than six hours in August 1942, nearly 1,000 British, Canadian and American commandos died in the French port of Dieppe in an operation that for decades seemed to have no real purpose. Was it a dry-run for D-Day, or perhaps a gesture by the Allies to placate Stalin's impatience for a second front in the west? Historian David O'Keefe uses hitherto classified intelligence archives to prove that this catastrophic and apparently futile raid was in fact a mission, set up by Ian Fleming of British Naval Intelligence as part of a 'pinch' policy designed to capture material relating to the four-rotor Enigma Machine that would permit codebreakers like Alan Turing at Bletchley Park to turn the tide of the Second World War. 'A fast-paced and convincing book ... that clears up decades of misinformation about the ignoble raid' Toronto Star

Download or read book Miracle at the Litza written by Alf R. Jacobsen and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2017-08-19 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dramatic story of the Nazis’ 1941 attempt to take Murmansk, including firsthand accounts of the action on the front line. In the early summer of 1941, German mountain soldiers under the command of General Eduard Dietl set out from northern Norway up through Finland to the Russian border. Operation Silberfuchs was underway. The northernmost section of the Eastern Front would ensure Hitler supplies of nickel from Finnish mines and bring the strategically important port city of Murmansk under German control. The roadless rocky terrain and extreme weather created major challenges for the German troop movements. Despite this, Dietl’s men made quick gains on his Russian foe, and they came closer to Murmansk. Despite repeated warnings of a German attack, Stalin had failed to mobilize, and the British hesitated to come to the rescue of the Red Army. But while the weather conditions steadily worsened, the Russians’ resistance increased. Three bloody efforts to force the river Litza were repulsed, and the offensive would develop into a nightmare for the inadequately equipped German soldiers. In an exciting and authoritative narrative based on previously unpublished material, Alf Reidar Jacobsen describes the heavy fighting that would lead to Hitler’s first defeat on the Eastern Front. With firsthand accounts of the fighting on the front line, this is a dramatic new account of a forgotten but bloody episode of World War II.

Download or read book A Fascist Decade of War written by Marco Maria Aterrano and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-05-04 with total page 302 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 through to the waning months of the World War II in 1945, Fascist Italy was at war. This Fascist decade of war comprised an uninterrupted stretch of military and political engagements in which Italian military forces were involved in Abyssinia, Spain, Albania, France, Greece, the Soviet Union, North Africa and the Middle East. As a junior partner to Nazi Germany, only entering the war in June 1940, Italy is often seen as a relatively minor player in World War II. However, this book challenges much of the existing scholarship by arguing that Fascist Italy played a significant and distinct role in shaping international relations between 1935 and 1945, creating a Fascist decade of war.

Download or read book Britain s Band of Brothers written by Tom Keene and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2014-03-01 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Endorsed at the highest level by Churchill, 50 hand-picked men formed an elite secret army who attacked, kidnapped, and killed Germans across Europe during World War II—their story is finally toldThey were Britain's own World War II "Band of Brothers," a privately selected secret army of 50 cross-channel raiders who formed the elite Small Scale Raiding Force. Part SOE, part Combined Operations, their full story of courage, audacity, and ultimate tragedy has never been told before. Created after the fall of Dunkirk, the raiders were much admired, especially by Churchill. In almost 20 daring missions over two years they kidnapped sentries, ambushed patrols, and shot prisoners, reaping havoc along the rim of Hitler's Festung Europa. One night, they landed in a secret armed reconnaissance mission at what would become Omaha Beach and ran into a German patrol. With nowhere to hide but the sea, they were gunned down. Those left behind continued their extraordinary legacy, told here for the first time.

Download or read book The Lost Band of Brothers written by Tom Keene and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2015-03-02 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Endorsed at the highest level by Churchill, who wanted British raiders to take the fight to the enemy shore, fifty commandos were formed into a secret army – the elite Maid Honor unit, later renamed the Small Scale Raiding Force. Created to make mayhem and sow fear in the hearts of those guarding the enemy shore, every man was a handpicked volunteer. In almost twenty daring missions to the rock-bound coasts of enemy occupied Brittany and Normandy, they kidnapped sentries, seized code books and ciphers, ransacked barracks and ambushed patrols. In doing so they wreaked havoc along the rim of Hitler's Festung Europa. In almost forensic detail, Tom Keene tells their extraordinary story of courage and daring, patriotism and friendship.

Download or read book General Hastings Pug Ismay written by John Kiszely and published by Hurst Publishers. This book was released on 2024-05-02 with total page 621 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: General Lord Ismay's name is little known today, but he participated in, and was witness to, decision-making at the highest level of government, before, during and after the Second World War. Immediately prior to the outbreak of hostilities, he was Secretary of the Committee of Imperial Defence responsible for advising government on strategy and preparations for war. As wartime Chief Staff Officer to Prime Minister Winston Churchill, he became a close confidant and rarely left Churchill's side, whether in Britain or abroad at international conferences. He was instrumental in conciliating the sometimes-fractious relationship between the Prime Minister and the Service Chiefs of Staff. In 1947, Ismay went to India as Chief of Staff to the Viceroy, Lord Mountbatten, and was closely involved in the drama of Partition. As the first Secretary General of NATO from 1952 to 1957, he was instrumental in building the foundations of the Alliance and preserving its unity and cohesion at the height of the Cold War. He also played a central role in reshaping the higher management of defence in Britain, including the creation of the Ministry of Defence. This fascinating book tells the story of his life and work.

Download or read book British Prime Ministers From Balfour to Brown written by Robert Pearce and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-02 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The origins of the post of Prime Minister can be traced back to the eighteenth century when Sir Robert Walpole became the monarch’s principal minister. From the dawn of the twentieth century to the early years of the twenty-first, however, both the power and the significance of the role have been transformed. British Prime Ministers from Balfour to Brown explores the personalities and achievements of those twenty individuals who have held the highest political office between 1902 and 2010. It includes studies of the dominant premiers who helped shape Britain in peace and war – Lloyd George, Churchill, Thatcher and Blair – as well as portraits of the less familiar, from Asquith and Baldwin to Wilson and Heath. Each chapter gives a concise account of its subject’s rise to power, ideas and motivations, and governing style, as well as examining his or her contribution to policy-making and handling of the major issues of the time. Robert Pearce and Graham Goodlad explore each Prime Minister’s interaction with colleagues and political parties, as well as with Cabinet, Parliament and other key institutions of government. Furthermore they assess the significance, and current reputation, of each of the premiers. This book charts both the evolving importance of the office of Prime Minister and the continuing restraints on the exercise of power by Britain’s leaders. These concise, accessible and stimulating biographies provide an essential resource for students of political history and general readers alike.

Download or read book The Conservatives A History written by Robin Harris and published by Random House. This book was released on 2011-11-10 with total page 676 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The history of the Conservative party has, extraordinarily, rarely been written in a single volume for the general reader. There are academic multi-volume accounts and a multitude of smaller books with limited historical scope. But now, Robin Harris, Margaret Thatcher's speechwriter and party insider, has produced this authoritative but lively history book which tells the whole story and fills a gaping hole in Britain's historiographical record. Taking as his starting point the larger than life personalities of the Conservative Party's leaders and prime ministers since its inception, Robin Harris's book also analyses the interconnected themes and issues which have dominated Conservative politics over the years. The careers of Peel, Disraeli, Salisbury, Baldwin, Chamberlain, Churchill, Eden, Macmillan, Heath, Thatcher, Major, Hague and Cameron together amount to an alternative history of Britain since the early nineteenth century. This landmark book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in history or politics, or anyone who has ever wondered how Britain came to be the nation it is today.

Download or read book The End written by Ian Kershaw and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2012-08-28 with total page 594 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the author of To Hell and Back, a fascinating and original exploration of how the Third Reich was willing and able to fight to the bitter end of World War II Countless books have been written about why Nazi Germany lost the Second World War, yet remarkably little attention has been paid to the equally vital questions of how and why the Third Reich did not surrender until Germany had been left in ruins and almost completely occupied. Drawing on prodigious new research, Ian Kershaw, an award-winning historian and the author of Fateful Choices, explores these fascinating questions in a gripping and focused narrative that begins with the failed bomb plot in July 1944 and ends with the death of Adolf Hitler and the German capitulation in 1945. The End paints a harrowing yet enthralling portrait of the Third Reich in its last desperate gasps.

Download or read book Double Cross written by Ben Macintyre and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2012-03-27 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: D-Dag var ikke kun et resultat af synlige militære operationer, men også i høj grad af efterretningsvæsen og dobbeltagenter

Download or read book Dramas of the Past on the Twentieth century Stage written by Alexander Feldman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "This book defines and exemplifies a major genre of modern dramatic writing, termed historiographic metatheatre, in which self-reflexive engagements with the traditions and forms of dramatic art illuminate historical themes and aid in the representation of historical events and, in doing so, formulates a genre. Historiographic metatheatre has been, and remains, a seminal mode of political engagement and ideological critique in the contemporary dramatic canon. Locating its key texts within the traditions of historical drama, self-reflexivity in European theatre, debates in the politics and aesthetics of postmodernism, and currents in contemporary historiography, this book provides a new critical idiom for discussing the major works of the genre and others that utilize its techniques. Feldman studies landmarks in the theatre history of postwar Britain by Weiss, Stoppard, Brenton, Wertenbaker and others, focusing on European revolutionary politics, the historiography of the World Wars and the effects of British colonialism. The playwrights under consideration all use the device of the play-within-the-play to explore constructions of nationhood and of Britishness, in particular. Those plays performed within the framing works are produced in places of exile where, Feldman argues, the marginalized negotiate the terms of national identity through performance."--Publisher's website.

Download or read book State and Society written by Martin Pugh and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2017-01-26 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a vigorous interpretation of political and social developments in Britain since the late-Victorian era, State and Society is one of the most respected and widely-read introductions to modern British history. Martin Pugh explores as his central theme the relationship between the British state and its citizens with characteristic skill and insight. In this new fifth edition, Pugh brings his final chapter on Crisis and Coalition right up to the result of the May 2015 general election. The text throughout has also been revised and extended to address themes such as women's history, social class, Scottish nationalism, the working of the monarchy and the British system of government, new perspectives on the history of the Labour Party, secularism and British attitudes towards Europe since the 1970s. Pugh explores these and other themes with perceptive and accessible prose, maintaining an ideal balance of socio-economic and political issues. Also including new images and annotated further reading lists, this new edition of State and Society reaffirms its position as an essential text for students of modern British history.