Product Description As a 19-year old Black Watch conscript Tom Renouf's war began with some of the most vicious fighting of the conflict - against Himmler's fanatical 'Hitler Youth' SS Division. It ended with the capture of Himmler himself and Tom taking a trophy he still treasures - the Gestapo commander's watch. Seriously wounded and later decorated with a Military Medal for gallantry, Tom Renouf witnessed the death and maiming of countless of his teenage comrades and saw the survivors transformed into grizzled veterans. Tom Renouf draws on his own personal experiences - as well as his unique archive of interviews with veterans amassed over twenty years as secretary of the 51st Highland Division Veterans' Association - to paint a vivid picture of the Battle of Normandy, the liberation of Holland, the Battle of the Bulge and many more memorable WW2 events. About the Author After the war, Dr Renouf lectured at military college for ten years before becoming a physics lecturer at Edinburgh University. Black Watch: Liberating Europe and Catching Himmler - My Extraordinary WW2 with the Highland Division: Amazon.co.uk: Tom Renouf: Books
This is a guide to the existing WWII aircraft to be found in aviation museums throughout the world. Each DPS contains a colour photo of an example of the aircraft as viewed in an aviation museum, examples of different marks (wartime shots in mono) and a textual resume of the type with statistics.The aircraft can be viewed in the USA, UK, France, Czechoslovakia, USSR, Canada, Australia, Finland, Holland, Poland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden and Spain. http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/15633443/Surviving-Fighter-Aircraft-of-World-War-Two/Product.html?searchstring=world+war+two&searchtype=bookall&searchsource=0&searchfilters=s{world+war+two}%2bc{91}%2b&cpage=6&urlrefer=search
Just out, I got this in the mail this morning , from an up and coming young(ish) author. Published by Pen and Sword £12.99. Looks pretty good........
My new book, Finish Forty and Home is the little-known but compelling story of 11th Bomb Group B-24 Liberators in the Pacific. Laura Hillenbrand, bestselling author of Seabiscuit and Unbroken, says: "Through meticulous research and lyrical prose, Scearce captures the grim grind of the Pacific war, life and death in a battered bomb squadron, and the tumultuous experiences of a B-24 radioman and his crew. Finish Forty and Home is a treasure: poignant, thrilling and illuminating." The book is the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference 2010 top prize winner and it is now available to order through Amazon and other book sellers. I hope you enjoy it!
Scorched Earth - Black Snow Britain and Australia in the Korean War 1950 Andrew Salmon Aurum ISBN 978-1-84513-619-2 £25 469pp To be published on17 June 2011 The men who went to Korea were a mixture of WWII vets, National Servicemen and recalled reservists, This book is based on the diaries notebooks and letters of 90 survivors. The book deals with memebers of 27th Independent Infantry Bde and 41 Cdo RM, This one is a MUST READ
apologies if posted before Tigers in Normandy Tigers in Normandy: Amazon.co.uk: Wolfgang Schneider: Books
Two books I'm very much looking forward to when they are published.. The End: The Defiance and Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1944-1945: Amazon.co.uk: Ian Kershaw: Books All Hell Let Loose: The World at War 1939-1945: Amazon.co.uk: Max Hastings: Books
Armies of Empire: The 9th Australian and 50th British Divisions in Battle 1939-1945 by Allan Converse Armies of Empire uniquely reflects upon the experience of two divisions from different armies facing similar challenges in the Second World War. The 9th Australian Division and the British 50th (Northumbrian) Division both saw long service and suffered heavy casualties, and both encountered morale, discipline and battlefield effectiveness problems. In this illuminating, comparative study of Australian and British divisions at war, Allan Converse draws extensively on primary sources as well as recent scholarship on morale and combat efficiency. His fresh approach questions the popular mythology surrounding the Australian Digger and the British Tommy, and shows how it was a combination of leadership, loyalty and tactics, rather than intrinsic national qualities, which resulted in victory for Churchill's armies. About the Author Allan Converse is Lecturer in History at Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. My bit: I read this book about a month ago and expected it to 'slag-off' the 50th (Northumbrian) Divison, after all it is part of The Australian Army History series of books and written by an American. It's full of facts and figures, but despite this I found it interesting; certainly in its conclusions; some (six) of which are that: 1) The assertion that the Australian is/was a natural soldier and better than his British counter-part i.e. the Aussie myth, is rubbish; 2) The 9th Australian Division thought the German soldier far superior to the Japanese soldier and 50 Div faced the Germans for longer; 3) The 50th (Northumbrian) Division had twice as many casualties as the 9th Australian Division, but didn't have a worse morale problem; in fact its morale was better; 4) Morale was not the BIG issue that commanders such as Monty thought it was, enduring was and both of these Division's endured really well despite all their casualties; 5) Alan Moorhead, the famous UK based Australian war journalist, who wrote the desert trilogy, had a big soft spot for the 50 Div; he thought they were good; 6) The only real difference between the 9th Australian Division and the 50th (Northumbrian) Division was that the former probably had better leadership throughout WWII. Best, Steve.
Hi gang, I'm very pleased to announce that Pen and Sword will soon release 'Escape, Evasion and Revenge' as a paperback. See the new cover (attached). Thanks for your interest, Marc
apologies if posted before Today the BBC ran a news item re the book http://www.amazon.co.uk/Barbed-Wire-University-Lives-Prisoners-Second/dp/1845136292
The End: Hitler's Germany, 1944-45 Allen Lane History: Amazon.co.uk: Ian Kershaw: Books From Amazon. Product Description The last months of the Second World War were a nightmarish time to be alive. Unimaginable levels of violence destroyed entire cities. Millions died or were dispossessed. By all kinds of criteria it was the end: the end of the Third Reich and its terrible empire but also, increasingly, it seemed to be the end of European civilization itself. In his gripping, revelatory new book Ian Kershaw describes these final months, from the failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in July 1944 to the German surrender in May 1945. The major question that Kershaw attempts to answer is: what made Germany keep on fighting? In almost every major war there has come a point where defeat has loomed for one side and its rulers have cut a deal with the victors, if only in an attempt to save their own skins. In Hitler's Germany, nothing of this kind happened: in the end the regime had to be stamped out town by town with a level of brutality almost without precedent. Both a highly original piece of research and a gripping narrative, The End makes vivid an era which still deeply scars Europe. It raises the most profound questions about the nature of the Second World War, about the Third Reich and about how ordinary people behave in extreme circumstances. About the Author IAN KERSHAW is the author of Hitler 1889-1936: Hubris; Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis; Making Friends with Hitler; and Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions that Changed the World, 1940-4. Hitler 1936-1945: Nemesis received the Wolfson History Prize and the Bruno Kreisky Prize in Austria for Political Book of the Year, and was joint winner of the inaugural British Academy Book Prize. Until his retirement in 2008, Ian Kershaw was Professor of Modern History at the University of Sheffield. For services to history he was given the German award of the Federal Cross of Merit in 1994. He was knighted in 2002 and awarded the Norton Medlicott Medal by the Historical Association in 2004. He is a Fellow of the British Academy. The End: Hitler’s Germany, 1944-45 by Ian Kershaw: review - Telegraph The End: Hitler's Germany, 1944-45 (Book) by Ian Kershaw (2011): Waterstones.com Being weak I could be tempted. Ah sod it , I have been weak ...again.
A Spur Called Courage - SOE Heroes in Italy Alan Ogden Benefactum £25 ISBN 978-1-903071-35-9 Alan Ogden has written a fine book on the exploits of SOE in Italy through the medium of recounting the exploits of the officers who led the various missions. Those covered are Maj Malcolm Munthe MC Lt Col Andrew Croft DSO, OBE Maj Dick Dallimore-Mallaby MC Lt Col Charles Macintosh DSO Capt Michael Lees Maj John Barton DSO & Bar, MC Maj Charles Holland MC, MBE Maj Hugh Ballard MC Lt Col Peter McMullen DSO & BAR, MBE Capt George Patterson MC & Bar Maj Gordon Lett DSO Maj Tony Oldham, DSO, MC & Bar Sqn Ldr Manfred Czernin DSO, MC, DFC Maj George Fielding DSO Maj Bill Tillman DSO, MC & Bar Maj Tommy McPherson MC & 2 Bars The book is a must for anyone interested in SOE in Italy - it has good maps and is well illustrated
A bit of info below Not an Ordinary Life By Eileen Younghusband I have written this book for all the young women who served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in the Filter Rooms of RAF Fighter Command in the dark days of World War Two and whose work and dedication to duty have never been recognised. Many of the public have learned of the coastal RADAR installations and have seen in war films, the apparent calm of the Operations Room. However, nothing has been told of the work done in the Filter Rooms of Fighter Command, the secret nerve centres for the defence of Britain, linking these two. It was in these crowded and hectic underground rooms where the RADAR information was collated, corrected and identified as friend or foe - all done at great speed. This vital information initiated the air raid warnings, Fighter interceptions, instigated Air Sea Rescue and advised Artillery units for gunlaying. It was the secret link, which defended Britain Not an Ordinary Life by Eileen Younghusband
A bit of info below Not an Ordinary Life By Eileen Younghusband I have written this book for all the young women who served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force in the Filter Rooms of RAF Fighter Command in the dark days of World War Two and whose work and dedication to duty have never been recognised. Many of the public have learned of the coastal RADAR installations and have seen in war films, the apparent calm of the Operations Room. However, nothing has been told of the work done in the Filter Rooms of Fighter Command, the secret nerve centres for the defence of Britain, linking these two. It was in these crowded and hectic underground rooms where the RADAR information was collated, corrected and identified as friend or foe - all done at great speed. This vital information initiated the air raid warnings, Fighter interceptions, instigated Air Sea Rescue and advised Artillery units for gunlaying. It was the secret link, which defended Britain Not an Ordinary Life by Eileen Younghusband Got my copy already, looks good.
Special Forces Commander Michael Scott Pen & Sword ISBN 978-1-84884-673-8 240pp £25 Nov 2011 Peter Wand-Tetley served with the Commandos, LRDG, SAS, SOE and the Parachute Regiment during and after WWII
SOE and the Resistance as told in Times Obituaries Michael Tillotson & MRD Foot Continuum ISBN 978-1-4411-1971-1 296pp £16.99 November 2011
I was looking at this on thier website the other day, it looks quite intresting and there were a few other sas books coming out as well......... I just hope the book tells us about the individuals actions as opposed to lots of surrounding history that forgets the subject of the book!
I've read some of those obituaries, fascinating stuff. Might be a good start to a whole series of books containging them. Cheers Jedburgh.
War in the Wilderness: The Chindits in Burma 1943-1944 http://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/Images.ashx?Image=9780752460789.jpg&width=110&type=PI Author: Tony Redding ISBN: 9780752460789 Publication Date: 01/10/2011 (Not yet published) Binding: Hardback RRP: £25.00 Price: £22.50 History Press