Coming Soon to a Bookshelf Near You

Discussion in 'Books, Films, TV, Radio' started by Gage, Mar 28, 2009.

  1. hucks216

    hucks216 Member

    Due to be published in May 2019 is a book covering the fighting in the last months of the war in Tunisia. It is called The Battle of the Peaks and Long Stop Hill: Tunisia, April-May 1943 by Ian Mitchell.
    It is published by Helion, consists of 416 pages and is currently priced at £35.
     
    Chris C, Warlord and bexley84 like this.
  2. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Peter Hitchens has a new book that has just been published--looks controversial.

    Screen Shot 2018-09-22 at 03.20.17.png

    Was World War II really the `Good War'? In the years since the declaration of peace in 1945 many myths have sprung up around the conflict in the victorious nations. In this book, Peter Hitchens deconstructs the many fables which have become associated with the narrative of the `Good War'. Whilst not criticising or doubting the need for war against Nazi Germany at some stage, Hitchens does query whether September 1939 was the right moment, or the independence of Poland the right issue. He points out that in the summer of 1939 Britain and France were wholly unprepared for a major European war and that this quickly became apparent in the conflict that ensued. He also rejects the retroactive claim that Britain went to war in 1939 to save the Jewish population of Europe. On the contrary, the beginning and intensification of war made it easier for Germany to begin the policy of mass murder in secret as well as closing most escape routes. In a provocative, but deeply-researched book, Hitchens questions the most common assumptions surrounding World War II, turning on its head the myth of Britain's role in a `Good War'.

    Audio Interview On The Book:


    First Extract:
    We DIDN'T win the war! PETER HITCHENS writes a provocative book challenging all we think about WW2 | Daily Mail Online

    Second Extract:
    Peter Hitchens says it's time we faced the truth: Winston cost countless British lives | Daily Mail Online
     
    canuck likes this.
  3. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Proving that Twitter is not a waste of my time, a promo for this forthcoming title just popped up:

    Screen Shot 2019-04-02 at 01.41.30.png

    Does anybody know anything about the author?

    Publishing Date: 31/12/19
    Published By: Helion & Company.
     
  4. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    May interest some:

     
    kopite likes this.
  5. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    This is sounding more interesting:

    Paratroopers or Fallschirmjäger as they are known in German, were the elite parachute troops (Fallschirmtruppe) of the Luftwaffe during the Second World War. Although the Americans and Italians, and to a greater extent, the Russians had experimented with airborne troops, it was the Germans who pioneered vertical envelopment using parachute, glider-borne and air-landed troops to conduct successful airborne operations in the early stages of the war. The man considered as the innovator and father of the German airborne forces was General Kurt Student and his vision would add a new dimension to warfare inspiring both the British and Americans to develop their own airborne forces. The newly raised Fallschirmjäger formations took part in airborne and glider operations from April to May 1940 in Norway, Denmark, Belgium and Holland to attack and hold vital airfields, bridges and in one case an impregnable Belgian redoubt in support of ground operations in the west. On 20 May 1941, Fallschirmjäger formations would take part in their largest airborne assault of the war, Operation Mercury, the airborne invasion of Crete. Due to the heavy losses incurred during this operation, Hitler vetoed any further large scale airborne operations. With the exception of several small scale parachute and glider missions, Fallschirmjäger were mainly utilised as elite infantry for the remainder of the war fighting on all fronts and often used as a fire brigade to support conventional forces.This book is the result of several years of written correspondence, telephone interviews and meetings with veteran Fallschirmjäger between 1999 and 2006 and contains the memoirs of seventeen pre to mid-war volunteers and one late war conscript. The following stories and diaries feature vivid battlefield memories that reflect the reality of war. On the other hand many of the stories convey the lighter hearted moments or gallows humour that has remained etched in their memories. The one common factor shared by almost all of these men is captivity, whether captured during bitter fighting or surrendering at the end of hostilities. These men and thousands like them would be shipped off to POW camps in the USA, Britain and France until their repatriation, in some cases from several months to several years after the end of the war. Their words provide a fascinating insight into their training, combat, capture and subsequent captivity, creating an important historical record of their military service during the Second World War. Sadly, many of these men have now passed away and oral histories such as these now belong to an ever decreasing number of elderly veterans. There are several excellent publications that utilise extracts from veteran’s first-hand accounts to compliment the historical text of a battle or campaign. Rarely do you see a book purely containing veterans oral histories describing their military experience from their personal perspective and in their own words. The veterans featured in this book took part in the both the airborne operations and ground campaigns on many fronts during the war from the heat of Crete and Africa to the frozen battlefields of Russia and East Prussia and from the fields and hedgerows of Normandy to the mountains of Italy. Their words provide a fascinating insight into their training, combat, capture and subsequent captivity, creating an important historical record of their military service during the Second World War.

    More publication details:
    Fallschirmjaeger! | Military History Book | Helion & Company
     
    Orwell1984 likes this.
  6. Orwell1984

    Orwell1984 Senior Member

    This just showed up as an alert.
    I found his previous two works Mussolini and his Generals and The Italian Army and the First World War to be excellent so I have high hopes for this. Due in May 2020.
    [​IMG]

    Mussolini's War

     
    Wobbler, Tom OBrien and stolpi like this.
  7. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    I'll probably buy a copy of this.

    Ramsay's diary's from 1944 has been published (although it's hard to find), but the author of this had his personal papers and letters to boot.

    Mastermind of Dunkirk and D-Day
    The Vision of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay
    Brian Izzard

    The first modern biography of Bertram Ramsay, the man who masterminded the Dunkirk evacuation and the D-Day landings.

    • Interest in the evacuation of Dunkirk, planned by Ramsay, has been high since the global success of the film Dunkirk
    • The book also assesses Ramsay's integral part in the planning of D-Day, which remains the best-known military action of modern times
    • 2020 is the 80th anniversary of the evacuation, which saw 330,000 soldiers plucked from the beaches and brought back to Britain to fight another day
    • This new biography is based in part on new material, including Ramsay's own personal papers and letters
    This is the [first] major biography of Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay in fifty years. Ramsay masterminded the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk in 1940. Initially, it was thought that 40,000 troops at most could be rescued. But Ramsay's planning and determination led to some 330,000 being brought back to fight another day, although the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy paid a high price in ships and men. Ramsay continued to play a crucial role in the conduct of the Second World War - the invasion of Sicily in 1943 was successful in large part due to his vision, and he had a key role in the planning and execution of the D-Day invasion - coordinating and commanding the 7,000 ships that delivered the invasion force onto the beaches of Normandy.

    All this from a man who had actually retired in 1938, after forty years in the Navy. He was persuaded out of retirement by Winston Churchill in 1939, however he was not reinstated on the Active List until April 1944, at which point he was promoted to Admiral and appointed Naval Commander-in-Chief for the D-Day naval expeditionary force. Dying in a mysterious air crash in 1945, Ramsay's legacy has been remembered by the Royal Navy but his key role in the Allied victory has been widely forgotten. After the war ended his achievements ranked alongside those of Sir Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Viscount Alanbrooke, Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery and General Dwight Eisenhower, yet he never received the public recognition he deserved.

    Brian Izzard's new biography of Ramsay puts him and his work back centre-stage, arguing that Ramsay was the mastermind without whom the outcome of both Dunkirk and D-Day - and perhaps the entire war - could have been very different.


    Publisher (March publication):
    Mastermind of Dunkirk and D-Day
     
    Wobbler, kopite, Orwell1984 and 2 others like this.
  8. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    minden1759 may be interested in or know more about this. The promising element is that the author was co-author of the excellent Then & Now Monte Cassino book.

    Early morning, 19 March 1944. Tanks manned by New Zealanders, Indians and Americans launch a daring attack along a narrow mountain track on German positions north of Monte Cassino. So began one of the most audacious Allied attempts to break through the Gustav Line and advance on Rome - and it almost succeeded. Yet the extraordinary story has seldom been told, and it has never been told before in the vivid detail Jeffrey Plowman brings to this new account. Using operational orders, combat reports, unit diaries, post-battle photos from private and public archives and the graphic personal accounts of those who took part, he describes the construction of Cavendish Road and the course of the entire operation that followed. The planning for the attack and the men involved are described in a gripping and clear-sighted way, as is the attack itself - its initial rapid success and its ultimate failure. Eighty years later Jeffrey Plowman reveals exactly what happened and shows how and why this bold thrust against the German strongpoints at Monte Cassino, which could have turned the course of the battle, ended in retreat. His book also features a visitor's guide that covers the length of Cavendish Road from the village of Caira to Massa Albaneta, linking each spot with the events described in the narrative.

    Jeffrey Plowman is a research biochemist by profession who has had a keen interest in military history for over thirty-five years. He has made a special study of New Zealand armour and armoured units and has published twenty one books as well as many articles and chapters on the subject. Among his most recent publications are War in the Balkans: The Battle for Greece and Crete 1940-1941, Monte Cassino: Armoured Forces in the Battle for the Gustav Line and Greece 1941: The Death Throes of Blitzkrieg.

    Published 30/4/20
    Pages: 240
    Illustrations: 100 colour & black and white
    ISBN: 9781526764904
    Published: 30th April 2020

    91Ool7QFqGL.jpg
     
    Wobbler, Orwell1984 and Chris C like this.
  9. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Competition! Nicer cover...
    To be published: 1/10/20.

    The definitive biography of the British naval commander who masterminded the evacuation of Dunkirk and was the operational genius behind the Allied landings at Normandy.


    Admiral Bertram Ramsay may not be the most familiar World War II commander, but he was critical to the Allied victory. He orchestrated the dramatic evacuation of British expeditionary forces at Dunkirk, planned the invasions of North Africa and Sicily, and worked closely with General Dwight Eisenhower on Operation Neptune, the Allied landings on the beaches of Normandy.

    In this magisterial biography, over a decade in the making, Andrew Gordon captures Ramsay’s complex, conflicted nature. Born into a family with a military heritage but little money, Ramsay joined the navy at fourteen. As a junior officer he developed the obsessive standards of discipline that would characterize his career, managing his ships more through regulation than charisma. He had frequent run-ins with his seniors, including a notorious dispute in 1935 with the Commander-in-Chief Home Fleet that forced his retirement. Brought back to service in August 1939, Ramsay would oversee operations in the English Channel, where his talent for logistics proved vital. Though Ramsay’s acerbic manner could generate friction, Eisenhower would later write that “not only was he outstanding as an able sailor and a wonderful teammate in this Allied Force, but he was my warm personal friend.” Gordon offers a penetrating study of command dynamics as he covers the key engagements of the war.

    The first full-life biography of Ramsay in over sixty years and the most authoritative portrait we are ever likely to have, Neptune’s Admiral restores this great naval commander to his essential place in World War II history.


    61ITabTke-L.jpg
     
    kopite, canuck, Wobbler and 2 others like this.
  10. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    Two bios of Ramsay out in the same year? What are the chances?
     
  11. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    I think that both authors/publishers were hoping for a small fillip with the 80th anniversary of Dunkirk, but I'll bet they're both very disappointed to find out of the existence or each other's book.
     
    TijgerB likes this.
  12. Robert-w

    Robert-w Banned

    Unless they come to radically different conclusions - a good controversy could build sales for both
     
  13. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    A decent point.

    I'll probably end up buying them both, but I'm a bit strapped lately because of this silly virus business.

    The second makes some big claims, but the first speaks of his private papers...
     
  14. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    And the first is by an ex-journalist and the second by an academic. It will be interesting to compare!
     
  15. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    A1ZKUdXyKjL.jpg

    By Evan McGilvray

    Publication date: 30/6/20
    https://www.amazon.co.uk/Field-Marshal-Claude-Auchinleck-McGilvray/dp/1526716100/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1585747761&refinements=p_27:Evan+McGilvray&s=books&sr=1-1

    Field Marshal Claude Auchinleck is a study not only of the individual but also of how the British Army, Indian Army and the Empire were transformed during his long military career. Auchinleck was commissioned into the Indian Army from 1904 and served with distinction against the Turks in Egypt and the Mesopotamian campaign, earning a DSO. Between the wars he was involved in the pacification of the Northwest Frontier (now Pakistan). In the Second World War he briefly led a division in the ill-fated Norway campaign before being appointed Commander-in-Chief, India. He is best remembered for his controversial stint in command in North Africa, where he replaced Wavell in July 1941. He halted Rommel at the First Battle of El Alamein but was then replaced by Montgomery and resumed as C-in-C India, where his logistical support for Fourteenth Army was vital to success in Burma. Post-war he planned and oversaw Partition and British withdrawal from India. Here, as in North Africa, interference from his political masters added to the burdens of command. Evan McGilvray appraises Auchinleck's long and varied career in its entirety.

     
    Last edited: Apr 1, 2020
    Chris C likes this.
  16. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    I just realised that I have already read another of the 'ex-journalist's' books and it was really good--in the sense that it was highly readable ('cinematic' in parts) while not skimping on the detail:

    61UN6j67jmL.jpg
     
  17. Charley Fortnum

    Charley Fortnum Dreaming of Red Eagles

    Right, I no longer know what's going on with this. It may have been pulled--or swapped publisher.

    It appears to be unavailable (and un-pre-orderable) at Amazon now, whereas Book Depository have brought forward the date to 30/5/20 and still has it available.

    And now this has appeared with a new ISBN, a new publisher a new cover, a new blurb and a 1/10/20 publication date. The page count is also 176 pages longer!

    Anybody any information?

    716VcnPYxvL.jpg
     
    Chris C and kopite like this.
  18. Robert-w

    Robert-w Banned

    And a new title? Is it still the same book?
     
  19. Robert-w

    Robert-w Banned

    Possibly two versions will be published? A longer "academic" one complete with comprehensive references etc (and a ridiculous price) and a shorter "popular" one?
     
  20. Rich Payne

    Rich Payne Rivet Counter Patron 1940 Obsessive

    I'm looking forward to finding out what's going on...I'd like to learn more of Ramsey. Incredible that the Royal Navy allowed him to become forgotten.
     

Share This Page