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History > War

Large 9780300233209

Mi9 - A History of the Secret Service for Escape and Evasion in World War Two by Helen Fry

$41.95 AUD

Available Stock:
5

Category: War

A thrilling history of MI9--the WWII organization that engineered the escape of Allied forces from behind enemy lines When Allied fighters were trapped behind enemy lines, one branch of military intelligence helped them escape: MI9. The organization set up clandestine routes that zig-zagged across Nazi -occupied Europe, enabling soldiers and airmen to make their way home. Secret agents and resistance fighters risked their lives and those of their families to hide the men.   Drawing on declassified files and eye-witness testimonies from across Europe and the United States, Helen Fry provides a significant reassessment of MI9's wartime role. Central to its success were figures such as Airey Neave, Jimmy Langley, Sam Derry, and Mary Lindell--one of only a few women parachuted into enemy territory for MI9. This astonishing account combines escape and evasion tales with the previously untold stories behind the establishment of MI9--and reveals how the organization saved thousands of lives. ...Show more

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Large 9781781256978

All Against All The Winter Of 1933 by Paul Jankowski

$50.00 AUD

Available Stock:
4

Category: War

During a single winter, between November 1932 and April 1933, so much went wrong: Hitler came to power; Japan invaded Jehol and left the league of Nations; Mussolini looked towards Africa; Roosevelt was elected; France changed governments three times; and the victors of 1918 fell out acrimoniously over war debts, arms, currency, tariffs and Germany. New hopes flickered but not for long: a world economic conference was planned, only to collapse when the US went its own way.All Against All reveals that collective mentalities and popular beliefs drove this crucial period and set nations on the path to war, as much as the rational calculus of 'national interest'. Weaving together stories from across the world, historian Paul Jankowski offers a cautionary tale relevant for Western democracies today. The rising threat from dictatorial regimes and the ideological challenges from communism and fascism gave the 1930s a unique face, just as global environmental and demographic crises are shaping our own precious age. ...Show more

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Large 9781788162562

War - How Conflict Shaped Us by Margaret MacMillan

$40.00 AUD

Available Stock:
3

Category: War

How the human history of conflict has transformed the world we live in - for good and evil. The time since the Second World War has been seen by some as the longest uninterrupted period of harmony in human history: the 'long peace', as Stephen Pinker called it. But despite this, there has been a milita ry conflict ongoing every year since 1945. The same can be said for every century of recorded history. Is war, therefore, an essential part of being human?  In War, Professor Margaret MacMillan explores the deep links between society and war and the questions they raise. We learn when war began - whether among early homo sapiens or later, as we began to organise ourselves into tribes and settle in communities. We see the ways in which war reflects changing societies and how war has brought change - for better and worse.  Economies, science, technology, medicine, culture: all are instrumental in war and have been shaped by it - without conflict it we might not have had penicillin, female emancipation, radar or rockets. Throughout history, writers, artists, film-makers, playwrights, and composers have been inspired by war - whether to condemn, exalt or simply puzzle about it. If we are never to be rid of war, how should we think about it and what does that mean for peace? ...Show more

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Large 9781473649040

D-Day - The Soldiers' Story by Giles Milton

$23.00 AUD

Available Stock:
3

Category: War

'Vivid, graphic and moving' Mail on Sunday Book of the Year 'It has a wonderful immediacy and vitality - living history in every sense' Anthony Horowitz 'Fantastic' Dan Snow 'Compellingly authentic, revelatory and beautifully written. A gripping tour de force' Damien Lewis 'Stirring and unsettling i n equal measure, this is history writing at its most powerful' Evening Standard   Almost seventy-five years have passed since D-Day, the day of the greatest seaborne invasion in history. The outcome of the Second World War hung in the balance on that chill June morning. If Allied forces succeeded in gaining a foothold in northern France, the road to victory would be open. But if the Allies could be driven back into the sea, the invasion would be stalled for years, perhaps forever. An epic battle that involved 156,000 men, 7,000 ships and 20,000 armoured vehicles, the desperate struggle that unfolded on 6 June 1944 was, above all, a story of individual heroics - of men who were driven to keep fighting until the German defences were smashed and the precarious beachheads secured. Their authentic human story - Allied, German, French - has never fully been told. Giles Milton's bold new history narrates the day's events through the tales of survivors from all sides: the teenage Allied conscript, the crack German defender, the French resistance fighter. From the military architects at Supreme Headquarters to the young schoolboy in the Wehrmacht's bunkers, D-Day: The Soldiers' Story lays bare the absolute terror of those trapped in the frontline of Operation Overlord. It also gives voice to those hitherto unheard - the French butcher's daughter, the Panzer Commander's wife, the chauffeur to the General Staff. This vast canvas of human bravado reveals 'the longest day' as never before - less as a masterpiece of strategic planning than a day on which thousands of scared young men found themselves staring death in the face. It is drawn in its entirety from the raw, unvarnished experiences of those who were there. ...Show more

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Large 9781760787653

Courage Under Fire by Daniel Keighran; Tony Park (As told to)

$45.00 AUD

Available Stock:
3

Category: War

'A man selfless in the face of threat. Courageous in the face of terror. Generous in the face of suffering. And humble in the face of an honour bestowed.' Dame Quentin Bryce On 24 August 2010, in battle in Afghanistan, Corporal Daniel Keighran risked his life in a hail of gunfire to save his fellow sold iers. His actions saw him awarded the Victoria Cross for Australia, making him the 99th Australian to receive our country's highest award for bravery. Courage Under Fire tells of Daniel's unlikely journey to become one of Australia's most celebrated soldiers. Growing up was tough for Daniel. When he was eleven, his father showed up in his life, for the first time, with a gunshot wound to the stomach. He relocated his son, daughter and their mother 400 kilometres away from their loving grandparents and a coastal home to a shack with a dirt floor in outback Queensland. From then on, Daniel fought to maintain a sense of order and purpose amid the chaos of family violence and criminal activity. Inspired by his much-loved grandfather, a WWII veteran, Daniel joined the army. There he found the structure that was missing from his teen years. Although just 17, Daniel adapted quickly to the demands of life in the military, always willing to learn, always wanting to grow, always seeking to emulate the example of his grandfather. Courage Under Fire is an outstanding military memoir, packed with tales of multiple tours, accounts of extraordinary camaraderie, and a reflection on the unseen cost of service. Most of all it is a testament to the idea that anything is possible if you know what you stand for. PRAISE FOR COURAGE UNDER FIRE 'One of Australia's most reluctant heroes. A raw, honest, humorous and inspirational story of a modern soldier and the burden of heroism.' Mark Donaldson VC 'From a tough upbringing in outback Queensland to selfless courage on the battlefield in Afghanistan to save his mates, this book tells the inspirational story of a soldier's soldier.' Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston AK, AFC (Ret'd) 'Daniel Keighran would say that he was an ordinary man, just a soldier doing his job. From the occasional chaos and sometimes drama, of his upbringing, in the Army he became remarkable. His gallantry and willingness to put his life on the line is an inspiration to every other man and woman in uniform and to the wider Australian community. His humility and self-effacement since his award only adds to our admiration of this exceptional man.' General Sir Peter Cosgrove AK, AC(Mil), CVO, MC (Ret'd) 'Courage Under Fire reveals the character of a man who wears humility more comfortably than his medals. Leadership can't be taught, but it can be learned. The power is in the story. To read this one is to be a better person and a better leader.' Dr Brendan Nelson AO'Daniel Keighran's story, from humble beginnings to national celebrity, is one of personal character, extraordinary courage and deep compassion for his mates. His story will make all Australians proud.' Major General John Cantwell AO, DSC (Ret'd) 'The Royal Australian Regiment, to which Dan belonged, has the motto "Duty First". He is the epitome of what that requires of those who serve in its ranks. He is a great Australian with a great Australian story to tell.' Lieutenant General David Morrison AO (Ret'd) ...Show more

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Large 9780143791362

John Curtin's War Volume II - Triumph and Decline by John Edwards

$50.00 AUD

Available Stock:
2

Category: War

The first volume of John Curtin?s War was recognized as 'a landmark in Australian political biography? (The Australian) and 'remarkable? (AFR). That book ends with the fall of Singapore and a fundamental realignment of Australia?s place in the world- 'The Americans were coming. So were the Japanese.? Th is second volume, 'Triumph and Decline?, tells the full, fascinating story of the next four years, as Curtin leads Australia in meeting its enemy and its new friend, the latter personified by the charismatic, self-certain General Douglas MacArthur. As Churchill abandons Australia and pursues a 'Hitler first? strategy, Curtin and MacArthur fight to ensure that the War in the Pacific is an American priority. As the critical battles of the Coral Sea and Midway decide Australia?s fate - and Kakoda creates a new legend - Curtin?s resolute calm and implacable determination lift him beyond party conflicts to become 'Australia?s leader?. But the outward strength disguises deteriorating health, and increasing doubt about the American alliance. Curtin determined Australia?s future - but what would it have been had he lived? 'Triumph and Decline? completes Edwards? masterpiece and cements John Curtin?s place as our greatest of Prime Ministers. ...Show more

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Large 9780241185704

Mussolini's War: Fascist Italy from Triumph to Collapse, 1935-1943 by John Gooch

$60.00 AUD

Available Stock:
2

Category: War

While staying closely aligned with Hitler, Mussolini remained carefully neutral until the summer of 1940. Then, with the wholly unexpected and sudden collapse of the French and British armies, Mussolini declared war on the Allies in the hope of making territorial gains in southern France and Africa. Thi s decision proved a horrifying miscalculation, dooming Italy to its own prolonged and unwinnable war, immense casualties and an Allied invasion in 1943 which ushered in a terrible new era for the country. John Gooch's new book is the definitive account of Italy's war experience. Beginning with the invasion of Abyssinia and ending with Mussolini's arrest, Gooch brilliantly portrays the nightmare of a country with too small an industrial sector, too incompetent a leadership and too many fronts on which to fight. Everywhere - whether in the USSR, the Western Desert or the Balkans - Italian troops found themselves against either better-equipped or more motivated enemies. The result was a war entirely at odds with the dreams of pre-war Italian planners - a series of desperate improvizations against Allies who could draw on global resources and against whom Italy proved helpless. This remarkable book rightly shows the centrality of Italy to the war, outlining the brief rise and disastrous fall of the Italian military campaign. ...Show more

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Large 9780241972137

The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War (PB) by Ben Macintyre

$23.00 AUD

Available Stock:
2

Category: War

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"The best true spy story I have ever read."--JOHN LE CARR   The celebrated author of Double Cross and Rogue Heroes returns with his greatest spy story yet, a thrilling Americans-era tale of Oleg Gordievsky, the Russian whose secret work helped hasten the end of the Cold War.   I f anyone could be considered a Russian counterpart to the infamous British double-agent Kim Philby, it was Oleg Gordievsky. The son of two KGB agents and the product of the best Soviet institutions, the savvy, sophisticated Gordievsky grew to see his nation's communism as both criminal and philistine. He took his first posting for Russian intelligence in 1968 and eventually became the Soviet Union's top man in London, but from 1973 on he was secretly working for MI6. For nearly a decade, as the Cold War reached its twilight, Gordievsky helped the West turn the tables on the KGB, exposing Russian spies and helping to foil countless intelligence plots, as the Soviet leadership grew increasingly paranoid at the United States's nuclear first-strike capabilities and brought the world closer to the brink of war. Desperate to keep the circle of trust close, MI6 never revealed Gordievsky's name to its counterparts in the CIA, which in turn grew obsessed with figuring out the identity of Britain's obviously top-level source. Their obsession ultimately doomed Gordievsky: the CIA officer assigned to identify him was none other than Aldrich Ames, the man who would become infamous for secretly spying for the Soviets.   Unfolding the delicious three-way gamesmanship between America, Britain, and the Soviet Union, and culminating in the gripping cinematic beat-by-beat of Gordievsky's nail-biting escape from Moscow in 1985, Ben Macintyre's latest may be his best yet. Like the greatest novels of John le Carr , it brings readers deep into a world of treachery and betrayal, where the lines bleed between the personal and the professional, and one man's hatred of communism had the power to change the future of nations. ...Show more

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Large 9781742237183

The Long Shadow: Australia's Vietnam Veterans since the War by Peter Yule

$50.00 AUD

Available Stock:
2

Category: War

'Most veterans were either alcoholics or workaholics and I fitted into the latter category.' — Chris Cannin (6RAR, 1967; 7RAR, 1967-68) 'When I look back and I see what I used to do … there were a lot of things wrong that I would never ever admit to at the time … I thought I was fine, but I wasn't.' — A lan Thornton (17 CONSTRUCTION SQUADRON, 1968–69)The medical and psychological legacies of the Vietnam War are major and continuing issues for veterans, their families and the community, yet the facts about the impact of Agent Orange, post-traumatic stress disorder and other long-term health aspects are little understood. The Long Shadow sets the record straight about the health of Vietnam veterans and reveals a more detailed and complex picture.Profiling the stories of the veterans themselves, this comprehensive and authoritative book is a pioneering work of history on the aftermath of war. It takes a broad approach to the medical legacies, exploring the post-war experiences of Vietnam veterans, the evolution and development of the repatriation system in the post-Vietnam decades and the evolving medical understanding of veterans' health issues. ...Show more

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Large 9780008311216

Love in the Blitz: the Greatest Lost Love Letters of the Second World War by Eileen Alexander

$35.00 AUD

Available Stock:
2

Category: War

 ‘Eileen is an ambitious, kind and achingly funny observer' The Times‘Passionate, gossipy, vivacious' Marina Warner‘A unique insight into home-front life and romance' Mail on Sunday With the intimacy and wit of a Second World War Bridget Jones, Eileen Alexander offers a portal into life during the Blitz :– The sex, joys and cruelties of young love – for Eileen with a man who had just inadvertently involved her in a car crash, for her friends with some less-than-honourable specimens– The frustrations of coming of age in an era ‘suspended between an unborn tomorrow & dead yesterday'– The tragedies of rationed textiles (‘apropos French Knickers & Respectability … You've no idea what a lot of difference a bit of elastic can make'),With Eileen, a Jewish woman in her twenties crackling with intelligence, we sink into the reality of wartime London – particularly as it was lived for women. She is hilariously caustic about colleagues and political figures, confessional to the gossipy and emotional extremes, and brilliantly frank on the feeling of derailed hopes and ambition.Above all, these letters – rescued from oblivion by a chance eBay purchase – tell an unbelievable love story. This is a one-of-a-kind chronicle, seared with the pain of loving a man away at the front and the terrible uncertainty of war.‘I wonder what anyone would think if they suddenly came across my letters to you & started reading them in chronological order?' Eileen wrote in 1941. ‘I think they'd say “This girl never lived till she loved” – and it would be true, darling.' ...Show more

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Large 9781787474840

Our Man in New York - The British Plot to Bring America into the Second World War by Henry Hemming

$23.00 AUD

Available Stock:
2

Category: War

"A revelatory and wholly fascinating work of history. Superbly researched and written with gripping fluency, this lost secret of World War II espionage finally has its expert chronicler." - WILLIAM BOYD 'Gripping and intoxicating, it unfolds like the best screenplay.' NICHOLAS SHAKESPEARE The gripping story of a propaganda campaign like no other: the covert British operation to manipulate American public opinion and bring the US into the Second World War. When William Stephenson - "our man in New York" - arrived in the United States towards the end of June 1940 with instructions from the head of MI6 to 'organise' American public opinion, Britain was on the verge of defeat. Surveys showed that just 14% of the US population wanted to go to war against Nazi Germany. But soon that began to change... Those campaigning against America's entry into the war, such as legendary aviator Charles Lindbergh, talked of a British-led plot to drag the US into the conflict. They feared that the British were somehow flooding the American media with 'fake news', infiltrating pressure groups, rigging opinion polls and meddling in US politics. These claims were shocking and wild: they were also true. That truth is revealed here for the first time by bestselling author Henry Hemming, using hitherto private and classified documents, including the diaries of his own grandparents, who were briefly part of Stephenson's extraordinary influence campaign that was later described in the Washington Post as 'arguably the most effective in history'. Stephenson - who saved the life of Hemming's father - was a flawed maverick, full of contradictions, but one whose work changed the course of the war, and whose story can now be told in full. ...Show more

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Large 9781921844799

In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson

$30.00 AUD

Available Stock:
2

Category: War

"Larson is a marvelous writer...superb at creating characters with a few short strokes."--New York Times Book Review   Erik Larson has been widely acclaimed as a master of narrative non-fiction, and in his new book, the bestselling author of Devil in the White City turns his hand to a remarkable story set during Hitler's rise to power.   The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history.   A mild-mannered professor from Chicago, Dodd brings along his wife, son, and flamboyant daughter, Martha. At first Martha is entranced by the parties and pomp, and the handsome young men of the Third Reich with their infectious enthusiasm for restoring Germany to a position of world prominence. Enamored of the "New Germany," she has one affair after another, including with the suprisingly honorable first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. But as evidence of Jewish persecution mounts, confirmed by chilling first-person testimony, her father telegraphs his concerns to a largely indifferent State Department back home. Dodd watches with alarm as Jews are attacked, the press is censored, and drafts of frightening new laws begin to circulate. As that first year unfolds and the shadows deepen, the Dodds experience days full of excitement, intrigue, romance--and ultimately, horror, when a climactic spasm of violence and murder reveals Hitler's true character and ruthless ambition.   Suffused with the tense atmosphere of the period, and with unforgettable portraits of the bizarre G ring and the expectedly charming--yet wholly sinister--Goebbels, In the Garden of Beasts lends a stunning, eyewitness perspective on events as they unfold in real time, revealing an era of surprising nuance and complexity. The result is a dazzling, addictively readable work that speaks volumes about why the world did not recognize the grave threat posed by Hitler until Berlin, and Europe, were awash in blood and terror. ...Show more

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