City Travel Guides > Books > World War II

.Masters and Commanders: How Roosevelt, Churchill, Marshall and Alanbrooke Won the War in the West
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II
by: Andrew Roberts

September 25, 2008

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.Resistance: Memoirs of Occupied France
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II
by: Agnes Humbert

September 01, 2008

When the German army invaded Paris in 1940, Agnes Humbert a strong minded, politically aware art historian, immediately knew that she had to 'do something', the thought of accepting the invasion was anathema to her and she helped to form one of the first organised groups of the French Resistance. The speed with which this was set up and began to operate was staggering. She had excellent contacts and friends in literary and journalistic circles and an underground newspaper, combating the German propaganda machine, was printed and circulated around Paris. It was simply amazing that they managed to keep this going and out of the hands of the authorities for nearly a year before they were betrayed and she was arrested and thrown into prison. ... Read More:
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.Nella Last's Peace: The Post-war Diaries of Housewife 49
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II
from: Profile Books Ltd

October 02, 2008
If you enjoyed the original 'Nella Last's War' then you will enjoy this second volume just the same. The end of hostilities doesn't mean the end of either Nella's writing, or her talent with words and observation. It also certainly does not mean the end of hardship and difficulty. I drove to Barrow on the strength of the first diary and was very fortunate to meet the present owners of Nella's old house - they actually bought it off the Last family forty years ago. Just sitting in her old living room, where all those words had poured onto the page, brought Nella and her time tangibly closer. I heartily recommend this book.
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.The Third Reich at War: How the Nazis Led Germany from Conquest to Disaster (Allen Lane History)
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II
by: Richard J. Evans

October 02, 2008
If you enjoyed the original 'Nella Last's War' then you will enjoy this second volume just the same. The end of hostilities doesn't mean the end of either Nella's writing, or her talent with words and observation. It also certainly does not mean the end of hardship and difficulty. I drove to Barrow on the strength of the first diary and was very fortunate to meet the present owners of Nella's old house - they actually bought it off the Last family forty years ago. Just sitting in her old living room, where all those words had poured onto the page, brought Nella and her time tangibly closer. I heartily recommend this book.
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.Nemesis: The Battle for Japan, 1944--45
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II
by: Max Hastings

October 01, 2008
At the Winchester Festival, reviewing his book, Hastings made a misguided and alarming remark, "that the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, other than Taranto Raid, played no significant part in WW2". It is therefore no wonder that he has omitted to include in his book the British Pacific Forces's successful attack on the Japanese oil refineries at Palembang (Java) in January 1945. Four British fleet carriers with 244 aircraft embarked disabled the refineries that were supplying Japan precious aviation fuel. Glancing through the book Hastings does not do justice to the Royal Navy in the Far East during 1944-45 period, until he educates himselve on the Fleet Air Arm's war effort, I will stay clear of his books. Question for you Max, which allied torpedo bomber ... Read More:
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.Nella Last's War: The Second World War Diaries of 'Housewife 49'
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II
from: Profile Books Ltd

November 16, 2006
I can only add to the unalloyed praise of others and wish that Nella Last could know what pleasure and enlightenment her "scribbling" would bring to others over 60 years later.

She writes beautifully and naturally, but what's most interesting is the way she changes as the war progresses. At the beginning she is sickly and weak, plagued with arthritis, and refers to a "breakdown" she had a few years before. But she determines to "do something" for the war effort and joins the WVS. From there she goes from strength to strength, and the evolution of her ideas is fascinating; she comes to see her conventional marriage to an old stick of a husband as "slavery". She's also very observant and perceptive of the people around her.
She writes lyrically of walks ... Read More:
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.If This Is a Man / The Truce
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II
by: Primo Levi

January 01, 1991
If you want to understand the holocaust, how and why it happened, then you need to read If This Is A Man. Levi dispenses with his emotional responses and describes what happened with a frightening detachment. Through his eyes, Levi shows us how the Nazi machine sought to rob their victims of all vestiges of their humanity and thereby justify their treatment of the camp victims. This in turn led to the horrible events that we all know so well. Levi, however, does not just aim to show us the horror of the events, but understand them. Thus, amongst the debasement of life in the camps, we see how necessary it becomes to bathe with dirty water - not to clean yourself, but to regain fragments of your own humanity. This book is essential if we are to understand why the holocaust happened ... Read More:
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.Stranger in the House: Women's Stories of Men Returning from the Second World War
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II
by: Julie Summers

September 01, 2008
One of Julie Summer's strengths as a biographer is her capacity to allow her subjects to speak for themselves - but at the same time, throughout this fine book, the reader always has a reassuring sense of the author's guiding hand.
These stories of the women so directly affected by the last war are often deeply moving, full of their humanity and strength. The author successfully conveys the complexity of their feelings, the ambivalence felt by many of these women - glad to have their menfolk back home, and yet reluctant to give up the hard-fought-for freedom and independence they had gained during the war years.
The depth and quality of research is never in question, allowing the reader to feel safe in the author's hands. The chapter on the Army Postal Service, for example, ... Read More:
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.Arnhem: Jumping the Rhine 1944 and 1945
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II
by: Lloyd Clark

August 21, 2008
One of Julie Summer's strengths as a biographer is her capacity to allow her subjects to speak for themselves - but at the same time, throughout this fine book, the reader always has a reassuring sense of the author's guiding hand.
These stories of the women so directly affected by the last war are often deeply moving, full of their humanity and strength. The author successfully conveys the complexity of their feelings, the ambivalence felt by many of these women - glad to have their menfolk back home, and yet reluctant to give up the hard-fought-for freedom and independence they had gained during the war years.
The depth and quality of research is never in question, allowing the reader to feel safe in the author's hands. The chapter on the Army Postal Service, for example, ... Read More:
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.Up the Line to Death: War Poets, 1914-18
City Travel Guides > Books > World War II
from: Methuen Publishing Ltd

January 09, 1986
The poetry of soldiers of the First World War.

Supposedly the War to end ALL Wars, it was a bloody, brutal and harrowing campaign. It wasn't over by Christmas as many had speculated and lasted four long years and it marked the emergence of a new type of warfare.

The poetry in this anthology covers those four years of war, from the eager young men joining up to fight the enemy on foreign soil, to the maimed returning home and, of course, those who never returned at all.

The poems are deeply moving, especially those of the men stuck in the trenches, knee deep in mud with nothing to listen to but the sound of shells exploding outside and nothing to see but their friends injured and killed. Some of the poems were written by men who never returned, ... Read More:
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