Krig

The horrific series of conflicts known as the Thirty Years War (1618-48) tore the heart out of Europe, killing perhaps a quarter of all Germans and laying waste to whole areas of Central Europe to such a degree that many towns and regions never recovered. All the major European powers apart from Russia were heavily involved and, while each country started out with rational war aims, the fighting rapidly spiralled out of control, with great battles giving way to marauding bands of starving soldiers spreading plague and murder. The war was both a religious and a political one and it was this tangle of motives that made it impossible to stop. Whether motivated by idealism or cynicism, everyone drawn into the conflict was destroyed by it. At its end a recognizably modern Europe had been created but at a terrible price.Peter Wilson's book is a major work, the first new history of the war in a generation, and a fascinating, brilliantly written attempt to explain a compelling series of events. Wilson's great strength is in allowing the reader to understand the tragedy of mixed motives that allowed rulers to gamble their countries' future with such horrifying results. The principal actors in the drama (Wallenstein, Ferdinand II, Gustavus Adolphus, Richelieu) are all here, but so is the experience of the ordinary soldiers and civilians, desperately trying to stay alive under impossible circumstances.The extraordinary narrative of the war haunted Europe's leaders into the twentieth century (comparisons with 1939-45 were entirely appropriate) and modern Europe cannot be understood without reference to this dreadful conflict.

'An unrivalled picture of the rumours, suspicions and treachery of civil war' Antony BeevorEvery line of serious work that I have written since 1936 has been written, directly or indirectly, against totalitarianism and for democratic Socialism as I understand it'. Thus wrote Orwell following his experiences as a militiaman in the Spanish Civil War, chronicled in Homage to Catalonia. Here he brings to bear all the force of his humanity, passion and clarity, describing with bitter intensity the bright hopes and cynical betrayals of that chaotic episode: the revolutionary euphoria of Barcelona, the courage of ordinary Spanish men and women he fought alongside, the terror and confusion of the front, his near-fatal bullet wound and the vicious treachery of his supposed allies.A firsthand account of the brutal conditions of the Spanish Civil War, George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia includes an introduction by Julian Symons.

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Ardennes 1994 by Antony Beever, read by Sean Barrett. On 16 December 1944, Hitler launched his last gamble in the snow-covered forests and gorges of the Ardennes on the Belgian/German border. Although Hitlers generals were doubtful of success, younger officers and NCOs were desperate to believe that their homes and families could be saved from the vengeful Red Army approaching from the east. The Ardennes offensive, with more than a million men involved, became the greatest battle of the war in western Europe. In January 1945, when the Red Army launched its onslaught towards Berlin, the once-feared German war machine was revealed to be broken beyond repair. The Ardennes was the battle which finally broke the Wehrmacht.

Peter Snow provides the foreword to this book of over one-hundred detailed maps presenting different aspects of the Second World War through a cartographic lens.

6 June, 1944. 156,000 troops from 12 different countries, 11,000 aircraft, 7,000 naval vessels, 24 hours. D-Day - the beginning of the Allied invasion of Hitler's formidable 'Fortress Europe' - was the largest amphibious invasion in history. There has never been a battle like it, before or since. But beyond the statistics and over sixty years on, what is it about the events of D-Day that remain so compelling? The courage of the men who fought and died on the beaches of France? The sheer boldness of the invasion plan? Or the fact that this, Rommel's 'longest day', heralded the beginning of the end of World War II? One of the defining battles of the war, D-Day is scored into the imagination as the moment when the darkness of the Third Reich began to be swept away. This is the story of D-Day, told through the voices of over 1,000 survivors - from high-ranking Allied and German officers, to the paratroopers who landed in Normandy before dawn, the infantry who struggled ashore and the German troops who defended the coast. Cornelius Ryan captures the horror and the glory of D-Day, relating in emotive and compelling detail the years of inspired tactical planning that led up to the invasion, its epic implementation and every stroke of luck and individual act of heroism that would later define the battle.In the words of its author, The Longest Day is a story not of war, but of the courage of men.

The most eloquent and personal story of a young man at war since Geoffrey Wellum's FIRST LIGHT

Field Marshal Erich von Manstein described his book as a personal narrative of a soldier, discussing only those matters that had direct bearing on events in the military field. The essential thing, as he wrote, is to "know how the main personalities thought and reacted to events." This is what he tells us in this book.

THE TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLERAN IRISH INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE YEAR'A gripping story in which Justine Picardie brilliantly contrasts the cruel Old World of wartime France with the hopeful New World epitomised by Christian Dior's New Look.'ANTONIA FRASER'An incredible story of courage, endurance and passion.'MARIA GRAZIA CHIURI, Creative Director of Dior'An extraordinary biography.'SUNDAY TIMES'Exceptional . . . Miss Dior is so much more than a biography.'DAILY TELEGRAPHMiss Dior is a story of freedom and fascism, beauty and betrayal, roses and repression, and how the polished surface of fashion conceals hidden depths. It paints a portrait of the enigmatic woman behind the designer Christian Dior: his beloved younger sister Catherine, who inspired his most famous perfume and shaped his vision of femininity. Justine Picardie's journey takes her to Occupied Paris, where Christian honed his couture skills while Catherine dedicated herself to the French Resistance, until she was captured by the Gestapo and deported to the German concentration camp of Ravensbruck.With unparalleled access to the Dior family homes and archives, Picardie's research into Catherine's courageous life shines a new light on Christian Dior's legendary work, and reveals how his enchanting 'New Look' emerged out of the shadows of his sister's suffering.Tracing the wartime paths of the Dior siblings leads Picardie deep into other hidden histories, and different forms of resistance and sisterhood. She explores what it means to believe in beauty and hope, despite our knowledge of darkness and despair, and discovers the timeless solace of the natural world in the aftermath of devastation and destruction. The result is an exquisite and unforgettably moving book.*A beautiful, full colour illustrated book featuring exclusive images from the Dior archives*'Catherine's story is beautifully, hauntingly told in spare and elegant prose by Picardie . . . moving and evocative.'THE TIMES'The juxtaposition of the terrible shadows and dazzling light is one of the great strengths of this book . . . A very personal, very passionate book.'ARTEMIS COOPER, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT'Picardie writes: 'The vestiges of Catherine's presence remain as a powerful reminder of the importance of freedom, and why it is worth fighting for.' There are few truer words.'THE SPECTATOR'Picardie's book is of the moment, celebrating an unsung hero at a time when female influences are earning new acclaim.'VOGUE'Miss Dior ensures the bravery of the women at Ravensbruck is not merely a distant echo.'i'Beautiful.' OBSERVER'Moving and beautifully illustrated.' NEW STATESMAN'Stunning.' RED'Not just beautifully written, this is also a stunningly beautiful book.' NOON

A long awaited and deserved new edition of this enduring and moving classic.

From the bestselling author of Agent Zigzag. The thrilling true story of the greatest and most successful wartime deception ever attemptedA Richard & Judy Book Club selection

The definitive history of the military's decades-long investigation into mental powers and phenomena, from the author of Pulitzer Prize finalist The Pentagon's Brain and international bestseller Area 51.

A publishing sensation in German, the publication of Victor Klemperer's diaries brings to light one of the most extraordinary documents of the Nazi period.

Homage to Catalonia is George Orwell's account of the Spanish Civil War. It was the last and most mature of Orwell's documentary books.

With an introduction by Kevin Powers.A groundbreaking piece of journalism which inspired Stanley Kubrick's classic Vietnam War film Full Metal Jacket.We took space back quickly, expensively, with total panic and close to maximum brutality. Our machine was devastating. And versatile. It could do everything but stop.Michael Herr went to Vietnam as a war correspondent for Esquire. He returned to tell the real story in all its hallucinatory madness and brutality, cutting to the quick of the conflict and its seductive, devastating impact on a generation of young men. His unflinching account is haunting in its violence, but even more so in its honesty. First published in 1977, Dispatches was a revolutionary piece of new journalism that evoked the experiences of soldiers in Vietnam and has forever shaped our understanding of the conflict. It is now a seminal classic of war reportage.

The new book by the winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize and author of the Sunday Times bestseller EAST WEST STREET - a historical detective story that sets out to uncover the truth behind what happened to leading Nazi Otto von Wachter

'We weren't afraid of the Allies as soldiers, but we were afraid of their materiel - it was going to be men versus machines.'

Former Navy Seal Ephraim Mattos shares his experiences working with the Free Burma Rangers humanitarian group to rescue innocents from slaughter by ISIS in the active war zone of Mosul, Iraq.

Award-winning author China Mieville plunges us into the year the world was turned upside down

'It doesn't get better' - that was the unofficial motto of Red Platoon, stuck at Command Post Keating, one of the most isolated and dangerous US army bases in Afghanistan, in the middle of a free-fire zone.