The purpose of this book is to examine the foreign policy of Jacinda Ardern's New Zealand Government between 2020 and early 2023 when the COVID-19 pandemic intersected with an evolving and often tumultuous post-Cold War global environment. This context witnessed the erosion of an international rules-based order and the renewal of great power competition. In particular, the Indo-Pacific has become a contested strategic space, which impacted on New Zealand's foreign policy interests....

Cirencester at War is a pictoral record of the main events of the Second World War as they impacted on the town of Cirencester and its surrounding district. Illustrated with over 200 old photographs and documents, Cirencester at War gives an insight into wartime life with its tragedy, heroism, austerity and humour. With over thirty military establishments within a 12-mile radius, from the ‘Piggeries’ at Poulton to the US 15th Hospital Center at Stratton, the combat element was well represe...

"A fascinating examination of one of the best-known British forces of the Second World War . . . An efficient and increasingly professional military unit." — History of WarWhat was the Home Guard? Who were the men and women who served in it? And what can be said of their real role and significance once the popular myths have been stripped away?Despite the fame of the Home Guard—of Dad's Army—the true story of this wartime organization tends...

At the age of 95, Bill Malins still remembers growing up on an Oxfordshire farm in the 1920s, where he would help with the haymaking, steer a horse-drawn harrow, milk a cow and ride sheep for entertainment. Amid the happiness there were moments of tragedy. There was the loss of his baby sister to peritonitis when Bill was seven years old. A couple of years later he had to stand by as the farm was burned to the ground, taking it with his favourite horse and dog.Bill would cycle each...

They were the unsung heroines of World War II; the wives, mums and teenage girls, all 'doing their bit' for the war effort, clocking in daily to work in cast munitions factories, helping make the explosives, bullets and war machines that would ensure victory for Britain.It was dangerous, dirty and exhaustive work. They worked round the clock, often exposed to toxic, lethal chemicals. A factory accident could mean blindness, loss of limbs - or worse. Many went home with acid burns, yellow s...

This is Ken Wharton's second oral history of the Northern Ireland troubles told again from the perspective of the ordinary British soldier.This book looks deeper into the conflict, utilising stories from new contributors providing revealing and long-forgotten stories of the troubles from the back streets of the Ardoyne to the bandit country of South Armagh. Ken Wharton - himself a former soldier - is now known and trusted by those who served and they are keen for their part in Brit...

In a series of powerful accounts drawn from diaries, letters, sound archives and interviews recorded during the period of devastation, discovery and transformation that make the blitz such an outstanding event in Britain's recent past, "The Blitz" brings to life the intense experiences, as they happened all over Britain.The blitz proved to be a highly effective laboratory constructed out of necessity, and intense forcing house for change.Yet, compared to other great events ...

The Second World War is dominated by heroic tales of men defending their country against a formidable enemy but what about the women who also played their part in fighting for freedom? Eileen Younghusband (90) was just 18 when she joined the Womens Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF). She quickly demonstrated her keen intellect and mathematical skills, playing a crucial role in Fighter Command's underground Filter Room. Working gruelling shifts under enormous pressure she and her companions worked ...

Permission to speak, Sah!In the aftermath of the Second World War, over two million men were conscripted to serve in Britain's armed services. Some were sent abroad and watched their friends die in combat. Others remained in barracks and painted coal white. But despite delivering such varied experiences, National Service helped to shape the outlook of an entire generation of young British males.Historian Dr Colin Shindler has interviewed a wide range of ex-conscripts, from ...

During the 1930s, war with Germany became increasingly likely. The British Government believed that it would start with massed ranks of enemy planes, dropping bombs and poison gas on civilians in major towns and cities, terrifying them into surrendering. When war broke out, preparations to protect the population were piecemeal and inadequate. As anticipated, people were shocked by the first raids and the response of rescue services was chaotic. But far from breaking morale...

The full story of Aston House in the Second World War has never been told before.Its activities were top secret and as important to the Allied war effort as those of Bletchley Park, but in a different way. Situated near Stevenage, Aston House was one of many British country houses requisitioned during the Second World War by the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Born out of Bletchley Park, where it began life as SIS Section 'D' (for Destruction), Station 12's...

Even those who know a great deal about the Easter Rising may not know that there were temporary ceasefires in the St Stephen's Green area, to allow the park attendants to feed the Green's ducks. Few know that the first shots of the rising were actually fired near Portlaoise and not in Dublin or indeed that both sides issued receipts: the rebels for food, the British for handcuffs. It features excerpts from a previously unpublished diary written by a member of the Jacob's garrison; the stor...