"Insightful commentary on the tangible relics of the Third Reich . . . Tells the history of the Nazi regime from a fascinating new perspective" ( Military History Monthly).Hitler's Third Reich is covered in countless books and films: no conflict of the twentieth century has prompted such interest or such a body of literature. Here, two leading World War II historians offer a new way to look at the subject—through objects that come from this time and place,...

"A brilliant first-hand account of the life of a fighter pilot" in World War II ( The Spectator).Spitfire Pilot was written in 1940 in the heat of battle, when the RAF stood alone against the might of Hitler's Third Reich. It is a tremendous personal account of one of the fiercest and most idealized air conflicts—the Battle of Britain—seen through the eyes of a pilot of the famous 609 Squadron, which shot down over one hundred planes in that epic ...

**A remarkable account of the terrible climax of the Second World War in AsiaA Telegraph Book of the Year 2025**'A short but quietly devastating book, in which Overy adds new perspectives to a subject that has often been approached from a narrowly American angle... Overy's book is a sombre reminder that the border between civilisation and savagery is wafer-thin.' - Philip Snow, Literary ReviewIn the closing months of the Second World War h...

**A remarkable account of the terrible climax of the Second World War in AsiaA Telegraph Book of the Year 2025**'A short but quietly devastating book, in which Overy adds new perspectives to a subject that has often been approached from a narrowly American angle... Overy's book is a sombre reminder that the border between civilisation and savagery is wafer-thin.' - Philip Snow, Literary ReviewIn the closing months of the Second World War h...

The first English translation of one German military pilot's experience before, during, and after World War II flying for the Third Reich.Johannes Kaufmann's career was an exciting one. He may have been an ordinary Luftwaffe pilot but he served during an extraordinary time with distinction. Serving for a decade through both peacetime and wartime, his memoir sheds light on the immense pressures of the job.In this never-before-seen translation of a rare accou...

**“Monumental… [A] vast and detailed study that is surely the finest single-volume history of World War II. Richard Overy has given us a powerful reminder of the horror of war and the threat posed by dictators with dreams of empire.” – The Wall Street JournalA thought-provoking and original reassessment of World War II, from Britain’s leading military historianA New York Times bestseller**Richard Overy sets out in Blood and Ruins ...

J. R. D. 'Bob' Braham was Britain's most-decorated fighter pilot and one of the most successful fighter pilots of World War II. Joining the RAF in 1938 at the age of 18, he was posted to No. 29 Squadron at Debdon, where he learned to fly the Hawker Hurricane and Bristol Blenheim. By 1939, the squadron had become a specialised night fighting unit and Braham gained his first victory in August 1940. From that point on, he was constantly in action. Famed for his individual night-time intruder ...

A unique glimpse of the deadliest profession of the Second World War.In June 1941, Flight Sergeant Leslie Mann, a tail gunner in a British bomber, was shot down over Düsseldorf and taken into captivity. After the war, wanting to record the experiences of the RAF's 'Bomber Boys', he gave voice to his private thoughts and feelings in a short novella, uncovered only after his death.Visceral, shocking and unglamorous, this compelling story transmits as rarely be...

The memoir of a man who was a member of the Nazi Party—and ultimately became a martyr to the resistance.Ulrich von Hassell began working for the German Foreign Office in 1909, then aged twenty-eight. Two years later, he married Ilse von Tirpitz, the daughter of Grand Adm. Alfred von Tirpitz. After being wounded in the First Battle of the Marne, he worked as the admiral's advisor and private secretary.Hassell joined the Nazi Party in 1933, but strongly oppos...

Above the mud and misery of the trenches and the endless slugging matches of the First World War another contest was played out with all the military glamor, chivalric values and deadly outcome of a medieval, knightly tournament. This was the battle in the air between the first primitive aircraft and the intrepid aviators who flew them. This image of air war is brought nobly to light in the memoirs of Ernst Udet, the German ace of aces, whose impressive wartime record was second only to th...

The Battle of Britain tells the extraordinary story of one of the pivotal events of the Second World War - the struggle between British and German air forces in the late summer and autumn of 1940. Exposing many of the myths surrounding the conflict, the book provides answers to important questions: how close did Britain really come to invasion? What were Hitler and Churchill's motives? And what was the battle's real effect on the outcome of the war? Told with great clarit...

The Allied victory in 1945 - though comprehensive - was far from inevitable. By 1942 almost the entire resources of continental Europe were in German hands and Japan had wiped out the western colonial presence in Asia. Democracy appeared to have had its day.In this remarkable study, Richard Overy provides a reinterpretation of the war through an account of the decisive military campaigns that created the astonishing revival in Allied fortunes. He also explores the deeper factors th...