The political phenomenon known as the 'Springtime of the Nations' swept through Europe in 1848, toppling thrones, forcing old autocratic regimes to grant constitutions to the people and bringing street fighting and large scale campaigns to cities and states across the continent. What is not generally known is that a precursor to these events had already taken place in the center of Europe in the Alpine valleys of the collection of independent states known collectively as Switzerland. In No...

Acclaimed historian and best-selling author Antony Beevor vividly brings to life the epic struggles that took place in Second World War Crete - reissued with a new introduction.'The best book we have got on Crete' ObserverThe Germans expected their airborne attack on Crete in 1941 - a unique event in the history of warfare - to be a textbook victory based on tactical surprise. They had no idea that the British, using Ultra intercep...

This photographic journal was originally published in the spring of 1941. It was edited by and carried a forward by Hauptsturmfhrer Gunter d'Alquen, commander of the SS Propaganda Kompanie and editor of the official SS paper, Das Schwarze Korps.Many of the pictures taken in this book feature the men of Waffen SS Standarte "Germania". In 1940 the men who bore the word Germania on their cuff bands were fighting as a motorised regiment under the command of SS-Standartenfhrer Karl-Maria Demelh...

"I love untold stories from World War II. . . . Brilliantly told, meticulously researched, and filled with larger-than-life heroes and villains.*May, 1945. Hitler is dead, the Third Reich is little more than smoking rubble, and no GI wants to be the last man killed in action against the Nazis.The Last Battle tells the nearly unbelievable story of the unlikeliest battle of the war, when a small group of American tankers, led by Captain Lee, joined f...

The book starts with on the capture of Vimy Ridge and the nearly spur of Notre Dame de Lorette in October 1914. The major battles of spring and autumn 1915 is described as is the twelve month period from late autumn 1915 when British forces occupied the lines on the western Ridge. The period from late autumn 1916 onwards when the Canadian Corps was preparing for the April 1917 assault on the ridge, is given detailed treatment, with special emphasis (based on original German intelligence an...

On the ghastly battlefields of the First World War, Jimmie Johnston drove teams or pack horses carrying ammunition and hauling guns to the front lines. One night, Johnston was hauling guns back from the front line. Suddenly, in the darkness and pouring rain, he, his team, the wagon, and the guns pitched into an old trench. After disentangling the horses from their harness, Johnston found a trenching tool, dug away the side of the trench, and led the horses out of what had become a sea of m...

A Guide to the Beaches and Battlefields of Normandy provides an accessible background to the momentous events of 6 June 1944 as well as a complete guide to each and every town, village, beach, battery and cemetery that figured in the battle. This comprehensive book contains a wealth of detail that charts the heroism, poignancy and tragedy of events that were to alter the course of history. With stories, poems and illustrations, David Evans pays a fitting tribute to those who gave their liv...

A rare collection of personal photographs following Nazi Germany's airborne soldiers on their missions through the Balkans, Crete, and Russia.The photos in this book are taken from an unpublished album that belonged to a member of the elite German Paratroopers. First Sgt Wilhelm Plieschen served with Fallschirmjager Machine Gun Battalion 7, which suffered very heavy losses in the invasion of Crete, then saw bloody conflict as Hitler's "Fire-fighters" on the Russian ...

'An excellent collection of ten semi-short stories of soldier's experiences in that grand battle . . . This is a stunning account of the Battle for Berlin.' - Thomas Ham, Axis History ForumIn the final months of the Second World War, the German Army was in full retreat on both its Western and Eastern Fronts. British and American troops were poised to cross the River Rhine in the west, while in the east the vast Soviet war machine ...

Major and Mrs. Holt's Battlefield Guide to the Somme is, without doubt, one of the best-selling guide books to the battlefields of the Somme. This latest updated edition, includes four recommended, timed itineraries representing one day's traveling. Every stop on route has an accompanying description and often a tale of heroic or tragic action.Memorials, private and official, sites of memorable conflict, the resting places of personalities of note are all drawn together with sympathetic an...

Until seriously wounded in August 1944, when he was badly burned when his tank was hit and caught fire during fighting in southern Poland, Armin Böttger experienced the horrors of the Second World War on the Eastern Front from the perspective of a tank radio operator in the 24th Panzer Division. In this memoir he gives a full and honest account of his wartime career, encompassing both the hellish terror of combat and the everyday annoyances and injustices of army life in wartime.Bö...

In World War II a number of German Army units and divisions were classed as élites, and were distinguished by special insignia of various kinds.For some this status was simply a matter of lineage - e.g. the Infantry Regiment 'List', which traced its identity to the Bavarian unit with which Hitler had served in World War I. Some, like the 'Grossdeutschland' and Panzer-Lehr divisions, were raised from particularly high grade personnel. Other titles honoured extraordi...