The history of the magnificent British ship—and an investigation into the mysteries behind her catastrophic sinking by a German submarine.This is the complete story of the ocean liner remembered today for her dramatic end—torpedoed on May 19, 1915, off the coast of Ireland, during the First World War. But the ship's story dates back to 1902, and her sea journeys began in 1906, when Cunard launched her as the world's largest passenger ship.This volume not only...

The story of one momentous year in World War II.The epic story of 1940 is not confined to the great air battle over England that summer, the Battle of Britain. While that battle was indeed a major turning point in the course of the Second World War, it was only fought because of the ultimate outcome of the battle that preceded it.When Hitler's forces swiftly overran the Low Countries and then France, the remnants of the French and British armies were trappe...

This is the moving story of a young man who found himself along with thousands of his comrades in the nightmare of Japanese captivity. Unlike so many (it is said that one Commonwealth POW died for every sleeper laid) Bill lived to tell the tale. Indeed it is remarkable that this story has not been told before, so graphic are Bill's memories of the hardships and horrors. The book goes on to describe how the experiences of those years have affected his life since.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The author of the international sensation Crazy Rich Asians delivers a “snarky … wicked … funny” follow-up (The New York Times) that’s a deliciously fun romantic comedy of family, fortune, and fame in Mainland China.It’s the eve of Rachel Chu’s wedding, and she should be over the moon. She has a flawless Asscher-cut diamond, a wedding dress she loves, and a fiancé willing to thwart his meddling relatives and gi...

Great Escapes of World War II Tom Dick and Harry to Stalag to Colditz Contents Introduction; The Laufen Six; Slawomir Rawicz: Hero or Hoaxer?; Airey Neave and Norman Forbes Escape from Thorn; Dulag Luft Tunnel; The Colditz Canteen Tunnel; The Theatre Bust: Airey Neave and Anthony Luteyn; The Medium-Sized Officer; Pat Reid Escapes from Colditz; The Wooden Horse; The Great Escape More than 170,000 British prisoners of war were ...

At the age of nineteen, Glasgow-born John McCallum signed up as a Supplementary Reservist in the Signal Corps. A little over a year later, he was in France, working frantically to set up communication lines as Europe once more hurtled towards war. Wounded and captured at Boulogne, he was sent to the notorious Stalag VIIIB prison camp, together with his brother, Jimmy, and friend Joe Harkin. Ingenious and resourceful, the three men set about planning their escape. With the help of Traudl, a...

A first-hand account of World War I by a nineteen-year-old Englishman who led a platoon into the carnage of the Battle of the Somme.While researching his excellent earlier book: Veterans of World War I, author Richard Van Emden encountered a fascinating personality of that long-ago conflict. After witnessing German naval attacks on British civilians, Norman Collins enlisted in the Seaforth Highlanders of the 51st Highland Division, even though he was under ...

**The definitive biography of the Australian cruiser HMAS Perth, and the brave men who sailed with her.**Of all the Australians who fought in the Second World War, none saw more action nor endured so much of its hardship and horror as the crew of the cruiser HMAS Perth. Most were young - many were still teenagers - from cities and towns, villages and farms across the nation. In three tumultuous years they did battle with the forces of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, the Vich...

On August 7th 1915, men of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade staged one of the most tragic, brave and futile charges of the First World War. Seeking to break out of the Anzac position at Gallipoli they attempted to storm an extraordinarily strong Turkish position, defended by artillery, machineguns and thousands of men, using nothing but fixed bayonets and raw courage. The first wave of Light Horsemen were killed within seconds of leaving their trench, yet over the course of the next few minutes...

Bill Bellamy was a young officer in the 8th King's Royal Irish Hussars from 1943 to 1955. He served in 7th Armoured Division in the North West Europe campaign, landing in Normandy on D+3, fought throughout the Battle for Normandy and into the Low Countries as a troop leader in Cromwell tanks, and was latterly a member of the initial occupying force in Berlin in May 1945. Against the rules, Bill kept diaries and notes of his experiences. His account is fresh and open, and h...

'It made Changi seem like heaven.'This is the little known story of Singapore's Outram Road Gaol and the POWs who endured it. Deprivation here was so extreme that there really was a fate worse than death.Powerful and shocking, Stubborn Buggers tells of twelve Australian POWs who fought and survived the battle for Malaya, then captivity and slave labour, followed by the unimaginable hardships of Outram Road Gaol. It is a story of how they dealt with the brutality of...

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 ...