Journalist Keyes Beech was sometimes accused of being a war lover. He denied the charge. Wars, he said, just kept happening on his watch. “You may hope that they’ll go out of fashion, but you can’t just ignore them.” His accusers weren’t entirely wrong, however. Even friends acknowledged that he liked to be where the action was. Keyes Beech saw a lot of action.He saw the flag raised on Iwo Jima in World War II; followed the first bloody year of the war in Korea; witnessed the defea...

A young Canadian soldier's account of the battle of Ortona, Italy!Seventeen-year-old Paul Baldassara lies about his age to enlist in the Canadian Army. He joins the Loyal Edmonton regiment, which is tasked with taking Italy's port town of Ortona. Little does he know the horrors of the battle that lie ahead . . .Paul soon finds himself in the midst of the fierce fighting that earned Ortona the name "the Italian Stalingrad," because of the massive casualties ...

From foul food to coping with legions of lice, discover all the dire details of life in the blood and mud of the First World War in Horrible Histories: Terrible Trenches (World Book Day Edition) ... from both sides of the barbed wire. Discover how your own wee could save your life, which animals wore gas masks and why Big Bertha terrified the Brits. With a bright new cover this bestselling title is sure to be a huge hit with yet another generation of Terry Deary and Martin Brown fans.

For fans of Girl in the Blue Coat, Salt to the Sea, and The Boy at the Top of the Mountain, the second book of New York Times bestselling author Michael Grant’s epic alternate history is a coming-of-age story about three girls who are fiercely fighting their own personal battles in the midst of the greatest war of all time.The summer of 1943, World War II. With heavy memories of combat, Frangie, Rainy, Rio and the rest of the American army are moving on to their next target: the It...

A gripping and moving first novel by one of the world's best-loved writers for children.From much-loved author Shirley Hughes comes a thrilling World War II novel for children aged 10 and up. It is 1944 and Florence, Italy, is occupied by Nazi German forces. The Italian resistance movement has not given up hope, though – and neither have Paolo and his sister, Constanza. Both are desperate to fight the occupation, but what can two siblings do against a whole army wi...

The attack has been timed to the minute. Thirty minutes from now we’ll climb down the rope ladders in to the lighters and find our seat. I’m one of the lucky ones. I’ve been chosen as one of the 500 men from my battalion who will be in the first wave to land … The Turks won’t know what’s hit them … Two miles inland is our goal. Lying about his age, and looking for adventure, 14-year old Victor March enlists in the 10th Battalion of the AIF to fight in the Great War. Victor and his new mate...

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A journey to freedom is rocked by an epic disaster in this masterpiece of historical fiction that shines a light on one of World War II’s most devastating—yet overlooked—tragedies.WINNER OF THE CARNEGIE MEDAL“Masterfully crafted.”—The Wall Street Journal"Brutal. Beautiful. Honest."—Sabaa Tahir, New York Times bestselling author of An Ember in the Ashes“A rich, page-turning story that brings to...

Twelve-year-old Samuel Collier is a lowly commoner on the streets of London. So when he becomes the page of Captain John Smith and boards the Susan Constant, bound for the New World, he can’t believe his good fortune. He’s heard that gold washes ashore with every tide. But beginning with the stormy journey and his first contact with the native people, he realizes that the New World is nothing like he imagined. The lush Virginia shore where they establish the colony of James Town is both be...

This “brilliantly told” (New York Times) Newbery Honor Book gives readers a sense of what it was like to be on the American home front while our soldiers were away fighting in World War II.As in past years, Lily will spend the summer in Rockaway, in her family’s summer house by the Atlantic Ocean. But this summer of 1944, World War II has changed everyone’s life. Lily’s best friend, Margaret, has moved to a wartime factory town, and, much worse, Lily’s fat...

A classic and heartfelt war story from War Horse author and former Children's Laureate, Michael Morpurgo.Escaping from China as the Japanese invade, Ashley and Uncle Sung embark on a perilous journey across the Himalayas. Then Ashley finds himself alone in the hostile mountains, battling for his life. He is just about to give up all hope, when he has a mysterious and terrifying encounter …Author of Private Peaceful and Friend or Foe, Michael Morpurgo again ...

The 2010 Newbery Honor Book by highly acclaimed author Rodman Philbrick is now in paperback! In this Newbery Honor-winning page-turner, twelve-year-old orphan Homer runs away from Pine Swamp, Maine, to find his older brother, Harold, who has been sold into the Union Army. With laugh-aloud humor, Homer outwits and outruns a colorful assortment of civil War-era thieves, scallywags, and spies as he makes his way south, following clues that finally lead him to Gettysburg. Even through a hail o...

When Lizzie's dad refuses to fight in the Second World War, the police come looking to arrest him. Desperate to stay together, Lizzie and her brother Freddie go on the run with him, hiding from the police in idyllic Whiteway. But when their past catches up with them, they're forced to leave and it becomes more and more difficult to stay together as a family. Will they be able to? And will they ever find a place, like Whiteway, where they will be safe again?