A NOVEL OF WAR, WINGS, AND THE BONDS THAT SURVIVE1913, MANCHESTER. Arthur Howarth's world is measured in mill shifts and shillings—until he climbs into the backyard loft he built himself. Here, among his racing pigeons, he masters a quiet science of wind, seed, and instinct. Here, he is a king.1916, THE SOMME. That science is now a weapon. Transferred to the Army Pigeon Service, Arthur finds himself in a mobile loft at the ...

n the mud and the madness, they built a kingdom too small for the war to see.Ypres Salient, 1917.Private Tommy Finch buys a scruffy ginger cat for a shilling.Officially, she is a ratter, meant to keep the trenches free of vermin. Unofficially, she becomes something else entirely: a silent companion in the mud and terror of the Western Front, an early warning system for shellfire and gas, and a small, living responsibility in a world dominat...

Colditz Castle was Nazi Germany’s infamous ‘escape-proof’ wartime prison, where hundreds of the most determined and resourceful Allied prisoners were sent. Despite having more guards than inmates, Australian Lieutenant Jack Champ and other prisoners tirelessly carried out their campaign to escape from the massive floodlit stronghold, by any means necessary.In this riveting account – by turns humorous, heartfelt and tragic – historian Colin Burgess and Lieutenant Jack Champ, from th...

Based on the moving true story of a World War I war dog, passed down through generations from a war nurse who witnessed the events firsthand.In the summer of 1915, seventeen-year-old William "Bill" Higgins leaves his quiet village in Berkshire, brimming with dreams of glory and adventure. Alongside his best friend John, he enlists in the British Army, eager to serve King and country.But the rat-infested, mud-choked trenches of the Western Front swiftly shatter those illusio...