Charles Messenger

"The Second World War surpassed all previous wars in the sheer cost of many millions of lives, the majority of them civilian. It left a world reeling from physical destruction on a scale never experience before or since, and from the psychological traumas of loss, of imprisonment and genocide, and permanent exile from home.". "In this short book, Joanna Bourke turns an unblinking eye on the events and outcomes in the vast number of places where the war was fought: throughout Western and Central Europe, on the Eastern Front in the Soviet Union, in the Pacific, in Africa, in Asia. She shows where the strategic decisions came from and how they were implemented. In addition to the facts of this global conflict, she details the human, individual cost. Through diary entries and recorded oral history, we experience how ordinary people felt when they witnessed or heard of events, from the declaration of war on the radio to the mass murders carried out by Nazi soldiers in Russian villages." "Our understanding of the past conflict and our own age of violence and human atrocity into which the Second World War thrust us will be greatly enhanced by the scope and detail of this book."--BOOK JACKET.

WARFARE & DEFENCE. Inside AIR FORCE: Air forces of World War II - Fighter planes - Bombing runs - Escort duty - Key missions - Battle of Britain - Combat units - D-Day, plus much more! Get tough with some of World War II's fighting men and units. From battlefield frontlines to Naval convoys, from secret missions to aerial dogfights, Action Force brings together the people, weapons, vehicles, the stats and the facts in one all-action World War II series. You want action packed? Read Action Force! Ages 9+.

Traces the history of helicopters and discusses the many models and uses of this versatile flying machine which can take off and land vertically, hover in mid-air, and fly backwards and sideways.

Brigadier General Frank Crozier (1879-1937) was a highly controversial figure in his day. As a young soldier he saw active service in the Boer War and West Africa before being forced to leave the Army because of financial irresponsibility. On the outbreak of war he became second-in-command of a battalion in 36th Ulster Division, becoming its commanding officer in autumn 1915 and leading it in action on 1 July 1916. He commanded a brigade with much success for the rest of the war. After the war he was moved around in the bureaucracy, but could never hold a position for long. After being made bankrupt for a second time, he was involved in the League of Nations Union and then turned to pacifism, becoming a founder member of the Peace Pledge Union. By now he had, through his writings, become a thorn in the side of the Establishment.

Tanks: An Illustrated History of the Their Impact follows the development of tracked-and-armored fighting vehicles across the 20th century, from the world wars to the Cold War battlefields of Korea and Vietnam; and from Arab - Israeli conflicts to the Persian Gulf. The book describes the distinctive characteristics and capabilities of each new generation of tank, as well as the formulation of armored doctrines and deployment strategies in France, Britain, Germany, the Soviet Union, the United States, Japan, Israel, and the Arab nations.It is an expert introduction to how the role of the tank has changed over time, a story of technological innovation, strategic daring, desperate battles (Stalingrad, Kursk, and charismatic commanders like Erwin Rommel and George S. Patton (who defeated Rommel's division by following a plan from the Desert Fox's own book

In this book Charles Messenger has given us his product of deep research, drawing a broad picture of the story of the German nation from the end of one World War to the end of the next. The main thread running through it is drawn from the life and achievements of a man who, despite his close personal association with Adolf Hitler, his own humble origins and his intellectual limitations, was to prove an effective, if unusual soldier who rose to command an SS Panzer Army in the Battle of the Bulge. It is impossible to dissociate SS-Oberstgruppenführer und General der Waffen SS Josef (Sepp) Dietrich from the excesses of the Hitler regime. His position was far too close to the heart of the Naxi Party and to Hitler himself for him to have been other than an accessory after the fact of much that befell, despite his protestation that he was first and foremost a non-political soldier. - Jacket flap.