Military History Books

Damien Lewis's new bestseller tells the action-packed, riveting story of the band of mavericks and visionaries who made the SAS.  Using hitherto untold stories and new archival sources, Damien Lewis follows one close-knit band of warriors from the SAS foundation through to the Italian landings - chronicling the extraordinary part they played as the tide of the Second World War truly turned in the Allies' favour. This is a narrative of wall-to-wall do-or-die action and daring, chronicling the exploits of some of the most highly-decorated soldiers of the twentieth-century.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781529413779 • Author: Damien Lewis  • Publisher:  Quercus • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  416 • Dimensions:  12.6 x 3.4 x 19.6 cm

SAS Great Escapes Two recounts the hitherto untold stories of six of the most dramatic and daring escapes executed by the world's most famous fighting force during WWII. From the very earliest SAS missions to the push into Nazi-occupied Europe, they cover some of the key figures in the Regiment, including its founder, David Stirling, plus other lesser-known heroes. With each story comes an edge-of-the-seat, rollercoaster ride in classic Damien Lewis fashion, as readers are plunged into the escapees' experiences - sharing their most terrifying yet inspiring moments. These stunning accounts of survival beggar belief, revealing nerve-racking bluff and deception, knife-edge encounters with enemy hunter forces hellbent on wreaking vengeance and murder, but also incredible acts of mercy and kindness from those who risk all to help the escapees on their way. Each tale of breath-taking derring-do reveals how necessity really is the mother of all invention, as with every step and at every juncture these fugitives defied fate, snatching survival and freedom from the jaws of the enemy, and all the horrors that would have followed capture. Damien Lewis has worked closely with the families of those portrayed, accessing wartime diaries, letters, mission reports, interrogation transcripts and more, to relate how the men of the SAS crossed blazing deserts, evaded enemy hunter forces and escaped through hostile lands, battling against seemingly insurmountable odds. But most of all, these uplifting tales of endurance beyond measure showcase the triumph of the human spirit and the will to survive. Product Information:  • ISBN: 9781529429428 • Author: Damien Lewis • Publisher: Quercus Publishing • Format:  Paperback • Pages: 352 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.8 x 3.6 cm

Follow the D-Day landings through a unique collection of historical maps, expert commentary and dramatic photographs.  The Allied landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944 were the greatest amphibious assault in history, requiring almost two years of meticulous planning and the largest co-ordinated mapping effort the world has ever seen. More than 200 illustrations demonstrate how the D-Day landings unfolded, along with detailed descriptions of what happened on that momentous day. This collection of incredible maps uncover the events that led up to D-Day, the planning for the assault and the progress of the liberating forces afterwards. Dramatic photographs help to illustrate the key historical events that took place during Operation Overlord. Product Information: • ISBN: 9780008358266 • Author: Richard Happer • Publisher: Times Books • Format: Paperback  • Pages: 208 • Dimensions:  19.5 x 2 x 25cm 

The seminal account of the heroism, daring and ingenuity of the men of Allied Bomber Command, who took the war to the enemy's doorstep. The Second World War saw aerial bombing - of both civilian and military targets - become a new front line in warfare, as advances in aircraft and engine design allowed planes to fly further, faster and carrying heavier loads. The RAF pilots in their Lancasters, Wellingtons and Halifaxes, the USAAF pilots in their B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators, and the Luftwaffe pilots in their Junkers and Heinkels, flew thousands of sorties deep into enemy territory, into the teeth of flak and agile enemy fighters, with staggering losses. In Bomber!, Robert Jackson uses thirteen famous raids to chronicle the bomber mission as it evolved over the course of the war, from the ferocious North Sea Battle in 1939 to the French crew who became the first Allied airmen to bomb Berlin. From the US bombing of Tokyo that forced Japan to commit her navy in the Pacific to the Earthquake Raids carried out by 617 'Dambusters' Squadron in the closing days of the war with terrifying 12,000lb 'Tallboy' bombs. Here, Jackson gives bomber crews a voice, weaving their accounts with historical analysis to create a minute-by-minute account of these events, letting you experience them as they happened. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781804365328 • Author: Robert Jackon • Publisher:  Canelo  • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  272 • Dimensions: 19.7 x 12.7 x 1.6cm 

"The best political weapon is the weapon of terror. Cruelty commands respect. Men may hate us. But we don't ask for their love - only for their fear." - Heinrich Himmler The Schutzstaffel, or SS - the brutal elite of the Nazi Party - was founded by Hitler in 1925 to be his personal bodyguard. From 1929 it was headed by Heinrich Himmler, who built its numbers up from under 300 to well over a million by 1945. The SS became the very backbone of Nazi Germany, taking over almost every function of the state. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781788285353 • Author: Al Cimino • Publisher: Arcturus • Format: Paperback • Pages: 304 • Dimensions: 20 x 13 x 2 cm

It was to be the battle to end the air war once and for all... During the third week of February 1944, the combined Allied air forces based in Britain and Italy launched their first-ever round-the-clock bomber offensive against Germany. The aim was to smash the main factories and production centres of the Luftwaffe and at the same time draw the German fighter force up into the air and into battle. Officially called Operation ARGUMENT, this monumental air assault was very quickly became known simply as Big Week. In the six months up to its launch, for the Allies, the bomber war was not turning out as planned. Raids by the US Eighth Air Force and the RAF deep into Germany were being decimated and falling far short of its purpose. With D-Day drawing ever-closer, that was a massive problem. The Allies needed clear skies to invade. The clock was ticking inexorably. Yet the Luftwaffe was also in crisis. Short of resources, of fuel, and on properly trained pilots, the strain on those still flying was immense, their losses severe. And despite the chaos of their leadership, they were achieving far more than should have been reasonably expected against the superior numbers of the Allied planes. Big Week is the knife-edged story of bomber against flak gun and fighter, but also, crucially, fighter against fighter, as the stakes rose higher and higher. Following the fortunes of pilots, aircrew and civilians from both sides, this is a blistering narrative of one of the most critical periods of the entire war, one that culminated in the largest air battle ever witnessed. It is also one that has been largely forgotten, but which has been brilliantly brought back to life by award-winning historian, James Holland. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9780552179324 • Author: James Holland • Publisher:  Bantam Press • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  432 • Dimensions: 16.2 x 3.9 x 24 cm

When Jo Lancaster, the first British pilot to eject in an emergency, triggered his ejection seat in 1949, it took thirty seconds before he was safely away from the aircraft and under his parachute.  Since those first post-Second World War ejections, many tens of thousands of lives have been saved by increasingly sophisticated escape systems. When John Nichol’s Tornado was blasted out of the sky during the 1991 Gulf War, a mere 2.5 seconds elapsed between pulling the ejection handle and his parachute opening. Today, the newest seats can automatically initiate ejection if the system decides the pilot faces mortal danger and cannot react quickly enough. Now, Nichol tells the incredible story of the ejection seat in war and in peace – of the pioneers who risked everything during the early days of development in the 1940s and 50s, of the designers who went head to head with the authorities in order to realise their vision, and of the extraordinary men and women who were given a second chance at life after facing disaster. We see how the technology was adapted when the prospect of crashing in North Vietnam was sometimes preferable to ejecting and risking capture; what happens to the body when it is catapulted from an aircraft under great force; how an ejectee can be rescued from enemy territory. Packed with gripping action and cutting-edge science, Eject! Eject! is fuelled by dramatic, deeply moving and previously unheard first-hand accounts by ejectees and their families. Because pulling the yellow-and-black ejection handle is just the start of the story. Product Information:  • ISBN: 9781398509405 • Author: John Nichol • Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK • Format:  Hardcover • Pages: 496 • Dimensions: 18.1 x 23.6 x 3.6 cm

As Fuhrer of the third Reich, Hitler was responsible for deciding the German war aims in 1939. As head of the Armed Forces from 4 February 1938, he was also responsible for the overall Wehrmacht strategy intended to achieve these aims. Hitler: Military Commander examines how a non-German former corporal managed to take personal control of an army imbued with Prussian traditions, to appoint, sack and sentence to death its generals, to lead it into a world war for which it was unprepared and, ultimately, to destroy it. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781788282734 • Author: Rupert Matthews • Publisher: Arcturus • Format: Paperback • Pages: 240 • Dimensions: 19.7 x 12.9 x 1.5cm