History Books

FROM THE AUTHOR OF BRIDGE OF SPIES: A dramatic and colourful new account of the most daring British commando raid of World War Two! In the darkest months of the Second World War, Churchill approved what seemed to many like a suicide mission. Under orders to attack the St Nazaire U-boat base on the Atlantic seaboard, British commandos undertook "the greatest raid of all", turning an old destroyer into a live bomb and using it to ram the gates of a Nazi stronghold. Five Victoria Crosses were awarded -- more than in any similar operation. Drawing on official documents, interviews, unknown accounts and the astonished reactions of French civilians and German forces, The Greatest Raid recreates in cinematic detail the hours in which the "Charioteers" fought and died, from Lt Gerard Brett, the curator at the V & A, to "Bertie" Burtinshaw, who went into battle humming There'll Always be an England, and from Lt Stuart Chant, who set the fuses with 90 seconds to escape, to the epic solo reconnaissance of the legendary Times journalist Capt Micky Burn. Unearthing the untold human stories of Operation Chariot, Bridge of Spies author Giles Whittell reveals it to be a fundamentally misconceived raid whose impact and legacy was secured by astonishing bravery. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781405991377 • Author: Giles Whittell • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 304 • Dimensions: 19.8 x 12.9 x 1.9 cm

Explore the tyrants who have shaped the course of history. All power corrupts, but absolute power can turn people into absolute monsters. The true stories behind the men and women who led tyrannies around the world. This is history ... but not as you know it. Leading readers through all of world history, Ben Gazur looks at how tyrants and their regimes have shaped the course of humanity from the earliest times right up until the modern day. From the first Ancient Greek tyrants to those who still dominate nations today, dictators have always been pulling the strings. In 50 bite-sized chapters spanning thousands of years, A Short History of the World in 50 Tyrants examines their rise to power, how they stayed there and how they were overthrown, investigating their lives and crimes. Readers will learn how Catherine the Great seized the throne from her own husband, how Adolf Hitler created a cult of personality to assume complete control, and how Julius Caesar met his end under a rain of stabs on the senate floor. Follow the whims, eccentricities and evil acts of dictators across the millennia, such as the deadly search for immortality by the first Chinese Emperor, the wily machinations of the Emperor Augustus and the crushing brutality of Pol Pot’s rule. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781789298437 • Author: Ben Gazur • Publisher: Michael O'Mara • Format: Hardback • Pages: 288 • Dimensions: 17.8 x 12.9 x 2.5 cm

In the darkest moment of history, one child found the courage and strength to survive the unimaginable. This is Henry's true story. One hot, humid day in July, 1944, the Gestapo abducted fifteen-year-old Henry and his mother, forcing them onto cramped cattle cars in the Lódz Polish Ghetto. Like so many Jews before them, they had been selected to disappear - they were being sent to Auschwitz. Exhausted after hours of traveling, they finally emerged from the stifling, filth-ridden cattle car. Already devastated at having lost his father to starvation, Henry clutched his mother's frail hand, knowing she was all he had left in the world, and that he was the only one left to protect her. In a flash, he felt them being brutally torn apart. Crying out for her, his heart shuddered as he watched her disappear into a sea of other women. Henry knew that was the last time he would ever see her, and he felt like he had failed her. He was now completely alone in the world. Starving, and close to giving up all hope, Henry volunteered to work in the stables, responsible for breeding horses for the war effort. As he watched other prisoners leave and never return, Henry quickly realised these horses were his only lifeline - because every morning he was sent to the stables, was one more morning he escaped the gas chambers. Before long, caring for the horses became a passion, and their comfort and strength gave Henry a glimmer of life and hope in an ocean of death. Although with every second that passed, Henry knew if he became too weak or made one mistake, he would be mercilessly replaced... This is the heart-wrenching and inspirational true account of a courageous little German boy who, against all odds, after losing almost everything a human being can lose, survived to tell his story.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781804190869 • Author: Henry Oster and Dexter Ford  • Publisher: Thread • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  256 • Dimensions:  12.8 x 2.6 x 19.6 cm

US President John F. Kennedy's killing in Dallas, Texas, in November 1963, sent a shockwave around the world. The charismatic young Democrat was seen as a beacon of hope in the West, but his liberal reforming policies had made him many powerful enemies at home. For sixty years, numerous theories have swirled around this key event in American - and world - history. Yet whatever the conclusions of the official Warren Report - that the President had been assassinated by a lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald - many people doubt that to be true. Indeed, President Nixon later admitted on tape that the report was 'a hoax committed on the American people.' John Hughes-Wilson, a former colonel in British Intelligence, has sifted through the millions of words and thousands of pieces of evidence, to put together an intelligence assessment of what really happened that dreadful high noon in Dallas in 1963. Reading this astounding book, no one can be in any doubt that JFK's death was not at the hands of a lone deranged gunman, but a deadly plot to remove a President who threatened vested interests at home and abroad.  Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781789467376 • Author:  John Hughes-Wilson • Publisher:  John Blake • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  368 • Dimensions: 12.9 x 2.1 x 19.8 cm   

The extraordinary story of Olympian who was imprisoned in Auschwitz and survived to tell his story. Alfred Nakache, a Jewish child from Constantine, never imagined that he would one day swim for France at the Olympic Games in Berlin in 1936, nor than he would achieve a world record, as he did in 1941. As a child he was petrified of the water and yet, somehow, through sheer willpower and determination, he rose to become one of the very best swimmers in the world. That was until 1943, when he was banned from the pool - and in the same year, deported and sent to Auschwitz. Not knowing if he would ever see his wife and daughter again, Alfred battled on, through the humiliation and the pain, even defying the guards by swimming in the water reserves of Auschwitz. Somehow - miraculously - he survived, swimming every day until the end of his life. The Swimmer of Auschwitz is the unique, true story of a forgotten hero, told with remarkable power and simplicity. Product Information: • ISBN: 9781800962965 • Author: Renaud Leblond • Publisher: Octopus Publishing Group Ltd • Format: Paperback • Pages: 272 • Dimensions: 12.6 x 19.6 x 1.8 cm

A gripping compendium of some of the world's most infamous and shocking mass murderers, such as John Wayne Gacy, the Boston Strangler, the Moors murderers and Harold Shipman, as well as some lesser-known figures. Who was the Zodiac Killer? What drove Jeffrey Dahmer to dismember his 17 victims? How many women really fell prey to Ted Bundy? Maybe it's because our animal instincts draw us to dangerous situations; maybe it's because reading about predators allows us to learn about their behaviours in a safe setting. Whatever the reason, serial killers and their crimes have fascinated us for centuries. This true crime compendium not only relates the disturbing events that transpired but also delves into the psychology of the perpetrators. The stories within are shocking and often difficult to comprehend, but with this deep dive into the world of the macabre, readers may gain a greater understanding of the motivations and thought processes of these murderers. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in the psychology of crime and the human mind. Product Information:  • ISBN:  9781837991228 • Author:  Jamie King • Publisher:  Summersdale • Format:  Paperback • Pages:  304 • Dimensions: 12.9 x 19.7 x 2.2 cm