Bøger om 2. verdenskrig

"From Alex Kershaw, author of the New York Times bestseller Against All Odds, comes an epic story of courage, resilience, and faith during the Second World War General George Patton needed a miracle. In December 1944, the Allies found themselves stuck. Rain had plagued the troops daily since September, turning roads into rivers of muck, slowing trucks and tanks to a crawl. A thick ceiling of clouds had grounded American warplanes, allowing the Germans to reinforce. The sprint to Berlin had become a muddy, bloody stalemate, costing thousands of American lives. Patton seethed, desperate for some change, any change, in the weather. A devout Christian, he telephoned his head chaplain. "Do you have a good prayer for the weather?" he asked. The resulting prayer was soon printed and distributed to the 250,000 men under Patton's command. "Pray when driving," the men were told. "Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day. Pray for the cessation of immoderate rains, for good weather for Battle. Pray for victory. Pray for Peace." Then came the Battle of the Bulge. Amid frigid temperatures and heavy snow, 200,000 German troops overwhelmed the meager American lines in Belgium's Ardennes Forest, massacring thousands of soldiers as the attack converged on a vital crossroads town called Bastogne. There, the 101st Airborne was dug in, but the enemy were lurking, hidden in the thick blanket of fog that seemed to never dissipate. A hundred miles of frozen roads to the south, Patton needed an answer to his prayer, fast, before it was too late."--

"1939. Ansel Luxford has everything a man could want-a law firm partnership in Minneapolis, a brilliant wife, a beautiful new baby. But he is consumed by his belief that the war in Europe will spread, despite the fact that the United States is neutral in the conflict. When he is offered an opportunity to move across the country to Washington, D.C., to join a clandestine team within the Treasury Department that is secretly trying to undermine Nazi Germany, he uproots his family overnight and takes on the challenge of a lifetime. To thwart the Nazis without firing a bullet, Ansel and his new team invent a powerful new kind of economic warfare. As the U.S. remains officially neutral, Ansel secretly crisscrosses the globe to broker backroom deals designed to cut off the German supply of gold; undertake a daring heist of intel suppressed by homegrown fascists within the American government; and spar with titans of industry like J.P. Morgan and the twentieth century's greatest economic mind, Britain's John Maynard Keynes. But money is a dangerous weapon, and Ansel's efforts will plunge him into a startling new world of espionage, peril, and deceit. The need for subterfuge extends to the home front when Ansel's wife takes a job with the FBI to hunt for spies within the government. And Ansel discovers that he might be closer to those spies than he could ever imagine"--

"All will be revealed in the no-holds-barred finale of the New York Times bestselling and Edgar Award-nominated Maggie Hope series as the intrepid spy teams up with fashion designer - and possible double agent - Coco Chanel to bring down the physicist behind Nazi Germany's nuclear program. Maggie Hope has come a long way since she was Mr. Churchill's secretary. In the face of tremendous danger, she's learned espionage, sabotage, and reconnaissance. But things are different now that she has so much to lose, including the possibility of a family with John Sterling, the man who's long held her heart. British Intelligence has ordered Maggie to assassinate Werner Heisenberg, the physicist who may deliver a world-ending fission bomb for Germany: she's shaken by the assignment. An assassination is unlike anything she's ever done. How can the Allies even be sure Nazi Germany has a bomb? Determined to gather more information, Maggie travels to Madrid, where Heisenberg is visiting for a lecture. At the same time, couturier Coco Chanel has requested a meeting with the undercover agent. Chanel, a spy in her own right, with ambiguous loyalties, is meeting with the British Ambassador in Madrid - and has requested Maggie join them. And Chanel provides the perfect cover for Maggie's trip to Spain. The two play cat and mouse as Maggie tries to get a better understanding of Heisenberg. But the most shocking curveball is from the most intimate player: Maggie's own mother has kept a hand in the war - and has secrets of her own to share. Maggie desperately wants to find her 'happily-ever-after,' but as the war reaches a fever pitch, the stakes keep rising. Now, more than ever, the choices she makes will reverberate around the globe, touching everyone she loves - with fateful implications for the future of the free world"

Juni 1944. Den franske modstandsmand Robert Antelme tages til fange af Gestapo og sendes til koncentrationslejren Buchenwald og senere arbejdslejren Gandersheim. Da de allierede nærmer sig lejren i løbet af foråret 1945, evakueres fangerne først til fods og siden med tog til koncentrationslejren Dachau. Da den senere præsident François Mitterand, der var aktiv i modstandsbevægelsen, besøger Dachau efter befrielsen, finder han Antelme i den aflukkede del af lejren, hvor de syge og fortabte tilfælde er lukket inde. Det lykkes at evakuere Antelme og bringe ham tilbage til Paris, hvor hustruen, forfatterinden Marguerite Duras, venter på ham. Menneskeslægten beretter om dagligdagen i lejrene og fangernes kamp for at overleve i et hierarki, der har døden som en konstant horisont, om fangernes indbyrdes forræderier og venskaber og SS’ernes vold. Det er samtidig en refleksion over, hvad det vil sige at være menneske, når livet er reduceret til viljen til at holde sig i live. Bogen udkom i 1947 og betragtes som et af de vigtigste vidnesbyrd fra Anden Verdenskrig.

It's 1938 and war clouds are gathering across the globe, but intrepid ethnobotany professor Ivy Linden is preoccupied with her summer fieldwork. That is until two enigmatic strangers arrive at her office and upend her plans: she must instead search for an antimalarial plant in Malaya. Ivy reluctantly accepts the mission, unaware of what adventures - and dangers - await her. Winging her way across the Pacific aboard the Pan American Clipper, she soon realizes this is no ordinary botany expedition, and she's not the only one searching for this plant. From the Long Bar at Singapore's swanky Raffles Hotel to a tiny island in the South Pacific that holds a powerful secret, Ivy's mysterious quest becomes more perplexing and perilous. She forms new friendships along the way, but rekindles an old rivalry with the nemesis she never wanted and receives fortuitous help from unexpected sources, challenging the very foundations of her beliefs. Can Ivy and her friends complete their fateful mission before it's too late?

Avec « Commandante Valentina Smirnova », Francisco Angulo nous offre une plongée passionnante dans l'Espagne des années 1930, en pleine tourmente de la guerre civile. L'auteur, grand amateur de littérature fantastique et de cinéma, notamment d'Isaac Asimov et Stephen King, publie ici son premier roman historique, après avoir conquis le public avec des recueils de nouvelles de science-fiction.Dès les premières pages, on est happé par le destin hors du commun de l'héroïne éponyme, jeune aviatrice russe venue se battre dans le ciel de la péninsule ibérique. Avec un sens du détail et un souci du réalisme remarquables, Angulo reconstitue le quotidien des combattants républicains, la technologie rudimentaire de l'époque, l'atmosphère de danger permanent.Mais au-delà du tableau historique vivant, c'est avant tout un magistral portrait de femme que nous offre ici l'auteur. Valentina est un personnage d'une force et d'une modernité saisissantes, un esprit indomptable qui s'élève contre les diktats d'une société corsetée.Angulo excelle dans l'art de mêler avec brio l'intime et le collectif, la grande et la petite histoire. Soutenu par une documentation fouillée, son talent de conteur donne chair à cette période charnière du XXe siècle espagnol.Un roman d'aventures haletant porté par une héroïne inoubliable, « Commandante Valentina Smirnova » est une lecture passionnante autant qu'instructive qui ravira les amateurs d'histoire comme les simples amoureux des belles histoires.Marie Curie isolant le radium et le polonium dans son petit laboratoire de la rue Lhomond. Avec des éprouvettes de matériaux radioactifs dans ses poches. Affrontant les clichés sociaux de son époque. On raconte qu'on a tenté de lui refuser son deuxième prix Nobel, pour ne pas avoir mené une vie sentimentale convenable, correcte aux yeux de ses contemporains. Un siècle plus tard, il est très difficile, voire impossible, de se mettre dans le contexte de l'époque. C'est pourquoi, loin de toute étiquette politique, il faut admirer le courage de ces femmes qui s'opposaient à l'establishment. Endoctrinées dès l'enfance dans une culture et une société machistes où le mieux auquel elles pouvaient aspirer était de devenir l'épouse d'un riche commerçant ou le bras droit d'un aristocrate. Je ne suis même pas capable d'imaginer d'où vient cette flamme intérieure qui transforme une petite fille instruite en couturière, brodeuse et autres tâches ménagères en dirigeante révolutionnaire ou en aviateur, combattant dans le ciel de l'Espagne à bord d'un chasseur Polikarpov I-16.

Sebastian proves she is a new force to be reckoned with in historical romances."--BooklistSome of Ben Sedgwick's favorite things: Helping his poor parishionersBaby animalsShamelessly flirting with the handsome Captain Phillip DacreAfter an unconventional upbringing, Ben is perfectly content with the quiet, predictable life of a country vicar, free of strife or turmoil. When he's asked to look after an absent naval captain's three wild children, he reluctantly agrees, but instantly falls for the hellions. And when their stern but gloriously handsome father arrives, Ben is tempted in ways that make him doubt everything.Some of Phillip Dacre's favorite things: His ship People doing precisely as they're told Touching the irresistible vicar at every opportunityPhillip can't wait to leave England's shores and be back on his ship, away from the grief that haunts him. But his children have driven off a succession of governesses and tutors and he must set things right. The unexpected presence of the cheerful, adorable vicar sets his world on its head and now he can't seem to live without Ben's winning smiles or devastating kisses.In the midst of runaway children, a plot to blackmail Ben's family, and torturous nights of pleasure, Ben and Phillip must decide if a safe life is worth losing the one thing that makes them come alive.

From the acclaimed novelist and screenwriter of The Theory of Everything comes a revisionist look at the period immediately following Winston Churchill's ascendancy to Prime Minister--soon to be a major motion picture starring Gary Oldman. May 1940. Britain is at war, Winston Churchill has unexpectedly been promoted to Prime Minister, the horrors of Blitzkreig witness one western European Democracy fall after another in rapid succession. Facing this horror, with pen in hand and typist-secretary at the ready, Churchill wonders what words could capture the public mood when the invasion of Britain seems mere hours away.It is this fascinating period that Anthony McCarten captures in this deeply researched and wonderfully written new book, The Darkest Hour. A day-by-day (and often hour-by-hour) narrative of this crucial moment in history provides a revisionist look at Churchill--a man plagued by doubt through those turbulent weeks--but who emerged having made himself into the iconic, lionized figure we remember.

Some 60 million people died during the Second World War; millions more were displaced in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The war resulted in the creation of new states, the acceleration of imperial decline, and a shift in the distribution of global power. Despite its unprecedented impact, a comprehensive account of the complex international experiences of this war remains elusive. The Peoples' War? offers fresh approaches to the challenge of writing a new history of the Second World War. Exploring aspects of the war that have been marginalized in military and political studies, the volume foregrounds less familiar narratives, subjects, and places. Chapters recover the wartime experiences of individuals - including women, children, members of minority ethnic groups, and colonial subjects - whose stories do not fit easily into conventional national war narratives. The contributors show how terms used to delineate the conflict such as home front and battle front, occupier and occupied, captor and prisoner, and friend and foe became increasingly blurred as the war wore on. Above all, the volume encourages reflection on whether this conflict really was a "Peoples' War." Challenging the homogenizing narratives of the war as a nationally unifying experience, The Peoples' War? seeks to enrich our understanding of the Second World War as a global event.

Based upon a remarkable true story, The Garden of Lost Secrets is the riveting tale of one woman's secrets lost in the chaos of war. 1940 - Stasia always found comfort in the idyllic French countryside where she spent her childhood summers, roaming the gardens of an old chateau and finding inspiration for fairy tales full of bravery and adventure. But these days are much darker, and with Nazis storming across Europe, she soon finds herself one of the most hunted agents of the Resistance. The only safe haven she can think of is Chateau de Montissaire. But she's about to discover that it just may be the center of her biggest mission yet. Present day - When Isabelle purchases a crumbling chateau in Rouen, it's not just a renovation project--it's a chance to reconnect with her sister, Emilie, the only family she has left. What she uncovers instead is an intriguing mystery... As the siblings piece together the incredible truth behind the books written by their great-grandmother Stasia, they discover an exciting story of courage in the face of treachery and an explosive secret that will change everything they believed about their family.

Bestselling author Jennet Conant brings us a stunning account of Julia and Paul Child's experiences as members of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in the Far East during World War II and the tumultuous years when they were caught up in the McCarthy Red spy hunt in the 1950s and behaved with bravery and honor. It is the fascinating portrait of a group of idealistic men and women who were recruited by the citizen spy service, slapped into uniform, and dispatched to wage political warfare in remote outposts in Ceylon, India, and China. The eager, inexperienced 6 foot 2 inch Julia springs to life in these pages, a gangly golf-playing California girl who had never been farther abroad than Tijuana. Single and thirty years old when she joined the staff of Colonel William Donovan, Julia volunteered to be part of the OSS's ambitious mission to develop a secret intelligence network across Southeast Asia. Her first post took her to the mountaintop idyll of Kandy, the headquarters of Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, the supreme commander of combined operations. Julia reveled in the glamour and intrigue of her overseas assignment and lifealtering romance with the much older and more sophisticated Paul Child, who took her on trips into the jungle, introduced her to the joys of curry, and insisted on educating both her mind and palate. A painter drafted to build war rooms, Paul was a colorful, complex personality. Conant uses extracts from his letters in which his sharp eye and droll wit capture the day-to-day confusion, excitement, and improbability of being part of a cloak- and-dagger operation. When Julia and Paul were transferred to Kunming, a rugged outpost at the foot of the Burma Road, they witnessed the chaotic end of the war in China and the beginnings of the Communist revolution that would shake the world. A Covert Affair chronicles their friendship with a brilliant and eccentric array of OSS agents, including Jane Foster, a wealthy, free-spirited artist, and Elizabeth MacDonald, an adventurous young reporter. In Paris after the war, Julia and Paul remained close to their intelligence colleagues as they struggled to start new lives, only to find themselves drawn into a far more terrifying spy drama. Relying on recently unclassified OSS and FBI documents, as well as previously unpublished letters and diaries, Conant vividly depicts a dangerous time in American history, when those who served their country suddenly found themselves called to account for their unpopular opinions and personal relationships.

On 11 November 1941, four Fairey Swordfish of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm took off from Hal Far base in Malta to fly a mission over the Strait of Sicily. Their plans quickly went awry, turning their story into one of skill, determination and grit that is only now being fully told.This book, inspired by a photo of an aircraft upside down on Cefalù beach in Sicily, led to years of meticulous research by the authors to uncover the full story of the men and aircraft of the mission. Their research is brought to life through historical facts, technical details, recreated conversations, and a rich array of photographs and illustrations, many from the night of the mission itself. Rated as an "average pilot", it is clear that the man who piloted the plane into enemy territory as well as the crew of this mission were anything but ordinary. Like so many of their generation, these exceptional men still have much to teach us.

Delve into the remarkable and inspiring life of one of history's unsung heroes, Irena Sendler. This compelling biography chronicles the extraordinary journey of a Polish social worker who, during the darkest days of World War II, risked her life to save over 2,500 Jewish children from the clutches of the Nazi regime.Follow Irena's early years as she becomes a dedicated social worker and activist, driven by her unyielding compassion and sense of justice. Witness her courageous efforts to smuggle Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto, creating a clandestine network that would come to be known as "Zegota." Despite the constant threat of capture and execution, Irena's unwavering determination and cunning ingenuity allowed her to orchestrate daring rescues, ensuring the survival of countless innocent lives.This captivating tale not only explores the dangerous world of resistance during the Holocaust but also delves into Irena's post-war life, where she faced persecution under the Soviet regime and lived in relative obscurity. Unearth the untold chapters of her life as her heroic actions slowly come to light, bringing her the recognition she truly deserved.

En una época donde las mujeres no tenían voz ni voto y estaban mal vistas fuera de la cocina, Valentina Smirnova volaba en su caza Polikárpov I-16Luchando contra los falangistas de Franco, fascistas de Mussolini y nazis de Hitler> Francotiradoras rusas.>Lyuba Vinogradova Prólogo Marie Curie aislando el radio y el polonio en su pequeño laboratorio de la calle Lhomond. Con probetas de material radiactivo en sus bolsillos. Enfrentándose a los clichés sociales de su tiempo. Se comenta que intentaron denegarle su segundo premio Nobel, por no llevar una vida sentimental adecuada, correcta a ojos de sus contemporáneos.Dolores Ibárruri ya era madre de seis hijos a los veintidós años, cuando decidió que debía de hacer algo por los demás e inició su carrera política. Le comunicó a su marido que no tenía intención de tener más hijos, ni de pasar más tiempo cosiendo, fregando o guisando en la cocina. Dedicaría su vida a defender los derechos de los más desfavorecidos. Sólo con este acto de rebeldía, de enfrentamiento a la sociedad represiva y machista ya tiene toda mi admiración. Las hijas o mujeres de gente acaudalada que se desviaban del camino, eran tratadas profesionalmente, internándolas en sanatorios mentales; El padre o el marido despechado podía firmar autorizando el ingreso, mientras pagase la cuota mensual la mujer no volvería a ver la luz del día. Se recomendaba la terapia de electroshock y la cirugía cerebral, lobotomía.Un siglo después es muy difícil si no imposible ponerse en las circunstancias de la época. Por eso lejos de cualquier etiqueta política, es de admirar el valor de mujeres que se enfrentaban al establishment. Adoctrinadas desde niñas en una cultura y sociedad machista donde lo más a lo que podían aspirar era a convertirse en la señora de un acaudalado comerciante o la consorte de un aristócrata. No soy ni siquiera capaz de imaginar dónde prende la llama interior que convierte a una niña instruida costurera, bordadora y demás labores domésticas en dirigente revolucionario o en aviador, combatiendo sobre los cielos de España en un caza Polikarpov I-16.

Commander Valentina SmirnovaIn an era when women had no voice or vote and were frowned upon outside of the kitchen, Valentina Smirnova flew her Polikarpov I-16 fighter plane fighting against Franco's Fascists, Mussolini's Fascists and Hitler's Nazis in the skies of war-torn Spain.Russian snipers. The Nazis were losing their minds over those women.Lyuba VinogradovaAt the end of this book an explanatory annex has been added, about basic combat flight maneuvers used at that time. The era of propellers, when piston engine aircraft - Hispano-Suiza, Daimler-Benz or Rolls-Royce Merlin - dominated the skies. Although this is a historical novel documented on real events, both the plot and characters are fictitious. Some authentic details have been altered according to the needs of the fiction.

Una es alemana, la otra judía.Fingirán ser lo que no son para sobrevivir al horror.Alemania, 1939. Al inicio de la guerra y tras la muerte de su madre, Hanna Rombauer es enviada a vivir con sus tíos. Inmersa en una vida de lujo que nunca esperó, pronto es comprometida con un oficial de las SS; sin embargo, la independencia y tenacidad que su madre amorosamente le inculcó son inapropiadas para la futura esposa de un oficial en ascenso. Sin consultarle, Hanna es enviada a una elegante villa en las afueras de Berlín, donde deberá aprender a ser una esposa alemana ideal. Tras su llegada, las lecciones impregnadas de odio, prejuicios y misoginia muy pronto la hacen pensar en cómo huir de ese terrible lugar.Para Mathilde Altman, una judía recién casada, la guerra ha traído más devastación de la que jamás creyó posible. Arrancada de su trabajo, su familia y su esposo, se ve obligada a huir y esconderse para mantener a salvo a su hijo que está por nacer. Cuando Hanna descubre que Mathilde se refugia cerca de la escuela, decide ayudarla y juntas tomarán riesgos impensables para salvar la vida del bebé.La escuela de las novias nazis es una asombrosa historia de amor, sororidad y supervivencia, inspirada en recientes descubrimientos sobre instituciones creadas por el Tercer Reich para instruir a las futuras esposas de los dirigentes alemanes.

"In April 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army steamrolled through Burma, capturing the only ground route from India to China. Supplies to this critical zone would now have to come from India by air--meaning across the Himalayas, on the most hazardous air route in the world. Skies of Thunder is a story of an epic human endeavor, in which Allied troops faced the monumental challenge of operating from airfields hacked from the jungle, and took on 'the Hump, ' the fearsome mountain barrier that defined the air route. They flew fickle, untested aircraft through monsoons and enemy fire, at brain-melting altitudes with inaccurate maps and only primitive navigation technology. The result was a litany of both deadly crashes and astonishing feats of survival. The most chaotic of all the war's arenas, the China-Burma-India theater was further confused by the conflicting political interests of Roosevelt, Churchill, and their demanding nominal ally, Chiang Kai-shek"--