Bøger af Anton Gill

The numbers were small, and their cause hopeless.Scattered across the landscape that was Nazi Germany, the Resistance looked puny: too little, too late. And yet it was made of many heroic men and women who were not afraid to risk their lives to stand up to a regime they knew was wrong. For those who have never known life under such a regime, it is hard to grasp the daily terror that makes an act of political graffiti a capital offense, that labels resistance "treason." Now, drawing on archival materials and on interviews with those few resisters who survived, Anton Gill brings their story to light. Here are union leaders and businessmen, priests and communists, students and factory workers; above all, here are the only people who had any real chance at more than symbolic resistance: those in the Army, the Foreign Office, the Abwehr. For these, obeying the dictates of conscience meant betraying the demands of government, and every day brought the risk of denunciation and death. 'A sober and useful analysis of the resistance to Hitler [that] reminds us of the astonishing moral courage human beings can display...The vast majority of Germans simply did not have the bravery to stand up to Hitler - but then who among us, confronted with the brutality of that regime, would have mustered the courage?' - Robert Harris, author of Fatherland, in The Sunday Times 'Mr. Gill fluidly conveys the attitudes and personalities of key figures in the resistance and the links among them.' - The New York Times Book Review'Gill's illuminating study cogently argues that Hitler was not an irresistible force and that he succeeded only because he was allowed to.' - Publishers WeeklyAnton Gill has been a freelance writer since 1984, specialising in European contemporary history but latterly branching out into historical fiction. He is the winner of the H H Wingate Award for non-fiction for his study of survivors of the Nazi concentration camps, 'The Journey Back From Hell'.

On the night of March 24, 1944, 76 Allied RAF officers escaped from Stalag-Luft III, Nazi Germany's most secure POW camp. It was the biggest, most daring break-out of World War II. The tenacity and ingenuity of the prisoners has become the stuff of legend, as they carried out their plan to dig the longest and most sophisticated tunnel ever conceived. But the men paid a high price for their bravery-of the 73 men recaptured, 50 were brutally executed on Hitler's direct orders. The tireless RAF investigation into the atrocity offers a chilling insight into the last hours of the victims and the actions of the killers. Drawing on the meticulous research carried out for the war crimes trial, as well as interviews with survivors and families of the murdered men, Anton Gill gives us the definitive account of the escape and its shocking aftermath.

A man born with few advantages, William Dampier's single-minded determination to see the world bore all before it.A self-taught geographer, hydrographer and navigator, Dampier was also a keen natural historian who showed his contemporaries then-unknown regions of the world, and vividly described the exotic creatures and plants that inhabited them without exaggeration.Impressing the Admiralty with his book, A New Voyage round the World, Dampier was given command of the infamous Roebuck expedition and became the first Englishman to explore parts of Australia.But Dampier's past reared its head when he employed acquaintances from his buccaneering days, and numerous problems beset him along the way; upon his eventual return Dampier was court-martialled for cruelty.Though he lived and worked like a buccaneer Dampier filled in blank spaces on the map, and in pioneering the seaways he opened up the oceans for exploration, thus laying the foundations for the British Empire. Although lauded in his day and going on to influence many in both literary and scientific spheres, Dampier died in obscurity and his name, associated with piracy, disappeared for many years.Comprehensive and compellingly told, Anton Gill's biography charts the life and endeavours of William Dampier, his successes and his failings, and reinstates him into the pantheon of great explorers.Anton Gill has been a freelance writer since 1984, specialising in European contemporary history but latterly branching out into historical fiction. He is the winner of the H H Wingate Award for non-fiction for 'The Journey Back From Hell'. He is also the author of 'Into Darkness', 'Dance Between the Flames' and 'An Honourable Defeat'. 'The Devil's Mariner' was his first biography.

At the turn of the 16th century, Italy was a turbulent territory made up of independent states, each at war with or intriguing against its neighbor. There were the proud, cultivated, and degenerate Sforzas in Milan, and in Rome, the corrupt Spanish family of the Borgia whose head, Rodrigo, ascended to St Peter's throne as Pope Alexander VI. In Florence, a golden age of culture and sophistication ended with the death of the greatest of the Medici family, Lorenzo the Magnificent, giving way to an era of uncertainty, cruelty, and religious fundamentalism.In the midst of this turmoil, there existed the greatest concentration of artists that Europe has ever known. Influenced by the rediscovery of the ancient cultures of Greece and Rome, artists and thinkers such as Botticelli and da Vinci threw off the shackles of the Middle Ages to produce one of the most creative periods in history - the Renaissance.This is the story of twelve years when war, plague, famine, and chaos made their mark on a volatile Italy, and when a young, erratic genius, Michelangelo Buonarroti, made his first great statue - the David. It was to become a symbol not only of the independence and defiance of the city of Florence but also of the tortured soul who created it. This is a wonderful history of the artist, his times, and one of his most magnificent works.

The wayward life (1898-1979) of the voracious art collector and great female patron of world-famous artists.

Peggy Guggenheim -- millionairess, legendary lover, sadomasochist, appalling parent, selective miser -- was one of the greatest and most notorious art patrons of the twentieth century. After her father, Benjamin Guggenheim, went down with the Titanic, the young heiress came into a small fortune and left for Europe. She married the writer Laurence Vail and joined the American expatriate bohemian set. Though her many lovers included such lions of art and literature as Samuel Beckett, Max Ernst (whom she later married), Yves Tanguy, and Roland Penrose, real love always seemed to elude her. In the late 1930s, Peggy set up one of the first galleries of modern art in London, quickly acquiring a magnificent selection of works, buying great numbers of paintings from artists fleeing to America after the Nazi invasion of France. Escaping from Vichy, she moved back to New York, where she was a vital part of the new American abstract expressionist movement. Meticulously researched, filled with colorful incident, and boasting a distinguished cast, Anton Gill's biography reveals the inner drives of a remarkable woman and indefatigable patron of the arts.

Constantinople 1204: the holy city is razed to the ground by Crusaders - the streets awash with blood. Modern day Istanbul: an elite group of archaeologists uncover the grave of Enrico Dandolo, once Doge of Venice, and leader of the bloodthirsty Fourth Crusade. They seek a legendary set of documents that reveal the truth behind Dandolo's rumoured secret links to the Templar knights.Days later the team vanishes without a trace. All that remains in the ransacked grave is a strange key inscribed with an ancient code.Special Interpol Operatives Jack and Laura are called in. They soon find themselves battling against an ancient enemy in a life or death race against time. The dark secret of the Templar knights is about to be revealed.

City of Gold is the thrilling new novel from Anton Gill. A rumour is going around the world that a vast source of gold has been discovered, if it's true it could mean the downfall of the US dominance over the financial world.An international dealer in antique maps flies in to conclude the deal of his life. But at the meeting with his mysterious principals, he is double-crossed and murdered. In New York INTERSEC Section 15 have been tasked by the US Treasury to find the gold and secure it for the US. But, for Jack Marlow and his team, the race to find the gold soon turns into a race to stay alive.City of Gold and The Secret Scroll by Anton Gill make an exciting break away from his previous writing set in Ancient Egypt. Fans of Chris Kuzneski will love this.Anton Gill was born in London and educated at Chigwell and Clare College, Cambridge. He has written on a wide range of subjects, especially contemporary European history, and published a series of thrillers set in Ancient Egypt. Until recently, he has divided his time between London and Paris, but now makes his home in London again.

When Titanic set sail in 1912, she was the largest, most luxurious and most technologically advanced man-made moving object in the world. This book tells the untold stories of the men and women who made the ship of dreams a reality.