History France War

Vividly capturing the heady times in the waning months of World War II, Ronald Weber follows the exploits of Allied reporters as they flooded into liberated Paris after four dark years of Nazi occupation. He traces the remarkable adventures of the men and women who lived, worked, and played in the legendary Hôtel Scribe, set in a highly fashionable part of the largely undamaged city. Press jeeps and trailers packed the street outside, while inside the hotel was completely booked with hundreds of correspondents.

Considered by some to be far too old for one attempting to rejuvenate the career of a soldier, Baron Johann von de Kalb was a keen student of war with a steady mind and hand. Once able to prove his worth to the Continental Congress, he rose immediately to the rank of brigadier general under George Washington, served with distinction, and died heroically in the Battle of Camden, a battle in the South that foretold the eventual surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown.

In the tradition of Ben MacIntyre, Game of Spies tells the story of a lethal spy triangle in Bordeaux between 1942 and 1944 - and of France's greatest betrayal, by aristocratic and right-wing Resistance leader Andre Grandclement. The story centres on three men - one British, one French and one German - and the duel they fought out in an atmosphere of collaboration, betrayal and assassination, in which comrades sold fellow comrades, Allied agents and downed pilots to the Germans as casually as they would a bottle of wine.

The long war between France and England demonstrates the transition from the feudal order of society to the idea of national political organization. Its causes and the motives that kept it alive were rooted in a steadily growing sense of national unity and national honor.

The 1942 raid on Dieppe was an attempt to test the enemy readiness, and take some pressure off the Russian front. It was a costly disaster, but lessons learned there were of the utmost importance to the D-Day planning. After a massive build up of men and materials, the D-Day landings finally took place in Normandy on June 6th, 1944. Despite vicious battles and stubborn resistance, within 12 weeks the Allied forces invaded Paris.

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. 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.

The rousing story of Lafayette - “adopted son” of George Washington - and his vital role in the American Revolution. In this long-overdue history of Marquis Gilbert de Lafayette, acclaimed French author Gonzague Saint Bris recounts Lafayette’s invaluable contributions to the American War of Independence and, later, the French Revolution of 1789.

Exploring a critical and often neglected period of Napoleonic history between 1812 and 1814, Napoleon: The End of Glory offers a more complete picture of the Emperor's decline and fall than any previous work. Price analyzes the political, military, and diplomatic events of the period, from Napoleon's disastrous invasion of Russia in 1812 to the multiple failed attempts by Austria to broker peace. He illuminates the dynamic relationships between Napoleon and the wily Austrian foreign minister Metternich-whose desire for equilibrium within the European states system clashed with Napoleon's unshakeable belief in hegemony and subjection.

Deep in the Blitzkrieg, one unlucky tourist must fight to survive. When aspiring pilot John Archer finds himself caught in the middle of the devastating Nazi invasion of France, he quickly realizes that his vacation could cost him his life. As an American swept up in a wave of refugees fleeing the chaos of the German advance, deep down he knows he’s in way over his head. When an unfortunate capture leads to Archer discovering vital information about the Nazi’s plans, he knows he has no choice but to slip out from under his enemy’s nose and tell the Allies what he’s found.

Die Französische Revolution der späten 1790er Jahre war eines der entscheidenden Ereignisse in der Geschichte Europas. Sie war der Wendepunkt – ein historischer Erdrutsch, der die Welt in eine neue, völlig andere Epoche führte. Leider kommen solche Veränderungen immer mit einem hohen Preis. In der Folge der Revolution brach eine Reihe von großangelegten Konflikten aus, die zusammenfassend als Napoleonische Kriege bekannt sind.

When America entered World War I in April 1917, state National Guard units had never planned to mobilize for this kind of war, and the men who made up the hometown companies of each regiment never imagined that they would be asked to fight in what was then the most savage war in human history - they were “innocents” being thrown into a horrendous European conflagration. Made up of companies from 10 Ohio towns, the 166th Infantry Regiment became part of the famous 42nd Division, known as the “Rainbow Division”.

Henry V's second invasion of France in 1417 launched a campaign that would put the crown of France on an English head. Only the miraculous appearance of a visionary peasant girl - Joan of Arc - would halt the English advance. Yet despite her victories, her influence was short-lived: Henry VI had his coronation in Paris six months after her death and his kingdom endured for another twenty years. When he came of age he was not the leader his father had been. It was the dauphin, whom Joan had crowned Charles VII, who would finally drive the English out of France.

This audiobook provides a concise and proper portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte's character and career. Napoleon as he was - not saint, not sinner, but a man dedicated to and ultimately devoured by his vision of himself, his empire, and his world. In the aftermath of the French Revolution, France was in a state of division and anarchy and in desperate need of a leader.

After his surrender to the Royal Navy, Napoleon became the object of massive English public interest. He would live out his last years on the island of St. Helena without ever admitting to being a prisoner. This close study of Napoleon in captivity attempts to reconstruct an authentic portrait of the fallen emperor by examining contemporary documents and records of public opinion.

Tome 2 : Madrid - Essling - Torres - Vedras. Après Austerlitz, Eylau Friedland, nous retrouvons Marbot au siège de Saragosse, il y est grièvement blessé ; quelques semaines s'écoulent et nous le voyons en ligne à Eckmühl, à Essling, à Wagram.

It is difficult to overemphasize the importance of the Battle of Verdun. For the French, it possesses a grim significance which endures to this day - the churned, furrowed earth of the battlefield still visible a century later a stark reminder of waste of life, strategic failure and tactical inadequacy on a monumental scale. For the German people, had it not been eclipsed by the shame and horror of Nazism and the Holocaust, it would doubtless carry equal importance.

Following the horrors of Kristallnacht in November of 1938, frightened parents were forced to find refuge for their children, far from the escalating anti-Jewish violence. A courageous group of Belgian women organized a desperate and highly dangerous rescue mission to usher nearly 1,000 children out of Germany and Austria. Of these children, 93 were placed on a freight train, traveling through the night away from their families and into the relative safety of Vichy France.

Caballeros y batallas, princesas y castillos, asedios y profetas guerreros que lideran el camino hacia la victoria sobre relucientes caballos blancos: todo parece ser parte de mitos y leyendas. La historia de esta guerra se vuelve fascinante por su entorno, pero es inspiradora por sus personajes. Jóvenes reyes y audaces reinas, prisioneros que creen en el honor, tormentas de granizo que detienen luchas enteras y la historia de una joven campesina que cambió el curso de la historia.

Tome 3 : Polotsk - La beresina - Leipzig - Waterloo. On a laissé Marbot en Portugal, combattant à Torrès Védras, à Fuentes de Ońoro ; dans ce tome, on va le retrouver franchissant le Niémen avec la Grande Armée... "J'engage le colonel Marbot à continuer à écrire pour la défense et la gloire des Armées françaises et en confondre les calomniateurs", écrivait Napoléon dans son testament.

The Somme offensive was intended to achieve a decisive victory for the British and French Allies over the Germans, yet the Allies failed to achieve all of their objectives and the war was to continue for another two years. More than a million men from both sides became casualties in the long and bitter struggle on the Somme in 1916. This audiobook tells this story through the unique collections of IWM.