Imperial War

Autumn 1943. Realising that his feelings for his sweetheart are not reciprocated, Major John Overton accepts a posting behind enemy lines in Nazi-occupied Albania. Arriving to find the situation in disarray, he attempts to overcome geographical challenges and political intrigues to set up a new camp in the mountains overlooking the Adriatic. As he struggles to complete his mission amidst a chaotic backdrop, Overton is left to ruminate on loyalty, comradeship and his own future.

As Hitler proceeded with his invasion plans, code-named Operation Sealion, he knew that the RAF must not be allowed to threaten the invading forces as they crossed the Channel. It was clear that they would have to be brought to battle and defeated. Still hopeful of a settlement, Hitler believed that a sustained aerial attack, coupled with a U-Boat blockade, might bring Britain to the negotiating table.

When Singapore falls to Japan's Imperial army in early 1942, the life that Susan Sandyman has lovingly created abroad is shattered. Forced to flee home to the hamlets of southern England, she can either succumb to grief or find solace in war work. When a chance encounter with the elusive Air Transport Auxiliary pilots stirs a spark of excitement, Susan's decision is made.

On the day that Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as prime minister, Germany invaded Holland and Belgium. Despite all the efforts of the Allied armies, Hitler's powerful Panzer divisions smashed their way through to the French coast. For the retreating British Expeditionary Force, Dunkirk was the only practical point of departure, and on May 26, the order for total evacuation, Operation Dynamo, was given.

A new edition of Cecil Lewis's 1944 aviation classic. Over the course of one night in 1942, the crew members of Wellington bomber 'P for Pathfinder' each reflect on the paths of their own lives, as they embark on a fateful mission deep into the heart of Nazi Germany. Cecil Lewis's novel examines the life of every man in turn, rendering a moving account of each as not merely a nameless crew member, but as an individual with a life lived, 'a life precious to some, or one...these men with dreams and hopes and plans of things to come'.

In Blood on the Snow, Robert Service returns to the subject that has formed the backbone of his long and distinguished career: the Russian Revolution. For Service, the great unanswered question is how to reconcile the two vital narratives that underpin the extraordinary but troubled events of 1917. One puts the blame squarely on Tsar Nicholas II and on Alexander Kerensky’s provisional government that deposed him. The other is the view from the bottom, that of the workers and peasants who wanted democratic socialism, not the Bolshevik dictatorship imposed by Lenin and his successors.

On June 6, 1944, the Allies carried out the largest amphibious assault in history. Five divisions of British, American, and Canadian troops were landed along a 50-mile stretch of the coast of Normandy in northern France; their mission to gain a foothold ashore and begin the liberation of north-west Europe. The flanks of the invasion force were secured by a major parachute and glider drop of three airborne divisions. By the end of that eventful day, Hitler's "Atlantic Wall" had been breached and 156,000 Allied soldiers were firmly established on French soil.

Transcending the mythology of “American exceptionalism”, the acclaimed historian Walter Hixson unveils a long history of war and imperialism, one that is deeply embedded in the American national DNA. From Columbus to the “forever wars” of the modern Middle East, Americans have sought imperial domination over other peoples, invariably deemed inferior, and have regularly chosen to go to war with them. The consequences of the nation’s violent aggression have been severe yet not fully analyzed owing to the powerful boundaries erected by patriotic nationalism.

October 1941. Twenty-one-year-old Alan Mart is posted to India and taken under the wing of the overbearing Acting-Captain Sam Holl. Following the Japanese advance on Singapore, the men are deployed to Malaya. What follows is a quietly shattering and searingly authentic depiction of the claustrophobia of jungle warfare and the indiscriminate nature of conflict. Based on David Piper's own wartime experience in South East Asia, this new edition of a 1959 classic includes a contextual introduction from IWM which sheds new light on the dramatic true events that so influenced its author.

The Solar League, humanity's empire, has existed since mankind reached for the stars. While the humans considered it the pinnacle of human achievement, for the subjugated alien races it seemed only to endorse humanity's worst impulses. But the worst of humanity pales in comparison to an alien onslaught that is on the verge of bringing mankind down into death and subjugation.

Monica Felton's 1945 novel gives a lively account of the experiences of a group of men and women working in a munitions factory during the Second World War. Wide-ranging in the themes it touches on, including class, sexism, socialism, fear of communism, workers' rights, anti-Semitism and xenophobia, the audiobook gives a vivid portrayal of factory life and details the challenges, triumphs and tragedies of a diverse list of characters.

This book explores the following questions: How was the story of Jesus’s life written? Who was Paul and what was his role in the creation of Christianity? What was his provenance and did he actually meet the resurrected Christ? Who wrote Revelation and what was the document’s purpose? Why was Domitian assassinated? Who was Clement and what was the nature of his relationships with Peter and Josephus? Were the Pseudo-Clementine materials really “pseudo”? Why did Saulus attack Justus? How were the gospels written? What was the significance of the library fire during the reign of ...

The 17th century was marked by multiple pro-democratic revolutions exploding in both hemispheres. In Europe and its neighbors to the east, border-changing wars were fought incessantly. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the underlying premises of political, governmental and social structures within several European and Asian states were shaken to the core after centuries of royalty and one-family rule.

During the Second World War, across the frontline as well as on the Home Front, millions of people recorded their thoughts of their experiences - whether in letters, their personal diaries or those prosecuting the war giving speeches. Much as Letters of Note celebrated the great letters written through history, so Words of War allows the Imperial War Museum to showcase its incredible array of first-hand material to shine a light on how people journeyed through the 1939-45 conflict.

Before the Second World War, military conflicts were fought under orthodox conditions, usually termed “conventional warfare”, but several innovations had significantly changed combat, leading inextricably to the race for a nuclear weapon in the 1930s and 1940s. Conflicts had been fought by armies on horseback with guns of varying sophistication since the 16th century, but mechanized warfare and machine guns changed this calculus and set the stage for future combat by the end of World War I.

Humanity's interstellar empire died in fire and blood, leaving wrecked star systems to face the long night of barbarism. One tiny spark of civilization remains: The Republic of Lyonesse, tucked away at the end of a wormhole cul-de-sac. Yet that last bastion could suffer the same dire fate.

It is September 1939. Shortly after war is declared, Anthony Rhodes is sent to France, serving with the British Army. His days are filled with the minutiae and mundanities of army life - friendships, billeting, administration - as the months of the 'Phoney War' quickly pass and the conflict seems a distant prospect. It is only in the spring of 1940 that the true situation becomes clear; the men are ordered to retreat to the coast and the beaches of Dunkirk, where they face a desperate and terrifying wait for evacuation.

Jimmy Veeder has finally settled down, completing his dramatic transformation from hell-raiser to family man. With his new wife, Angie, and eight-year-old son, Juan, he lives the quiet life. No trouble, no problems. Or so he thought. But this is Jimmy Veeder's Fiasco, after all.

The topic of biological warfare (B.W.) in the Pacific theater of World War II has been relatively untouched and unexplored by the mainstream media and the public. In 1932, Ishii Shiro, a Japanese microbiologist and surgeon general, initiated an expansive B.W. research and development program. It grew in the years leading up to and throughout World War II to encompass numerous facilities in Asia. Although the 1925 Geneva Protocol outlawed the use of B.W., Japanese scientists were interested in developing bioweapons as highly destructive, inexpensive weapons. The program included conducting ...

Something is sabotaging the Imperial Space Navy. The whole mission has been compromised. Oscar is the only droid who can fix it. It started out as a babysitting run for colony ships. Now, Oscar’s adventure game has turned into a game of wits. An unknown assailant is sabotaging the ship. At the rate, it's going everyone will be dead before they reach their destination. Faced with no other alternatives, Oscar has to ferret out the culprit and save the day. If only the meat bags would get out of his way long enough for him to do it.