World War Short Stories

The classic 1939 collection of three novellas by the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author and journalist, including the famous title story set during the influenza epidemic of 1918.

In what many refer to as one of the first and greatest science fiction thrillers, a mysterious stranger wanders into an inn, wrapped head-to-toe in bandages. What lies beneath the bandages is something even more mysterious. As Wells tackles issues of identity, deception, and the deterioration of the human mind, listeners will be drawn into the story of the mysterious man, whose own mistakes end up whisking him into a whirlwind of deceit, terror, and even murder. In the end, the question will be asked: when your sense of self and identity vanish, who will you become?

Tadeusz Borowski’s concentration camp stories were based on his own experiences surviving Auschwitz and Dachau. In spare, brutal prose he describes a world where where the will to survive overrides compassion, and prisoners eat, work, and sleep a few yards from where others are murdered; where the difference between human beings is reduced to a second bowl of soup, an extra blanket, or the luxury of a pair of shoes with thick soles; and where the line between normality and abnormality vanishes.

Jack and Maggie Harris are adrift on ravaged streets during the London Blitz. Their home is gone. They have nowhere to go and nothing left to lose. With only the memories of their greatest loss - the death of their child during a Christmas years before - Jack and Maggie settle in a seemingly deserted mansion for the night.

As a 41-year-old man confronts his own mortality in this collection's title story, he recalls his Spokane Indian father's chilling death from alcoholism and diabetes. Another tale features an eccentric salesman pursuing a married woman from airport to airport. And then there's the film editor who sees nothing wrong with altering footage to fit preconceived views - until he becomes the target of media distortion.

This foreword is written by the author’s son, Peter. This is a superb collection of 48 short stories my mother wrote in her senior years. There are a few fanciful stories, but the majority are nonfiction accounts. They are accurate recollections of my mother’s young life in Hungary, growing up under German, then Russian occupation. The stories continue through the heroic and tragic Hungarian Revolution, during which my mother left the country of her birth. It was an arduous journey to finally arrive in Canada, her new home, as an immigrant with nothing but the clothes on her back. Yet, ...

Listen to the definitive narrative history of the people, politics, and events of the Second World War - the conflict that shaped the modern world. From the build-up to the fighting, through to the reverberations still felt in the aftermath, this is a compelling, accessible, and immediate history of the war, perhaps the most complex, frightening, and destructive event in world history.

Felix lives in a convent orphanage high in the mountains in Poland. He is convinced his parents are still alive and that they will one day come back to get him. When Nazi soldiers come to the orphanage Felix decides to escape and make his way home. The journey to find his parents is a long and difficult one, as all of Poland is occupied by the Nazis and a dangerous place for a Jewish boy.

In the unforgiving skies of the Aleutian Islands, Captain “Chick” Williams is a seasoned World War II pilot in the U.S. Army Air Corps. As a leader of a tight-knit crew, Williams is accustomed to flying perilous bombing and transport missions over the frozen Alaskan landscape and beyond, but when a devastating Japanese fighter attack nearly obliterates his squadron, Williams faces a grim reality—his crew is lost, and he is left questioning his survival. However, when a mysterious light in the sky envelops Jack's plane, saving him from certain death, the strange phenomenon grants him a...

The Definitive Sci-Fi Collection is a collection of 28 classic science fiction novels and stories, read by an esteemed cast of award-winning narrators. Included here are stories by some of the most iconic science fiction writers of all time, including H.G. Wells; Jules Verne; H.P. Lovecraft; Margaret Cavendish; Yevgeny Zamyatin; and more.

All Mel and Dana wanted was a weekend break... Mel and Dana take a long weekend break with the family on a Lake Erie island, or so they planned. Things just never seem to work out as they plan because crime follows them everywhere. Will they ever get a break? Probably not, but maybe Mel will find the career spark that's been missing for a while. This is a short story featuring Mel and Dana that takes place sometime after Book 12 of the Morelville Mysteries series. You don't need to have read the series to enjoy this story, but it will certainly help you understand Mel and her motivations. ...

Leedswick Castle has housed the Alnwick family in the English countryside for generations, despite a family curse determined to destroy their legacy and erase them from history. Three beloved authors share stories of the Alnwick family through the generations, revealing how love and war can change a place—but only its people can unshackle it from the misdeeds of the past.

‘Tony’s wife wasn’t cold before tongues started wagging about me and him,' Anna complained. 'If only I could . . . ’ ‘What?’ Megan picked up Ann’s bag. ‘Shout the truth from the rooftops.’ ‘Do that,' Megan warned, 'you’ll lose your job and there’ll be two more widows scrubbing the Graig workhouse yard and three more children taken into Maesycoed orphanage. Forget the gossips. Think of the dinner we’ll have tomorrow.’

A toy soldier. A butter dish. A compass. Mundane objects, perhaps, but to the remarkable authors in this collection, artifacts such as these have inspired stories that go to the heart of the human experience of World War I. Each author was invited to choose an object that had a connection to the war - a writing kit for David Almond, a helmet for Michael Morpurgo - and use it as the inspiration for an original short story.

As the war rages on, Lilian Young finds herself struggling to survive in the changing landscape of Amalfi. With children being forced into military training and her lover, Luigi, away for longer periods of time, Lilian fears for her safety and the safety of those she cares about. But when a ruthless attack leaves her feeling even more alone and guilty for her actions, Lilian must find the strength to carry on. As she navigates the demands of working with British Intelligence, she risks everything - her relationships, her life, and even the life of her unborn child. With danger lurking ...

Spanning more than 150 years, and set in multiple locations in colonial and postcolonial Asia and the United States, Inheritors paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of its characters as they grapple with the legacies of loss, imperialism, and war. Written from myriad perspectives and in a wide range of styles, each of these interconnected stories is designed to speak to the others, contesting assumptions and illuminating the complicated ways we experience, interpret, and pass on our personal and shared histories.

The short stories written during and about World War I are often overshadowed by the excellent verse of the War Poets. Yet the short story is perhaps their equal in other ways. Within these succinct little time capsules of words are captured ideas, attitudes, feelings and life that are expressed in a few minutes just as movingly, imaginatively and tellingly as in any other form. Some of these stories will be familiar, but some may not. From Virginia Woolf to Katharine Mansfield and John Buchan to C. E. Montague, various writing styles try to make sense of this world at war.

Forced to confront the sorrows of her past, Daniela invites Simon to accompany her to the historical city of Nuremberg and its enchanting Christmas Market. But Simon is also burdened by memories of a hidden tragedy, and, drawn in by his bachelor lifestyle, he has a cynical view of the festive period. Together, they explore Nuremberg’s bewitching cobbled streets and discover that the city’s poignant and cruel secrets mirror their own. As Simon is gradually charmed by the quaint wooden market stalls and glorious old buildings, he realises that Nuremberg’s ghosts can help to redeem the ...

World War II was the greatest conflict in human history, involving over 100 million people serving in the forces of the Axis and the Allies and resulting in 50 to 70 million deaths. This book covers war in Europe, war in the Pacific and war across a number of other fronts between 1939 and 1945. Features the leading protagonists in the conflict, their ideological positions and the strategies they employed.

It is not often that a long-hidden gem of a manuscript is published, bringing a moment in WWII history to vivid life for today’s audiences. Geoffrey Wellum’s First Light was one example. The memoir of Timothy Vigors is another. Born in Hatfield but raised in Ireland and educated at Eton and Cranwell, Vigors found himself in France in 1940 flying Fairey Battle bombers. After the Fall he joined the fighters of 222 Squadron, with whom he saw frantic and distinguished service over Dunkirk and persevered through the dangerous days of the Battle of Britain, when he became an ace.