Ordinary Men has been admired all over the world and is now published in the UK for the first time. It takes as its basis the detailed records of one squad from the Nazis' extermination groups and explores in detail its composition, its actions, andthe methods by which it was trained to perform acts of genocide on an industrial scale. He introduces us to cheerful, friendly, ordinary men who...

On a wet afternoon in September 1938, Neville Chamberlain stepped off an aeroplane and announced that his visit to Hitler had averted the greatest crisis in recent memory. It was, he later assured the crowd in Downing Street, ‘peace for our time’. Less than a year later, Germany invaded Poland and the Second World War began. This is a vital new history of the disastrous years of indecision,...

On 28th January 1742, a ramshackle vessel of patched-together wood and cloth washed up on the coast of Brazil. Inside were thirty emaciated men, barely alive, and they had an extraordinary tale to tell. They were survivors of His Majesty’s ship the Wager, a British vessel that had left England in 1740 on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain. While chasing a Spanish...

An immediate best-seller on publication, Ben Hur remains a dazzling achievement by any standards. A thoroughly exhilarating tale of betrayal, revenge and salvation, it is the only novel that ranks with Uncle Tom's Cabin as a genuine American folk possession. This was the book that finally overcame the inherent suspicion of fiction that still prevailed in much of America in the late nineteenth...

When Germany invaded Wilhelm Brasse's native Poland in 1939, he was asked to swear allegiance to Hitler and join the Wehrmacht. He refused. He was deported to Auschwitz concentration camp as political prisoner number 3444. A trained portrait photographer, he was ordered by the SS to record the inner workings of the camp. He began by taking identification photographs of prisoners as they...

Herodotus (c480-c425) is 'The Father of History' and his Histories are the first piece of Western historical writing. They are also the most entertaining. Why did Pheidippides run the 26 miles and 385 yards (or 42.195 kilometres) from Marathon to Athens? And what did he do when he got there? Was the Battle of Salamis fought between sausage-sellers? Which is the oldest language in the world?...

Introduction and Notes by David Blair, University of Kent at Canterbury. Set in the reign of Richard I, Coeur de Lion, Ivanhoe is packed with memorable incidents - sieges, ambushes and combats - and equally memorable characters: Cedric of Rotherwood, the die-hard Saxon; his ward Rowena; the fierce Templar knight, Sir Brian de Bois-Gilbert; the Jew, Isaac of York, and his beautiful, spirited...

'This is Inglorious Basterds - but much better. Because it is the real story of clandestine Jewish fighters wreaking havoc against the Nazi war machine' Norman Ohler, author of Blitzed June 1942. The shadow of the Third Reich has fallen across the entire European continent. In desperation, Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form an unusual plan: a new commando unit made up of Jewish...

‘This is a brilliant, shocking book ...also witty, painfully self-critical and humane ...it is a work of great literature’ Tim Whitmarsh, Guardian ‘The Kingdom, already a huge bestseller in France, is thrilling, magnificent and strange’ Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times The sensational international bestseller from one of France’s most feted writers - an epic novel telling the story of...

Humanity has always been struck by pestilence and pandemics, from the plagues of ancient Egypt to the pox that ravaged Europe in the Middle Ages, to Covid-19. People living through the crises have always recorded what they saw, what they felt, and what they did. Some presented sober facts laced with anecdote, while others produced emotional outpourings; moralists speculated on the origins of...

The authors of the articles in the present volume were searching for answer to the following questions: how have the values of Polish society been affected by the transformation processes, and, to what degree are these values similar to the values and attitudes of the European Union citizens?...

Barbara Engelking writes about everyday experiences of Jews in hiding Marcin Zaremba explores the issue of "szaber" or smuggling in war-time Poland Jan Grabowski presents a case study of a murder perpetrated by the unit of Miechow AK on a group of Jews in hiding Dagmara Swałtek writes about crimes against the Jews in rural areas to Cracow

Barbara Engelking writes about everyday experiences of Jews in hiding Marcin Zaremba explores the issue of "szaber" or smuggling in war-time Poland Jan Grabowski presents a case study of a murder perpetrated by the unit of Miechow AK on a group of Jews in hiding Dagmara Swałtek writes about crimes against the Jews in rural areas to Cracow

Przedstawione w tym tomie artykuły i studia są rezultatem wieloletniej współpracy środowiska historyków działających w Komisji Historyków Polski i Rosji. Zainteresowania autorów odzwierciedlają w znacznym stopniu obszary badawcze, które skupiają na sobie uwagę historyków obu stron....

Prezentacja współczesnych badań etnolgicznych, omawiająca tradycyjny rejon badań: tereny dawnej Rzeczypospolitej Obojga Narodów, w tym także żydowskiej mniejszości narodowych na tych terenach, ponadto ostatnie badania z terenu Syberii i Azji Centralnej. Wszystkie teksty w języku angielskim.

While the F­105 Thunderchief was the USAF's principal strike weapon during the Rolling Thunder campaign, the US Navy relied on the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk for the majority of its strikes on North Vietnam. The Skyhawk entered service in 1956 and remained in continuous production for 26 years. Throughout Operation Rolling Thunder it was the US Navy's principal day­time light strike bomber,...

The Dalai Lama’s message of peace and compassion resonates with people of all faiths and none. Yet, for all his worldwide fame, he remains personally elusive. Now, Alexander Norman, acclaimed Oxford-trained scholar of the history of Tibet, delivers the definitive biography—unique, multi-layered, and at times even shocking. The Dalai Lama illuminates an astonishing odyssey from isolated...

'Lessons of History’ by Will Durant is an in-depth analysis of human civilization and culture over five thousand years. The authors discuss key themes such as race, character, morals, religion, economics, government, war, and more. They question whether progress is real by examining the growth and decay of civilizations. The book includes a bibliographical guide and index.

Most military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the airplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists had a different view. This "Bomber Mafia" asked: What if precision bombing could, just by taking out critical choke points - industrial or transportation hubs - cripple the enemy and make war far less lethal? In The Bomber Mafia, Gladwell delves deep...

In Stephen Fry's vivid retelling we gaze in wonder as wise Athena is born from the cracking open of the great head of Zeus and follow doomed Persephone into the dark and lonely realm of the Underworld. We shiver when Pandora opens her jar of evil torments and watch with joy as the legendary love affair between Eros and Psyche unfolds. Mythos captures these extraodinary myths for our modern...