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AbyssThe 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis was the most perilous event in history, when mankind faced a looming nuclear collision between the United States and Soviet Union. During those weeks, the world gazed into the abyss of potential annihilation.Max Hastings’s graphic new history tells the story from the viewpoints of national leaders, Russian officers, Cuban peasants, American pilots, and British disarmers. Max Hastings deploys his accustomed blend of eye-witness interviews, archive documents, and diaries, White House tape recordings, top-down analysis, first to paint word-portraits of the Cold War experiences of Fidel Castro’s Cuba, Nikita Khrushchev’s Russia, and Kennedy’s America; then to describe the nail-biting Thirteen Days in which Armageddon beckoned.Hastings began researching this book believing that he was exploring a past event from twentieth-century history. He is as shocked as are millions of us around the world, to discover that the rape of Ukraine gives this narrative a hitherto unimaginable twenty-first-century immediacy. We may be witnessing the onset of a new Cold War between nuclear-armed superpowers.To contend with today’s threat, which Hastings fears will prove enduring, it is critical to understand how, sixty years ago, the world survived its last glimpse into the abyss. Only by fearing the worst, he argues, can our leaders hope to secure the survival of the planet.

All Hell Let Loose A magisterial history of the greatest and most terrible event in history, from one of the finest historians of the Second World War. A book which shows the impact of war upon hundreds of millions of people around the world- soldiers, sailors and airmen; housewives, farm workers and children..Reflecting Max Hastings’s thirty-five years of research on World War II, All Hell Let Loose describes the course of events, but focuses chiefly upon human experience, which varied immensely from campaign to campaign, continent to continent.The author emphasises the Russian front, where more than 90% of all German soldiers who perished met their fate. He argues that, while Hitler’s army often fought its battles brilliantly well, the Nazis conducted their war effort with ‘stunning incompetence’. He suggests that the Royal Navy and US Navy were their countries’ outstanding fighting services, while the industrial contribution of the United States was much more important to allied victory than that of the US Army.The book ranges across a vast canvas, from the agony of Poland amid the September 1939 Nazi invasion, to the 1943 Bengal famine, in which at least a million people died under British rule- and British neglect. Among many vignettes, there are the RAF’s legendary raid on the Ruhr dams, the horrors of Arctic convoys, desert tank combat, jungle clashes. Some of Hastings’s insights and judgements will surprise students of the conflict, while there are vivid descriptions of the tragedies and triumphs of a host of ordinary people, in uniform and out of it.‘The cliché is profoundly true’, he says. ‘The world between 1939 and 1945 saw some human beings plumb the depths of baseness, while others scaled the heights of courage and nobility’. This is ‘everyman’s story’, an attempt to answer the question: ‘What was the Second World War like ?’, and also an overview of the big picture. Max Hastings employs the technique which has made many of his previous books best-sellers, combining top-down analysis and bottom-up testimony to explore the meaning of this vast conflict both for its participants and for posterity.

"From the skies over war-torn Europe to the opulent halls of English nobility, Edward Bagot's journey is a riveting testament to courage, heritage, and unwavering faith."Edward Bagot’s memoir offers a unique personal perspective on World War II, combining his experiences as a Pathfinder pilot with his aristocratic heritage and deep religious convictions.Edward joined the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) during the latter part of the Second World War. He became a member of Bomber Command and a Pathfinder pilot. Intensely religious, Edward, who believed he had a premonition of his death, flew without fear, his faith sustaining him throughout his wartime experiences. His story is meticulously drawn from his diary, which he began at the age of fifteen, and the letters he sent to his family from England.Edward's wartime experiences, while reflective of many young Australians of his time, stand out due to his unique personal background and story. His heritage traced back to an aristocratic English family from the era of William the Conqueror, allowing him to spend his leave visiting his ancestral home and engaging in a remarkable social life among nobility and theatre celebrities in London's West End.Set against the relentless march toward war in Europe, Edward's narrative is one of patriotism and bravery. His personal accounts offer a unique perspective on the devastating yet transformative impact of the war, showcasing the fearlessness of young men like him who played crucial roles in shaping history.

In New Guinea’s jungles, a fierce battle turned the tide of the Pacific War—the first major land defeat for the unstoppable Japanese forces.  By mid-August 1942, Imperial Japanese forces dominated the Southeast Asian and Pacific theatres, seemingly unstoppable in their advance. While the Japanese South Seas Force pushed north toward Port Moresby along the Kokoda Track, they launched an operation against Milne Bay at the eastern tip of New Guinea. Their objective: to seize the crucial Allied airfields under construction, which would pave the way for capturing Port Moresby and consolidating their hold on the region.  For two intense weeks, Japanese marines, supported by tanks and naval bombardments, battled through the jungle-covered strip of land between the beaches and mountains. Facing them was a determined and diverse Allied force—Australian militia, 2nd AIF troops, American engineers, and, critically, Australian fighter pilots—who fought the Japanese to a standstill near the partially completed Air Strip No. 3. Despite desperate human wave attacks by the Japanese, the Allies held their ground.  When the smoke cleared, the Japanese had suffered their first significant land defeat since Pearl Harbor. The Battle of Milne Bay marked a turning point in the Pacific War, signalling the beginning of the end for the Imperial Japanese Empire.

Published to coincide with the 75th anniversary of VE Day and the 80th anniversary of the start of the Battle of Britain, Merlin is the extraordinary story of the development of the Rolls-Royce engine that would stop Hitler from invading Britain and carry the war to the very heart of Germany.The story of the Merlin engine encompasses the history of powered flight, from the ingenuity of the Wright Brothers to the horrors of World War I, and from the first crossing of the Atlantic to the heady days of flying in the 1920s. There is also the extraordinary story of the Schneider Trophy – an international contest wherein nations poised on the precipice of war competed for engineering excellence in the name of progress.And at the heart of this story are the glamorous lives of the pilots, many of whom died in their pursuit of speed; the engineers, like Henry Royce of Rolls-Royce, who sketched the engine that would win WWII in the sand of his local beach; and perhaps most importantly the Lady Lucy Houston who after the Wall Street Crash singlehandedly funded the development of the engine and the iconic Spitfire.Never was so much owed by so many to so few – and without the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, the few would have been powerless.

Wing Commander Vic Hodgkinson DFC served as a pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force throughout WWII. Starting in 1939, he was a founding member of 10 Squadron RAAF, operating Short Sunderland flying boats. Loaned to the RAF in early 1940, the squadron played a crucial role in the Battle of the Atlantic, conducting air-sea rescues and attacks on German submarines.During this time, Vic participated in numerous air-sea rescues, including saving twenty-one survivors of a U-boat attack. He also conducted depth charge attacks on German submarines. Vic's resilience was tested when his Sunderland crashed into the Irish Sea near Bardsey Island in fog, resulting in the loss of six of his eleven crew members and a grueling twelve-hour wait for rescue.Later, he flew missions in the Mediterranean, enduring heavy enemy fire to support Allied troops in Crete. Returning to the Atlantic, his crew successfully engaged a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor.In 1942, Vic returned to Australia, serving with 20 and 40 Squadrons RAAF, flying various aircraft including the Catalina and Dornier Do 24. His missions ranged from supply drops and minelaying to bombing and reconnaissance. This is Vic’s remarkable story, told in his own words for the first time.

In the shadows of war, their voices resonate: Australian veterans' tales In "Never Forgotten," Vietnam Veteran Dave Morgan explores the often-overlooked sacrifices of Australian military personnel. Inspired by his own experiences, Dave embarks on a journey to capture the diverse narrative spanning generations and conflicts, from Vietnam to Somalia and Afghanistan. Through meticulous research, he uncovers untold stories, from talented athletes like Ian Anderson, Kevin Sheedy, to pioneering female veterans like Stephanie Shipman. The book weaves together tales of camaraderie and resilience, from heartwarming reunions to the loss of friends . "Never Forgotten" serves as a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made by those who serve, ensuring their voices resonate for future generations. These accounts offer a mosaic of bravery and resilience and through these stories, readers gain a deeper understanding of the profound impact of military service on individuals and communities, highlighting the importance of preserving these invaluable narratives.

Operation Pimento On 14 August 1943, Adam Hart's great-grandfather Frank Griffiths took off from RAF Tempsford, the SOE 'Special Duties' airbase in rural England. Frank and his crew were on a secret midnight mission codenamed Operation Pimento, but they were shot down near Annecy in southeast France.Only Frank survived.Though seriously injured, Frank felt it was his duty to get back to England to continue the fight against the Nazis. He embarked on a perilous, 1,200-mile, 108-day escape across Europe, via the attic of a brothel, a Frenchwoman's chimney and a Spanish prison cell. Seventy-nine years later, Frank's 22-year-old great-grandson Adam Hart retraced the epic escape through France, Switzerland and Spain. His emotional encounters with descendants of people who'd risked their lives to help his great-grandfather reveal the enduring legacy of Operation Pimento and how we should never forget their sacrifice.Operation Pimento is not only a riveting true story, but also a vivid account of one young man's journey to discover more about a man he'd never met, but always knew to be a hero.

Same River, Twice: Putin's War On WomenBlending the journalistic rigor of Masha Gessen with the call to action of We Should All Be Feminists, a startling denunciation of Vladimir Putin's war on women that reveals how modern Russia's history of weaponizing sexual violence against women is part of the Russian leader's strategy to retain political influence and domination.On March 22, 2023, the Swedish Academy organized a conference on threats to freedom of expression and democracy, featuring a roster of stellar speakers, including Arundhati Roy, Timothy Snyder, and Sofi Oksanen. Oksanen's address-“Putin's War on Women”-generated such interest that the acclaimed Finnish writer used it as the basis for a larger, in-depth look at Putin's threat to women. The result is Same River, Twice, a devastating expose that builds on the themes and arguments introduced in Oksanen's urgent and incisive speech.During the Soviet occupation of Estonia, Oksanen's great aunt was arrested and brutally interrogated-a terrifying experience that permanently traumatized her, leaving her silent for the rest of her life. Same River, Twice uses this family story to illustrate the systematic crimes perpetrated by Russian soldiers and the Russian government for nearly a century. From the Russian military's entry into Berlin in 1945 to its modern invasion of Ukraine, Russia has continually employed violence against women when fighting its enemies-including using rape as an instrument of war. But as Oksanen reveals, such violence has never before been used on such a widespread scale. Life for women in Putin's Russia is little better; gender equality is in decline, women are silenced by the legal system, and rape is used to humiliate victims, especially women in media.Oksanen's sober analysis exposes how, under Putin, genocide and misogyny are inextricably linked: misogyny undergirds Russia's international alliances, threatening the rights of women and minorities worldwide. As Oksanen ominously reminds us, “In Ukraine, sexual violence is an integral part of genocide. In domestic politics, misogyny is a tool used by the Kremlin to prevent women from rising to power. In international politics, it is a tool of Russian imperialism.”As the threats to democracy grow stronger around the globe, this powerful and timely book is a warning that must not be ignored.Translated from the Finnish by Owen F. Witesman

With the Australian troops crossing of the Kumusi River in mid-November 1942, after pushing the Japanese back along the Kokoda Track to the north coast of Papua New Guinea, the time had come to face the entrenched Japanese at their beachhead at Gona, Buna and Sanananda. The end of the Kokoda Campaign in mid-November 1942 marked a turning point for the Australians, but the fighting was far from over. Within days, the battles for the Japanese beachheads would commence. The fighting for the Japanese beachheads was among the fiercest of the whole Pacific War and the first combined large-scale operation between Australian and American troops against the Japanese. By the 3rd January 1943 the Japanese beachheads at Gona and Buna were finally in Australian and American hands after almost two months of desperate fighting. One beachhead, however, remained to be taken, the best defended, not only in terms of its deep defence and network of supporting bunkers and slit trenches, but also by its large deep swamps and jungle. Hundreds of men had already been killed - Australian and American - in trying to take Sanananda. It was recognised that this beachhead was the worst of the three battlefields. Isolated pockets of Australians and Americans confronted well dug in and camouflaged positions, often on small 'islands' in the fetid and crocodile infested swamps. It would be another three weeks before Sanananda fell to the Australian and American forces. It was appropriately described by Sergeant Bill Spencer, 2/9th Battalion as: 'A bastard of a place'.