European History

Britain, in common with other colonial powers, established and controlled her empire from the seas. In defending this realm, the gunboat was developed to preserve secure trading conditions and operate...

Cambrai was the last battle fought by the British on the Western Front in 1917. With Russia out of the war, Italy on the brink of collapse and the French...

A grand tale of heroic failure during the Dieppe raid of 1942, grippingly told by the bestselling author of Bomber Boys On the warm night of 18 August 1942, a...

A gripping, vivid account of Italy's disastrous experience of the Second World War While staying closely aligned with Hitler, Mussolini remained carefully neutral until the summer of 1940. Then, with...

The true story, told minute by minute, of the soldiers who defeated Napoleon Europe had been at war for over twenty years. After a short respite in exile, Napoleon had...

To read this extraordinary book is to gain a unique insight into the compelling nature of organized, industrialized violence. Michael Hofmann's superlative translation retains all the coruscating vitality of the...

Geoffrey Hosking has been one of the foremost historians of Russia and her Empire for more than twenty years. He traces Russia's history from the settlement of Kiev through to...

A gripping chronicle of the personal and political rivalries from the birth of Queen Victoria to the unification of Germany during the decades leading up to WW1 from Pulitzer Prize...

Born in 1904, von Mellenthin joined the Seventh Cavalry Regiment in 1924. In 1935, he began his general staff training and in 1939 was an intelligence officer. By the end...

From interviews with his numerous contacts among the coalition forces stationed in Afghanistan, Mike Ryan has done what journalists have so far been unable to do. Battlefield Afghanistan is the...

Based on huge research and scores of interviews, this book offers an unforgettable and richly illustrated narrative of the military action that took place in Moscow during 1941; telling portraits...

'Superbly written and gripping ' Daily Express The thrilling true account of Hitler's first defeat. In the summer of 1940, the Nazi war machine was at its zenith. France, Denmark,...

'As a sniper, I've killed more than a few Nazis. I have a passion for observing enemy behaviour. You watch a Nazi officer come out of a bunker, acting all...

A heavily illustrated journey through the first decade of the 20th century, the first in a series of 10 books outlining the key events of the century by best-selling author...

Soviet bombers played a vital role in defeating the Germans on the Eastern Front, yet their contribution is often forgotten. This graphic memoir should help to set the record straight....

This book is a chronology of the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich and the famous victory drive of the Seventh Army. It starts at the Worms' Rhine bridgehead...

Minute-by-minute eyewitness accounts of 'Britain's finest hour' Trafalgar set the seal on British naval supremacy, the most strategically significant victory in the age of sail. It was also one of...

The year the once all-conquering German army was finally defeated. By the summer of 1944, Germany was in crisis. The Allied landings had forced another battle arena upon an army...

At first, gunner Clarence Smoyer and his fellow crewmen in the legendary 3rd Armored Division - 'Spearhead' - thought their tanks were invincible. Then they met the German Panther, with...

From the bestselling author of The Templars . 'Voyages, battles, sieges and slaughter: Dan Jones's tumultuous and thrilling history of the crusades is one of the best' SUNDAY TIMES ....

What was it like to command a T-34 tank on the Eastern Front during the Second World War? How were tank operations organized and carried out, what was the actual...

Drawing on a wealth of first-hand accounts, some of which were previously unknown, it weaves a highly original narrative, which intertwines original research, into a fast-paced account of the fighting....

The men and women of the 'Y' (for Wireless') Service were sent out across the world to run listening stations from Gibraltar to Cairo, intercepting the German military's encrypted messages...

HMAS Sydney's hunt for the German raider, Emden. HMAS Sydney's hunt for the German raider, Emden. When the ships of the new Royal Australian Navy made their grand entry into...

During the Second World War, it is hard to imagine a situation where the British High Command could think that one of the only ways they could attack Hitler was...

'I loved it . . . Unputdownable' MICK HERRON ' Like Daphne du Maurier he sustains the ambiguity deftly and deliciously' SUNDAY TIMES 'Mysterious, suspenseful and suffused with paranoia' ALEX...

R.C. Sherriff, author of Journey's End, the most famous play of the Great War, saw all his frontline service with the 9th Battalion East Surrey Regiment. This intense experience profoundly...

The extraordinary and compelling story of the 6th of June, 1944, and the Battle for Normandy is told here through first-hand testimonies from civilians and soldiers on both sides. It...

The Second World War was entering its darkest period when Allied intelligence revealed there were new horrors in store and this time they were targeting civilians on home soil, no...

During the Second World War, it is hard to imagine a situation where the British High Command could think that one of the only ways they could attack Hitler was...

With the same drama and excitement of the first book, Franz Kurowski relates the combat careers of six more decorated German Panzer officers. Extensively researched, these gripping accounts follow the...

5th July 1943: the greatest land battle of all time began around the town of Kursk in Russia. This epic confrontation between German and Soviet forces was one of the...

In September 1944, the river Rhine was a serious barrier to the advancing Allied armies in the West who were intent on charging Berlin and ending the war. Field Marshal...

Like its acclaimed predecessors, RESTORATION LONDON and DR. JOHNSON'S LONDON, this book is the result of the author's passionate interest in the practical details of everyday life - and the...

"After the fall of France to the German army in May 1940, Hitler set his sights on the invasion of Britain. Within weeks he had a vast battle fleet ranged...

The Special Operations Executive (SOE), also known as 'Churchill's Secret Army' or the 'Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare', was born from Churchill's vision 'to set Europe ablaze'. It was formed to...

On March 21, 1918 the German Army launched a massive offensive on the Western Front in a last desperate attempt to score a decisive victory. The results were spectacular. They...

The Gunpower Plot of 1605 is one of the most commemorated events in English history. Yet this astonishing episode remains shrouded in mystery and the subject of passionate argument. The...

Based on research conducted at archives in Eastern Europe, this account includes both the recorded truth and the legend that has grown up around her. Tony Thorne is the author...

A fascinating account of the pivotal event of World War II, told through the experiences of the German and Russian soldiers who fought in the battle. Features rare photographs of...

Charles de Gaulle called it "fatal avenue". He was referring to that broad sweep of low-lying country stretching from the Channel coast of Normandy in the west to the valley...

Following the acclaimed Frontiers, Noel Mostert?s new book chronicles the first true 'world war?. This was to be the longest, hardest and cruellest war ever fought at sea - on...

No part of the Great War compares in interest with its opening , wrote Churchill. The measured, silent drawing together of gigantic forces, the uncertainty of their movements and positions,...

Was the Battle of Hastings a French victory? Non! William the Conqueror was Norman and hated the French. Were the Brits really responsible for the death of Joan of Arc?...

Drawing on extensive new research from around the world, this is the first narrative history of the Battle of Britain to provide a complete picture of that fateful summer of...

In the spring of 1453, the Ottoman Turks advanced on Constantinople in pursuit of an ancient Islamic dream: capturing the thousand-year-old capital of Christian Byzantium. During the siege that followed,...

In 1942, Lieutenant-Commander Ian Fleming was personal assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence - the dynamic figure behind James Bond's fictional chief, 'M'. Here, Fleming had a brilliant idea:...

WITNESS TO WAR is an eye-opening retelling of the war experience through the private diaries kept by people from all walks of life and from many countries. The twentieth century's...