Horrido

Despite huge odds against them, Hitler’s commanders—the elite of the Wehrmacht—almost succeeded in conquering Europe. Now in an expanded edition that includes biographies of the generals of Stalingrad and a new chapter on the panzer commanders, this book offers rare insight into the men who ran Nazi Germany’s war machine. Going beyond common stereotypes, Samuel W. Mitcham and Gene Mueller recount the compelling lives of a varied group of army, navy, Luftwaffe, and SS men, including their early life, their military exploits during the war, and their post-war career, if any. Weaving in dramatic stories of tank commanders, fighter pilots in aerial combat, and U-Boat aces, the authors bring the battlefields of World War II to life.

There are some acts that can never truly be forgiven. It’s the height of WWII, and the Nazi forces are driving through Europe. Decorated German fighter pilot Hans Vogel follows orders and doesn’t ask questions. It’s worked out well for him…so far. But when his plane is shot down in the middle of an air raid over London, he is dead before he hits the ground. And that’s only the beginning of his problems. Sierra Barnes weaves a rich anti-fascist fairytale about the importance of recognizing past wrongs, even (especially) when it’s easier not to.

The author of The First Day on the Somme recounts Operation Hydra, the British bombing on a Nazi army research center during World War II. On the night of August 17-18, 1943, RAF Bomber Command attacked a remote research establishment on the German Baltic coast. The site was Peenemunde, where Hitler’s scientists were developing both the V-1 flying bomb and the V-2 rocket whose destructive powers could have swung the course of the war. The raid was meticulously planned, and hopes were high. But the night sky was so cloudless that the British bombers presented an easy target for German night fighters, and over 40 were lost. Martin Middlebrook draws on the memories of over 400 people involved in the dramatic events on that night: RAF and Luftwaffe aircrew, German personnel at the research site, and foreign laborers who had been forced to work there. The result is a truly compelling account of this hazardous attempt to disrupt Hitler’s V-weapons program.

‘This is the smoking gun of all your research.’ Professor Richard E. Holmes (18 February 2001). Birds of Prey is a microhistory of the Nazi occupation of Białowieźa Forest, Poland’s national park. The narrative stretches from Göring’s palatial lifestyle to the common soldier on the ground killing Jews, partisans, and civilians. Based entirely on previously unpublished sources, the book is the synthesis of six areas of research: Hitler’s Luftwaffe, the hunt and environmental history, military geography, Colonialism and Nazi Lebensraum, the Holocaust, and the war in the East. By weaving together a narrative about Hermann Göring, his inner circle, and ordinary soldiers, the book reveals the Nazi ambition to draw together East Prussia, the Bialystok region, and Ukraine into a common eastern frontier of the Greater German state, revealing how the Luftwaffe, the German hunt, and the state forestry were institutional perpetrators of Lebensraum and genocide. Up until now the Luftwaffe had not been identified in specific acts of genocide or placed at large scale killings of Jews, civilians, and partisans. This gap in the historical record had been facilitated by the destruction of the Luftwaffe’s records in 1945. Through a forensic and painstaking process of piecing together scraps of evidence over two decades, and utilizing Geographical Information System software, Philip W. Blood managed to decipher previously obscure reports and expose patterns of Nazi atrocities.

"Today's mission, Commander, is revenge. And may God have mercy on your soul." Even the ordinary sort of war is awful enough- people die, resources are wasted, and the survivors are scarred forever. But when unstoppable force comes up against an indomitable will to resist and the nukes begin to fly, well... Does war have a purpose? Or is it all just a meaningless blood-drenched spasm? When you're outfitted with thermonuclear weapons and you and your squadronmates are giving all you have just to stay alive in the same sky with the enemy, well... Perhaps that's not the best time and place to ask such deep questions. Yet when you're a seventeen-year-old naval officer who doesn't expect to survive another hour, how can you not ask?

This new volume from Martin Bowman examines the closing years of the Second World War, as the tide turned against the German and Axis forces. It includes riveting first-hand accounts from German fighter pilots caught up in some of the most dramatic night time conflicts of the latter war years.Viewing Bomber Command's operations through the eyes of the enemy, the reader is offered a fresh and intriguing perspective. Set in context by Bowman's historical narrative, these snippets of pilot testimony work to offer an authentic sense of the times at hand.

This myth-busting military biography reveals the true story of the legendary WWII German flying ace—and how his story was manipulated during the Cold War. Over the course of 1,404 wartime missions, Luftwaffe fighter pilot Erich Hartmann claimed a staggering 352 airborne kills. His storied career contains all the dramas you would expect: frostbitten fighter sweeps over the Eastern Front, drunken forays to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest, a decade of imprisonment in the wretched Soviet POW camps, and further military service during the Cold War. Then, just as Hartmann’s career was faltering, he was adopted by a network of writers and commentators deeply invested in his reputation. These men, mostly Americans, published celebratory stories about Hartmann and his elite fraternity of Luftwaffe pilots. With each dogfight tale put into print, Hartmann’s legacy became loftier and more secure, and his complicated service in support of Nazism faded away. Black Tulip digs beneath this one-dimensional account of Hartmann’s life, revealing a man who was neither a full-blown Nazi nor an impeccable knight.