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Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitlers Shadow – Susan Campbell Bartoletti

Filed under: History, Susan Campbell Bartoletti, WWII

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Hitler’s plans for the future of Germany relied significantly on its young people, and this excellent history shows how he attempted to carry out his mission with the establishment of the Hitler Youth, or Hitlerjugend, in 1926. With a focus on the years between 1933 and the end of the war in 1945, Bartoletti explains the roles that millions of boys and girls unwittingly played in the horrors of the Third Reich. The book is structured around 12 young individuals and their experiences, which clearly demonstrate how they were victims of leaders who took advantage of their innocence and enthusiasm for evil means. Their stories evolve from patriotic devotion to Hitler and zeal to join, to doubt, confusion, and disillusion. (An epilogue adds a powerful what-became-of-them relevance.) The large period photographs are a primary component and they include Nazi propaganda showing happy and healthy teens as well as the reality of concentration camps and young people with large guns. The final chapter superbly summarizes the weighty significance of this part of the 20th century and challenges young readers to prevent history from repeating itself. Bartoletti lets many of the subjects’ words, emotions, and deeds speak for themselves, bringing them together clearly to tell this story unlike anyone else has.
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Red Orchestra: The Story of the Berlin Underground and the Circle of Friends Who Resisted Hitler – Anne Nelson

Filed under: Anne Nelson, History, WWII

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In this inspiring account, noted journalist and playwright Nelson documents the wartime journey of Greta Kuckhoff, a young German, and her valiant colleagues who formed a potent resistance to the Hitler regime in its glory days. When Kuckhoff returned home from America in 1929 after university study, she joined with a band of young Communists, leftist Jews and other German antifascists to thwart the rise of Hitler at the risk of torture and death. Nelson explains in telling detail about the Nazis’ tight grip on power after the 1933 Reichstag fire, eliminating all political foes, including Jews and other non-Aryan types, yet the Kuckhoffs, Mildred and Avrid Harnack, and other members of the Red Orchestra (Rote Kapelle) fought fascist censorship, slid their people into Nazi ministries, helped Jews to flee and provided the Allies with vital information to aid the war effort. Nelson’s riveting book speaks proudly of Greta, Mildred and all of the nearly three million Germans who resisted Hitler’s iron will, and gives the reader a somber view of hell from the inside.
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A Special Mission: Hitler’s Secret Plot to Seize the Vatican & Kidnap Pope Pius XII – Dan Kurzman

Filed under: Dan Kurzman, History, WWII

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In September 1943, Adolf Hitler, furious at the ouster of Mussolini, sent German troops into Rome and ordered SS General Karl Wolff, who had been Heinrich Himmler’s chief aide, to occupy the Vatican and kidnap (and, perhaps, kill) Pope Pius XII. At the same time, plans were being made to deport Rome’s Jews to Auschwitz. Wolff began playing a dangerous game: stalling Hitler’s plot against the pope, whom he hoped would save him from the noose in case Germany lost the war. To save Pius, Wolff and fellow conspirators blackmailed him into silence when the Jews were rounded up, hoping that Hitler would rescind his order. In 1943 Hitler attempted to kidnap Pope Pius XII so the Germans could occupy the Vatican. The Nazis were also planning to deport the Roman Jews to Auschwitz. SS General Karl Wolff, Heinrich Himmler’s chief aide, was charged with carrying out these orders. George Wilson reads this WWII history in an even and engaged tone, effortlessly recounting each action of the convoluted plot, which Kurzman researched, in part using primary sources. The result is unexpected international intrigue as Wolff attempts to forestall both the kidnapping and the mass deportation while the Vatican tries to reign in the Reich’s growing power through political and religious edicts.
Unabridged
Read by George K. Wilson
Number of parts: 8
Duration: 9 hours, 7 minutes
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Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel: The Gun That Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It

Filed under: History

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Keller, a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, analyzes the nexus between invention and culture in this incisive and instructive cultural history cum biography. Her subject is the iconic Gatling gun, the first successful machine gun, and its inventor, Richard Jordan Gatling, a 19th-century tinkerer and entrepreneur. A gifted amateur inventor, he registered his first patent—for a mechanical seed planter—in 1844 and had 43 lifetime patents. In 1862, with the Civil War raging, Gatling invented a six-barrel, rapid-firing (200 rounds per minute) gun based on his seed planter. Initially rejected by the Union army, the gun finally came into use in 1866 as a bully and enforcer against striking workers and in the Indian Wars; its legacy—the mechanization of death—didn’t become fully apparent until the killing fields of WWI. A celebrity in the 19th century, Gatling was soon reviled for his terrible marvel and then consigned to obscurity. Keller rescues Gatling and anchors his remarkable life firmly in the landscape of 19th-century America: a time and place of egalitarian hope and infinite possibility.
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The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians – J.B Bury

Filed under: History, J.B Bury

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In print for more than thirty years, this book has long served as a standard text on the Germanic penetration of the Roman Empire. Bury’s history is indispensable to anyone who seeks to understand the connection between the barbarian migrations of the third to the ninth century and the framework of modern Europe.
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Fire in the East (Warrior of Rome I) – Harry Sidebottom

Filed under: Harry Sidebottom, History

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AD 255 – the Roman Imperium is stretched to breaking point, its authority and might challenged throughout the territories and along every border. Yet the most lethal threat lurks far to the east in Persia, where the massing forces of the Sassanid Empire loom with fiery menace. The far-flung and isolated citadel of Arete faces out across the wasteland, awaiting the inevitable invasion. One man is sent to marshall the defences of this lonely city – one man to shore up the crumbling walls of a once indomitable symbol of Roman power – a man whose name itself means war, a man called Ballista. Alone, Ballista is called to muster the forces and the courage to stand first and to stand hard against the greatest enemy ever to confront the Imperium. In the bestselling tradition of Bernard Cornwell and Conn Iggulden, comes a block-busting voice in historical adventure fiction.
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Helen of Troy – Margaret George

Filed under: History, Margaret George

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he author’s research into Mycenaean culture, coupled with Trojan War mythology’s larger-than-life heroes, enliven a bold story pulsing with romance and sacrifice, omens and battles. Helen’s noble Spartan parents try to defy the fates when a seer foretells the tragedy Helen and her legendary beauty will cause, but, as the myth of Helen demonstrates, destiny cannot be altered. Helen’s years of seclusion in Sparta lead to a frigid marriage to Menelaus before she connects with Paris, the Trojan prince with whom she forges an inextricable bond. Barely into her 20s, Helen escapes with Paris to Troy, but finds the Trojan royals welcome her with less than open arms. The mythic war, which, in less capable hands, might be over-romanticized, is portrayed with an enthusiasm that rings true to the period without verging on stagy—no small feat when dealing with such a sweeping conflict. George’s extraordinary storytelling abilities shine in her portrayal of Helen as both a conflicted woman who abandoned her homeland and child for true love, and as a legendary figure whose beauty and personal choices had epic consequences.
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With Wings Like Eagles: A History of the Battle of Britain – Michael Korda

Filed under: History, Michael Korda

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It was the most intense and critical struggle of World War II, the outcome of which would mean freedom or Nazi domination of Europe. Fought by a handful of young men, some as young as 18, it was the Battle of Britain, and in this lively and stirring history, acclaimed author Michael Korda, who served in the RAF himself, tells the complete story, witnessed through the tales of pilots, ground crews, and commanders on both sides. Korda sets the battle against the political happenings of 1930s Europe and introduces the visionary engineers and scientists in Germany and Britain whose aircraft and stunning innovations-like radar-would be used with dramatic results. He also explores the political struggle behind the battle. As the British Army evacuated from Dunkirk and France fell to the Germans, Korda shows how Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding fought to prevent Prime Minister Winston Churchill from sending additional fighters to France, where Dowding knew they would be lost – perhaps the single most critical moment in British political history and the pivotal moment of the war. ‘Korda’s natural talent and experience as a storyteller has enabled him to bind all the disparate and sometimes conflicting episodes into a gripping story. A formidable job, beautifully completed.’ Len Deighton author of Fighter and Bomber. Michael is the former editor-in-chief of Simon and Schuster.
Read by John Lee
9 hours 25 mins
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America Empire Of Liberty – Audio History

Filed under: America, BBC Radio, History


America, Empire Of Liberty – Audio History – BBC Radio 4 via DVB-T
90 x 15 minute episodes – 128Kbps – Mp3 – Slimoo
Marking a momentous period in American history, Radio 4 charts the development of the United States, exploring three key themes: Empire, Liberty and Faith.
David Reynolds is the Professor of International History at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Christ’s College.
David is a regular visitor to the United States and has held visiting university appointments at Harvard, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
‘America: Empire of Liberty’ won the Voice of the Listener & Viewer Award for the Best New Radio Programme of 2008 and was nominated for a SONY Radio Academy Award.
America, Empire Of Liberty – 001 – Lost Civilisations
America, Empire Of Liberty – 002 – Columbus – Bearer Of Death
America, Empire Of Liberty – 003 – Borderlands Of The Spanish Superpower
America, Empire Of Liberty – 004 – New France Astride America’s Heartland
America, Empire Of Liberty – 005 – English Planters
America, Empire Of Liberty – 006 – Faith And Freedom In New England
America, Empire Of Liberty – 007 – The Middle Colonies & The Melting Pot
America, Empire Of Liberty – 008 – Awakenings And Nightmares
America, Empire Of Liberty – 009 – The Battle For Empire
America, Empire Of Liberty – 010 – Taxes, Tea And Rights
America, Empire Of Liberty – 011 – Declaring Independence
America, Empire Of Liberty – 012 – Winning Independence
America, Empire Of Liberty – 013 – ‘To Form A More Perfect Union’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 014 – Making The Republic Work
America, Empire Of Liberty – 015 – Founding A Capital
America, Empire Of Liberty – 016 – War And Terror
America, Empire Of Liberty – 017 – ‘Remember The Ladies’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 018 – Jefferson’s Western Empire
America, Empire Of Liberty – 019 – Victims Of Liberty
America, Empire Of Liberty – 020 – The Second War Of Independence
America, Empire Of Liberty – 021 – ‘For Jackson & Democracy’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 022 – A Christian Republic
America, Empire Of Liberty – 023 – The Indian ‘Trail Of Tears’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 024 – Frontier Values
America, Empire Of Liberty – 025 – ‘Let Us Conquer Space’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 026 – The ‘Arsenic’ Of Mexico
America, Empire Of Liberty – 027 – Gold, God And The ‘Little Giant’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 028 – ‘Paddies’, Papists & Demon Drink
America, Empire Of Liberty – 029 – Slaves, Masters And The ‘Slave Power’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 030 – ‘A House Divided’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 031 – The 90 Day War
America, Empire Of Liberty – 032 – The Killers Take Command
America, Empire Of Liberty – 033 – ‘Forever Free’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 034 – ‘A New Nation’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 035 – War Behind The Battle Lines
America, Empire Of Liberty – 036 – The Passing Of The Dead
America, Empire Of Liberty – 037 – Dead States, New Birth
America, Empire Of Liberty – 038 – Reunion But Not Reconstruction
America, Empire Of Liberty – 039 – ‘New South’, Old Ways
America, Empire Of Liberty – 040 – War And Memory
America, Empire Of Liberty – 041 – Big Business
America, Empire Of Liberty – 042 – Made In America
America, Empire Of Liberty – 043 – The Cities: America’s Pride And Shame
America, Empire Of Liberty – 044 – The Farmers And Workers Revolt
America, Empire Of Liberty – 045 – Huddled Masses, Savage Hordes
America, Empire Of Liberty – 046 – Politics And Progress
America, Empire Of Liberty – 047 – Roosevelt And Reform
America, Empire Of Liberty – 048 – ‘The Taste of Empire’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 049 – The Wild West
America, Empire Of Liberty – 050 – Fun and God
America, Empire Of Liberty – 051 – ‘Too Proud To Fight’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 052 – A World ‘Safe For Democracy’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 053 – The Lost Peace
America, Empire Of Liberty – 054 – One Hundred Percent American
America, Empire Of Liberty – 055 – The Jazz Age Hits Main Street
America, Empire Of Liberty – 056 – From Boom To Bust
America, Empire Of Liberty – 057 – New Deal
America, Empire Of Liberty – 058 – ‘A War For The Survival Of Democracy’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 059 – Floundering Into War
America, Empire Of Liberty – 060 – ‘A Hell Of A War’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 061 – From World War To Cold War
America, Empire Of Liberty – 062 – A World Half-Slave, Half-Free
America, Empire Of Liberty – 063 – The Suburban Republic
America, Empire Of Liberty – 064 – The Cold War Turns Hot
America, Empire Of Liberty – 065 – Defended To Death
America, Empire Of Liberty – 066 – The Back Of The Bus
America, Empire Of Liberty – 067 – And We Shall Overcome
America, Empire Of Liberty – 068 – Black Power
America, Empire Of Liberty – 069 – Women’s Liberation
America, Empire Of Liberty – 070 – The ‘War On Poverty’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 071 – Cuba – That Four Letter Word
America, Empire Of Liberty – 072 – Vietnam – The Battleground Of Freedom
America, Empire Of Liberty – 073 – 1968 – Paralysis Of A President
America, Empire Of Liberty – 074 – Vietnam – ‘Peace With Honour’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 075 – Watergate And The Imperial Presidency
America, Empire Of Liberty – 076 – America In Retreat
America, Empire Of Liberty – 077 – A Constitutional Abortion
America, Empire Of Liberty – 078 – The ‘Silent Majority’ Finds Its Voice
America, Empire Of Liberty – 079 – Putting God Back Into Politics
America, Empire Of Liberty – 080 – Keeping Faith
America, Empire Of Liberty – 081 – The Acting President
America, Empire Of Liberty – 082 – Reagan And The ‘Evil Empire’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 083 – The Information Revolution
America, Empire Of Liberty – 084 – The Information Revolution
America, Empire Of Liberty – 085 – ‘A New World Order’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 086 – Sole Superpower, Edgy Americans
America, Empire Of Liberty – 087 – Multiculturalism Or Disintegration?
America, Empire Of Liberty – 088 – ‘America Is Under Attack’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 089 – Iraq And The ‘Axis Of Evil’
America, Empire Of Liberty – 090 – ‘To Shape An Uncertain Destiny’
Audio Format : MP3
Duration : 14mn 1s
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 128 Kbps
Channel(s) : 2 channels
Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz
Resolution : 16 bits
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The Battle for Spain: The Spanish Civil War 1936-1939 – Antony Beevor

Filed under: Antony Beevor, History

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When the first version of this book was published in 1982 under the title, The Spanish Civil War, Gerald Brenan described it as ‘by a long way the best, and fairest and the most accurate book upon it’. Over the intervening years, a huge amount of new material has appeared in Spain and from documents finally emerging from Russian, German and other archives. Antony Beevor’s Spanish publisher persuaded him that the time was right, with the approach of the war’s seventieth anniversary, to rewrite the book, taking advantage of the new information and reinforcing it with new research. The Spanish edition, published in September, 2005, ran to over 900 pages, and received a [adjective to be chosen later depending on the outcome!!] reception in Spain as the first major history of the subject for the 21st Century. This version, incorporating still more detail from foreign archives, is necessarily condensed for British and overseas markets. The Spanish Civil War, even after all these years, remains one of the most passionately debated conflicts of modern times. Many see it as the opening round of the Second World War and almost a world war by proxy, with Nazi, Fasist and Soviet intervention. Some supporters of the Republic still believe that a victory of the left in Spain would have defeated fascism and saved Europe from the horrors to come. Nationalists, on the other hand, argue that the civil war was in fact the opening round of the Cold War between western civilisation and Soviet dictatorship. This book charts not only the course of the war in a fresh light, but illuminates the vicious infighting on both sides. The hopes and fears of a whole generation foundered in disillusionment and despair at the cruel war which destroyed the Spanish Republic. From reviews of the original work ‘It is a rare book which cannot be supplemented, and Antony Beevor writes with insight, skill and an admirably pithy style both in narrative and characterisation.’ John Keegan in The Sunday Times. ‘Bold, clean driving narrative.’ The Times Literary Supplement. ‘Lucid, expert and even-handed.’ The Economist. Antony Beevor served as a regular officer in the 11th Hussars in Germany. STALINGRAD and BERLIN: THE DOWNFALL have been translated into 25 languages and won a plethora of the major prizes. His latest work, A WRITER AT WAR – VASILY GROSSMAN WITH THE RED ARMY 1941-1945, is an edition, with his Russian researcher, Dr Luba Vinogradova, of Grossman’s wartime notebooks. A fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et Lettres in France, Beevor has been chairman of Society of Authors; he is a visiting professor at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is married to the writer Artemis Cooper.
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