It’s Autumn, 1943, and fighter pilot Jox McNabb is back in command of No. 333 Squadron, the Black Pigs. On the ground, the Salerno landings are bogged down and the enemy’s ‘miracle weapons’ are taking a terrible toll. Allied over-confidence is exposed, as one disaster follows the next in a land which appears perfectly designed […]
How Ian Fleming’s secret war work inspired James Bond
Ian Fleming’s work for Naval Intelligence during the Second World War still remains largely secret. Alan Bardos investigates what we do know about it and how it inspired the James Bond books — and Alan’s own latest spy thriller, Hunter Class. It was often quipped in the gentlemen’s clubs of Piccadilly that Ian Fleming did […]
Annie’s Day by Apple Gidley
As a young Australian Army nurse, Annie endures the brutalities of World War II in Singapore and New Guinea. Later, seeking peace, she takes refuge in Berlin — only to find herself caught in the upheaval of the Blockade. Through it all, the death of a man she barely knew leaves a wound that refuses […]
Hunter Class by Alan Bardos
July 1943, and Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, is under way. Lieutenant Daniel Nichols has been recruited by Ian Fleming into 30 Commando, a specialist unit that goes in ahead of the main assault to capture top secret enemy material. Nichols discovers evidence of a secret which could change the course of the conflict. […]
Barvick Falls by Rob McInroy
September 1939, and war is declared. For Bob and Annie Kelty, life will never be the same again, not least because they are forced to foster 12-year-old Ellen Laing, an evacuee from Finnieston in Glasgow. Amid growing tensions between the Glasgow evacuees and the residents of the sleepy village of Crieff, the feisty and quick-tempered […]
Naples 1944 by Keith Lowe
The Second World War destroyed countless cities in Europe and Asia. This is the story of the first major European city to be liberated by the Allies. The book describes not only what happened to Naples when the scourge of war lashed down upon it, but also, crucially, what happened next. This is the first […]
A Dark and Deadly Journey by Julia Kelly
After being sidelined for a pesky gunshot wound, typist-turned-field agent Evelyne Redfern is ready for her next assignment with Britain’s secretive Special Investigations Unit. When a British Intelligence informant in Portugal mysteriously disappears just after hinting that he has vital information about German plans that could tip the balance of World War Two, Evelyne and […]
The Seeker of Lost Paintings by Sarah Freethy
Arriving in Rome in 1939 to work for the wealthy Montefalco family, Maddalena is homesick and alone. She finds solace – and love – in the beauty of the city, but as the war in Nazi-occupied Italy rages, she must make a devastating choice. In London, in 1997, after her mother Maddalena’s death, Beatrice Fremont […]