Ever since the Nazis came to power, violence has spread through the city Esther Spielmann once called home. Each night she prays her family will be spared. But when her husband and father are murdered alongside fellow Jews during Kristallnacht, she has no choice but to send her beloved son, Sascha, to safety. Esther’s heart […]
Kindertransport and other responses to the WWII refugee crisis
The Kindertransport rescue programme was a huge achievement — yet it wasn’t a complete success. Catherine Hokin writes about this and other responses to the refugee crisis before and during the Second World War. “When a country crosses all the lines, the person should be able to cross just one border.” Lyeb Kvitko. One of […]
Review: The Mare by Angharad Hampshire
Carolyn Kirby reviews The Mare by Angharad Hampshire, an “astonishingly good” debut novel which tells the true story of the first woman to be extradited from the United States for Nazi war crimes. What would you do if you discovered someone you loved had taken part in genocide? This question faces Russell Ryan, a mild-mannered […]
Christmas reading 2024 – top historical books to give or to treat yourself to
We asked eight much-loved authors to each recommend a couple of historical books for Christmas 2024 to give, receive, or treat yourself to — fiction and non-fiction. There are ideas for history-loving children and teens as well. We hope these suggestions help to inspire your Christmas reading. Sharon Bennett Connolly For fiction, it has to […]
The Liberation of Strasbourg 1944 by Paul StJohn Mackintosh
The occupation and liberation of Strasbourg was described by de Gaulle as ‘one of the most brilliant episodes in our military history’, yet is overshadowed outside France by the Battle of the Bulge. France’s equivalent to Douglas MacArthur’s oath, ‘I shall return,’ General Philippe Leclerc’s Oath of Kufra ‘not to lay down our arms until […]
Blood Sacrifice by Douglas Jackson
January 1943. Warsaw is a city of the dead. In the ghetto, the last 50,000 Jews await their fate but, unlike those who preceded them to the death camps, they are prepared to fight to the end. Jan Kalisz, Kripo investigator and Resistance double-agent, has promised to supply them with weapons. But how will he […]
Living in the minds of monsters
Many historical writers come across horrific events from the past during their research, and have to, however temporarily, see the world though the eyes of the perpetrators of atrocities. Douglas Jackson, author of Blood Sacrifice, writes about the mental cost of living in the minds of monsters. I recently came across a quote from a […]
The liberation of Naples in 1943 – and its dire consequences
When the Allies liberated Naples in 1943 they though it would be a paradise, Keith Lowe writes. But for the devastated city, there were dire consequences, in part caused by the liberators. Naples is a city of dreams. When the Allies first arrived here at the end of 1943, they came with romantic notions of […]