First World War History

Uncovering and examining beliefs, practices, and contemporary opinions regarding the role of the supernatural in the war years, Owen Davies explores the broader issues regarding early 20th-century society in the West, the psychology of the supernatural during wartime, and the extent to which the war cast a spotlight on the widespread continuation of popular belief in magic.

An award-winning historian charts Hitler's radical transformation after World War I from a directionless loner into a powerful National Socialist leader In Becoming Hitler, award-winning historian Thomas Weber examines Adolf Hitler's time in Munich between 1918 and 1926, the years when Hitler...

When World War II broke out in Europe, the American army had no specialized division of mountain soldiers. But in the winter of 1939-40, after a tiny band of Finnish mountain troops brought the invading Soviet army to its knees, an amateur skier named Charles Minot “Minnie” Dole convinced the United States Army to let him recruit an extraordinary assortment of European expatriates, wealthy ski bums, mountaineers, and thrill-seekers and form them into a unique band of Alpine soldiers.

One of the New York Times's 100 Notable Books of 2016 One of NPR's 10 Best Books of 2016 "Heartachingly relevant...the Eleanor Roosevelt who inhabits these meticulously crafted pages transcends both first-lady history and the marriage around which Roosevelt scholarship has traditionally pivoted...

If the Wright brothers' 1903 flights in Kitty Hawk marked the birth of aviation, World War I can be called its violent adolescence - a brief but bloody era that completely changed the way planes were designed, fabricated, and flown. The war forged an industry that would redefine transportation and warfare for future generations.

Discover a fascinating look into the lives of six historic trailblazers in this World War II-era story of the American women who programmed the world's first modern computer. After the end of World War II, the race for technological supremacy sped on. Top-secret research into ballistics and...

Storming the Gap: First Strike reveals the explosive origins of the Third World War and delves into the opening salvos of the conflict between NATO and the Warsaw Pact in a world where the Cold War turns hot in 1985. This epic story is told from a range of viewpoints - through the eyes of the decision-makers in Washington as well as the tankers and infantry fighting through hills and towns of southern Germany.

From the coauthor of the New York Times bestselling The Shape of Water comes the “utterly riveting” (Entertainment Weekly) tale of a murdered teen who is resurrected to walk the earth for more than a century. May 7, 1896. Dusk. A swaggering seventeen-year-old gangster named Zebulon Finch is...

A toy soldier. A butter dish. A compass. Mundane objects, perhaps, but to the remarkable authors in this collection, artifacts such as these have inspired stories that go to the heart of the human experience of World War I. Each author was invited to choose an object that had a connection to the war - a writing kit for David Almond, a helmet for Michael Morpurgo - and use it as the inspiration for an original short story.

In The OSS: America’s First Spy Agency, acclaimed historian Cyril Marlen peels back the curtain on the secret missions, eccentric characters, and dangerous innovations that defined the OSS’s short but seismic existence. From hidden radios tucked into shaving kits to jungle warfare in Burma, from psychological propaganda campaigns to midnight parachute drops into Nazi territory, this is the untold story of America’s first experiment with shadow war—and the people bold enough to carry it out.

A century later, the Western Front still speaks—through sodden earth, shattered timber, and the letters of ordinary men who endured the unendurable. Mud, Blood, and Silence is a visceral, human-scale portrait of trench life in the First World War, told not through grand strategy or shifting front lines, but through the cramped inches where millions lived, fought, and waited. It is the story of mud that swallowed boots and hope, blood that seeped into the chalky soil of France and Belgium, and the terrible, watchful silence between bombardments when every heartbeat felt like a countdown.

The World War II era produced many leaders of titanic determination, men whose strengths and weaknesses left an extraordinary imprint on historical affairs. Josip Broz Tito, better known to history as Marshal Tito, was undoubtedly one of these figures. Originally a machinist, Tito leveraged his success in the Communist Party of Yugoslavia (CPY) and a number of extraordinary strokes of luck into dictatorial rule over Yugoslavia for a span of 35 years. World War II proved the watershed that enabled him to secure control of the country.

Welcome to World War I, formerly known as the “Great War”, where men fought and died in trenches and did whatever they could to avoid chemical weapon attacks. You may have read a few things about World War One or remember some things from your history classes, but this book is here to help fill in the blanks. Get ready to learn all about World War One, from the ideologies and complex geo-political alliances that led to war, to how average soldiers tried to deal with life in the trenches.

This compelling addition to the What Was? series covers what was supposed to be “the war to end all wars” but tragically wasn't. In 1914, the assassination of an Austrian archduke set off a disastrous four-year-long conflict involving dozens of countries with battles taking place in all...

Hamilton McWhorter III's service to family and country make him a standout among America's Greatest Generation. A Georgia native whose family roots date from that region's settlement during the 1700s, McWhorter was a naval aviation cadet undergoing training when Pearl Harbor was attacked by Japan on December 7, 1941. After earning his Wings of Gold in early 1942, Ensign McWhorter was trained as a fighter pilot in the robust but technologically outmoded F4F Wildcat. Initially assigned to VF-9, he saw first combat in November 1942 against Vichy French forces in North Africa.

This is the story of how America's first women soldiers helped win World War I, earned the vote, and fought the US Army. In 1918 the US Army Signal Corps sent 223 women to France. They were masters of the latest technology: the telephone switchboard. General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Forces, demanded female "wire experts" when he discovered that inexperienced doughboys were unable to keep him connected with troops under fire.

From Susan Orlean—acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Orchid Thief and The Library Book—Rin Tin Tin is “an unforgettable book about the mutual devotion between one man and one dog” (The Wall Street Journal). He believed the dog was immortal. So begins Susan Orlean’s...

En este libro aprenderás todo sobre la Primera Guerra Mundial: por qué ocurrió, quiénes participaron, cómo y dónde se libró, las batallas y los personajes más importantes, los avances tecnológicos y cómo la guerra moldeó el mundo para las generaciones futuras.

The "stirring," definitive history of America's decisive role in winning World War I (Wall Street Journal). The American contribution to World War I is one of the great stories of the twentieth century, and yet it has all but vanished from view. Historians have dismissed the American war effort...

Discover the key battles, tactics, technologies and turning points of the First World War - the epic conflict that was supposed to be "the war to end all wars". With authoritative, exciting text, The World War I Book explores the historical background to the war, its causes, all of key events...