Warfare & Defence

Pre-order the extraordinary, heartwarming autobiography of Captain Tom Moore, the man who captured the nation's heart in lockdown. Captain Tom Moore is an inspiration. At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in early April this ninety-nine-year-old Second World War veteran came up... with a big idea: he'd walk laps of his garden to raise money for the NHS. Despite using a walking frame as well as recent treatment for cancer and a broken hip, he was determined to hit GBP1000 by his 100th birthday on 30th April. By the time the telegram from the Queen arrived, he'd raised over thirty million pounds. In this, his official autobiography, published in support of the creation of the Captain Tom Foundation, he tells us of his long and dramatic life. How his spirit was forged on the battlefields of Burma where victory was snatched from the jaws of defeat. How he fearlessly raced motorbikes competitively. How, in his nineties, he took off for the Himalayas and Everest, simply because he'd never been. And, finally, how this old soldier came to do his bit for the NHS, becoming the nation's hero in our darkest hour. A modest, decent, charming man with a can-do attitude and a twinkle in his eye, Captain Tom's story is that of a man whose insatiable curiosity and appetite for life have led him around so many unexpected corners - finding both adventure and joy. He only wanted to help other people - and yet he has inspired a nation to believe anything is possible by reminding us all it is never, ever too late.
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"Both fiction and fact, this book is an exploration of the Battle of Orakau. During three days in 1864, 300 Maori men, women and children fought an Imperial army and captured the imagination of the world. The battle marked the end of the Land Wars in the Waikato and resulted in v...ast tracts of land being confiscated for European settlement. Instead of following the usual standpoint of the victors, this book takes a Maori perspective. It is centred around Witi Ihimaeras moving novella, Sleeps Standing, which views the battle through the eyes of a 16-year-old boy named Moet. Alongside the novella are non-fiction narratives from Maori eyewitnesses, together with images and a Maori translation by Hmi Kelly, further giving voice to and illuminating the people who tried to protect their culture and land. It is estimated that, at the height of the battle, 1700 immensely superior troops, well armed and amply resourced, laid siege to the hastily constructed p at Orakau. The defenders were heavily outnumbered with few supplies or weapons but, when told to submit, they replied: E hoa, ka whawhai tonu matou, ake, ake, ake! Friend, I shall fight against you for ever, for ever!"--Publisher information.
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In the tradition of THE TATTOOIST OF AUSCHWITZ, a heartbreaking true story of love, loss and survival against all odds during the Second World war. Conscripted into the Polish army as Hitler's ground and air forces are bearing down on his country, Jew Tolek Klings vows to return ...to his wife, Klara, and son, Juliusz. However, when the Luftwaffe's bombs start falling and the Polish cause looks hopelessly lost, Tolek finds himself under fire from his supposed brothers in arms. The Polish army is rife with anti-Semitism and he is relentlessly tormented. As the Germans cross the border, he is faced with a terrible dilemma: flee to protect his family - and risk being shot as a deserter - or ride out the war, hoping rumours of women and children being spared in the concentration camps are true. What follows is an odyssey that will take Tolek from a Hungarian internment camp, where his ability to type spares him from the frontline, on to Palestine, Beirut, Egypt, Tobruk and Italy. A broken telegram from Klara, ending with the haunting words, 'We trouble', pushes him to the brink.
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Courage and betrayal in Occupied France, involving British Intelligence, the Gestapo and the French Resistance

America's elite warriors are put through hell in training so they can survive any real special operations.