Triumph and Tragedy

The Gathering Storm

Winston S. Churchill · 737 pages

One of the most fascinating works of history ever written, Winston's Churchill's monumental *The Second World War* is a six-volume account of the struggle of the Allied powers in Europe against Germany and the Axis. Told through the eyes of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, The Second World War is also the story of one nation's singular, heroic role in the fight against tyranny. Pride an

The Mantle of Command: FDR at War, 1941–1942

Nigel Hamilton

Winston's War: Churchill, 1940-1945

Max Hastings · 555 pages

A vivid and incisive portrait of Winston Churchill during wartime from acclaimed historian Max Hastings, Winston's War captures the full range of Churchill's endlessly fascinating character. At once brilliant and infuriating, self-important and courageous, Hastings's Churchill comes brashly to life as never before. Beginning in 1940, when popular demand elevated Churchill to the role of prime mini

The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

Erik Larson · 608 pages

Fateful Choices: Ten Decisions That Changed the World, 1940-1941

Ian Kershaw · 640 pages

In a mere nineteen months, from May 1940 to December 1941, the leaders of the world's six major powers made a series of related decisions that decided the course and outcome of World War II, cost the lives of millions, and profoundly shaped the course of human destiny from that point forward. How were these decisions made? What were the options facing these leaders as they saw them? What intellige

Inside the Third Reich

Albert Speer · 596 pages

The Generals: Patton, MacArthur, Marshall, and the Winning of World War II

Winston Groom · 512 pages

Groom tells the intertwined and uniquely American tales of George Patton, Douglas MacArthur, and George Marshall. These three remarkable men-of-arms who rose from the gruesome hell of the First World War to become the finest generals of their generation during World War II redefined America's ideas of military leadership and brought forth a new generation of American soldier. Against the backdrop

Six Months in 1945: FDR, Stalin, Churchill, and Truman--from World War to Cold War

Michael Dobbs · 418 pages

An account of the pivotal six-month period spanning the end of World War II, the dawn of the nuclear age, and the beginning of the Cold War.

Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan

Herbert P. Bix · 800 pages

Winner of the Pulitzer PrizeIn this groundbreaking biography of the Japanese emperor Hirohito, Herbert P. Bix offers the first complete, unvarnished look at the enigmatic leader whose sixty-three-year reign ushered Japan into the modern world. Never before has the full life of this controversial figure been revealed with such clarity and vividness. Bix shows what it was like to be trained from bir

Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant

Ulysses S. Grant · 646 pages

At the age of thirty-nine, Ulysses Simpson Grant volunteered to command a regiment after the attack on Fort Sumter. His campaign in early 1862 against Forts Henry and Donelson resulted in the first major Union victory of the Civil War. Shiloh, Vicksburg, Chattanooga - the great battles in the West that followed - are stunningly described in Personal Memoirs. After Grant's rise to commanding gener

Churchill

Paul Johnson

The Rough Riders

Theodore Roosevelt · 185 pages

"The Rough Riders (1899) is the story of the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry, the regiment Roosevelt led to enduring fame in Cuba during the Spanish-American War. Roosevelt recounts how the regiment was raised from an unusual mixture of hardened southwestern frontiersmen and privileged northeastern college graduates, and how it trained in Texas and then sailed "southward through the topic seas toward

The Second World War

Winston S. Churchill, John Keegan · 716 pages

Never before in history have there been combined in one man the character, the political leadership, the military perception and the eloquence which our generation has known in Winston Churchill. It is no wonder that when it was announced that he would write the history of the Second World War, there arose throughout the world an interest and excitement caused by no other publication of this centu

The Supreme Commander: The War Years of Dwight D. Eisenhower

Stephen E. Ambrose · 732 pages

"In this classic portrait of Dwight E. Eisenhower the soldier, bestselling historian Stephen E. Ambrose examines the Allied commander's leadership during World War II."--P. [4] of cover.

The Third Reich at War

Richard J. Evans · 926 pages

The final volume in Richard J. Evans's masterly trilogy on the history of Nazi Germany traces the rise and fall of German military might, the mobilization of a "people's community to serve a war of conquest, and Hitler's campaign of racial subjugation and genocideAlready hailed as "a masterpiece" (William Grimes in The New York Times) and "the most comprehensive history...of the Third Reich" (Ian

The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945

Rick Atkinson · 896 pages

This book is the magnificent conclusion to Rick Atkinson's acclaimed Liberation Trilogy about the Allied triumph in Europe during World War II. It is the twentieth century's unrivaled epic: at a staggering price, the United States and its allies liberated Europe and vanquished Hitler. In the first two volumes of his bestselling Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson recounted how the American-led coali

Winston Churchill

John Keegan · 226 pages

Company Commander

Charles B. MacDonald · 293 pages

American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964

William Manchester · 793 pages

Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies

Ben Macintyre · 432 pages

On June 6, 1944, 150,000 Allied troops landed on the beaches of Normandy and suffered an astonishingly low rate of casualties. D-Day was a stunning military accomplishment, but it was also a masterpiece of trickery. Operation Fortitude, which protected and enabled the invasion, and the Double Cross system, which specialized in turning German spies into double agents, tricked the Nazis into believi

A Short History of World War II

James L. Stokesbury · 420 pages

Despite the numerous books on World War II, until now there has been no one-volume survey that was both objective and comprehensive. Previous volumes have usually been written from an exclusively British or American point of view, or have ignored the important causes and consequences of the War.A Short History of World War II is essentially a military history, but it reaches from the peace settlem

Blood, Tears and Folly: An Objective Look at World War II

Len Deighton · 653 pages

Despite the volumes written about World War Ii, many questions remain un-answered. In this balanced and thoughtful chronicle, historian and World War Ii expert Len Deighton dares to explore intriguing questions, including why the British weren't more prepared for the Blitz and why Hitler failed to thoroughly support his U-boat program. He also warns that we haven't yet learned the lessons of World

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

William L. Shirer · 1,264 pages

No Simple Victory: World War II in Europe, 1939-1945

Norman Davies · 552 pages

A leading historian re-examines World War II and its outcome. Davies asks readers to reconsider what they know about World War II, and how the received wisdom might be biased or incorrect. He poses simple questions that have complicated and unexpected answers. For instance, Can you name the five biggest battles of the war in Europe? Or, What were the main political ideologies that were contending