The War of the World: Twentieth-Century Conflict and the Descent of the West

The Arms of Krupp: The Rise and Fall of the Industrial Dynasty that Armed Germany at War

William Manchester · 1,022 pages

To Hell and Back: Europe 1914-1949

Ian Kershaw · 592 pages

"The Penguin History of Europe series reaches the twentieth century with ... Ian Kershaw's long-anticipated analysis of the pivotal years of World War I and World War II. The European catastrophe, the long continuous period from 1914 to 1949, was unprecedented in human history-- an extraordinarily dramatic, often traumatic, and endlessly fascinating period of upheaval and transformation. This new

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

Lords of the Sky: Fighter Pilots and Air Combat, from the Red Baron to the F-16

Dan Hampton · 623 pages

"The New York Times bestselling author of Viper Pilot and retired USAF F-16 legend Dan Hampton offers the first comprehensive popular history of combat aviation--a unique, entertaining, and action-packed look at the aces of the air and their machines, from the Red Baron and his triplane in World War I to today's technologically expert flying warriors in supersonic jets."--

The Age of Extremes: A History of the World 1914-1991

Eric Hobsbawm · 627 pages

In this masterful and highly accessible study of our times, one of the world's leading historians sheds exciting new light on our understanding of the twentieth century, with incisive assessments of events that have marked this turbulent period. Eric Hobsbawm, whose own life spans this century, deftly examines from both personal and scholarly perspectives such events as the great economic depre

Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe

Robert Gellately · 720 pages

A bold new accounting of the great social and political upheavals that enveloped Europe between 1914 and 1945--from the Russian Revolution through the Second World War.In Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler, acclaimed historian Robert Gellately focuses on the dominant powers of the time, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, but also analyzes the catastrophe of those years in an effort to uncover its political

Churchill's Wizards: The British Genius For Deception 1914–1945

Nicholas Rankin · 480 pages

Dark Continent: Europe's Twentieth Century

Mark Mazower · 491 pages

Dark Continent is a searching history of Europe's most brutal century. Stripping away the comforting myths and illusions that we have grown up with since the Second World War, Mark Mazower presents an unflinching account of a continent locked in a finely balanced struggle between tolerance and racial extermination, imperial ambition and national self-determination, liberty and the tyrannies of Rig

The World of Yesterday

Stefan Zweig · 474 pages

"Austrian writer Stefan Zweig's final work, posted to his publisher the day before his tragic death, brings the destruction of a war-torn Europe vividly to life. Written as both a recollection of the past, and as a warning for future generations, The World of Yesterday recalls the golden age of literary Vienna; its seeming permanence, its promise, and its devastating fall. A truthful and passionat

The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5

Christopher M. Andrew · 1,032 pages

This book reveals the precise role of the Security Service in 20th-century British history, from its foundation by Captain Kell of the British Army in October 1909, through two world wars, up to and including its present roles in counter-espionage and counter-terrorism.

Churchill, Hitler and the Unnecessary War: How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World

Patrick J. Buchanan · 544 pages

The Face Of Battle: A Study Of Agincourt, Waterloo And The Somme

John Keegan · 354 pages

*The Face of Battle* is military history from the battlefield: a look at the direct experience of individuals at 'the point of maximum danger'. It examines the physical conditions of fighting, the particular emotions and behaviour generated by battle, as well as the motives that impel soldiers to stand and fight rather than run away. And in his scrupulous reassessment of three battles, John Keegan

Dreadnought: Britain, Germany and the Coming of the Great War

Robert K. Massie · 1,007 pages

Describes the diplomatic minuets and military brinkmanship as Germany grew to be a continental superpower at the end of the nineteenth century and became a threat to Great Britain's naval superiority and isolationist policies.

Churchill: A Biography

Roy Jenkins · 1,020 pages

"Winston Churchill is an icon of modern history, but even though he was at the forefront of the political scene for almost sixty years, he might be remembered only as a minor player in the drama of British government had it not been for World War II. In this magisterial book, Roy Jenkins's command of the political history of Britain and his own high-level government experience combine in a narr

A Foreign Field

Ben Macintyre · 320 pages

In the first terrifying days of World War I, four British soldiers found themselves trapped behind enemy lines on the western front. They were forced to hide in the tiny French village of Villeret, whose inhabitants made the courageous decision to shelter the fugitives until they could pass as Picard peasants. The Englishman's Daughter is the never-before-told story of these extraordinary men, the

The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914

Christopher Clark · 736 pages

On the morning of June 28, 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie Chotek, arrived at Sarajevo railway station, Europe was at peace. Thirty-seven days later, it was at war. The conflict that resulted would kill more than fifteen million people, destroy three empires, and permanently alter world history. The Sleepwalkers reveals in gripping detail how the crisis leading to World Wa

The Great War: July 1, 1916: The First Day of the Battle of the Somme

Joe Sacco, Adam Hochschild

"A 24-foot-long black-and-white drawing printed on heavyweight accordian-fold paper and packaged in a deluxe hardcover slipcase. The set also includes a 16-page booklet featuring an essay about the first day of the Battle of the Somme by Adam Hochschild and original annotations to the drawing by Sacco himself."

To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918

Adam Hochschild · 448 pages

World War I stands as one of history's most senseless spasms of carnage, defying rational explanation. In his riveting narrative, Hochschild brings it to life as never before while focusing on the long-ignored moral drama of the war's critics, alongside its generals and heroes.

The Port Chicago 50: Disaster, Mutiny, and the Fight for Civil Rights

Steve Sheinkin · 204 pages

"In San Francisco Bay there was a United States Navy base called Port Chicago. During World War II, it was a busy port where young sailors--many of them teenagers--loaded bombs and ammunition into ships bound for American troops in the Pacific. Like the entire Navy, Port Chicago was strictly segregated. All the officers giving orders were white; all the men loading bombs were black. On July 17

The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East

Eugene Rogan · 512 pages

Evaluates the impact of World War I on the Ottoman Empire and the Middle East as a whole, explaining the region's less-understood but essential contributions to the war and the establishment of present-day conflicts. In 1914 the Ottoman Empire was depleted of men and resources after years of war against Balkan nationalist and Italian forces. But as the powers of Europe slid inexorably toward war,

The Last of the Doughboys: The Forgotten Generation and Their Forgotten World War

Richard Rubin · 531 pages

In 2003, 85 years after the armistice, Rubin managed to find dozens of American veterans of World War I, aged 101 to 113, and interview them. All are gone now. They were the final survivors of the millions who made up the American Expeditionary Forces. Self-reliant, humble, and stoic, they kept their stories to themselves for a lifetime, then shared them at the last possible moment, so that they,

Into the Silence: The Great War, Mallory and the Conquest of Everest

Wade Davis · 672 pages

If the quest for Mount Everest began as a grand imperial gesture, as redemption for an empire of explorers that had lost the race to the Poles, it ended as a mission of regeneration for a country and a people bled white by war.

Eleventh Month, Eleventh Day, Eleventh Hour: Armistice Day, 1918

Joseph E. Persico · 496 pages

Courage Has No Color: The True Story of the Triple Nickles, America's First Black Paratroopers

Tanya Lee Stone · 147 pages