Books

With a Foreword by Steve McQueen

The Secret History of the Blitz

Life in the shadows during Britain's darkest days.

The Blitz is one of the most iconic and tumultuous periods in modern British history – and one of the most misunderstood. From the first page, readers will discover a different story to the one they thought they knew – a tale of extreme lifestyles and unlikely friendships, savage horrors and joyful awakenings. Out of the shadows and the rubble, a modern Britain emerged: new industries were created and unprecedented opportunities arose for women. Yet, at the same time, criminals thrived, bringing uncertainty to the streets. As the nation reinvented itself, its people were pulled in every direction. This is …

Beauty and Atrocity: People, Politics and Ireland’s Fight for Peace

An ambitious and powerful account of modern Irish history through the eyes of those who experienced it at first hand. More than half-a-century after the Provisional IRA was formed, Sinn Fein and DUP politicians sit together as leaders of a devolved Northern Irish government. The Troubles are over; the future promises to be quite different from the past. But in a society where only eight percent of children attend integrated schools, old tensions are never too far from the surface. Through countless interviews with the people from both sides that lived through, participated in and were victims of the Troubles, …

The Number One Sunday Times Bestseller

Dunkirk: The History Behind the Major Motion Picture

The History Behind the Major Motion Picture

“I don’t see it as a war film. I see it as a survival story.” – Christopher Nolan In 1940, at the French port of Dunkirk, more than 300,000 trapped Allied troops were dramatically rescued from the clutches of the enemy. In the years since this remarkable evacuation, the event has come to inform the British people’s sense of themselves. Now, the story Winston Churchill described as a ‘miracle’ is narrated by bestselling author Joshua Levine in its full, sweeping context, including new interviews with veterans and survivors. Told from the viewpoints of land, sea and air, Joshua Levine’s Dunkirk …

With never-before-seen photographs and unheard stories

SAS: The Illustrated History of the SAS

The SAS began as a lie, a story of a British parachute unit in the North African desert, to convince the Axis they were under imminent threat. The lie was so effective that soon a small band of men were brought together to make it real. These recruits were the toughest and brightest of their cohort, the most resilient, most dynamic and most self-sufficient. Their first commanders, David Stirling and Paddy Mayne, would go down in history as unorthodox visionaries. Yet this book tells much more than the usual origin story of the unit and seeks out less well-known leaders …

Operation Fortitude

The Greatest Hoax Of The Second World War

Operation Fortitude was the ingenious web of deception spun by the Allies to mislead the Nazis as to how and where the D-Day landings were to be mounted. The story of how this web was woven is one of intrigue, personal drama, ground-breaking techniques, internal resistance, and good fortune. It is a tale of double agents, black radio broadcasts, phantom armies, ‘Ultra’ decrypts, and dummy parachute drops. These diverse tactics were intended to come together to create a single narrative so compelling that it would convince Adolf Hitler of its authenticity. Operation Fortitude was intended to create the false impression …

Fighter Heroes of WWI

The untold story of the brave and daring pioneer airmen of the Great War

Rewriting the rules of military engagement and changing the course of modern history, the pioneering airmen of the First World War took incredible risks to to realise the potential of aerial warfare. Fighter Heroes of WWI is a narrative history that conveys the perils of early flight, the thrills of being airborne, and the and the unimagined horrors of the war in the air at a time when British pilots were not permitted to carry parachutes. The men of the Royal Flying Corps who flew to France in 1914 were treading into unknown territory. They soon became heroes to the …

The subject of the new major film by Christopher Nolan

Forgotten Voices Of Dunkirk

What could have been Britain’s greatest military disaster became a story of survival and resolve. In May 1940, as Churchill became Prime Minister, Nazi forces stormed into Holland, Luxembourg, and Belgium, ending the uneasy calm since war was declared. The Allied defences quickly crumbled, and hundreds of thousands of troops were pushed back to the beaches of Dunkirk, surrounded and vulnerable. With Hitler’s army just ten miles away, the British launched Operation Dynamo—an extraordinary evacuation effort using everything from navy destroyers to fishing boats. Over nine tense days, despite heavy losses, more than 338,000 troops were rescued across the Channel. …

Forgotten Voices of the Somme

The Most Devastating Battle of the Great War in the Words of Those Who Survived

1916. The Somme. With over a million casualties, it was the most brutal battle of World War I. It is a clash that even now, over 90 years later, remains seared into the national consciousness, conjuring up images of muddy trenches and young lives tragically wasted. Its first day, July 1st 1916 – on which the British suffered 57,470 casualties, including 19,240 dead – is the bloodiest day in the history of the British armed forces to date. On the German side, an officer famously described it as ‘the muddy grave of the German field army’. By the end of …

Forgotten Voices Of The Blitz and the Battle for Britain

A New History in the Words of the Men and Women on Both Sides

Drawing material from the Imperial War Museum’s extensive aural archive, Joshua Levine brings together voices from both sides of the Blitz and the Battle of Britain to give us a unique, complete and compelling picture of this turbulent time. In June 1940, British citizens prepared for an imminent German onslaught. Hitler’s troops had overrun Holland, Belgium and France in quick succession, and the British people anticipated an invasion would soon be upon them. From July to October, they watched the Battle of Britain play out in the skies above them, aware that the result would decide their fate. Over the …