Alex Kershaw Knihy

V říjnu 1944 byla již ponorka Tang legendou. Potopila nejvíce japonských lodí a unikla před mnoha útoky nepřátelských plavidel. Na její páté misi ji však potkala katastrofa v podobě zásahu vlastním, nefunkčním torpédem. Polovina z 87 námořníků na palubě byla okamžitě mrtva. Ostatní se pokoušeli uniknout z více než padesátimetrové hloubky. Podařilo se to pouze devíti z nich, ty však čekala další těžká zkouška. Byli vyzvednuti japonskou lodí a umístěni do vyšetřovacího tábora a podrobeni nekonečným výslechům.

Hrdinové Dne D, kteří prošlapávali cestu k vítězství ve II. světové válce. Děj První vlny začíná za rozbřesku 5. června 1944 v místnosti, kde padlo ono finální rozhodnutí. Sleduje příběhy mužů, na jejichž ramenou spočíval úspěch následujícího Dne D. Mezi tyto dnes často zapomenuté hrdiny patřil např. první americký výsadkář, který se dotkl půdy v Normandii, pilot kluzáku, jenž přes protiletadlovou palbu nechal dosednout svůj stroj až u životně důležitého mostu Pegasus, bratři vedoucí své jednotky na pláži Juno pod smrtelnou palbou nebo francouzské komando vracející se osvobodit rodnou zemi. Kniha vás nechá zažít hrůzu ostřelovaných normandských pláží, hrdinské dobytí dělostřelecké baterie u Merville, řadu okamžiků, kdy se vše zdálo být ztraceno. Muži „první vlny“ vsadili na nejistou kartu. Svou obětí určili osud invaze do Hitlerovy „pevnosti Evropa“ – a samotného dvacátého století. Výsledkem je epos boje muže proti muži viděný z první linie, příběh mimořádné odvahy jednotlivců. Alex Kershaw mohl při psaní využít svůj detailní přehled o událostech června 1944 postavený i na blízkém přátelství s přeživšími Dne D. Vytvořil tak ojedinělý portrét „nejdelšího dne“ druhé světové války.

New York Times bestselling author Alex Kershaw has written the first full biography of one of the most remarkable men to have outwitted Hitler - Raoul Wallenberg, the young Swedish diplomat who almost single-handedly saved the lives of countless Hungarian Jews, at unimaginable risk and great cost to himself.

The New York Times bestselling author of The Liberator and Avenue of Spies returns with a thrilling, action-heavy account of D-Day combat.

In July 1944, thirty-two-year-old Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg arrived in Budapest on a mission to rescue the last Jews of Europe.Over the next six months, he repeatedly risked his life to save tens of thousands of Jews, defying mass murderer Adolf Eichmann and crazed Hungarian fascists while enduring one of the bloodiest sieges of World War II. Tragically, when Budapest was finally liberated, the Holocaust's greatest hero had disappeared into the Soviet gulag to this day, his exact fate is unknown.

From the invasion of Italy to the gates of Dachau, no World War II infantry unit in Europe saw more action or endured worse than the one commanded by Felix Sparks. A maverick officer - and the only man to survive his company's wartime odyssey from bitter beginning to victorious end. This book tells his story.

"A spellbinding portrait."--The Sunday Times Robert Capa (1913-1954), one of the finest photojournalists and combat photographers of the twentieth century, covered every major conflict from the Spanish Civil War to the early conflict in Vietnam. Always close to the action, he created some of the most enduring images ever made with a camera--perhaps none more memorable than the gritty photos taken on the morning of D-Day. But the drama of Capa's life wasn't limited to one side of the lens. Born in Budapest as Andre Freidman, Capa fled political repression and anti-Semitism as a teenager by escaping to Berlin, where he first picked up a Leica camera. He founded Magnum, which today remains the most prestigious photographic agency of its kind. He was a gambler and seducer of several of his era's most alluring icons, including Ingrid Bergman, and his friends included Irwin Shaw, John Steinbeck, Ernest Hemingway, and John Huston. From Budapest in the twenties to Paris in the thirties, from postwar Hollywood to Stalin's Russia, from New York to Indochina, Blood and Champagne is a wonderfully evocative account of Capa's life and times.

Focusing on the remarkable journeys of four Medal of Honor recipients, this narrative unveils their extraordinary contributions during World War II, spanning from North Africa to the heights of Hitler's fortress. The book highlights their valor, camaraderie, and the challenges they faced, providing an in-depth look at the lives of these decorated soldiers and their pivotal roles in key battles. Through rich storytelling, it brings to light an often-overlooked chapter of military history.

Recounts events surrounding the 1944-45 Battle of the Bulge in Ardennes, France, during World War II, and the plight of eighteen men of a single platoon who were captured and survived in German POW camps through the end of the war.

The Few tells the dramatic and unforgettable story of eight young Americans who joined Britain's Royal Air Force, defying their country's neutrality laws and risking their U.S. citizenship to fight side-by-side with England's finest pilots in the summer of 1940-over a year before America entered the war. Flying the lethal and elegant Spitfire, they became "knights of the air" and with minimal training but plenty of guts, they dueled the skilled and fearsome pilots of Germany's Luftwaffe. By October 1940, they had helped England win the greatest air battle in the history of aviation. Winston Churchill once said of all those who fought in the Battle of Britain, "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few." These daring Americans were the few among the "few." Now, with the narrative drive and human drama that made The Bedford Boys and The Longest Winter national bestsellers, Alex Kershaw tells their story for the first time.