Secret Service Brainteasers

B-format paperback

Ein eindringliches Sachbuch über eine der erschütterndsten Nächte des Zweiten Weltkriegs - präzise recherchiert, historisch fundiert und zutiefst menschlich erzählt.Der britische Journalist und Autor Sinclair McKay rekonstruiert die Bombardierung Dresdens in der Endphase des Zweiten Weltkrieges, im Februar 1945, und zeichnet ein detailreiches Bild einer Stadt, die innerhalb weniger Stunden in Flammen aufging.In den Archiven der Stadt entdeckte er tief verborgene persönliche Aufzeichnungen, die es ihm ermöglichen, die Geschehnisse dieser drei verhängnisvollen Tage und Nächte aus der Perspektive der Bewohner der Stadt zu erzählen: Schülern, Mitgliedern der Hitlerjugend und des Kreuzchors, Künstlern, Musikern, aber auch des Kriegsgefangenen Kurt Vonnegut und nicht zuletzt Victor Klemperer sowie Piloten und Besatzungsmitgliedern der britischen und amerikanischen Verbände.Noch nie zuvor wurde das Ausmaß dieses Luftangriffs für die Zivilbevölkerung der Stadt so vielstimmig, emotional und zutiefst menschlich geschildert wie in diesem Meisterwerk der narrativen Geschichtsschreibung - und das noch lange, nachdem die letzte Seite umgeblättert ist, im Gedächtnis bleiben wird.Was diese Spurensuche besonders macht:<BR>¿ Fundierte, quellengestützte Verbindung aus historischem Ereignis und persönlichen Schicksalen<BR>¿ Der britische Blickwinkel eröffnet neue Perspektiven auf ein vielfach diskutiertes Ereignis<BR>¿ Die menschlichen Dimensionen der Katastrophe werden sichtbar gemacht - jenseits von Zahlen und Daten<BR>>Ausstattung: 24-seitiger Bildteil s/w

'Richly-layered and packed with insight, this riveting account of terrible events tells us as much about the present as it does the past' Patrick Bishop, author of Paris '44From Peter the Great to Putin, a biography of the city Hitler tried - and failed - to wipe off the mapThe siege of Saint Petersburg - then known as Leningrad - stands as a testament to human endurance. Intended by the Nazis as civilian extermination, the numbers who perished in this 900-day ordeal almost outweighed the entire total of British and American troop deaths in the Second World War.The city's 2.5 million residents began to starve as rations shrank and dwindled. As temperatures plunged to minus 43°C, electricity faltered, and fuel ran out. Yet, amid this suffering, the resilience of culture and hope shone through, with orchestras and theatres defiantly continuing their performances, a flicker of humanity against the backdrop of despair.In Saint Petersburg, bestselling historian Sinclair McKay book chronicles the horrors of the siege through immersive prose and gripping first-hand accounts. He also traces the pivotal importance of Saint Petersburg across the centuries, from Peter the Great's visionary founding of the city to the way it has shaped its most infamous son, Vladimir Putin.From its darkest moments to its enduring spirit, Saint Petersburg explore the layers of history that have shaped this extraordinary place.'McKay is a gifted writer; his prose has the cadence, tone and power of a Shostakovich symphony. Horror is majestically conveyed' Gerard DeGroot, The Times

This insightful portrait of Winston Churchill delves beyond well-known political moments, incorporating perspectives from various individuals who encountered him throughout his life.<BR><BR>From Bletchley Park codebreakers and Hollywood stars such as Charlie Chaplin, through writers as varied as H. G. Wells and P. G. Wodehouse, to the likes of Harold Wilson, Mahatma Gandhi and Queen Elizabeth II, these lesser-known interactions reveal glimpses of the man behind the legend.<BR><BR>We meet Churchill the exuberant schoolboy thug with an early mania for bull-dogs, and Churchill the elder statesman shedding a tear in the House of Commons smoking room. Other incidents include a young journalist rudely dismissing a call from Churchill as a prank, and a visiting Dwight D. Eisenhower dreaming of being strangled, only to awake entangled in Churchill's borrowed nightshirt.<BR><BR>The book showcases the profound transformations during Churchill's lifetime, which ran from Benjamin Disraeli's premiership to the release of the Rolling Stones' 'Route 66', and the shift from steam to atomic power. Examining controversial aspects of his legacy, this multifaceted portrait challenges preconceived notions, inviting readers to reconsider the complexities of Churchill.

The Sunday Times-bestselling author of Dresden returns with a monumental biography of the city that defined the twentieth century - Berlin<BR><BR>Throughout the twentieth century, Berlin stood at the centre of a convulsing world. This history is often viewed as separate acts: the suffering of the First World War, the cosmopolitan city of science, culture and sexual freedom Berlin became, steep economic plunges, the rise of the Nazis, the destruction of the Second World War, the psychosis of genocide, and a city rent in two by competing ideologies. But people do not live their lives in fixed eras. An epoch ends, yet the people continue - or try to continue - much as they did before. Berlin tells the story of the city as seen through the eyes not of its rulers, but of those who walked its streets.<BR><BR>In this magisterial biography of a city and its inhabitants, bestselling historian Sinclair McKay sheds new light on well-known characters - from idealistic scientist Albert Einstein to Nazi architect Albert Speer - and draws on never-before-seen first-person accounts to introduce us to people of all walks of Berlin life. For example, we meet office worker Mechtild Evers, who in her efforts to escape an oncoming army runs into even more appalling jeopardy, and Reinhart Cruger, a 12-year-old boy in 1941 who witnesses with horror the Gestapo coming for each of his Jewish neighbours in turn. Ever a city of curious contrasts, moments of unbelievable darkness give way to a wry Berliner humour - from banned perms to the often ridiculous tit-for-tat between East and West Berlin - and moments of joyous hope - like forced labourers at a jam factory warmly welcoming their Soviet liberators.<BR><BR>How did those ideologies - fascism and communism - come to flower so fully here? And how did their repercussions continue to be felt throughout Europe and the West right up until that extraordinary night in the autumn of 1989 when the Wall - that final expression of totalitarian oppression - was at last breached? You cannot understand the twentieth century without understanding Berlin; and you cannot understand Berlin without understanding the experiences of its people. Drawing on a staggering breadth of culture - from art to film, opera to literature, science to architecture - McKay's latest masterpiece shows us this hypnotic city as never before.<BR><BR>'Remarkable . . . A majestic work of non-fiction' Matthew d'Ancona<BR><BR>'Sinclair McKay was born to write this book' David Aaronovitch, The Times<BR><BR>'A masterful account of a city marked by infamy . . . If there is a book that must be read this year, this is it' Amanda Foreman<BR><BR>'An electrifying new account of Berlin' Julia Boyd, author of Travellers in the Third Reich<BR><BR>'One of my favourite historians' Dan Snow

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER Go behind the scenes of Bletchley Park, where everyday men and women risked everything for Queen and Country. A remarkable look at day-to-day life of the codebreakers whose clandestine efforts helped win World War II Bletchley Park looked like any other sprawling country estate. In reality, however, it was the top-secret headquarters of Britain's Government Code and Cypher School--and the site where Germany's legendary Enigma code was finally cracked. There, the nation's most brilliant mathematical minds--including Alan Turing, whose discoveries at Bletchley would fuel the birth of modern computing--toiled alongside debutantes, factory workers, and students on projects of international importance. Until now, little has been revealed about ordinary life at this extraordinary facility. Drawing on remarkable first-hand interviews, The Secret Lives of Codebreakers reveals the entertainments, pastimes, and furtive romances that helped ease the incredible pressures faced by these covert operatives as they worked to turn the tide of World War II.

Discover the stories of the brave men and women who worked, trained and fought across the UK, from Bletchley Park in southern England all the way to Arisaig in northern Scotland, in an unbelievable effort to defeat the Nazis and win the Second World War .<BR><BR>From the outset of the war, most of Britain felt like a mystery even to those who lived there. All road and railway signs were removed up and down the country to thwart potential enemy spies. An invisible web of cunning spread across the United Kingdom; secret laboratories were hidden in marshes, underground bases were built to conceal key strategic plans and grand country houses became secret and silent locations for eccentric boffins to do their confidential cryptography work.<BR><BR>In Secret Britain, Sinclair McKay maps out the UK through the hidden bases and battlegrounds of WWII. These locations are full of history and intrigue, but if you don't know where to look, you might just miss them. Journeying through secret wildernesses, suburbs, underground tunnels and manor houses, Sinclair gives a glimpse into the stories of the incredible people behind the war effort, and shows how you might be able to visit these mysterious and evocative locations yourself.<BR><BR>With his trademark warmth and compassion, Sinclair unearths the truths of the war that have remained under layers of secrecy since the war was won in 1945.