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The Last Colony (The Old Man’s War series #3)
by John ScalziJohn Scalzi's The Last Colony is the third in The Old Man's War series. They must save themselves - or die trying.John Perry was living peacefully on one of humanity's colonies - until he and his wife were offered an opportunity these ex-supersoldiers couldn't resist. To come out of retirement and lead a new frontier world.However, once on the planet, they discover they've been betrayed. For this colony is a pawn in an interstellar game of war and diplomacy. Humanity's Colonial Union has pitched itself against a new, seemingly unstoppable alien alliance, dedicated to ending all human colonization.As this contest rages above, Perry struggles to keep his terrified colonists alive on the surface below - despite dangerous interstellar politics, violence and treachery. And the planet has yet to reveal its own fatal secrets.
Last Comes the Raven
by Italo CalvinoThese early short stories brim with the beauty of the Italian countryside and seaside, telling tales both sumptuous and unnerving.Calvino's war-torn Italy is vivid, intense, almost hyper-real. A trio of greedy burglars rob a pastry shop, a boy offers a girl presents of toads and insects from the garden, a wealthy family invites a rustic goatherd to lunch, only to mock him. In every story he reveals the hidden meaning beneath the surface of everyday life, and the ludicrousness of war.Some stories from Last Comes the Raven have been previously available in the collection Adam, One Afternoon. This new expanded collection includes several stories newly translated by Ann Goldstein and is an important addition to Calvino's legacy.'In Last Comes the Raven, a collection of early stories, we find the man behind the magician' New Yorker
Last Dance with Valentino
by Daisy WaughIf you like The Artist you’ll love Daisy Waugh’s Last Dance with Valentino. As Rudolph Valentino fights for his life, barricades keep the swarming fans at bay. Adored by millions of women, but loved by only one…Will she be able to reach him in time?
The Last Dawn: The Royal Oak Tragedy at Scapa Flow
by David TurnerOn 13 October 1939, HMS Royal Oak, one of the British navy’s top battleships, was destroyed at the Royal Navy’s main anchorage at Scapa Flow, Orkney. The audacious attack, by a German U-boat, was the first major blow against Britain of the Second World War. Over 800 lives were lost, including sailors as young as 14.This book is a revealing account of the tragedy. Told through declassified photographs and naval records, as well as statements from survivors, it is a dramatic and moving reassessment of one of the most shattering events in British naval history.
The Last Days of Disco (Disco Days #1)
by David RossEarly in the decade that taste forgot, Fat Franny Duncan is on top of the world. He is the undoubted King of the Ayrshire Mobile Disco scene, controlling and ruling the competition with an iron fist. But the future is uncertain. A new partnership is coming and is threatening to destroy the big man’s Empire ... Bobby Cassidy and Joey Miller have been best mates since primary school. Joey is an idealist; Bobby just wants to get laid and avoid following his brother Gary to the Falklands. A partnership in their new mobile disco venture seems like the answer to everything.The Last Days of Disco is about family, music, small-time gangsters … and the fear of being sent to the Falklands by the biggest gangster of them all. Witty, energetic and entirely authentic, it’s also heartbreakingly honest, weaving together tragedy and comedy with an uncanny and unsettling elegance. A simply stunning debut.‘There’s a bittersweet poignancy to David F. Ross’s debut novel, The Last Days of Disco’ Edinburgh Evening News’This is a book that might just make you cry like nobody’s watching’ Iain MacLeod, Sunday Mail‘Full of comedy, pathos & great tunes’ Hardeep Singh Kohli‘Warm, funny & evocative’ Chris Brookmyre‘Dark, hilarious & heartbreaking’ Muriel Gray‘Captures the time, the spirit … I loved it’ John Niven‘If I saw that in a store I would buy it without even looking at what was inside’ Irvine Welsh‘Like the vinyl that crackles off every page, The Last Days of Disco is as warm and authentic as Roddy Doyle at his very best’ Nick Quantrill
The Last Days of Hitler: The Classic Account of Hitler's Fall From Power
by Hugh Trevor RoperListed as one of the Guardian's 100 Best Nonfiction Books of All Time. In September 1945 the fate of Adolf Hitler was a complete mystery. He had simply disappeared, and had been missing for four months. Hugh Trevor-Roper, an intelligence officer, was given the task of solving the mystery. His brilliant piece of detective work not only proved finally that Hitler had killed himself in Berlin, but also produced one of the most fascinating history books ever written. The Last Days of Hitler tells the extraordinary story of those last days of the Thousand Year Reich in the Berlin Bunker. Besieged in the shattered capital, but still dominating the remains of his court, Hitler reiterated the original alternative of Nazism: either total victory or annihilation. This book is the record of that carefully prepared, ceremonious finale to a terrible chapter of history.'Brilliantly written and researched, The Last Days of Hitler remains the most vivid account of the final Wagnerian chapter of Hitler's tyranny' Max Hastings 'This is an incomparable book, by far the best written on any aspect of the second German war: a book sound in scholarship, brilliant in its presentation . . . No words of praise are too strong' A. J. P. Taylor, New Statesman
The Last Days of Hitler
by Hugh Trevor-RoperLate in 1945, Trevor-Roper was appointed by British Intelligence in Germany to investigate conflicting evidence surrounding Hitler's final days and to produce a definitive report on his death. The author, who had access to American counterintelligence files and to German prisoners, focuses on the last ten days of Hitler's life, April 20-29, 1945, in the underground bunker in Berlin—a bizarre and gripping episode punctuated by power play and competition among Hitler's potential successors. "From exhaustive research [Trevor-Roper] has put together a carefully documented, irrefutable, and unforgettable reconstruction of the last days in April, 1945."—New Republic "A book sound in its scholarship, brilliant in its presentation, a delight for historians and laymen alike."—A. J. P. Taylor, New Statesman
The Last Days of Hitler
by Hugh R Trevor-RoperIn September 1945 the circumstances surrounding Hitler's death were dark and mysterious. Hugh Trevor-Roper, an intelligence officer, was given the task of uncovering the last few weeks of Hitler's life. His brilliant piece of detective work proved finally that Hitler had killed himself and also tells the story of the last days of the Thousand Year Reich in the Berlin Bunker.
The Last Days of Stalin
by Joshua RubensteinJoshua Rubenstein’s riveting account takes us back to the second half of 1952 when no one could foresee an end to Joseph Stalin’s murderous regime. He was poised to challenge the newly elected U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower with armed force, and was also broadening a vicious campaign against Soviet Jews. Stalin’s sudden collapse and death in March 1953 was as dramatic and mysterious as his life. It is no overstatement to say that his passing marked a major turning point in the twentieth century. The Last Days of Stalin is an engaging, briskly told account of the dictator’s final active months, the vigil at his deathbed, and the unfolding of Soviet and international events in the months after his death. Rubenstein throws fresh light onthe devious plotting of Beria, Malenkov, Khrushchev, and other “comrades in arms” who well understood the significance of the dictator’s impending death;the witness-documented events of his death as compared to official published versions;Stalin’s rumored plans to forcibly exile Soviet Jews;the responses of Eisenhower and Secretary of State Dulles to the Kremlin’s conciliatory gestures after Stalin’s death; andthe momentous repercussions when Stalin’s regime of terror was cut short.
The Last Days of T.E. Lawrence: A Leaf in the Wind
by Paul Marriott"It is quiet here now, and I feel as though I were fixed in my cottage for good. It is as I thought ... something is finished with my leaving the RAF. ... It gets worse instead of healing over ... At present the feeling is mere bewilderment. I imagine leaves must feel like this after they have fallen from their tree and until they die." The Last Days of T.E. Lawrence is a chronicle of the time from when Lawrence of Arabia left the RAF up to his fateful motorcycle accident on 13 May 1935. Much of the story is told in Lawrence's own words, from diaries and letters. It covers his time at Clouds Hill, the picturesque cottage in Dorset, where Lawrence intended to retire. Influenced by Lawrence's last and unpublished writing project, "Leaves in the Wind," A Leaf in the Wind reveals his state of mind as he prepared to leave the RAF. Travelling on his Brough Superior motorcycle along a narrow Dorset lane, Lawrence collided with two pushbikes. An official witness told of Lawrence travelling fast, and swerving to avoid a black car coming in the opposite direction. This book painstakingly fits together all the evidence to determine the truth of the motorcycle crash that led to the death of Lawrence of Arabia. For the first time a detailed record is set down covering the last six days before the accident. Meticulously researched by Paul Marriott and Yvonne Argent, their painstaking investigations reveal many new insights into Lawrence's life, activities and interests.
The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal
by Sean DixonVoted one of the best fifteen Canadian books of 2007 by Quill & Quire, this is original and mischevious; a novel to delight and surprise.
The Last Decade of the Cold War: From Conflict Escalation to Conflict Transformation (Cold War History)
by Olav NjolstadThe 1980s was a period of almost unprecedented rivalry and tension between the two main actors in the East-West conflict, the United States and the Soviet Union. Why and how that conflict first escalated and thereafter, in an amazingly swift process, was reversed and brought to its peaceful conclusion at the end of the decade is the topic of this volume.With individual contributions by eighteen well-known scholars of international relations and history from various countries, the book addresses the role of the United States, the former Soviet Union, and the countries of western and eastern Europe in that remarkable last decade of the Cold War, and discusses how particular events as well as underlying political, ideological, social, and economic factors may have contributed to the remarkable transformation that took place.
The Last Decade of the Cold War: From Conflict Escalation to Conflict Transformation (Cold War History)
by Olav NjølstadThe 1980s was a period of almost unprecedented rivalry and tension between the two main actors in the East-West conflict, the United States and the Soviet Union. Why and how that conflict first escalated and thereafter, in an amazingly swift process, was reversed and brought to its peaceful conclusion at the end of the decade is the topic of this volume.With individual contributions by eighteen well-known scholars of international relations and history from various countries, the book addresses the role of the United States, the former Soviet Union, and the countries of western and eastern Europe in that remarkable last decade of the Cold War, and discusses how particular events as well as underlying political, ideological, social, and economic factors may have contributed to the remarkable transformation that took place.
The Last Dress from Paris: The glamorous, romantic dual-timeline read of summer 2022
by Jade BeerThe glamorous, romantic must-read novel of the summer - escape to Paris with this delicious story of fashion, secrets and forbidden love 'Transporting, dreamy and aspirational . . . an absolute must-read' ADELE PARKS***Each Dior dress tells a story...London, 2017. When her beloved grandmother, Sylvie, sends her to Paris to retrieve a dress she wore decades before, Lucille sees the perfect opportunity to briefly escape the pressures of her own life. But not everything is as it seems, and the long-buried secrets she discovers, hidden in a collection of priceless Dior gowns, could change everything.Paris, 1952. Postwar France is full of glamour and privilege, and Alice Ainsley is in the middle of it all. As the wife to the British ambassador to France, her life is a whirlwind of jewels, banquets and couture dresses, but beneath the glittering facade, Alice is suffocating in a loveless marriage. So when a new face appears in her drawing room, Alice finds herself yearning to follow her heart . . . no matter the consequences.Deliciously evocative and achingly romantic, sweeping from 50s Paris to the V&A museum in London, The Last Dress from Paris is the perfect read for fans of Natasha Lester, Fiona Valpy and Gill Paul***Your favourite authors love The Last Dress from Paris:'A delightful fashion treasure hunt involving some of my favorite Dior gowns made this book a winner for me! The present day and 1950s narratives weave seamlessly together, the dresses dance from the pages, and Paris is resplendently depicted'Natasha Lester, New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Secret'A whirlwind tour through Paris, both past and present, the novel is a rich exploration of the power of female friendships and the true meaning of family. Moving and utterly enjoyable'Fiona Davis, New York Times bestselling author of The Lions of Fifth Avenue'An absolute delight! The Last Dress from Paris is as original, elegant, and romantic as the Dior dresses the novel's mystery is woven around'Hazel Gaynor'As beautifully stitched together as a couture gown, Jade Beer's book entrances with its themes of family and female friendships. I loved it'Jessica Fellowes
The Last Enemy: The Centenary Collection (The Centenary Collection)
by Richard HillaryIn 1918, the RAF was established as the world's first independent air force. To mark the 100th anniversary of its creation, Penguin are publishing the Centenary Collection, a series of six classic books highlighting the skill, heroism and esprit de corps that have characterised the Royal Air Force throughout its first century.The Last Enemy is Richard Hillary's extraordinary account of his experience as a Spitfire pilot in the Second World War. Hillary was shot down during the Battle of Britain, leading to months in hospital as part of Archibald McIndoe's 'Guinea Pig Club', undergoing pioneering plastic surgery to rebuild his face and hands. The Last Enemy was first published in 1942, just seven months before Hilary's untimely death in a second crash and has gone on to be hailed as one of the classic texts of World War II.
The Last Enemy: The Memoir Of A Spitfire Pilot (The\centenary Collection)
by Richard HillaryThe Last Enemy is the story of Richard Hillary, one of Sebastian Faulks' three 'fatal englishmen'. In this extraordinary account, the author details his experiences as a fighter pilot in the Second World War, in which he was shot down, leading to months in hospital as part of Archibald McIndoe's 'Guinea Pig Club', undergoing pioneering plastic surgery to rebuild his face and hands. The Last Enemy was first published in 1942, just seven months before Hilary's untimely death in a second crash and has gone on to be hailed as one of the classic texts of World War Two.
The Last Enemy: The Centenary Collection (G - Reference,information And Interdisciplinary Subjects Ser.)
by Richard HillaryThis is the true story of Second World War fighter pilot, Richard Hillary.After being shot down in September 1940, Hillary spent several months in hospital, undergoing numerous operations; a member of Archibald McIndoe's 'Guinea Pig Club'. Originally published in 1942, just months before he died in a second crash, The Last Enemy recounts the struggles and successes of a young man in the Royal Air Force.Told through Hillary's eyes, this incredible story shows that even in our darkest moments there is a glimmer of enduring hope.
The Last Epic Naval Battle: Voices from Leyte Gulf
by David SearsOften overshadowed by other Pacific War engagements such as Midway or Guadalcanal, the Battle of Leyte Gulf was characterized by some of the most gallant hours in seagoing history: the U.S. Navy's defeat of the combined Japanese fleet during the invasion of the Philippines in October 1944. Involving more ships than even the gargantuan First World War Battle of Jutland and two hundred thousand men, it was the biggest naval battle in world history. It marked the last time that huge capital ships fought within sight and sound of each other. Using the personal accounts of the men who were there, Sears tells this mammoth and compelling story.This moving tale uses personal accounts of the veterans who achieved victory in the biggest and last great naval battle, largely fought with aging ships, untested reserve crews, and teenaged combat aircraft pilots. Often overshadowed by other Pacific War engagements such as Midway or Guadalcanal, the Battle of Leyte Gulf was characterized by some of the most gallant hours in seagoing history: the U.S. Navy's defeat of the combined Japanese fleet during the invasion of the Philippines in October 1944. Involving more ships than even the gargantuan First World War Battle of Jutland and two hundred thousand men, it was the biggest naval battle in world history. It marked the last time huge capital ships fought within sight and sound of each other. Using the personal accounts of the men who were there, Sears tells this mammoth and compelling story.The Battle of Leyte Gulf could have been the Pacific War's Battle of the Bulge. In a space of 12 hours, Japan, a beaten, cornered enemy, was able to devise and execute a strategy that very nearly pierced the heart of America's war machine. The real margin of victory would come from surprising quarters: from aging ships risen from the graveyard of the war's infamous first day; from small, hastily constructed ships with largely untested reserve crews; from fragile support ships never intended to be anywhere near battles of this scale; and from combat aircraft piloted by teenagers.
The Last Escape: The Untold Story of Allied Prisoners of War in Germany 1944-1945
by John Nichol Tony RennellAs WW2 drew to a close, hundreds of thousands of British and American prisoners of war, held in camps in Nazi-occupied Europe, faced the prospect that they would never get home alive. In the depths of winter, their guards harried them on marches outof their camps and away from the armies advancing into the heart of Hitler's defeated Germany. Hundreds died from exhaustion, disease and starvation. THE LAST ESCAPE is told through the testimony of those heroic men, now in their seventies and eighties and telling their stories publicly for the first time.
The Last Fighting Tommy: The Life of Harry Patch, Last Veteran of the Trenches, 1898-2009
by Richard Van Emden Harry PatchHarry Patch, the last British soldier alive to have fought in the trenches of the First World War, is one of very few people who can directly recall the horror of that conflict.Harry vividly remembers his childhood in the Somerset countryside of Edwardian England. He left school in 1913 to become an apprentice plumber but three years later was conscripted, serving as a machine gunner in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. Fighting in the mud and trenches during the Battle of Passchendaele, he saw a great many of his comrades die, and in one dreadful moment the shell that wounded him kill his three closest friends. In vivid detail he describes daily life in the trenches, the terror of being under intense artillery fire, and the fear of going over the top. Then, after the Armistice, the soldiers' frustration at not being quickly demobbed led to a mutiny in which Harry was soon caught up.The Second World War saw Harry in action on the home front as a fire-fighter during the bombing of Bath. He also warmly describes his friendship with American GIs preparing to go to France, and, years later, his tears when he saw their graves.Late in life Harry achieved fame, meeting the Queen and taking part in the BBC documentary The Last Tommies, finally shaking hands with a German veteran of the artillery and speaking out frankly to Prime Minister Tony Blair about the soldiers shot for cowardice in the First World War.The Last Fighting Tommy is the story of an ordinary man's extraordinary life.
The Last Fighting Tommy: The Life of Harry Patch, Last Veteran of the Trenches, 1898-2009
by Richard Van Emden Harry Patch'An extraordinary biography by the very last witness of a devastating four years in British history' Daily MailOn 17 June 2009, Harry Patch celebrated his 111th birthday. At the time, he was the last living British Tommy who had fought in the trenches during the First World War. Now that direct link with the past has gone. From Patch's vivid memories of an Edwardian childhood, through the horrors of the battles of Ypres and Passchendaele to working on the home front in the Second World War and fame in later life as a veteran, The Last Fighting Tommy is the story of an ordinary man's extraordinary life. A hundred years after the end of the Great War, this powerful account of a life defined by those four devastating years remains as important and relevant as ever. This updated edition includes a new introduction, as well as previously unseen photographs.
The Last Fighting Tommy: The Life of Harry Patch, Last Veteran of the Trenches, 1898-2009
by Richard Van Emden Harry PatchHarry Patch, born June 17, 1898, was the last British soldier alive to have fought in the trenches of the First World War. From his vivid memories of an Edwardian childhood, the horror of the Great War and fighting in the mud during the Battle of Passchendaele, working on the home front in the Second World War, and fame in later life as a veteran, The Last Fighting Tommy is the story of an ordinary man's extraordinary life.
Last Flight of the Luftwaffe: The Suicide Attack On The Eigth Air Force, 7 April 1945 (Sven Hassel War Classics)
by Adrian WeirThe account of one of the most extraordinary stories to come from the closing days of the Second World War.Desperate times drive determined men to desperate measures. In April 1945, their cause already clearly lost, an ill-assorted, ill-equipped group of Luftwaffe crew decided on one final 'death or glory' kamikaze mission - their trage an incoming USAAF Eighth Air Force bomber formation, their only weapons their aircraft.Adrian Weir has researched this remarkable flight to retell it minute by minute: a hopeless gesture of immense courage, thrilling as the reader flies in the cockpit with the German pilots towards the unstoppable aircarft of the Mighty Eighth. Including accounts from the survivors of the mission, this is one of the most extraordinary stories to come from the closing days of the Second World War.
Last Flight to Stalingrad (Spoils of War #5)
by Graham Hurley'Historical fiction of a high order... Hurley's descriptions of the cauldron of Stalingrad, and of Shakespearean vengeance are well worth relishing' The Times Berlin, 1942. For Werner Nehmann, a journalist at the Ministry of Propaganda, the dizzying victory of the last four years has felt like a party without end. But the Reich's attention has turned East, and as winter sets in, the mood is turning.Werner's boss, Joseph Goebbels, can sense it. His words have propelled Germany towards its greater destiny and he won't – he can't – let morale falter now. But the Minister of Propaganda is uneasy and in his discomfort has pulled Werner into his close confidence.And here, amid the power struggle between the Nazi Chieftains, Werner will make his mistake and begin his descent into the hell of Stalingrad...Last Flight to Stalingrad is part of the SPOILS OF WAR Collection, a thrilling, beguiling blend of fact and fiction born of some of the most tragic, suspenseful, and action-packed events of World War II. From the mind of highly acclaimed thriller author GRAHAM HURLEY, this blockbuster non-chronological collection allows the reader to explore Hurley's masterful storytelling in any order, with compelling recurring characters whose fragmented lives mirror the war that shattered the globe.
The Last Frontier
by Alistair MacLeanAn undercover mission beyond the Iron Curtain to recover a defected scientist goes disastrously wrong – a classic early Cold War thriller from the acclaimed master of action and suspense.