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Chastise : the Dambusters story 1943 / by Hastings, Max,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.A brand new history of the Dambusters raid from best-selling and critically acclaimed military historian, Max Hastings. Operation Chastise, the destruction of the Mohne and Eder dams in northwest Germany by the RAF's 617 Squadron on the night of 16/17 May 1943, was an epic that has passed into Britain's national legend. Max Hastings grew up embracing the story, the classic 1955 movie and the memory of Guy Gibson, the 24-year-old wing-commander who led the raid. In the 21st Century, however, he urges that we should see the dambusters in much more complex shades. The aircrew's heroism was entirely real, as was the brilliance of Barnes Wallis, inventor of the ‘bouncing bombs'. But commanders who promised their young fliers that success could shorten the war fantasised as ruthlessly as they did about the entire bomber offensive. Some 1,400 civilians perished in the biblical floods that swept through the Mohne valley, more than half of them Russian and Polish women, slave labourers. Hastings vividly describes the evolution of Wallis' bomb, and of the squadron which broke the dams. But he also portrays in harrowing detail those swept away by the torrents. He argues that what modern Germans call the Mohnekatastrophe imposed on the Nazi war machine temporary disruption, rather than a crippling blow. Ironically, Air Marshal Sir Arthur ‘Bomber' Harris gained much of the public credit, though he bitterly opposed Chastise as a distraction from his city-burning blitz. Harris also made perhaps the operation's biggest mistake-- failure to launch a conventional attack on the huge post-raid repair operation which could have transformed the impact of the dam breaches on Ruhr industry. Here once again is a dramatic retake on familiar history by a master of the art. Hastings sets the Dams Raid in the big picture of the bomber offensive and of the Second World War, with moving portraits of the young airmen, so many of whom died; of Barnes Wallis; the monstrous Harris; the tragic Guy Gibson, together with superb narrative of the action of one of the most extraordinary episodes in British history.
Subjects: Great Britain. Royal Air Force. Squadron, 617; Dams; Operation Chastise, 1943.; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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A compassionate spy [videorecording] / by Hall, Joan,on-screen participant.; Hall, Theodore A.(Theodore Alvin),1925-on-screen participant.; James, Steve,1955-film director,screenwriter.; Magnolia Home Entertainment (Firm),publisher.;
Ted Hall, Joan Hall.Recruited in 1944 to help create the world's first atomic bomb, Ted Hall was the youngest physicist on the Manhattan Project. Concerned that a U.S. post-war monopoly on such a powerful weapon could lead to nuclear catastrophe, Hall began passing key intel to the Soviet Union. After the war, he fell in love with and married Joan, a fellow student with whom he shared a passion for the explosive secret of his espionage. The pair raised a family while living under years of FBI surveillance and intimidation. A COMPASSIONATE SPY, from two-time Oscar nominee Steve James (HOOP DREAMS), reveals the twists and turns of this real-life spy story, its profound impact on history, and the couple's remarkable love and life together during more than 50 years of marriage.E.Closed-captioned for the hearing impaired.DVD ; wide screen presentation ; Dolby Digital 5.1.
Subjects: Video recordings for the hearing impaired.; Biographical films.; Documentary films.; Nonfiction films.; Spy films.; Hall, Theodore A. (Theodore Alvin), 1925-; Manhattan Project (U.S.); Spies; World War, 1939-1945; Espionage; Nuclear weapons;
For private home use only.
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Playing it safe / by Weaver, Ashley,author.;
"The third in the Electra McDonnell series from Edgar-nominated author Ashley Weaver, Playing It Safe is a delightful World War II mystery filled with spies, murder, romance, and wit ... "--
Subjects: Detective and mystery fiction.; Historical fiction.; Spy fiction.; War fiction.; Novels.; Man-woman relationships; Murder; Spies; Thieves; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The Swiss nurse : a novel / by Escobar, Mario,1971-author.; Abernathy, Gretchen,translator.; translation of:Escobar, Mario,1971-Maternidad de Elna.English.;
Includes bibliographical references."The true story of an astonishingly brave woman who saved hundreds of mothers and their children during the Spanish Civil War and WWII"--
Subjects: Biographical fiction.; Historical fiction.; Novels.; Eidenbenz, Elisabeth, 1913-2011; Righteous Gentiles in the Holocaust; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The three lives of Alix St. Pierre / by Lester, Natasha,1973-author.;
"Alix St. Pierre. An unforgettable name for an unforgettable woman. She grew up surrounded by Hollywood glamor, but, as an orphan, never truly felt part of that world. In 1943, with WWII raging and men headed overseas to fight, she lands a publicity job to recruit women into the workforce. Her skills-persuasion, daring, quick-witted under pressure-catch the attention of the U.S. government and she finds herself with an even bigger assignment: sent to Switzerland as a spy. Soon Alix is on the precipice of something big, very big. But how far can she trust her German informant ... ? After an Allied victory that didn't come nearly soon enough, Alix moves to Paris, ready to immerse herself in a new position as director of publicity for the yet-to-be-launched House of Dior. In the glamorous halls of the French fashion house, she can nearly forget everything she lost and the dangerous secret she carries. But when a figure from the war reappears and threatens to destroy her future, Alix realizes that only she can right the wrongs of the past ... and finally find justice"--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; Christian Dior (Firm); Choice (Psychology); Justice; Public relations; Secrecy; Women in advertising; Women spies; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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A bomb placed close to the heart : a novel / by Batsha, Nishant,author.;
"An expansive and poignant novel of love, radical ambition, and intellectual rebirth set at the dawn of World War I. At a party near Stanford University's campus in 1917, Cora Trent, a graduate student raised in the rugged mining towns of the American West, meets Indra Mukherjee, an Indian revolutionary newly arrived in California. Indra is grieving the recent loss of a friend and unsure of the place violence has in the cause of national liberation, while Cora is seeking a new life that stays true to her ambitions as a writer and an idealist. They spark an instant connection, and their passionate romance deepens as they attend protests alongside anticolonial dissidents and socialize with radical thinkers in Berkeley and Palo Alto. All the while, Indra awaits orders from a mysterious German spymaster. As the United States is drawn into the war in Europe, Cora and Indra quickly marry in a climate increasingly intolerant of dissent. When news of arrests threatens their future together, they are forced to flee to New York City with the hope that they can avoid the attention of the British and American authorities. Trying to find footing in their new life, Cora and Indra must reckon with divergent ambitions that challenge the foundations of their hasty marriage -- and their freedom."--
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Novels.; East Indians; Interracial marriage; Man-woman relationships; Radicals; Women pacifists; World War, 1914-1918;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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The making of Billy Bishop the First World War exploits of Billy Bishop, VC / by Greenhous, Brereton,1929-;
Includes bibliographical references (p. [211]-224) and index.Table of Contents; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Chapter 1 -- "The Greatest Game in the World"; Chapter 2 -- A Pilot at the Front; Chapter 3 -- Tricks of the Trade; Chapter 4 -- Flight of Fancy; Chapter 5 -- Flying High; Chapter 6 -- A Statistical Interlude; Chapter 7 -- "I Have Never Been So Furious in My Life"; Epilogue; Appendix -- Bishop's Citations for British Decorations; Endnotes; Publisher's Afterword; Index.It's a war story that is told every time the career of Billy Bishop is discussed: On June 2, 1917, the young pilot single-handedly took out a German airfield in an early morning raid at the height of the Great War. For this, he was awarded the Victoria Cross, and a place in Canadian history. And yet, the attack never happened. In this explosive new biography, Brereton Greehous exposes the myth of Billy Bishop. While his bravery never comes into question (Bishop was as courageous as any of the men who risked their lives in those early warplanes) his credibility as a storyteller does. From exagger.
Subjects: Bishop, William Avery, 1894-1956.; Great Britain. Royal Flying Corps; World War, 1914-1918; Fighter pilots; Bishop, William Avery, 1894-1956.; Grande-Bretagne. Royal Flying Corps; Guerre mondiale, 1914-1918; Pilotes de chasse; BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY; HISTORY;
© 2002., Dundurn Press,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The monuments men [videorecording] / by Balaban, Bob,actor.; Blanchett, Cate,1969-; Bonneville, Hugh,actor.; Clooney, George.; Damon, Matt,actor.; Dujardin, Jean,actor.; Goodman, John,1952-; Murray, Bill,1950-; 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Inc.; Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (Firm);
George Clooney, Bill Murray, John Goodman, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Hugh Bonneville, Bob Balaban, Jean Dujardin.An unlikely World War II platoon has been tasked by FDR with going into Germany to rescue artistic masterpieces from Nazi thieves and returning them to their rightful owners. With the art trapped behind enemy lines, and with the German army under orders to destroy everything as the Reich fell, how could they possibly succeed? But as the Monuments Men, as they were called, found themselves in a race against time, they would risk their lives to protect mankind's greatest achievements.Canadian Home Video Rating: PG.DVD, anamorphic widescreen (2.40:1), Dolby digital 5.1.
Subjects: Allied Forces. Supreme Headquarters. Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Section; Art thefts; Art treasures in war; Cultural property; Feature films.; Historical films.; War films.; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945;
© c2014., 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Inc.,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Indestructible : one man's rescue mission that changed the course of WWII / by Bruning, John R.,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."This little-known WWII story introduces a renegade pilot whose personal mission to rescue his family from a POW camp changed modern air warfare forever. December 1941: Manila is invaded, and US citizen and Philippine Airlines manager, Pappy Gunn, is ordered to fly key military command out of the country, leaving his family at home. So Gunn was miles away when the Japanese captured his wife and children, placing them in an internment camp where they faced disease, abuse, and starvation. Gunn spent three years trying to rescue them. His exploits became legend as he revolutionized the art of air warfare, devising his own weaponry, missions, and combat strategies. By the end of the war, Pappy's ingenuity and flair for innovation helped transform MacArthur's air force into the scourge of the Pacific"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Gunn, Paul Irvin, 1899-1957.; Gunn, Paul Irvin, 1899-1957; Philippine Airlines; Air pilots; Americans; Prisoners of war; World War, 1939-1945; Aeronautics, Military; Rescues; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Skies of thunder : the deadly World War II mission over the roof of the world / by Alexander, Caroline,1956-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In April 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army steamrolled through Burma, capturing the only ground route from India to China. Supplies to this critical zone would now have to come from India by air -- meaning across the Himalayas, on the most hazardous air route in the world. SKIES OF THUNDER is a story of an epic human endeavor, in which Allied troops faced the monumental challenge of operating from airfields hacked from the jungle, and took on "the Hump," the fearsome mountain barrier that defined the air route.They flew fickle, untested aircraft through monsoons and enemy fire, at brain-melting altitudes with inaccurate maps and only primitive navigation technology. The result was a litany of both deadly crashes and astonishing feats of survival. The most chaotic of all the war's arenas, the China-Burma-India theater was further confused by the conflicting political interests of Roosevelt, Churchill and their demanding, nominal ally, Chiang Kai-shek. Caroline Alexander, who wrote the defining books on Shackleton's Endurance and Bligh's Bounty, is brilliant at probing what it takes to survive extreme circumstances. She has unearthed obscure memoirs and long-ignored records to give us the pilots' and soldiers' eye views of flying and combat, as well as honest portraits of commanders like the celebrated "Vinegar Joe" Stillwell and Claire Lee Chennault. She assesses the real contributions of units like the Flying Tigers, Merrill's Marauders, and the British Chindits, who pioneered new and unconventional forms of warfare. Decisions in this theater exposed the fault-lines between the Allies -- America and Britain, Britain and India, and ultimately and most fatefully between America and China, as FDR pressed to help the Chinese nationalists in order to forge a bond with China after the war. A masterpiece of modern war history"--
Subjects: World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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