'Based on eye-witness accounts, Robert Pike's moving book vividly depicts the lives of the villagers who were caught up in the tragedy of Oradour-sur-Glane and brings their experiences to our attention for the first time.' - Hanna Diamond, author of Fleeing HitlerOn 10 June 1944, four days after Allied forces landed in Normandy, the picturesque village of Oradour-sur-Glane in the rural heart of France was destroyed by an armoured SS Panzer...

A chilling biography of the head of Nazi Germany's terror apparatus, a key player in the Third Reich whose full story has never before been told.Reinhard Heydrich is widely recognized as one of the great iconic villains of the twentieth century, an appalling figure even within the context of the Nazi leadership. Chief of the Nazi Criminal Police, the SS Security Service, and the Gestapo, ruthless overlord of Nazi-occupied Bohemia and Moravia, and leading planner of...

How did our ancestors use the concept of demons to explain sleep paralysis? Is that carving in the porch of your local church really what you think it is? And what's that tapping noise on the roof of your car..?The fields of folklore have never been more popular – a recent resurgence of interest in traditional beliefs and customs, coupled with morbid curiosities in folk horror, historic witchcraft cases and our superstitious past, have led to an intersection of ide...

National Book Award Finalist: The "impressive" conclusion to the "magisterial trilogy on the mythology of violence in American history" ( Film Quarterly)."The myth of the Western frontier—which assumes that whites' conquest of Native Americans and the taming of the wilderness were preordained means to a progressive, civilized society—is embedded in our national psyche. U.S. troops called Vietnam 'Indian country.' President John Kennedy invoked 'New Frontier...

A Pulitzer Prize–winning historian's dramatic biography of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, US president during the Depression and WWII.Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the longest serving president in US history, reshaping the country during the crises of the Great Depression and World War II. James MacGregor Burns's magisterial two-volume biography tells the complete life story of the fascinating political figure who instituted the New Deal.Roosevelt: The Lion ...

The "monumental" New York Times bestseller in which a Catholic explores the problem of anti-Semitism through Church history ( The Washington Post).A Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Year and a New York Times Notable BookIn this "masterly history" ( Time), National Book Award-winning author James Carroll maps the profoundly troubling two-thousand-year course of the Church's battle against Judaism and faces the crisis of ...

Here are overlooked or forgotten tales from the world's greatest conflict. These are stories of courage, daring, and stupidity, some of which would challenge the imaginations of Hollywood scriptwriters.Some of the many true tales that author Donald Aines recounts include:• He would never be cast as a dashing war hero, but a cast member of "The Addams Family" television show volunteered for one of the most dangerous jobs the Army Air Force had to offer.

A real account of a boy's life during the Holocaust in Auschwitz, Gross-Rosen and Buchenwald, recorded in his own words and color drawings.In June 1943, after long years of hardship and persecution, thirteen-year-old Thomas Geve and his mother were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Separated upon arrival, he was left to fend for himself in the men's camp of Auschwitz I.During twenty-two harsh months in three camps, Thomas experienced and witnessed the cruel and...

An in-depth look at the personal lives, psychological profiles, and marriages of the wives of officers in Hitler's inner circle: "Compelling." — The Washington PostGoering, Goebbels, Himmler, Heydrich, Hess, Bormann—names synonymous with power and influence in the Third Reich. Perhaps less familiar are Carin, Emmy, Magda, Margaret, Lina, Ilse, and Gerda.These are the women behind the infamous men—complex individuals with distinctive personalities who...

Discover the Surprising History of Ordinary Things"Emily magically weaves a vibrant history of simple everyday objects we often take for granted. The Story Behind will surprise and delight..." ─Deana Marie, Creator & Host of the Twisted Philly podcast#1 Best Seller in Trivia & Fun Facts, Art History, Design History & Criticism, Reference, Decorative Arts & Design, and History of Technology

"A fascinating study of the also-rans and almost-made-its of medieval history . . . Beautifully written and well researched, it is an engaging read." — History . . . The Interesting Bits!When William the Conqueror died in 1087, he left the throne of England to William Rufus . . . his second son. The result was an immediate war as Rufus's elder brother Robert fought to gain the crown he saw as rightfully his; this conflict marked the start of 400 years of b...

From award-winning war reporter Damien Lewis, the untold story of the heroic hellraisers who stormed a Nazi fortress—in one of the most daring raids of World War II . . .Winter, 1944. Allied forces have liberated most of Axis-occupied Italy—with one crucial exception: the Nazi headquarters north of the Gothic Line. Heavily guarded and surrounded by rugged terrain, the mountain fortress is nearly impenetrable. But British Prime Minister Winston Churchill is determin...