History Books > O History Books

Advantages: A good read
Disadvantages: none

Operation certain death is written by Damien Lewis and was published in 2004 and is the inside story of the SAS's greatest battles. Damien Lewis is an award winning author and filmmaker whose documentaries have appeared on the BBC, Channel 4 and a host of other networks. Operation certain death is the real life story of eleven Irish Ranger soldiers who where taken hostage in sierra Leone in 1999 by the west side boys after a routine mission to the ...
...a battle plan code named Operation Barras in which they would drop into the middle of the rebel village and all hell would break. This was also a joint operation with the Paratrooper Company 1 Para whose mission was to take out the neighboring rebel village Magbeni and their heavy artillery in case they use them on the SAS during the rescue of the Irish Rangers. This mission was considered to be extremely dangerous and very unlike the SAS who use ... Read review

Advantages: history that is accessible and entertaining, well presented
Disadvantages: none except for my poor make up thanks to the woad incident

...for Boys and Girls (1906), Our Empire Story (1908), History of France (1912), History of Germany (1913) , The Story of the United States (1919, though in 1917 published in the US as This Country of Ours) and Kings and Things (1937). Each of these unabashedly mixed legend, magic, and historical fact to weave positive portraits displaying great pride for the history and achievements of these nations.It does not gloss over misdeeds either, painting ...
...ancient peoples who dwelt on our shores. She saw the people of history as just that, people, and their stories have come alive for her and fired her imagination as surely as any fairytale ever did, but burning with an intensity that cannot be quenched for contained within is the element of truth. No more are the Kings and Queens and Caesars just names that run together. She knows their avarice, their determination, their triumphs, and their setbacks. ... Read review

Advantages: Detailed, well written, excellent coverage,
Disadvantages: None

As an avid reader of military tomes around D-Day,Overlord and 1944, I approached this book with interest. Let's be honest, there are a plethora of books about D-Day and Operation Overlord, quite a number of which I've read. Every now and then, a book is published that sets itself above the rest - and this is one of them. I've never actually read any of Max Hasting's pieces before this but this particular piece of work is outstanding. This book details ...
...COSSAC, right through to the end of the Battle for Normandy at the Falaise pocket. He deals with both the strategic and tactical aspects of the whole campaign, from both Allied and Axis viewpoints and also includes topics not previously covered in other books - the human aspect, logistics. As with Anthony Beevor's Stalingrad, this is a moving and detailed piece of work that captures the intensity of the campaign. It captures the feelings and mood ... Read review

Advantages: Beautifully presented, fascinating insight , fresh material
Disadvantages: None

I developed a fascination for Russian history when I had to prepare a detailed study of the Russian revolution and the ensuing communism, for my history A level. When I discovered that there was a new book looking at the downfall of the Russian royal family and following their story afterwards, I just had to buy it. The book is written by John Van der Kiste ( well known to most on this site) and Coryne Hall. To be honest, I knew that any book that ...
...was not expecting to be gripped by it quite as much as I was. From the moment I opened the cover I was entranced. The book tells the life story of the Grand Duchess Xenia, younger sister of Nicolas II, the last Tsar of Russia. Although this period in history has been previously well documented, nothing has been written about Xenia before. This gives a very different perspective to the norm. It is also full of detailed descriptions of the lifestyle ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent account of unprecidented war trial
Disadvantages: Can be hard reading at times

INTRODUCTION After the fall of the Third Reich, the Allies of the United Kingdom, France, The United States and Russia were left with the issue of bringing the Nazi leaders to justice. Whatever they decided would set a precedent; no trial in history had previously been conducted for the top brass of a criminal regime. They understood the importance of any decision they made, as it would hold the key to how war criminals once defeated would ...
...of this ground breaking trial. It is hard to read these kinds of things objectively; for example, my own father served in the British 8th Army during the war, and I would have been a fair way up the regime's hit list, so I can't claim to be in any way neutral. However, I have tried hard to read this book looking from both sides of the trial. It is a great credit to the book that it enables you to do this to a fair degree. Perhaps more fairly that ... Read review