Berliner Zinnfiguren/Books & Media/Books/1933-1945 (WW II) products

Buls, Thoralf: Der deutsche Unteroffizier des Heeres 1933-1945 13,50 €

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 09:00:11 +0200

This book provides a comprehensive look at the training, career paths, duties, and significance of the rank group that was indispensable to troop leadership at virtually every level during the Second World War. Whether serving as infantry squad leaders, tank commanders, artillery gun commanders, combat engineers, signals NCOs, or company sergeant majors, these non-commissioned officers bore responsibility, led their soldiers in combat, and often served as the crucial link between orders and execution. Through numerous historical photographs, contemporary documents, and detailed explanations, this work paints a multifaceted portrait of the Wehrmachts NCO corps. It describes the soldiers' social backgrounds, various training paths, rank insignia and uniform details, and the diverse roles they played across the Army's different branches of service. Particular attention is paid to the daily lives and duties of NCOs in both troop leadership and specialized functional roles. From commanding an infantry squad and serving in armored units to specialized technical assignments, the book illustrates the demands placed on these men and explains why their expertise, leadership qualities, and decisiveness were vital to the Army's combat effectiveness. Drawing on deep expertise and an eye for historical context, the author conveys a vivid picture of a frequently underestimated rank group. Combining military-historical research with compelling documentation, the work makes the role of NCOs in the German Army both understandable and tangible.

Kaeres, Kurt: Das verstummte Hurra 15,50 €

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 09:00:11 +0200

In the west of the Reich, the front line draws closerand with it, a generation barely out of childhood. Young soldiers travel in packed trains toward a landscape of ruins, cold, and anticipation. Their destination: the forests of the Northern Eifel. Their fate: a battle that has long since lost all meaning. In the Hürtgen Forest, raw recruits, scattered units, and battle-worn veterans confront an enemy just as exhausted as they are. Amidst the mud, rain, and shattered trees, a struggle unfoldsone defined not by heroism, but by fear, survival, and the slow erosion of humanity. Memories become shadows that return decades later. What happened back then cannot be shaken offneither by the Germans nor by the Americans. For in this forest, something crucial falls silent: the belief in the war.

Chervatin, Dirk: Was bleibt wenn alles verloren ist 23,50 €

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 09:00:11 +0200

East Prussia, 1945: Thirteen-year-old Edith is torn from her home and thrust into a world where fear, hunger, and violence define daily life. Fleeing the Red Army, she loses everythingher family, her security, and her childhood. What follows is an odyssey across a devastated Europe: Edith is separated from her family, abandoned, and forcibly displaced, repeatedly confronting situations that no human beinglet alone a childshould ever have to endure. She suffers abuse, humiliation, and the terror of imminent death. More than once, she stands on the brink of the abyss. Yet, she survives. Driven by an unshakeable will, she battles through hunger, unfamiliar lands, and hopelessnesstraveling from East Prussia through Poland to Israel, and finally back to Germany. This book is not a novel; it is a testament, a biography. The true life story of Edith Zylbersztejn reveals, with unflinching honesty, the impact of war, flight, and expulsion on a human beingand the strength required to go on living despite it all. Author Dirk Chervatin tells Ediths storyan account that is authentic, moving, and deeply harrowingin a way that gets under the skin and lingers long after the final page. Through numerous conversations, she recounted the stages of her eventful life to the author. The resulting book conveys a powerful portrait of a generation of displaced people who lost everythingyet carried on.

Buls, Thoralf: Der deutsche Unteroffizier des Heeres 1933-1945 29,90 €

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 09:00:11 +0200

Chervatin, Dirk: Was bleibt wenn alles verloren ist 15,99 €

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 09:00:11 +0200

Fisher, John: Sherman Tank Crewman 29,95 €

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 08:50:14 +0200

On the afternoon of June 6, 1944D-Daythe men and Sherman tanks of the "4th County of London Yeomanry" (known as the "Sharpshooters") waited in their landing craft just off the Normandy beaches, ready to make the dash ashore. Around sunrise the following morning, they began landing on the expansive sands of "Gold Beach." From there, the Sharpshooters immediately advanced inland to support the expanding Allied bridgehead. Over the next few days, the regiment (4 CLY) pushed south toward Tilly-sur-Seulles, fighting alongside the 50th (Northumbrian) Division in the challenging *bocage* landscape, a terrain crisscrossed by dense hedgerows. On June 13, the regiment became embroiled in the dramatic Battle of Villers-Bocage, one of the most famous tank engagements of the Normandy campaign. During the course of the day, "A Squadron" was ambushed by the Tiger I tank commanded by SS-Obersturmführer Michael Wittmann and suffered heavy losses. John Fisher was among the men of "A Squadron"specifically, "1 Troop." After enlisting in the army in Derby in 1943, John was eventually assigned to the "4th County of London Yeomanry" as a Sherman tank crewman. Having survived the initial whirlwind of Operation Overlord, Johnlike the rest of the regimentremained in action throughout the Normandy campaign. After participating in Operation Bluecoat, an offensive against German forces in the Caen area, the survivors fought their way across northern France. Having driven the enemy back across the Seine, they advanced through Belgium and into the Netherlands. In 1945, John took part in the final assault on Germany and supported the advances across the Rhine. By the time of the Third Reichs surrender in May 1945, the Sharpshootersand John along with themhad reached the Elbe River and the city of Hamburg. *Sherman Tank Crewman* is his personal account of his contribution to the liberation of Europe.

Grehan, John: The Death Railway in Numbers 19,95 €

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 08:50:14 +0200

Between May 1942 and October 1943, Allied prisoners of war built a railway line connecting the rail networks of Thailand and Burma, and later assisted in its maintenance. But how many prisoners worked on the line, and how many lost their lives during its construction? How long was the line? How many stations and labor camps were situated along the route? How often was the railway attacked by Allied bombers, and how often were Imperial Japanese Army soldiers attacked by elephants? The answers to these questionsalong with the wealth of fascinating facts and figures in this bookreveal not only how the railway was built and used, but also the suffering and misery the prisoners endured: they toiled under the brutal supervision of Japanese railway engineers and were subjected to cruel, merciless treatment by the camp guards. How deep was the mud through which prisoners had to struggle to reach their work sites during the monsoon season, and what distances did they have to cover? How many hours a day did the prisoners work during the grueling "Speedo" phase, and what volumes of earth had to be moved during jungle clearing before they were allowed to return to camp? Of course, there were lighter moments, too: how far did POWsdressed as women for an eventchase a deeply embarrassed Japanese guard? How many high-ranking officers were invited by the Japanese to a lavish multi-course meal while the other prisoners struggled to survive on starvation rations? *The Death Railway in Numbers* sheds light on the stories behind the figuresoften told by those who took part in the construction and subsequent maintenance of the line. The details are fascinating, yet the figures paint a harrowing picture of one of the most shocking episodes of the 20th century.

Greenberg, Joel: Alan Turing and the Enigma Code 32,95 €

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 08:50:14 +0200

For years, early accounts of the codebreaking work at Bletchley Park during World War II contained numerous factual errors. This was entirely understandable: many of the authors were veterans who lacked access to official records. They relied solely on their recollections of events that had taken place more than thirty years earlier. As secrecy restrictions were relaxed, more and more Bletchley Park veterans wrote their own accounts. Some historians studying British wartime intelligence adopted a number of these questionable stories. These tales gradually became part of the Bletchley Park mythosappearing in print media as well as in stage and film productionsand persist to this day. In his book *Alan Turing and the Enigma Code*, Joel Greenberg selects twenty of the most widespread myths about Bletchley Park during World War II (such as the claim that thousands of carrier pigeons were used there to transmit secret messages to British troops in France). With impressive attention to detail, he describes the origin of each mythas well as the inaccuracies, secrets, and sometimes even lies that kept it alive over the yearsbefore finally revealing the truth behind the story. The book offers a completely fresh perspective on Bletchley Park; no other work on the subject tells the story in quite this way, and it is sure to be of great interest to anyone fascinated by the world of wartime intelligence.

Margry, Karel: The French SAS in Holland 32,95 €

Sat, 20 Jun 2026 08:50:14 +0200

On the night of April 78, 1945, the Allies launched Operation Amherst in the West. In this final airborne operation of the war in Europe, approximately 700 men from the 3rd and 4th French SAS battalionspart of the Special Air Service Brigadeparachuted into northeastern Holland. Their mission was to support the First Canadian Armys advance to the North Sea by sowing maximum confusion behind German lines and securing key road bridges. Because the drop took place from a high altitude amidst strong winds and navigation difficulties, the men were widely scattered and often landed off-target. Nevertheless, the French troops fought with vigor and daring, laying ambushes, attacking headquarters, and seizing bridges. Although they were originally scheduled to be relieved by ground forces within 72 hours, some units had to hold out significantly longer before ground troops reached them. It was not until April 14a full week after the landingthat the last of the men reported back. Amherst was an operation that resulted in heavy casualties for both sides. The two SAS battalions reported a total of 269 enemy soldiers killed, 70 wounded, and 187 captured; however, the actual number of Germans killed was far lower, at around 40. In terms of material damage, they recorded 29 enemy vehicles destroyed or captured and three railway lines severed. Casualties among the French paratroopers themselves amounted to 33 killed, 35 wounded, and 92 missinga total of 160 men, representing a casualty rate of nearly one-quarter of the force. While Allied commanders at the time largely deemed the operation a success, post-war assessments were more critical. This book tells the complete story of this little-known SAS operation. It is an account illustrated by a remarkable collection of rare combat photographs, each paired with a modern-day comparison shotthe format for which "After the Battle" is known.

Spring, Ian/Forty, Simon: Blitzkrieg in Colour 32,95 €

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 20:41:22 +0200

In 1939, Germany unleashed a new form of warfare in Europe: "Blitzkrieg." The strategy involved breaking through enemy lines via rapid, overwhelming attacks utilizing tanks, motorized infantry, and air support. Employed to devastating effect during the early years of the war, this tactic forever changed the face of modern warfare. Featuring over 250 original color photographsmost of them previously unpublishedthis work offers a compelling visual chronicle of the Wehrmachts Blitzkrieg campaigns in 1939 and 1940, ranging from the initial tank invasion of Poland to the sweeping conquests in Western Europe. Derived from original color slides, the images provide an authentic, vivid glimpse into the past as it appeared to contemporaries. The accompanying historical commentary is based on extensive archival research; together, text and images transport the reader directly to the front lines, conveying both the tactical brilliance of this revolutionary warfare and the terrible human toll it exacted. Beyond tanks, equipment, and aircraft, the book documents the daily lives of soldiers and civilians as well as the destruction wrought by the campaigns: cities reduced to rubble and ash, the German occupation of towns, the flight of the civilian population, and the war's casualties.

Nissenthall, Jack/Samuels, Basil: Radar's Role in Defeating the Nazis 29,95 €

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 08:30:06 +0200

During the Second World War, a silent battle was waged between the Allies and the Third Reich: the war of the airwaves. As a radar expert, Jack Nissenthall played a central role in developing methods for radar detection and jamming. Jack had been involved in radar development as part of Robert Watson-Watts team since 1936; this work led to the creation of the "Chain Home" system, which was crucial to the RAF's success during the Battle of Britain. Later, he was a key figure among the British and Canadian forces that carried out the infamous Operation Jubileethe raid on Dieppein August 1942. His mission was to infiltrate the radar station at Pourville and obtain vital information about the new German "Freya" radar. Although he did not succeed in entering the station itself, he managed to cut the facility's telephone lines, forcing the German operators to rely on radio communication. These radio transmissions were intercepted by listening stations in England, yielding valuable intelligence. After returning from Dieppe, Jack continued his important work in the field of radar technology. He believes thatin contrast to the countless books written about the D-Day landings and the subsequent fightingthe achievements in radar technology have received relatively little attention to date. In this account, Jack offers the reader insight into the ingenuity of those involved and describes how they sought solutions to the daunting challenges of an amphibious landing on a heavily defended coast. He details how, through meticulous planning, absolute secrecy, resourcefulness, collaboration, ruse, and deception, they achieved what most had deemed impossible. Writing about the Normandy landings, Jack said: If there was a miracle on the morning of June 6, 1944, it was one that had been carefully planned by the Allies. By finding solutions and thoroughly testing their developments, they made it possible. At last, I can tell the whole story.

Rosenberg-Band, Erika: Mythos Hitler in Argentinien 19,95 €

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 08:30:06 +0200

Since the end of World War II, rumors have persisted that Adolf Hitler fled to Argentina and spent his final years there. Many people believe they saw the dictator in South America. The FBI made significant efforts to locate Hitler in Argentina. Numerous books and documentaries have addressed this subject. Author Erika Rosenberg-Band has been confronted with the topic of "Hitler in Argentina" since childhood. She vividly recounts her experiences and conversations related to this myth, as well as the historical background of National Socialism in Argentina. She examines in depth the historical evidence both supporting and refuting the theories of an escape from the *Führerbunker* in Berlin around April 30, 1945, a flight route via submarine, and Hitlers subsequent stay in Argentina. Erika Rosenberg-Band was born in 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to German-Jewish parents. Her parentsher father a lawyer and her mother a physicianwere forced to leave Germany in 1936; they fled to Paraguay before settling in Argentina shortly thereafter. Rosenberg-Band gained renown as an author with the 1994 publication of the biography *In Schindlers Schatten. Emilie Schindler erzählt ihre Geschichte* (In Schindlers Shadow: Emilie Schindler Tells Her Story), in which she chronicles the life of Oskar Schindlers wife, whom she had met in 1990.

Thompson, Bruce D.: No Ordinary Neighbour 32,95 €

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 08:30:06 +0200

When author and clergyman Bruce Thompson first met his new neighbor, there seemed to be nothing unusual about him. Reverend Thompson, a Christian minister who had dedicated much of his life to Holocaust education, had no inkling of what would come to light in the years ahead. It turned out that this generous, sociable, and friendly neighbor had managed to keep the truth about his wartime service a secret throughout the eight decades he spent in the United Kingdom. Eventually, he was ready to share the reality with just one person: Reverend Thompson. *No Ordinary Neighbour* is the account of a growing relationship that led to an astonishing confession. Over the course of a deepening bond, "Soldier X" gradually revealed his true identity to the author during the final decades of his life. As it turned out, he was one of the last surviving members of the *Leibstandarte-SS Adolf Hitler*. This is a story of guilt, remorse, shame, anger, confusion, and a profound desire for others to understand how easily evil can take hold of the human psyche and society. We are taken from a childhood of poverty in 1920s Berlin to training with one of the elite units of Himmlers SS. We accompany "Soldier X" in the autumn of 1941 on a troop train heading east to the battlefields of southern Ukraine. After surviving two tours of duty on the Russian frontwitnessing some of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War"Soldier X" takes part in the defense of Normandy following the Allied landings (D-Day) in 1944. Captured on the outskirts of Brussels in late summer 1944, "Soldier X" narrowly escapes execution by a British guard while held in a Brussels cell; he subsequently remains a prisoner of war until the end of 1948. This account is shocking and deeply unsettling, though not necessarily in the way many might expect or imagine. What is particularly surprising is just how ordinary "Soldier X" was: he could easily have been anyones popular older uncle. This is no ordinary memoir, but a profound examination of how a young man"Soldier X"could be so readily drawn into a brutal military unit that ranked among the most feared of the Nazi regime.

Dawson, Paul L.: The Dunkirk Evacuation 32,95 €

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 08:30:06 +0200

On May 10, 1940, Hitler unleashed his *Blitzkrieg* in the West. As German troops advanced, the British Expeditionary Force, the French First Army, and the Belgian Army were pushed into a narrow corridor between Lille and Dunkirk. By May 24, 400,000 soldiers were trapped there; their only chance of survival lay in evacuation. Somehow, the beleaguered Allied troops had to withstand the superior German force long enough to save the majority of the British, French, and Belgian soldiers. Day after day, the Germans attacked the defensive perimeter, yet the defenders held firm. "Even in defeat," a German commander wrote on May 29, "the French fight like lions... the BEF is in a state of complete disintegration. It has simply abandoned all vehicles and equipment and is fleeing to the sea." As troops were evacuated from the beaches and the port of Dunkirk, fewer and fewer men remained to defend the increasingly thin and shrinking perimetera sector held entirely by French troops. When the last ship finally departed Dunkirk on June 4, some 40,000 French soldiers were the only ones left holding the line. Eventually, at 8:00 a.m. on June 4, German troops reached the French naval headquarters in Dunkirk. There, General Barthélemy formally surrendered. "No event in the epic of Dunkirk," noted the French historian who studied the battle, "was more heart-rending" than the sight of Dunkirks brave defenders marching into captivity. Their sacrifice did not go unnoticed by Churchill, either; He acknowledged: These troops thus made a magnificent contribution to the safety of their more fortunate comrades and of the British Expeditionary Force. Drawing on archival sources from France and Belgiummuch of which had not previously been published in EnglishPaul Dawson sheds new light on a little-known aspect of one of the most famous events of the Second World War. Had the French troops not been willing to make this sacrifice, Britains situation in the summer of 1940as Hitlers forces advanced toward the Channel coastcould have become far more precarious.

Ridley, Norman: Stalins Top Spies 29,95 €

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 08:30:06 +0200

The Chekathe Soviet security and intelligence agencywas established just two months after the Bolshevik Revolution to gather intelligence and advance the revolution abroad. Over the ensuing decades, the organization underwent numerous transformations and achieved remarkable successes against Germany, Imperial Japan, the USA, and the United Kingdom. In the 1930s, the Soviets sought to expand their influence in Eastern Europe. This ambition inevitably led to conflicts with Germany; in response, they began establishing clandestine organizations ready for deployment in the event of war. Initially, the USA played only a minor role in Soviet calculations, but this changed as war became increasingly likely. Once it became known that Great Britain and the USA were exploring the potential of nuclear weapons, espionage in the Western Hemisphere became critically important. Despite fighting alongside them against the Nazis, the Soviets massively intensified their espionage activities against both nations in order to develop their own atomic bomb program. After World War II, the Cold War emerged as a new, menacing threat overshadowing the global landscape; against this backdrop, the Soviets utilized their British spy network, known as the "Cambridge Five." These agents had been radicalized and recruited in the 1930s and had subsequently secured positions within the British security services. In *Stalins Top Spies*, the author examines five of the Soviet Unions most significant spies: Leopold Trepper (and the "Red Orchestra"), Ursula Kuczynski (the "atomic spy"), Richard Sorge (a Soviet agent in Tokyo), Kim Philby (the "Cambridge spy"), and Rudolf Abel (a Soviet intelligence officer arrested for espionage in the USA in 1957). The book not only recounts their successes and failures but also assesses the extent to which they influenced global events from the Second World War through the early years of the Cold War. Furthermore, it highlights the failure of the states involved to recognize the threat posed by them, as well as their inability to effectively counter it.

Howarth, David: 6 juin à l'aube … ils ont débarqué 22,95 €

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 08:30:06 +0200

"That morning, the fleet had put to sea. It was impossible for him to count the ships or even estimate their number... Wallace stood atop the cliff, fascinated and overwhelmed by this magnificent spectaclea sight no one had ever seen before, and one that surely no one would ever see again." In this work, David Howarth reconstructs detailed accounts from some thirty eyewitnessessoldiers, sailors, airmen, and civilians; British, American, German, and Frenchdelivering a compelling narrative of historys greatest amphibious landing. He focuses not merely on famous anecdotes but on the full spectrum of D-Day experiences: the fighting between paratroopers and German forces in Normandy, the ordeal of the initial bombardment, the grueling struggle on the landing beaches, the astonishment of the German defenders, and all the confusion, exhilaration, and horror of the battle. The book also examines lesser-known roles in the offensivesuch as the crews of DD tanks (amphibious armored vehicles) or "Hobarts Funnies" (specialized engineering tanks modified by Major General Sir Percy Hobart)as well as the units responsible for road construction and traffic control on the beaches. Composed of soldiers who had to operate under sometimes hellish conditions, these units worked to prevent or alleviate the inevitable bottlenecks caused by thousands of troops and vast quantities of equipment being poured onto a few kilometers of coastlinea stretch of sand accustomed more to the leisurely pace of holidaymakers than to the fury of battle...

Munoz, Antonio J.: Hitler's Foreign Fighters 32,95 €

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 08:30:06 +0200

At the outbreak of the Second World War, Nazi Germany was determined to portray its struggle as a purely Aryan crusade. Yet, as the conflict expanded and human losses mounted, Hitlers armies increasingly relied on non-Aryans to sustain the war effort. By the wars end, hundreds of thousands of foreigners wore the uniform of the German field army. These men filled the ranks of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS. Their storiesspanning from Scandinavia to the Balkans, and from France, Spain, and North Africa to the Baltic states and the Soviet Unionreveal the extent to which the Third Reich, despite its racist ideology, operated as a multinational war machine. The book *Hitlers Foreign Fighters* offers a comprehensive study of these men; it examines who they were, their reasons for serving in the Wehrmacht or Waffen-SS, and how they were utilized by a regime that simultaneously despised and depended on them. Some were committed volunteers, won over by propaganda and anti-communist zeal. Others were opportunists motivated by better pay, personal survival, or improved rations. Still others were conscripts or reluctant recruits driven into service by coercion, circumstance, or fear. Together, they formed one of the most diverse and complex groups of combatantsa group that defies simple categorization as either collaborators or resistance fighters. The book traces the entire evolution of this phenomenon: from the early recruitment of "Aryan" Germanic volunteerscelebrated as racial brethrento the gradual expansion of recruitment into Western Europe, the Balkans, North Africa, and the occupied Soviet territories. As the tide of war turned, the Nazi regime, in growing desperation, resorted to recruiting ethnic Germans from annexed territories, Slavic conscripts, and even Muslim contingents from the Caucasus and North Africa. Thorough and comprehensive, this book sheds new light on one of the most revealing yet hitherto little-studied aspects of the Second World War. By highlighting the multinational character of Hitlers armies, it challenges prevailing notions about the war in Europe and deepens our understanding of how ideology, pragmatism, and desperation intertwined to shape Nazi warfare.

Hooley, Paul: Goering's Suicide 32,95 €

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 08:30:06 +0200

Ever since the night before his scheduled execution for war crimeswhen Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, Commander-in-Chief of the Luftwaffe and deputy "Führer," bit into a cyanide capsule and diedspeculation regarding his death has never ceased. The question of how Göring obtained the poison sparked official inquiries, various reviews, heated debates, numerous books and articles, and a range of film and documentary portrayals. Yet, until now, no conclusive or convincing explanation has been offered. The solution to this mystery remained elusive as long as crucial information was missinginformation that only came to light through the accounts of two military personnel who revealed, late in life, that they had been present at that historically significant event in 1945. When combined with records previously compiled by investigators and recently published documents, it is now finally possible to reconstruct the actual sequence of events on that fateful day.

Holden, Clive: Subterfuge and Sabotage During Hitler's Blitzkrieg 32,95 €

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 08:30:06 +0200

In September 1939, Great Britain was once again at war with Germany. In Whitehall, Prime Minister Chamberlain entrusted a senior cabinet minister with the delicate task of coordinating plans to deny Germany access to the vital economic resources of the neutral Netherlands and Belgium, should Hitler invade those countries. Chief among these crucial resources were the local oil stocks; these had to be destroyed to prevent them from falling into German hands. This task would ultimately fall to a group of former cement workers who had been assigned to the Royal Engineers as a Territorial Army unit. Little did they know at the time that, just nine months later, some of them would be carrying out dangerous demolition missions under enemy fire on the other side of the North Sea. Preparations for these operations continued into 1940, encompassing intelligence gathering, covert reconnaissance missions, and weeks of intensive training for Navy and Army demolition squads. The German offensive in the West began in May 1940, and four Royal Navy destroyers sailed from Dover to transport demolition teams to their operational sites in Dutch and Belgian ports. Upon arrival, they immediately faced major challenges, including constant air raids and the need to cooperate with hesitant local authorities. In the ports, the Royal Navy was also involved in evacuating British civilians and officials, as well as members of the Dutch royal family, and had to retrieve gold reserves from bank vaults within the war-torn city. Amidst this chaos, the demolition teams accomplished their missions and returned to Englanddemonstrating patience, perseverance, courage, and sheer tenacity. The full story behind the background, planning, and execution of these little-known yet dramatic operationsas well as the associated eventsis recounted here in greater detail than ever before.

Hulme, Chris: The Bataan Death March to MacArthur’s Return 32,95 €

Sun, 14 Jun 2026 08:30:06 +0200

Over the course of several years, author Chris Hulme embarked on a personal journey to the sites of the Second World War in the Pacific. In his book *The Bataan Death March to MacArthurs Return*, he travels across the Philippinesfrom the rain-swept streets of Manila to the wreck-strewn waters of Leyte Gulfblending compelling historical narrative with personal exploration. The author begins by tracing the footsteps of those who endured the grueling three-month siege of Bataan, where American and Filipino troopscut off from supplies and reinforcementsput up a desperate resistance against a superior Japanese force. This heroic struggle culminated in the largest surrender of U.S. forces in history and the infamous Bataan Death March, commemorated today by 136 white concrete obelisks along the approximately 105-kilometer route of suffering. Taking a boat across Manila Bay, Hulme explores the fortress island of Corregidor, where General Jonathan Wainwrights troops held out for another month following the fall of Bataan. He wanders through the ghostly ruins of burnt-out barracks and massive gun batteries, and descends into the Malinta Tunnel complex, from where MacArthur once directed the defense before being evacuated by PT boat under the cover of darkness. The narrative follows MacArthurs promise to return, accompanying his landing on the beaches of Leyte in 1944. Hulme links the ferocity of this campaign to the raw power of the Pacificwhose typhoons battered fleets and civilians alikeand also highlights recent deep-sea discoveries of warships resting more than 6,000 meters below the ocean surface. The story culminates in Manila in 1945, when an inferno lasting months claimed the lives of 100,000 civilians and reduced the "Pearl of the Orient" to burning ruins. From the restored MacArthur Suite at the Manila Hotel to the dungeons of Fort Santiago, Hulme explores a legacy of cruelty, endurance, and resilience. *The Bataan Death March to MacArthurs Return* transforms battlefields into living landscapes where past and present merge; the work offers a poignant reflection on courage, loss, and the human capacity for rebuildingvividly illustrated by atmospheric photographs and maps.