Italian pianist and composer Francesco Lotoro has been on a lifelong quest to find this remarkable music. He has painstakingly salvaged and performed symphonies, operas and songs written by the incarcerated musicians, many of whom died in the camps. He has travelled the globe to meet with families and survivors whose harrowing testimonies bear witness to the most devastating experiences in twentieth-century history.

Movingly piecing together the human stories of those who wrote and performed whilst imprisoned, this compelling book takes readers on a journey into their extraordinary lives and music, shining a light on a unique beauty that somehow prevailed against all odds.

'This deep dive into the evolution of tank warfare could not be timelier, and Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, who has more experience than most on these machines, is the perfect person to tell their tale' James Holland

'Tank Command is an exciting and original look at tanks and tank warfare by a tank commander with over twenty years experience of commanding and fighting these behemoths of the battlefield' Al Murray

Who would have thought that steel boxes with guns would endure as the stalwart of the battlefield for over a hundred years? For all the new trickery and wizardry of the modern fight, the tank's ability to pack a huge punch at up to 3000 metres, protected by steel, ceramics and now, electronics, is still the most reliable and durable weapon in the military toolbox.

In this thrilling new book, former tank commander Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE offers a unique and timely exploration of the evolution of the tank, on and off the battlefield. Written in close collaboration with the world-renowned Tank Museum, it brings the thrill of hardware together with the sweep of history, telling the tank's origin story on the battlefields of World War I, charting its primacy during World War II, and analysing its critical role in modern warfare, whether in the Gulf (where Hamish served) or on the new Ukrainian and Russian front lines.

From the MARK IV at the battle of Cambrai to the Challenger 2 in Ukraine, discover the characters who sat at the helm of these iron chariots and what they saw, those who innovated the machine to continue the tank's prominence despite numerous attempts to write it off, and why it remain critical to success in battle even in today's era of drones and cyber warfare.

With thousands of hours commanding Chieftains, Challenger 1s, and Challenger 2s, Hamish is the leading authority on the subject, and Tank Command is an essential addition to any military history reader's bookshelf.

'This review of tank warfare by an accomplished exponent is timely given the increased risks of high intensity conflict and the need to equip our Army effectively' General Sir Nick Carter, former Chief of the Defence Staff

'I fought with Hamish in a tank squadron in the First Gulf War, and gauge there are few better people to explain the evolution of the tank from Cambrai to the Donbass' General Sir Richard Sherriff, Deputy Commander of NATO

'With the world seemingly on the precipice of war again, Tank Command is a timely reminder of the heritage and future of the tank which has been the backbone of warfare for over a hundred years, and my fellow Royal Tank Regiment officer is just the man to tell this story' Rt Hon Sir Andrew Mitchell MP, former DFID Minister and ex Royal Tank Regiment

'A great read, and confirmation that the evolution of the tank is not over' General Sir James Everard Colonel, Commandant of the Royal Lancers

Via first-hand testimonies and long-hidden files, Damien Lewis has unearthed the incredible details, bringing to life an astonishing tale of bravery, daring and determination which showcases the SAS at their very finest.

****

PRAISE FOR SAS THE GREAT TRAIN RAID

'A staggering feat of bravery kept secret for decades, but now the SAS train raid on a concentration camp during the Second World War is detailed in an incredible new book' SUNDAY EXPRESS

'Long-hidden files and unseen personal accounts reveal a daring rescue mission from an Italian concentration camp' DAILY TELEGRAPH

'There is an enduring appeal about the SAS in Britain, the United States and beyond, in an age when we need heroes who were fighting the good fight more than ever' SUNDAY TIMES

'In autumn 1943 the SAS pulled off one of the most audacious missions of the Second World War. And yet the Great Train Raid to liberate Pisticci concentration camp has been relatively unknown until now' TIMES RADIO

'Fittingly titled as it features a train and was totally crazy. An unbelievable mission deep into enemy territory to free prisoners from arguably the first concentration camp to come to the attention of the allies… I've read the book cover to cover and it's absolutely astonishing what these people did' TONY LIVESEY, BBC RADIO 5 LIVE

Putin retains his stranglehold on his position in Russia despite an almost ruinous invasion of Ukraine. The answer as to how and why can be found in Russian history. With no naturally defensible borders, and environmental factors constraining its economy, Russia has been pitched against the pre-eminent military powers of the age across the centuries, and often at a technological disadvantage. To respond to these challenges, it has had to sit heavily on the backs of its people, and so war – and the need to be able to fight it – has shaped its evolution, from tsars to commissars and presidents.

The national identity has been forged in the furnace of war. From the medieval kingdom of Rus battling against a Scandinavian princes and Mongol emperors, to its own empire-building conflicts in 19th-century Asia, to the formative wars of the 20th century which saw Russia pitch from Tsarist empire to communist state and defender against Nazism, all these conflicts stained the lands of Russia red with blood. A weak post-Cold War Russia then turned to Putin, who created a new mood for martial triumphalism which led directly to the Ukrainian war.

Packed with contemporary accounts, Forged in War strips away the myth to give an insider’s view on Russia’s past and present.

Washington DC, 1941.

Quincy Kane, hero of the Boston Police Department and scourge of organised crime, is now a Secret Service agent. His meteoric rise means he’s trusted to guard the most important man in the country: President Roosevelt.

Then Imperial Japan attacks the US naval base at Pearl Harbor.

For Kane, American entry to World War II means the most crucial mission of his career: a complex scheme of bribery and subterfuge that will see him cross the Atlantic. He could change the course of the conflict and save thousands of Allied lives.

First, though, he will have to survive a return to the world of organised crime via the City of Angels itself: Los Angeles, where every gangster has Quincy Kane in their crosshairs.

From award-winning author Graham Hurley, Kane is a thrilling part of the Spoils of War Collection, a non-chronological series set during World War II and featuring some of the most momentous stories and figures of the era.

'Historical fiction of a high order' The Times on Graham Hurley

An authoritative history of the tank and the remarkable individuals who designed them and fought in them, from a former officer and best-selling historian

Tanks are the ultimate embodiment of industrial age warfare. In the popular imagination, they represent both a terrifying beast of destruction and a potent symbol of liberation.

The technology behind these war machines has evolved relentlessly, and yet the coming of the information age has led many to predict that drones, missiles, and Artificial Intelligence have made the tank obsolete. Time and again, however, tanks have continued to shape – and be shaped by — battles around the world, from their introduction in 1916, through the Second World War and tank-on-tank fights in 1990s Iraq, to the current conflict in Ukraine.

In TANK, best-selling historian and former officer in the Royal Tank Regiment Mark Urban draws on wide-ranging accounts from soldiers, designers, and politicians, from Winston Churchill to Volodymyr Zelensky, to tell the remarkable story of one of the most important developments in military history. Through the ten most important vehicles ever made, Urban chronicles the incredible advances in tank technology – starting with the Mark IV, the first British tank to be used in large numbers in WW1, and following the story through the T-34 and Tiger to the M1 Abrams, a product of huge American Cold War investment that is still used to this day.

Officially supported by The Tank Museum and using never-before-seen archival sources, interviews and declassified documents, this is a fascinating history of the vehicle that changed conflict forever.

‘An illuminating and exciting drive through the mud and blood of twentieth-century warfare' Dr Robert Lyman, author of Operation Suicide

In the years after the First World War, Berlin was – as Vladimir Nabokov described it – a place 'of dangerous glamour and worldliness, of tawdry cynicism, where art and riot flourished side by side.'

The Weimar Republic was Germany's postwar experiment with democracy, and a time of unprecedented cultural, intellectual and artistic freedom. Berlin was at the cutting edge of quantum physics and psychoanalysis; its nightlife showcased grand opera and dissolute cabaret. Bauhaus architecture and modernist painting flourished, and it rivalled Hollywood as a capital of film. But beneath the glamour was a deeply polarised society of extremes plagued by economic disasters, populist leaders fuelling culture wars, and an uneasy political settlement that would soon spawn the horrors of Nazism.

Covering fifteen years from the end of the First World War to Hitler's appointment as Chancellor in 1933, Weimar Germany tells the definitive story of Germany's interwar republic and descent into fascism. Featuring an extraordinary cast of characters including Vladimir Nabokov, Albert Einstein, Marlene Dietrich, Adolf Hitler, Billy Wilder, Thomas Mann, Joseph Goebbels, Christopher Isherwood and Rosa Luxemburg, Weimar Germany is a gripping and evocative account of how the fledgling German democracy died.

Then in 1783 the United States began to expand at a staggering rate, adding territory equivalent to the landmass of modern Bulgaria each year, every year, for eighty-four years. By 1867- less than a century after its founding-the United States laid claim to some 3.6 million square miles of land on the North American continent.

How did it happen? In The Scramble for America, historian Clement Knox uncovers the history of these epic years. It is the story of how the United States exploded out of its original confines on the Eastern seaboard, breaching the Appalachians, the Great Plains, the Rockies and extending its reach to the Rio Grande, the Florida Keys, and the Bering Strait, eventually straddling two oceans and commanding some of the most valuable lands on the planet.

In vivid prose he recounts how a cast of settlers, prospectors, and soldiers, hungry for land, motivated by visions of gold, and inspired by the rhetoric of national greatness, spread out across the North American continent, making history as they advanced and bringing violence and dispossession in their wake.

The principal currents of American history are all interwoven with these years of conquest: the origins of the revolution, the tragedy of the Native Americans, the spread of slavery, and the crisis of the union that culminated in the Civil War.

Those turbulent years of rampaging continental expansion in the nineteenth century teed up the United States for global supremacy in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The creation of the continental United States was one of the great events in modern history and continues to shape our world.

Published to mark the 250th anniversary of American Independence, this book offers a retelling of its national history like no other.

From Norway to Sicily, Russia to Ireland and across the Atlantic to North America, the Vikings traversed the globe in their pursuit of land and plunder. Renowned as merciless raiders from the sea, these fearless warriors ransacked the shores of Europe for more than 250 years. The legacy of the Vikings, including famous names like Erik the Red, Harald Hardrada and Cnut, still holds a crucial place in history and their actions left an incredible mark wherever they landed.

Featuring stunning artwork and photographs, this book examines the world of the Vikings, from their warrior customs and tactics to their weapons and iconic longships that allowed them to navigate treacherous waters and the homesteads where they raised families, built communities, and created the culture that still resonates today.