Book cover of The War Behind the Wire

Book description

The last untold story of the First World War: the fortunes and fates of 170,000 British soldiers captured by the enemy.

On capture, British officers and men were routinely told by the Germans 'For you the war is over'. Nothing could be further from the truth. British Prisoners of War…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The War Behind the Wire as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I read this book to make sure that I captured the experiences of returning PoWs accurately, neither downplaying their suffering nor missing its essential elements.

John Lewis-Stempel’s superb book is full of diary entries and letters from British PoWs detailing their harsh, barren lives in prison camps. I knew little about this topic before reading and was shocked at the way privates were routinely used as slave labour while officers were often treated to a sit-down dinner by their captors.

The passages covering the return of veterans from the PoW camps were particularly moving, as I learned that many of…

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Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

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