Author:Eric Pleasants,IAN SAYER,Douglas Botting
Of all the extraordinary individual accounts that have come out of the Second World War and its aftermath, few can compare with that of Eric Pleasants, a member of the 'bastard' British wing of Hitler's SS - the British Free Corps. In this compelling autobiography, Pleasants writes of the bizarre and traumatic years he spent as a prisoner of the twentieth century's most notorious dictators.
A life-long pacifist, Pleasants spent the early years of the war on occupied Jersey. He was imprisoned by the Nazis for petty crimes and the years that followed held a whirlwind of unexpected turns. He lived life on the run in occupied Paris, was captured and recruited into the British Free Corps of the Waffen SS, found love with a young German woman, witnessed the bombing of Dresden and attempted to escape from Soviet troops along the sewers of Berlin. When the war ended, Pleasants found himself on the Communist side of the Iron Curtain. By now a strong man in a travelling circus, he was arrested by the KGB on charges of espionage and sentenced to 25 years' slave labour in the notorious camps of Artic Russia.
Only with Stalin's death in 1953 was Pleasants finally released from his unique kind of purgatory, after nearly half a lifetime of peripatetic nightmare. He died in 1998 at the age of 87. Hitler's Bastard remains a remarkable testimony to his imperishable will to survive.
Marvellous...a fine addition to the literature on the Second World War
—— Sunday TelegraphPrysor does for the sailors of the Royal Navy what Patrick Bishop did for the RAF in Fighter Boys...He reminds us of their extraordinary contribution to our survival.
—— Daily ExpressA moving and evocative story of the war at sea
—— Professor N.A.M. Rodger, author of 'The Command of the Ocean'This impressive human history of the Royal Navy begins the long overdue process of putting it back at the heart of the war effort
—— Book of the Week , IndependentFull of terrific stories
—— Sunday TimesAn absorbing read...a fine memorial
—— Literary ReviewExcellent. Captures the soul of the men who were there...their humanity and, occassionally, inhumanity
—— Navy NewsSkillfully weaves together a coherent 'people's history of the sailors' war'...Fresh and compelling
—— Times Literary SupplementBreathtaking skill...freshness and force...Prysor makes the Navy of the Second World War intensely personal, vivid and vital
—— Military TimesReads extremely well, with a gripping narrative that explains the unfolding of the war whilst weaving in moving and vivid personal accounts...This is a book that manages to fuse the strategic with the human and the social with consummate skill, and in so doing it delivers a multifaceted understanding of the war at sea as well as a poignant reminder of the way in which society has lost its 'sea vision'
—— Nautilus International TelegraphStevenson's grand scope, his international perspective, and his reliable judgements, combined with crystal-clear writing, have produced an exemplary book, a formidable contribution to our understanding of the Great War and the twentieth century
—— English Historical ReviewThe strength of the book lies in his ability to weave together astute analysis of the antagonists' abilities and weaknesses ... Told with verve and analytical vigour, Stevenson's book is a compelling and authoritative study of one of the most significant turning points in 20th-century military history
—— Robert Gerwath , The Irish TimesStevenson's detailed, lucid description of the development and maturation of that ability reflects encyclopedic mastery of published and archival sources while synergizing military, economic, political, and social-cultural factors. It is a professor's page-turner. It is also a door-opener to any reader seeking to understand the Great War's last stage
—— Publishers WeeklyComprehensive ... it generates real power
—— ObserverTruly eye-opening ... Edgerton's carefully researched book will fundamentally change the way you think about World War II
—— Daily BeastRiveting ... a wonderfully rich book ... thoroughly stimulating
—— Richard Toye , HistoryA major new assessment of Britain's war effort from 1939 to 1945. Never again will some of the lazy assessments of how Britain performed over these years ... be acceptable. That's why this is such an important book
—— History TodayInnovative and most important
—— Contemporary ReviewCompelling and engaging ... an excellent read
—— SoldierEdgerton's well-researched volume bursts with data that reveal Britain's true strength even when supposed to be in critical condition
—— Peter Moreira , Military HistoryBritain's War Machine offers the boldest revisionist argument that seeks to overturn some of our most treasured assumptions about Britain's role in the war ... Edgerton [is] an economic historian with an army of marshalled facts and figures at his fingertips ... This is truly an eye-opening book that explodes the masochistic myth of poor little Britain, revealing the island as a proud power with the resources needed to fight and win a world war
—— Nigel Jones , SpectatorMasterful Britain's War Machine promotes the notion that the United Kingdom of the Forties was a superpower, with access to millions of men across the globe, and forming the heart of a global production network
—— Mail on SundayToni Morrison’s mesmerising prose manages to be both elegiac and visceral at the same time
—— Mail on Sunday
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