Author:Halik Kochanski
*WINNER OF THE WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE 2023*
*A NEW YORKER BOOK OF THE YEAR*
'The best book about the subject I have ever read' Max Hastings, Sunday Times
A sweeping history of occupation and resistance in war-torn Europe, from the acclaimed author of The Eagle Unbowed
Across the whole of Nazi-ruled Europe the experience of occupation was sharply varied. Some countries - such as Denmark - were within tight limits allowed to run themselves. Others - such as France - were constrained not only by military occupation but by open collaboration. In a historical moment when Nazi victory seemed permanent and irreversible, the question 'why resist?' was therefore augmented by 'who was the enemy?'.
Resistance is an extraordinarily powerful, humane and haunting account of how and why all across Nazi-occupied Europe some people decided to resist the Third Reich. This could range from open partisan warfare in the occupied Soviet Union to dangerous acts of defiance in the Netherlands or Norway. Some of these resistance movements were entirely home-grown, others supported by the Allies.
Like no other book, Resistance shows the reader just how difficult such actions were. How could small bands of individuals undertake tasks which could lead not just to their own deaths but those of their families and their entire communities?
Filled with powerful and often little-known stories, Halik Kochanski's major new book is a fascinating examination of the convoluted challenges faced by those prepared to resist the Germans, ordinary people who carried out exceptional acts of defiance and resistance.
'A superb, myth-busting survey of the many ways in which the subjugated peoples of Europe tried to fight back' Saul David, Daily Telegraph
The best book about the resistance I have ever read. It addresses the story with scholarly objectivity and an absolute lack of sentimentality ... it is marvellous to read a study of such breadth and depth, which reaches balanced judgments.
—— Max Hastings , Sunday TimesGround-breaking ... a superb, myth-busting survey of the many ways in which the subjugated peoples of Europe tried to fight back.
—— Saul David , Daily TelegraphA full and nuanced account of all the different forms of resistance... a timely book.
—— Times Literary SupplementEminently readable ... subtle, multilayered and kaleidoscopic ... Kochanski's gripping account of the activities of the resistance includes, as might be expected, tales of derring-do and extraordinary courage as well as tragedy, betrayal and Nazi barbarism.
—— Andrew Stuttaford , Wall Street JournalThis ambitious history offers the first unified picture of resistance against Nazi Germany in the many countries it invaded ... Dispensing with heroics and highlighting the imperfect, human nature of the underground, [Kochanski] nevertheless depicts a vital defence of dignity, spirit, and the future, mounted against all odds.
—— New YorkerHalik Kochanski's Resistance reads less like a work of history and more like a chronicle of a partisan war foretold ... her scrupulous scholarship, and her refusal to romanticize the grim, grimy work of being a resister, does make Resistance something of a primer for the many Ukrainians now fighting to undermine Russian authority.
—— Yuliya Tymoshenko , Project SyndicateThis history of resistance in the Second World War is as moving as it is comprehensive.
—— The CriticAn excellent comparative study of wartime resistance in all its forms.
—— BBC HistoryBroad in scope and colorful in detail, this is a masterful portrait of a historic watershed. ... [A] sweeping history of Greece's 1821 war of independence against the Ottoman Empire. [Mazower] recounts the revolution's inception among Greek emigrés with an idealistic dream of Hellenic nationalism and its actuality as a murky, eight-year struggle fought mainly by peasants and warlords who were motivated less by patriotism than by religious hatred of Muslims, factional vendettas, and mercenary self-interest ... A lucid, elegantly written, and often gripping account.
—— Publishers WeeklyOn the bicentennial of the Greek revolution, a prominent scholar tracks the historical detail and enormous international significance of the improbable, largely grassroots uprising against the Ottoman Empire. Mazower, a Columbia professor and winner of the Wolfson Prize for History who has written extensively about Greece and the Balkans, ably ties together the many disparate threads of this complex history of Greek independence. ... An elucidating history that is relevant to understanding the geopolitics of Greece today.
—— Kirkus ReviewsMagnificent ... Sophisticated analysis and beautiful prose ... The author vividly depicts a Europe grasping toward the future.
—— Michael F. Bishop , Wall Street JournalCombines over-arching analysis and explanation with a ground-level reporter’s skill at narrating events and capturing character with vividness and compassion … a historian working at the height of his powers.
—— Michael Ignatieff , CEU Review of BooksHere is that rare thing: a little-known story of the Great War, featuring a pioneering surgeon every bit as daring as the soldiers he saved. Beautifully written, illuminating, and bursting with fascinating detail, The Facemaker is a groundbreaking work that deserves its own genre: medical noir. You won't be able to put it down
—— Karen Abbott, author of THE GHOSTS OF EDEN PARKI was an admirer of Fitzharris's award-winning first book, The Butchering Art, about Joseph Lister. This is her absorbing account of another surgeon: Harold Gillies, who established one of the world's first hospitals dedicated entirely to facial reconstruction
—— Editor's pick , The BooksellerEqual parts devastating and inspiring. The horrors of war are laid bare here, but the stories of each of the soldiers, doctors, nurses, and artists are incredibly poignant and fascinating. I couldn't put it down
—— Jenny LawsonAn extraordinary story about a remarkable man whose work, determination and skill changed countless lives
—— Peter Frankopan, author of THE SILK ROADSGraphic yet inspiring, engaging... [Fitzharris] delivers a consistently vivid account... An excellent biography of a genuine miracle worker
—— Starred review , KirkusWonderful... It was written with a clarity that I loved - although the book is packed with fascinating information, it read as easily as a novel... It is really inspiring and beautifully written
—— Lucy Nathan , BookbrunchA fascinating portrait of pioneering plastic surgeon Harold Gillies and the soldiers whose faces he rebuilt during WWI... Meticulously researched and compulsively readable, this exceptional history showcases how compassion and innovation can help mitigate the terrible wounds of war
—— Starred Review, Publishers WeeklySometimes, you just know. From the moment I read The Facemaker's excellent prologue, I knew I had a book on my hands... Fitzharris is a gifted storyteller and delights in just about the right amount of detail
—— Matthew Shipsey , Irish TimesInformative... A powerful portrait of a gifted man
—— Oliver-James Campbell , New ScientistThe Facemaker conveys the emotional, physical and psychical effects of having an injured and altered face, directly from those who had to deal with them... Powerful
—— Sharrona Pearl , Washington PostIn The Facemaker, Fitzharris rescues another vital yet largely forgotten figure from history. Blending scrupulous research with a novelist's eye, the author charts Gillies's extraordinary contribution to reconstructive surgery and weaves in touching accounts of the soldiers he treated. Stark and occasionally unsettling, the book reveals Gillies as both a craftsman and an artist, and underlines how by restoring the faces of the maimed Gillies was also restoring their lives and identities
—— Brendan Daly , Business PostVividly thrilling
—— NatureFull of breath-taking events at the cross-roads of empires at a moment in history when notions such as Europe, Asia, Christianity and Islam were infinitely more fluid and permeable than they are today
—— KEREM OKTEM, Professor of International Relations at Ca' Foscari University, VeniceOriginal... de Bellaigue... offers a vivid presentation of events, re-imagined as scenes and episodes... a different, literary kind [of history]
—— Noel Malcolm , Times Literary SupplementDe Bellaigue writes with impecable scholarship, piecing together contemporary accounts to create a thrilling narrative
—— Church TimesDe Bellaigue is an expert stylist, sensitive to rhythm and vocabulary, and passionate in his pursuit of the fugitive detail that gives meaning to a whole episode
—— Literary ReviewAn exhilarating read
—— Rose Shepherd , Saga MagazineAn engrossing book... This is history turned into drama and poetry, awesomely spectacular yet also intensely intimate
—— Yasmin Alibhai-Brown , iNewsThe world of Suleyman the Magnificent...is brought to life in this history
—— The Times, *The Year’s Top 50 Non-Fiction Books*A masterpiece
—— Monty DonJessie Child's The Siege of Loyalty House turns an English Civil War stand-off into a fable of murderous polarisation: gripping, timely history
—— Spectator, *Best Books of 2022 I*The Siege of Loyalty House ... tingles with a discerning historical imagination
—— Spectator, *Best Books of 2022 II*[A] thrilling tale of war
—— Mail on Sunday[A] gripping tale of a royalist house standing its grown against the Roundheads ... Atmospheric, unflinching, and at times extraordinarily witty
—— UK Daily News, *Best History and Politics Books of 2022*[A] poignant book... the story is timeless
—— Economist, *Books of the Year*Compelling
—— Spectator, *Books of the Year 2022*Exhaustively researched and beautifully written, [The Siege of Loyalty House] tells the story of the epic two-year siege of Basing House, a royalist mansion finally captured by Oliver Cromwell in 1645.
—— Daily Express, *Books of the Year 2022*When you are as good a writer as Jessie Childs, and as assuredly immersed in the archives, the pages zing with the technicolour of celluloid. ... [A] masterpiece.
—— Critic, *Non-fiction books of the year 2022*Childs writes an engrossing, spellbinding narrative while laying out a clear and comprehendible history
—— New York Journal of BooksThe broad subject of this poignant book is what happens to people during civil war: how quickly and imperceptibly order becomes chaos and decency yields to cruelty. In other words, how close to inhumanity humanity always is. The focus is on an episode in the English civil war, but the story is timeless
—— EconomistA gripping account of the agony at Basing, The Siege of Loyalty House is also a potted social history of the civil wars and how they started. Jessie Childs, [is] a gifted storyteller
—— London Review of Books