A terrific read ... McMeekin is a superb writer. There isn't a boring page in the book. His breadth of approach, taking in events from Manchuria to Greece, as well as the main fronts, is refreshing ... When he is angry McMeekin can be magnificent.

Gripping, authoritative, accessible and always bracingly revisionist.

McMeekin's approach in Stalin's War is both original and refreshing and the book is written with a wonderful clarity.

Impressive, well researched and very well written ... McMeekin invites the reader to look at the history of the war from a vantage point rarely taken and appreciate the many tragedies and sad ironies of the grand alliance as it took shape and functioned during the war ... A new look at the conflict, which poses new questions and provides new and often unexpected answers to the old ones.

An accomplished, fearless and enthusiastic "Myth-buster", McMeekin hunts out the mistaken explanations of the past ... The story of the war itself is well told and impressive in its scope, ranging as it does from the domestic politics of small states such as Yugoslavia and Finland to the global context ... McMeekin is right that we have for too long cast the second world war as the good one. His book will make us re-evaluate the war and its consequences.

A sweeping reassessment of World War II seeking to "illuminate critical matters long obscured by the obsessively German-centric literature" on the subject ... Yet another winner for McMeekin ... Brilliantly contrarian history.

McMeekin draws from recently opened Soviet archives to shed light on Stalin's dark reasoning and shady tactics ... Packed with incisive character sketches and illuminating analyses of military and diplomatic maneuvers, this is a skillful and persuasive reframing of the causes, developments, and repercussions of WWII.

Brilliantly inquisitive ... This book makes the case that Adolf Hitler was within a whisker of winning the Second World War and failed to do so only because President Roosevelt came to the rescue of Joseph Stalin, Hitler's nemesis.

This book is a mammoth achievement in every sense.

Sean McMeekin's new book fills a massive gap in the historiography of World War II. Based on exhaustive researches in Russian and other archives, his examination of Stalin's foreign policy explores fresh avenues and explodes many myths, perhaps most significant being that of unwittingly exaggerated emphasis on 'Hitler's war'. He shows conclusively that the two tyrants were equally responsible, both for the outbreak of war and the appalling slaughter which ensued.

Stalin's War is above all about strategy: the failure of Roosevelt and Churchill to make shrewd choices as World War II played out. McMeekin brilliantly argues that instead of weighting the European and Pacific theatres to favour their own interests - and weaken the inevitably antagonistic Soviet Union - FDR and Churchill left the most critical parts of Asia unguarded while they ground down the German army, a decision that favoured Stalin's interests far more than their own.

'Daniel James Brown tackles this important story with the same impressive narrative talent and research that made The Boys in the Boat, an enduring bestseller ... The centerpieces of Facing the Mountain are the wrenching, on-the-ground descriptions of battles fought by the 442nd in Europe... every reader will admire the resilience that allowed these soldiers to create communities within the internment camps and to play such a pivotal role in the defeat of the Nazis'

'Facing the Mountain is more than just the story of a group of young men whose valor helped save a country that spurned them, it's a fascinating, expertly written look at selfless heroes who emerged from one of the darkest periods of American history - soldiers the likes of which this country may never see again'

'Brown combines history with humanity in a tense, tender and well-researched study of the lives disrupted and disregarded by misperceptions and misinformation. Ain't no mountain high enough to keep young men such as Rudy Tokiwa of Salinas; 'Kats" Miho of Kahului, Hawaii; Fred Shiosaki of Spokane, Wash.; and Gordon Hirabayashi of Seattle from doing what is morally right'

'Rich storytelling and deep historical research about the Japanese American experience are the essence of Facing the Mountain. Although the book graphically describes the horrors of battle, it spotlights stories of heroism and endurance'

Essential reading for anyone wishing to understand political ambition and the role of narcissistic leaders and scheming courtiers in any age

Gripping, novelistic ... brisk and muscular ... written in a sure-footed historical present, the book creates a simulacrum of the 16th century through the painstaking accumulation of attested details ... [giving] the book its vividness and energy ... [De Bellaigue] writes with supreme confidence about power, diplomacy, clothing, avarice, war, statecraft and the exceptional brutality of the era ... While The Lion House unfolds like a novel, through scenes rich with authenticating detail

De Bellaigue is a riveting and expert guide to the story of Suleyman's quest for power

Narrated with a verve and flair that make the characters burst from the pages. Outstanding history and an incredibly good read

Exquisite ... So arresting is this book, so enveloping in the tensions of its narrative, that most readers will feel a pang of sorrow that the tale does not run on. The Lion House leaves us with a tease, or taunt: "Who, apart from God, can say what will come next?" A sequel, surely. Although it was the peak of the Ottoman Empire, Suleyman's reign also offers clear glimpses of a great decline to come. Who better to tell us about it than Mr de Bellaigue?

Non-fiction with the readability of a thriller. Unputdownable

Sensuous and scholarly, meticulously researched and deliciously irreverent, The Lion House is an intoxicating journey through the Ottomans' golden age

Reads like the most gripping fiction ... could very well be Netflix's next epic

The Lion House presents a historical universe that captivates and astonishes and is near-impossible to put down. A superb example of historical literature and research

Full 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

Original... de Bellaigue... offers a vivid presentation of events, re-imagined as scenes and episodes... a different, literary kind [of history]

De Bellaigue writes with impecable scholarship, piecing together contemporary accounts to create a thrilling narrative

De 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

An exhilarating read

An engrossing book... This is history turned into drama and poetry, awesomely spectacular yet also intensely intimate

The world of Suleyman the Magnificent...is brought to life in this history

Clearly written, full of empathy for everyday life, which is far too seldom taken into consideration... You devour it like a novel.

A popular work of non-fiction in the best sense.

The Siege of Loyalty House ... tingles with a discerning historical imagination

[A] thrilling tale of war

[A] gripping tale of a royalist house standing its grown against the Roundheads ... Atmospheric, unflinching, and at times extraordinarily witty

[A] poignant book... the story is timeless

Compelling

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.

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.

Childs writes an engrossing, spellbinding narrative while laying out a clear and comprehendible history

The 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

A 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