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Yanks and Limeys
Yanks and Limeys
Sep 22, 2024 4:48 AM

Author:Niall Barr

Yanks and Limeys

In the mid-twentieth century the relationship between America and Britain had a chequered past. Theirs was a history of protection and oppression, of rebellion and ultimately war. But then the shared crisis of the Second World War brought Britain and America closer than ever before or since, and saw an unprecedented level of military cooperation. How was such a radical shift possible?

To uncover how this historically fraught relationship recovered from its inauspicious start, Niall Barr goes back to the origins of their shared military history in the American War of Independence and shows how these early days had ramifications for the later crucial alliance.

Picking up the tale with America’s entry into the Second World War, Niall Barr tells the story of these two armies as they fought in the largest war in history, from the uppermost echelons of the relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt right down to battlefield level and the soldiers fighting side by side for a common cause.

Reviews

Well crafted and absorbing book.

—— Marcus Tanner , Independent

His account of the Allies fighting in Italy in 1943 and 1944 is harrowing.

—— Sinclair McKay , Telegraph

Crisp and provocative, and shoots down more than a few cherished generalisations.

—— Brian Morton , Herald Scotland

Is it really possible to get down to the reality of those tumultuous years after all this time to assess what actually happened and how the Alliance worked? Niall Barr proves the answer is a resounding ‘yes’ and he does it with style.

—— Mark Barnes , War History Online

Deeply researched, sophisticated treatment of an apparently familiar subject.

—— Gary Sheffield , BBC History Magazine

Barr has dealt with this remarkably complex relationship with considerable skill and he outlines the historic causes of tension very effectively.

—— David Murphy , Irish Times

As impeccably researched, insightfully observed and superbly written as its bestselling predecessors

—— Charlotte Heathcote , Sunday Express

If there's one thing that sets Beevor apart from other historians - beyond his gifts as a storyteller - it's that he is not afraid to look at the most uncomfortable, even frightening subjects, but does so in a way that doesn't threaten the reader. It's like having Virgil there to lead you through the underworld: he doesn't leave you stranded amid the horror but leads you back again, a wiser person for having undergone the journey

—— Keith Lowe , Daily Telegraph

An indispensable book. It is a great strength of Beevor's writing that he takes time to explain how small pieces of knowledge - the kind of thing passed on by battle-hardened soldiers themselves - could make the difference between survival and a futile death

—— David Aaronovitch , The Times

A portrait of war . . . startling in its detail. Beevor has the art of preserving the individual perspective on the battlefield while placing it among the perspectives of platoon, regiment, division, commanders, politicians and civilians. This book clarifies, without simplifying, the human experiences and political stakes of the battle for the Ardennes Forest, bringing realism to the battlefield and coherence to the larger history of the war

—— Timothy Snyder , Guardian

Formidable . . . Beevor is a field marshal of facts. Under his brisk control the story of Hitler's final gamble is another example of the kind of action-packed, densely informed narrative that has proved such a formidable model

—— Nicholas Shakespeare , Telegraph

Norman Ohler has written an illuminating account of the gobsmacking extent to which military strategy in the Third Reich relied on drugs. ... What you'll learn: Never trust a coked-up Nazi

—— ShortList

A fascinating, most extraordinary revelation

—— BBC World News

The Nazis were all on drugs! So far, so sensationalist but German writer Norman Ohler's absorbing new non-fiction book, Blitzed, makes the convincing argument that the Nazis' use of chemical stimulants... played a crucial role in the successes, and failures, of the Third Reich

—— Esquire

An audacious, compelling read

—— Stern

Enthralling

—— Mitteldeutsche Zeitung

A revelatory work that considers Hitler's career in a new light. 'Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich' is that rare sort of book whose remarkable insight focuses on a subject that's been overlooked, even disregarded by historians

—— The San Francisco Chronicle

Blitzed is a fascinating read that provides a new facet to our understanding of the Third Reich

—— Buzzfeed

It's as breezy and darkly humorous as its title. But don't be fooled by the gallows humor of chapter names like 'Sieg High' and 'High Hitler': This is a serious and original work of scholarship that dropped jaws around Europe when it was published there last year

—— Mashable

A juicier story would be hard to find

—— The Week

Delightfully nuts, in a 'Gravity's Rainbow' kind of way.

—— The New Yorker

Transforming meticulous research into compelling prose, Ohler delves into the little-known history of drug use in Nazi Germany

—— Entertainment Weekly

[A] fascinating, engrossing, often dark history of drug use in the Third Reich

—— The Washington Post

This heavily researched nonfiction book by a German journalist reports that the drug was widely taken by soldiers, all the way up the ranks to Hitler himself, who received injections of a drug cocktail that also included an opioid

—— Newsday

This is in part a work of reconstruction, unravelling Tom's life, partly a family history, and it's fascinating

—— Alan Massie , i magazine

This is a story of journeys, love, loss, memory and family and Boy's Own daring... beautiful, nostalgic, moving, shocking, swashbuckling and simply unputdownable

—— Family Tree Magazine

I’m halfway through Dadland by Keggie Carew and OH THIS BOOK. Beautiful and fierce and brave. Memory and war and family and loss and, well, wow.

—— Helen Macdonald, author of H is for Hawk

I loved Dadland for its tenderness, humour and candour. It has begun to open the door for me to what may well lie ahead in my life, in so many of our lives, in terms of ageing parents. And it has also taught me something deeply moving about tolerance, and about love

—— Robert Macfarlane

A wonderful, haunting and beautifully written memoir... I found myself laughing out loud at times and, at others, unable to hold back the tears... An absolutely stunning book

—— James Holland

Dadland has the weight of family love but fizzes along in accessible and dynamic prose, highly recommended

—— Andrew McMillan

A mesmerising performance by a natural storyteller gifted with the most seductive material possible, in the wild and wonderful life of her exasperating Irish father. Pain and annoyance is transmuted into pure narrative gold, as Keggie Carew interrogates the legend of this wartime adventurer and the bitter comedy of his domestic relationships and his late decline. A brave, risk-taking tale that alarms, delights and moves. As soon as you come to the end, you want to start again, to see if those things really happened

—— Iain Sinclair

You love these people from the first page ... As Tom's life falls apart memory by memory, Keggie is picking it up again and her storytelling is spell-binding. Effortlessly readable, this is a delight combining laughter - and tears, yes, quite a few of those.

—— Connexion

Compelling

—— Charlotte Heathcote , Daily Express

A moving memoir-cum-biography.

—— Molly McCloskey , Irish Times

By some margin my Book of the Month... A detective story, a family history, a thrilling tale of derring-do, and the most distinctive and affecting memoir I’ve read since H is for Hawk.

—— Bookseller

Utterly remarkable, and beautifully evoked… Dadland is a completely riveting, deeply poignant “manhunt” for which I predict great things.

—— Bookseller

Dadland, by Keggie Carew, is being tipped for award-winning breakout success in the vein of H is for Hawk

—— Jon Coates , Sunday Express

It’s an exorcism, ghost-hunt and swim through the archipelago of her father’s shattered self… The author’s descriptions have an easy lyricism.

—— Ed Cripps , Times Literary Supplement

The old question 'what did you do in the war, Dad?' has never had a more surprising or moving answer.

—— David Hepworth

Warm and funny, sometimes regretful and sad, but overall a read like a rollercoaster. Wonderful.

—— Western Morning News

You know the saying that everyone has a book in them? Well, unless your book is as good as this, I'd give up right now

—— Daily Mail , Markus Berkmann

You know the saying that everyone has a book in them? Well, unless your book is as good as this, I’d give up right now… This gripping book, written with real verve and a narrative expertise that wouldn’t shame a veteran.

—— Sally Morris , Daily Mail

A brilliant, bittersweet biography.

—— Cornelia Parker , Observer

Keggie’s writing is immersive… She writes with a warmth and generosity about her father, a man who was a genuine character and hero.

—— Paul Cheney , Nudge

Dadland is deeply personal. But it is also the story of our generations: people touched by war and by Alzheimer’s

—— Charlotte Heathcote , Daily Express
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