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A unique homage to the fighter aircraft that won the Battle of Britain, marrying the story of how the author built a replica Spitfire in his garden with the plane's operational history.

In April 2018 David Price, dedicated aviation museum volunteer and author of THE CREW and MOSQUITO MEN, decided to build a Spitfire replica in his back garden. In How to Build a Spitfire he juxtaposes the story of the ups and down of his own ambitious project to recreate an icon of British aviation with a narrative of the development of the Spitfire itself, focusing in particular on the construction and production of the aircraft and its various component parts (including the Merlin engine), amplified by the testimonies of some of those who worked in the Supermarine factory in Southampton and in other Spitfire production facilities.

Bringing together the sometimes light-hearted tale of a personal quest, enthusiastically pursued, with an accessible but authoritative account of the technical workings of a war-winning weapon, and the stories of some of the men who flew it, How to Build a Spitfire is a distinctive and affectionate homage to an enduring symbol of British engineering genius and national resilience.

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\"Fascinating and meticulously researched book.\"--Peter Sparkes, Naval Review

An incisive account of the Arctic convoys, and the essential role Bletchley Park and Special Intelligence played in Allied success

Between 1941 and 1945, more than eight hundred shiploads of supplies were delivered to the Soviet Union protected by allied naval forces. Each journey was a battle against the elements, with turbulent seas, extreme cold, and the constant dread of torpedoes. These Arctic convoys have been mythologized as defenseless vessels at the mercy of deadly U-boats--but was this really the case?

David Kenyon explores the story of the war in the Arctic, revealing that the contest was more evenly balanced that previously thought. Battles included major ship engagements, aircraft carriers, and combat between surface ships. Amid this wide range of forces, Bletchley Park's Naval Section played a decisive role in Arctic operations, with both sides relying heavily on Signals Intelligence to intercept and break each other's codes. Kenyon presents a vivid picture of the Arctic theater of war, unearthing the full-scale campaign for naval supremacy in northern waters.",{"_791":956,"_793":968,"_770":1089},"Yale University Press",{"_791":956,"_793":798,"_770":1091},"Trade Paper",{"_791":956,"_793":973,"_770":1093},"Paperback",{"_791":956,"_793":976,"_770":977},{"_791":956,"_793":1096,"_770":1097},"bic_subject","GENERAL & WORLD HISTORY",{"_791":956,"_793":979,"_770":1099},"2024-10-01",{"_791":956,"_793":982,"_770":1101},"352",{"_791":807,"_793":724,"_770":987},{"_791":807,"_793":992,"_770":990},{"_791":807,"_793":813,"_770":990},{"_791":807,"_793":997,"_770":1106},"03/02/2026",{"_791":807,"_793":1001,"_770":1108},"29.0",{"_791":807,"_793":1005,"_770":1110},"1",{"_791":823,"_793":824,"_770":1112},"Military History,World War 2 History",{"_791":823,"_793":724,"_770":1114},"Military History;World War 2 History",{"_791":823,"_793":828,"_770":1116},"MILHIS,WW2HIS",{"_791":823,"_793":1016,"_770":1118},"MILHIS;WW2HIS",{"_791":823,"_793":832,"_770":833},{"_791":823,"_793":1022,"_770":1121},"MILITARY HISTORY;MILITARY HISTORY",{"_791":823,"_793":837,"_770":838},{"_791":823,"_793":1028,"_770":1124},"HISTORY;HISTORY",{"_791":823,"_793":842,"_770":843},{"_791":823,"_793":1032,"_770":1033},{"_791":823,"_793":845,"_770":846},{"_791":823,"_793":1037,"_770":846},{"_755":1130},[1131],{"_758":109,"_759":-5,"_123":1132,"_203":1133,"_761":1137,"_767":1138,"_17":1064,"_771":1140,"_773":1141},"gid://shopify/ProductVariant/45554083856581",{"_1043":1134,"_1045":1046,"_123":1135,"_940":1067,"_1048":1136},"Arctic Convoys Cover Image","gid://shopify/ProductImage/40558630011077",1335,{"_763":764,"_765":1108},[1139],{"_744":745,"_770":1064},"9780300279351",{"_775":1142},[1143],{"_778":1144},{"_780":109,"_126":1145},{"_744":722},{"_123":1147,"_17":1148,"_735":1149,"_752":1150,"_788":1152,"_753":1202},"gid://shopify/Product/8772508057797","Rain of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima & the Surrender of Japan","rain-of-ruin-tokyo-hiroshima-the-surrender-of-japan-1",{"_940":1151},"https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0625/6679/3413/files/978-1-80206-597-8.jpg?v=1773792604",[1153,1154,1156,1157,-5,1159,1160,1161,1163,1165,1167,1169,1170,1172,1174,1175,-5,-5,1176,1178,1180,-5,1182,-5,1184,1185,-5,1186,-5,1187,-5,1189,1190,-5,1191,1192,-5,1193,1194,-5,1195,1196,-5,1197,1198,-5,1199,1200,-5,1201],{"_791":792,"_793":17,"_770":1148},{"_791":792,"_793":795,"_770":1155},"OVERY RICHARD",{"_791":792,"_793":798,"_770":1073},{"_791":792,"_793":801,"_770":1158},"PENGUI",{"_791":792,"_793":953,"_770":954},{"_791":956,"_793":957,"_770":811},{"_791":956,"_793":17,"_770":1162},"Rain of Ruin",{"_791":956,"_793":1082,"_770":1164},"Tokyo, Hiroshima and the Surrender of Japan",{"_791":956,"_793":795,"_770":1166},"Richard Overy",{"_791":956,"_793":962,"_770":1168},"

A remarkable account of the terrible climax of the Second World War in Asia

A Telegraph Book of the Year 2025

'A short but quietly devastating book, in which Overy adds new perspectives to a subject that has often been approached from a narrowly American angle... Overy's book is a sombre reminder that the border between civilisation and savagery is wafer-thin.' - Philip Snow, Literary Review

In the closing months of the Second World War hundreds of thousands of Japanese, mostly civilians, died in a final outburst of violence from the air. American planes were beginning to run low on plausible targets when it was decided to use two atomic weapons in a final, terrible flourish to try to end the war.

Richard Overy's remarkable new book rethinks how we should regard this last stage of the war and the role of the bombing. This book explores the way in which the willingness to kill civilians and destroy cities became normalized in the course of a horrific war as moral concerns were blunted and scientists, airmen, and politicians followed a strategy of mass destruction they would never have endorsed before the war began. But it also engages with the new scholarship that shows how complex the effort to end the war was in Japan, where 'surrender' was entirely foreign to Japanese culture.

",{"_791":956,"_793":965,"_770":966},{"_791":956,"_793":968,"_770":1171},"Penguin Books, Limited",{"_791":956,"_793":798,"_770":1173},"UK-B Format Paperback",{"_791":956,"_793":973,"_770":1093},{"_791":956,"_793":976,"_770":977},{"_791":956,"_793":979,"_770":1177},"2026-04-28",{"_791":956,"_793":982,"_770":1179},"224",{"_791":956,"_793":801,"_770":1181},"Penguin UK",{"_791":807,"_793":724,"_770":1183},"JUN",{"_791":807,"_793":992,"_770":811},{"_791":807,"_793":813,"_770":811},{"_791":807,"_793":997,"_770":816},{"_791":807,"_793":1001,"_770":1188},"33.0",{"_791":807,"_793":1005,"_770":821},{"_791":823,"_793":824,"_770":1112},{"_791":823,"_793":724,"_770":1114},{"_791":823,"_793":828,"_770":1116},{"_791":823,"_793":1016,"_770":1118},{"_791":823,"_793":832,"_770":833},{"_791":823,"_793":1022,"_770":1121},{"_791":823,"_793":837,"_770":838},{"_791":823,"_793":1028,"_770":1124},{"_791":823,"_793":842,"_770":843},{"_791":823,"_793":1032,"_770":1033},{"_791":823,"_793":845,"_770":846},{"_791":823,"_793":1037,"_770":846},{"_755":1203},[1204],{"_758":109,"_759":-5,"_123":1205,"_203":1206,"_761":1210,"_767":1211,"_17":1148,"_771":1213,"_773":1214},"gid://shopify/ProductVariant/45970585387205",{"_1043":1207,"_1045":1046,"_123":1208,"_940":1151,"_1048":1209},"Rain of Ruin Cover Image","gid://shopify/ProductImage/41620154548421",1330,{"_763":764,"_765":1188},[1212],{"_744":745,"_770":1148},"9781802065978",{"_775":1215},[1216],{"_778":1217},{"_780":109,"_126":1218},{"_744":722},{"_123":1220,"_17":1221,"_735":1222,"_752":1223,"_788":1225,"_753":1284},"gid://shopify/Product/8560331030725","Crash of the Heavens The Untold Story of the Only Military Mission to Rescue Europe's Jews During World War II","crash-of-the-heavens-the-untold-story-of-the-only-military-mission-to-rescue-europes-jews-during-world-war-ii",{"_940":1224},"https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0625/6679/3413/files/978-1-76138-087-7.jpg?v=1768263085",[1226,1227,1229,1230,1232,1233,1234,1235,1237,1239,1241,1243,1244,1246,1248,-5,-5,-5,1249,1251,-5,1253,1254,1255,1256,1257,1258,1260,1262,1264,1265,1266,1267,1268,1269,1270,1271,1272,1273,1274,1275,1276,1277,1278,1279,-5,1280,1281,1282,1283],{"_791":792,"_793":17,"_770":1221},{"_791":792,"_793":795,"_770":1228},"CENTURY DOUGLAS",{"_791":792,"_793":798,"_770":1073},{"_791":792,"_793":801,"_770":1231},"SCRIBE",{"_791":792,"_793":804,"_770":951},{"_791":792,"_793":953,"_770":954},{"_791":956,"_793":957,"_770":811},{"_791":956,"_793":17,"_770":1236},"Crash of the Heavens",{"_791":956,"_793":1082,"_770":1238},"The Untold Story of the Only Military Mission to Rescue Europe's Jews During World War II",{"_791":956,"_793":795,"_770":1240},"Douglas Century",{"_791":956,"_793":962,"_770":1242},"In the years before World War II, thousands of young Jewish men and women escaped Europe, seeking safety in British Mandatory Palestine. By 1942, horrifying reports began to spread about industrialised killing centres in Poland and a chilling campaign to exterminate Europe's entire Jewish population. When it became clear that the Allies were unwilling to spare any forces from the war effort to save civilians, the Jewish community in Palestine came up with a daring plan.

Working with British Military Intelligence, an elite unit of young Jewish paratroopers volunteered to return to eastern Europe. Once behind enemy lines, they would use their expertise in the local languages and terrain to rescue thousands of downed Allied pilots and escaped POWs. At the same time, these volunteer commandos would help Jewish civilians escape deportation to death camps or take up arms in resistance against the Nazis. Hannah Senesh was one of only three female paratroopers who risked everything to infiltrate occupied Europe.

In 1939, at just eighteen years old, Hannah emigrated from Hungary to British Mandatory Palestine, where she dreamed of being a poet and a schoolteacher. Instead, she became a poet and a paratrooper. Five years after fleeing Europe, Hannah parachuted back into occupied territory as a freedom fighter with the most crucial role in her team- the wireless operator tasked with sending and deciphering top secret British radio codes. Though captured after crossing the border into Hungary, she refused to give up her radio codes or any information about her mission, despite enduring months of torture. Her final act of defiance - choosing to die before a firing squad rather than beg for clemency - cemented her legendary status as the 'Jewish Joan of Arc', and her posthumously published poems, translated into more than twenty languages, continue to inspire new generations of readers.

More than just a gripping historical account of Hannah's life and afterlife, Crash of the Heavens offers a powerful reminder of the human spirit's ability to shine, even in the darkest of times.

'Hannah Senesh isn't just a hero. She's a reminder of what happens when Jews stop running and start fighting. Crash of the Heavens captures the essence of that moment - when young volunteers, men and women, parachuted into the heart of Nazi Europe not as victims but as warriors.'
-Aaron Cohen, author of Brotherhood of Warriors

'What a story! This book is a magnificent masterwork, and you won't be able to put it down.'
-Colonel Jack Jacobs, US Army (retired), Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, author of If Not Now, When?

'Impeccably researched, powerfully told, Crash of the Heavens is a testament to courage, determination and resilience. A story for our times.'
-Esther Gilbert, founder and editor of Holocaust Memoir Digest",{"_791":956,"_793":965,"_770":966},{"_791":956,"_793":968,"_770":1245},"Scribe Publications",{"_791":956,"_793":798,"_770":1247},"UK-Trade Paper",{"_791":956,"_793":973,"_770":1093},{"_791":956,"_793":979,"_770":1250},"2025-11-18",{"_791":956,"_793":982,"_770":1252},"432",{"_791":807,"_793":344,"_770":987},{"_791":807,"_793":724,"_770":987},{"_791":807,"_793":810,"_770":990},{"_791":807,"_793":992,"_770":990},{"_791":807,"_793":813,"_770":990},{"_791":807,"_793":815,"_770":1259},"28/01/2026",{"_791":807,"_793":997,"_770":1261},"10/02/2026",{"_791":807,"_793":818,"_770":1263},"45.0",{"_791":807,"_793":1001,"_770":1263},{"_791":807,"_793":820,"_770":1006},{"_791":807,"_793":1005,"_770":1110},{"_791":823,"_793":824,"_770":825},{"_791":823,"_793":344,"_770":825},{"_791":823,"_793":724,"_770":1114},{"_791":823,"_793":828,"_770":740},{"_791":823,"_793":830,"_770":740},{"_791":823,"_793":1016,"_770":1118},{"_791":823,"_793":832,"_770":833},{"_791":823,"_793":835,"_770":833},{"_791":823,"_793":1022,"_770":1121},{"_791":823,"_793":837,"_770":838},{"_791":823,"_793":840,"_770":838},{"_791":823,"_793":1028,"_770":1124},{"_791":823,"_793":842,"_770":843},{"_791":823,"_793":1032,"_770":1033},{"_791":823,"_793":845,"_770":846},{"_791":823,"_793":848,"_770":846},{"_791":823,"_793":1037,"_770":846},{"_755":1285},[1286],{"_758":109,"_759":-5,"_123":1287,"_203":1288,"_761":1292,"_767":1293,"_17":1295,"_771":1296,"_773":1297},"gid://shopify/ProductVariant/45619948126405",{"_1043":1289,"_1045":1046,"_123":1290,"_940":1224,"_1048":1291},"Crash of the Heavens Cover Image","gid://shopify/ProductImage/40747488477381",1338,{"_763":764,"_765":1263},[1294],{"_744":745,"_770":1295},"Crash of the Heavens: The Untold Story of the Only Military Mission to Rescue Europe's Jews During World War II","9781761380877",{"_775":1298},[1299,1302],{"_778":1300},{"_780":109,"_126":1301},{"_744":341},{"_778":1303},{"_780":109,"_126":1304},{"_744":722},"relatedProductsCollectionUrl","/collections/shop-all?shopify_products%5BrefinementList%5D%5Bmeta.categories.sub_merged%5D%5B0%5D=MILITARY+HISTORY","relatedProductsFirstSubCategory","city","columbus","actionData","errors"]

Stalin's Apostles

by Antonia Senior