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“A remarkable—and singularly chilling—glimpse of human behavior. . .This meticulously researched book...represents a major contribution to the literature of the Holocaust."—Newsweek Now available in audio for the first time, Christopher R. Browning’s shocking account of how a unit of...

One of the most notorious yet least understood body of troops that fought for the Third Reich during World War II was the infamous Sondereinheit Dirlewanger, or the "Dirlewanger Special Unit." Formed initially as a company-sized formation in June 1940 from convicted poachers, it served under the command of SS-Obersturmführer Oskar Dirlewanger, one of the most infamous criminals in military history. After assisting in putting down the Warsaw Uprising during 1944, by November of that year it had been enlarged and retitled as the 2. SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger.

Since its beginnings, Poland has been a moving target, geographically as well as demographically, and the very definition of who is a Pole has been in flux. In the late medieval and early modern periods, the country grew to be the largest in continental Europe, only to be later wiped off the map for more than a century. Yet even under these constraints, Poles persisted in their desire to wrest from their oppressors a modicum of national dignity and, ultimately, managed to achieve much more than that.

Modern nationalism in northeastern Europe has often led to violence and then reconciliation between nations with bloody pasts. In this fascinating book, Timothy Snyder traces the emergence of Polish, Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Belarusian nationhood over four centuries, discusses various atrocities (including the first account of the massive Ukrainian-Polish ethnic cleansings of the 1940s), and examines Poland's recent successful negotiations with its newly independent Eastern neighbors, as it has channeled national interest toward peace.

Brought to you by Penguin. Built by slave labour in the early years of the eighteenth century, Saint Petersburg was Peter the Great’s so-called ‘window on to Europe’, a city that would outdo all of Europe in its splendour. But a window works both ways, and as bestselling historian Sinclair...

In Russia's Last Gasp, Prit Buttar looks at one of the bloodiest campaigns launched in the history of warfare - the Brusilov Offensive, sometimes known as the June Advance. With British, French, and German forces locked in a stalemate in the trenches of the Western Front, an attack was launched by the massed Russian armies to the east. The assault was intended to knock Austria-Hungary out of the war and divert German troops from the Western Front, easing the pressure on Russia's allies. 

A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK A SPECTATOR BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Hugely enjoyable' The Spectator 'Delivered with flamboyance, it features a sparkling cast of chancers' KATJA HOYER, Daily Telegraph 5* review 'Page-turning . . . a sizzling high-stakes tale' JAMES HOLLAND 'This book might read like the...

WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE WITH A FOREWORD FROM MARGARET ATWOOD 'This book would always have been important evidence that the Ukraine people were suffering criminal attack. Written by a poet, it is also a work of literature, published after the author lost her life doing her research. It is an...

Many have heard the term “Balkans” tossed about but likely don’t know a whole lot about the region. The saga of the Balkans is profound yet incredibly complicated. Bordered by both the Balkan Mountains of southeastern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea, this region holds a strong place in the history of Western civilization and is also a major crossroads of Eastern civilization as well.

Accessible to students, tourists, and general listeners alike, this book provides a broad overview of Russian history since the ninth century. Paul Bushkovitch emphasizes the enormous changes in the understanding of Russian history resulting from the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since then, new material has come to light on the history of the Soviet era, providing new conceptions of Russia's pre-revolutionary past.

FULLY UPDATED 'A fascinating and often violent odyssey, spanning more than 1,000 years of conflict and culture' INDEPENDENT Flat, fertile, and fatally tempting to invaders, for centuries Ukraine was fought over by more powerful neighbours. Though its modern national movement dates back to the...

In 1949, a newly minted branch of the CIA (the precursor of today’s National Clandestine Service), flush with money and burning with determination to roll back the Iron Curtain, embarked on the first paramilitary operation in the history of the agency. They hatched an elaborate plan, coordinated with the British Secret Intelligence Service, to foment popular rebellion and detach Albania, the weakest of the Soviet satellites in Europe, from Moscow’s orbit. The operation resulted in dismal failure and was shut down by 1954.

In examining one of the defining events of the twentieth century, Doris L. Bergen situates the Holocaust in its historical, political, social, cultural, and military contexts. Unlike many other treatments of the Holocaust, this revised, third edition discusses not only the persecution of the Jews, but also other segments of society victimized by the Nazis: Roma, homosexuals, Poles, Soviet POWs, the disabled, and other groups deemed undesirable.

'EPIC' Financial Times 'PERCEPTIVE' The Sunday Times 'BLISSFUL' Daily Telegraph 'FASCINATING' Independent on Sunday 'TERRIFIC' Henry Winter 'EXCELLENT' Simon Kuper The fascinating story of football in Eastern Europe following the collapse of the Berlin Wall, from the award-winning author of...

'This life-stuffed novel is Aleksandar Hemon’s masterpiece' - David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas The epic, cross-continental tale of a love so strong it conquers the Great War, revolution, and even death itself. As the Archduke Franz Ferdinand arrives in Sarajevo one June day in 1914...

Berlin, 1962. Morale is at rock bottom in East Germany, thrown into chaos by the new Berlin Wall. The Ministry for State Security is hunting for a new weapon in the war against capitalism - and their solution is stranger than fiction. Rather than guns, tanks or bombs, the Stasi resolve to fight the enemy through rhyme and verse, winning the Culture Wars through poetry - and the result is the most bizarre book club in history.

Throughout its existence, Russia has been a hybrid empire shaped by both Europe and Asia. Focusing on the formation of the Russian state between the sixteenth and the mid-nineteenth centuries, renowned historian Michael Khodarkovsky examines Russia's structural similarities with its neighbors in Asia―the Ottoman, Persian, Mughal, and Chinese empires. While most historians have noted the transformations that brought Russia closer to modern European societies, the Russian empire's shared characteristics with its non-European counterparts remain poorly understood.

Anyone who has glimpsed the long, mountainous, island-studded Dalmatian coast would surely agree that its beauty is little short of divine. Croatia, quite simply, is blessed with some of the most spectacular scenery on the planet, and its history is equally captivating. A Traveller's History of Croatia offers tourists and travellers an inside look at how the country's cultural fusion of Mediterranean, Central European and Balkan influences has given it a tumultuous past.

Spanning thousands of years, from ancient tribes to modern independence, The History of Ukraine is a captivating journey through one of Europe’s most resilient and fascinating nations. This beautifully written book reveals how Ukraine — a land of golden plains, powerful rivers, and determined people — became a symbol of endurance, courage, and hope.

In 1940, the Polish Underground wanted to know what was happening inside the recently opened Auschwitz concentration camp. Polish army officer Witold Pilecki volunteered to be arrested by the Germans and report from inside the camp. His intelligence reports, smuggled out in 1941, were among the first eyewitness accounts of Auschwitz atrocities: the extermination of Soviet POWs, its function as a camp for Polish political prisoners, and the "final solution" for Jews. Pilecki received brutal treatment until he escaped in April 1943; soon after, he wrote a brief report....