Showing titles in 20th Century

The war has had a devastating effect on the Sweet family, with young Charlie Sweet, lost at sea, presumed dead and bombs falling on nearby Bristol. Still there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon in the form of Mary Sweet’s upcoming wedding to her Canadian beau. But even that has failed to rouse their father from his grief. But in London a baby has been found in a bombed out house, sheltered in the arms of his dead mother. A child to make life worth living again...

1943: Becoming a Home Front nurse, meant Kathy Scott was finally able to escape the violence of her childhood. At long last, her life has taken a turn for the better. Particularly because, for the very first time, she's made some wonderful friends–fellow nurses Sylvia, Freda and Veronica. Kathy's known for not being short of a word or two. So nobody's more surprised than her when she finds herself tongue-tied around Freda's handsome brother, James – who's home from war with an unexplained injury.

Brought to you by Penguin. They knew they were changing history. They didn’t know they would change each other. Oxford, 1920. For the first time in its 1000-year history, the world’s most famous university has admitted female students. Giddy with dreams of equality, education and...

From the bestselling author of the Shardlake series, C. J. Sansom, comes Winter in Madrid, a standalone historical novel set in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War. 1940: The Spanish Civil War is over, and Madrid lies ruined, its people starving, while the Germans continue their relentless...

February, 1944. A bitter winter grips occupied France, where Marc Reece leads a circuit of British agents risking their lives in order to sabotage the German war effort from within. But Reece has a second mission, secret even from his fellow agents - including Charlotte, the woman with whom he has ill-advisedly fallen in love. He must secure a document identifying a German spy at the heart of British intelligence. The fate of the Allied forces on D-Day is in his hands. 

Kitty learned early on in her marriage that her husband, Bill Dunbar, isn’t reliable with money. So when they inherit the Dunbar family hotel at the start of the war, she's hopeful that their financial worries are over… until the bailiffs turn up! With Bill away fighting, it’s up to Kitty to turn things around for her family, or risk ruin. Lily worked as a chambermaid at Dunbar’s before the war. She met Daniel there, but their relationship was complicated by class differences and the disapproval of Daniel’s mother.

From the globally best-selling author of Girl with a Pearl Earring. It is 1932, and the losses of the First World War are still keenly felt. Violet Speedwell, mourning for both her fiancé and her brother and regarded by society as a ‘surplus woman’ unlikely to marry, resolves to escape her suffocating mother and strike out alone. A new life awaits her in Winchester. Yes, it is one of draughty boarding-houses and sidelong glances at her naked ring finger from younger colleagues; but it is also a life gleaming with independence and opportunity.

British agent Richard Prince and the Danish spy Hanne Jakobsen come together for a vital mission: to find a Nazi war criminal responsible for the murder of fellow British agents. The hunt takes them on a perilous journey through Europe, a continent living on its nerves in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. They unearth a secret Nazi escape line funded by British traitors - and it’s one which could lead them to Hitler’s trusted deputy, Martin Bormann But when the Americans become involved, it is no longer certain who’s on which side.

Newlywed Bobby Atherton has barely had time to experience married life with her airman husband Charlie before war separates them. Bobby must face the challenge of marriage to a man mentally and physically scarred by his experiences. When Charlie resumes operational flying, Bobby's role as a WAAF plotter becomes a matter of life and death. Can the couple survive the war and heal the rift between them?

USS Bull Shark is running for Pearl Harbor after leaving New London and her victory over the Nazi Q-ship, but all is not well aboard the boat. The Japanese are planning a major offensive and the clock is rapidly ticking – with what will become one of the most decisive battles of the war looming on the horizon, the Navy still doesn’t know exactly where or when it’s going to happen. Can Bull Shark play her part in the Battle of Midway? Or will she meet with Yamamoto’s secret weapon and be swept aside in Japan’s quest for power?

Munich in the 1930s is a magnet for rich, aristocratic young Brits. They come to learn German, but also to go wild. They ski in the Alps, swim in the lakes, drink in the beer cellars and fall for the charms of dashing SS officers. What they don't see - or choose to ignore - is the cold, brutal underbelly of the Nazi movement which considers Munich its spiritual home. But not every German is a Nazi. Murder squad detective Sebastian Wolff is one of those walking a tight line between doing his job and falling foul of the political party he abhors.

An unforgettable story about loss and new love written and read by the bestselling author of Brooklyn and Long Island 'The most striking example of Tóibín's emotional control . . . [An] eloquent expression of the bond between a mother and a son' – The Guardian One snowy morning, after...

London, East End, 1941: When everything is lost, can love rebuild a family? With the Blitz blazing through London and sirens wailing through the night, district nurse Sarah Rhodes tends the injured and comforts the frightened, determined to endure this terrible war. But when her own home is destroyed, she is forced to leave London and seek refuge at Harbour House. There, more devastating bad news awaits. Her beloved husband Stan, a brave RAF pilot flying dangerous bombing raids, is reported missing in action when his plane fails to return. Sarah's world shatters.

Paisley, Scotland, 1941. The residents of Glen Street Tenement find their lives increasingly entwined as war reshapes their world. Julia and Frank McCosh juggle work, Home Guard duties and evening band rehearsals, while their daughter Chloe nurses an unreturned crush on neighbour Dennis Megson. Dennis, training as an engineer and serving with the fire brigade, lives with his mother Nan, a night-shift nurse. Ellen Borland works at the Anchor Thread Mill while caring for her injured husband, Donnie.

Will the coming war divide them . . . ? For as long as she can remember Peggy O’Shea has been expected to work at the family dairy, look after her younger siblings, and eventually marry cow-keeper Martin Gallagher. And that’s the way it has predictably gone, apart from one glorious summer...

'Compelling, intriguing, romantic… deeply satisfying and emotional' Santa Montefiore 'A sweeping story of love, loss and finding the courage to be your true self' Phillipa Ashley ***** When Kerensa is sent by her father’s auction house to catalogue a neglected house overlooking the sea in...

1932. Dunfermline, Scotland. Marion Crawford, a bright, ambitious young teacher, is ready to make her mark on the world. Until a twist of fate changes the course of her life forever… 1936. Windsor Castle. At first this ordinary woman is in a new world, working as the governess to two young princesses, in a household she calls home but where everyone is at a distance. As the course of history changes, she finds herself companion to the future Queen, and indispensable to the Crown. And slowly their needs become her needs. Their lives become hers.

‘The Alan Banks mystery-suspense novels are the best series on the market. Try one and tell me I'm wrong’ – Stephen King A lost village. Past crimes. Present evil. During a blistering summer, drought has depleted Thornfield Reservoir, uncovering the remains of a small village called Hobb's...

Peter Lamb and his men are halted in their retreat to England and forced to join British forces holding the pass at Thermopylae. But their tough experiences in France have not prepared The Jackals for the savage hand-to-hand fighting in the mountains. Lamb’s limited knowledge of command leaves him unsure about how to organise the New Zealand and Greek partisan soldiers who are added to his troop. When they land in Crete, Lamb becomes suspicious of some of the civilians who, on fleeing Greece, have taken cover with the Jackals.

Brought to you by Penguin. September 1943: German forces occupy Rome. SS officer Paul Hauptmann rules with terror. The war's outcome is far from certain. An Irish priest, Hugh O'Flaherty, dedicates himself to helping those escaping from the Nazis. His home is Vatican City, the world's smallest...