Showing titles in 20th Century

Born into the Scottish working class, Kate McLaren is a servant in a wealthy household. Young and ambitious, determined to rise above her station in life, she moves to London, marries, and seeks her place in society.

Five linked families live out their destinies as the world is shaken by tyranny and war in the mid-20th century. Berlin in 1933 is in upheaval. Eleven-year-old Carla von Ulrich struggles to understand the tensions disrupting her family as Hitler strengthens his grip on Germany. Into this turmoil step her mother’s formidable friend and former British MP, Ethel Leckwith, and her student son, Lloyd, who soon learns for himself the brutal reality of Nazism.

Alex Ehren is poet, a prisoner, and a teacher in block 31 in Auschwitz-Birkenau, also known as the Children's Block. He spends his days trying to survive and illegally giving lessons to his young charges, all while shielding them as best he can from the impossible horrors of the camp. But trying to teach the children is not the only illicit activity that Alex is involved in. Alex is keeping a diary....

Amsterdam, May 1943. As the Nazis tighten their grip across the city, the last signs of Dutch resistance are being swept away. Marijke de Graaf and her husband are arrested and deported to different concentration camps in Germany. Marijke is given a terrible choice: to suffer a slow death in the labor camp or - for a chance at survival - join the camp brothel. On the other side of the barbed wire, SS Officer Karl Müller arrives at the camp hoping to meet his father’s expectations of wartime glory. When he encounters the newly arrived Marijke, their lives change forever.

París, julio de 1942. Las autoridades arrestan a 13.000 judíos ante la mirada de los parisinos, que guardan silencio por miedo, indiferencia o simple interés, pues esperan ocupar las viviendas vacías. El pequeño Michel se oculta en un armario para huir de la redada. Su hermana Sarah cierra la puerta para protegerle y se guarda la llave, pensando que va a regresar en unas horas

Ava thought her job as a librarian at the Library of Congress would mean a quiet, routine existence. But an unexpected offer from the US military has brought her to Lisbon with a new mission: posing as a librarian while working undercover as a spy gathering intelligence. Meanwhile, in occupied France, Elaine has begun an apprenticeship at a printing press run by members of the Resistance. It’s a job usually reserved for men, but in the war, those rules have been forgotten. Yet she knows that the Nazis are searching for the press and its printer in order to silence them.

When nine-year-old Liesel arrives outside the boxlike house of her new foster parents at 33 Himmel Street, she refuses to get out of the car. Liesel has been separated from her parents, "Kommunists", forever, and at the burial of her little brother, she steals a gravedigger's instruction manual, which she can't read. It is the beginning of her illustrious career.

Sometimes, the deadliest enemy lies within. It is 1942, and war is raging in Europe. Monika Ritter is in New York with her husband, Michael. Haunted by memories of her childhood in Germany and her father’s death at the hands of the Nazis, she longs to do her bit against Hitler’s rampaging armies. When Michael joins the new Army Air Force as a bomber pilot, Monika takes advantage of an invitation she receives to join the OSS, a fledgling group of spies with the mission to turn the war by gathering the most vital asset of all—information.

1943, Seattle. While raging war reshapes the landscape of Europe, its impact is felt thousands of miles away too. Before the war, Nora Kinney was one of countless housewives and mothers in her comfortable Capitol Hill neighborhood. Now, with her doctor husband stationed in North Africa, Nora feels compelled to do more than tend her victory garden or help with scrap metal drives . . .

In the early morning hours of 6th November 1943, SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler, receives the coded message he has been waiting for, 'the Eagle has landed.' It was to become known as the most daring enemy mission of the entire war: Operation Eagle, Himmler's audacious plan to kidnap Winston Churchill on British soil. But, despite spectacular secrecy, there was to be no surrender without a fight. For in that remote corner of Norfolk, an elite unit is gathered together. Ready to do battle for a nation against the most ruthless taskforce ever assembled.

Germany, 1944: Nazi banners blowing in the wind, Maggie Sullivan takes her first steps into enemy territory. Armed only with a camera and a US press pass, Maggie never backs down from danger. But close to her heart is a secret; one that she can never share. Maggie was born in Germany. Years ago, she and her mother were forced to flee Berlin, leaving her siblings behind. The US Army are Maggie’s protectors for now, but she wakes each night in a cold sweat wondering: what will they do if they discover her past?

Berlin, 1944. ‘It is a great honour to have you here, Herr Hitler.’ Lili doesn’t stumble over the lie, her hand steady as she pours champagne. Everything must be perfect, no one can suspect a thing… Lili Rodenberg and her husband Marius run the Edel, Berlin’s most glamorous hotel. For its wealthy guests, it is an escape from the destruction outside, with its elegant piano bar and fine amber brandy. But Lili is Jewish, a secret she is terrified will end in tragedy for her and their beloved little girl.

Gracianna is inspired by true events in the life of Trini Amador’s great-grandmother, Gracianna Lasaga. As an adult, Amador was haunted by the vivid memory of finding a loaded German Luger tucked away in a nightstand while wandering his great-grandmother’s home in Southern California. He was only four years old at the time. Decades later, Amador would delve into the remarkable odyssey of his Gracianna’s past, a road that led him to an incredible surprise. In Gracianna, Amador weaves fact and fiction to tell his great-grandmother’s story.

Hero. Soldier. Spy. Leader. Her name is Nancy Wake. A riveting, richly imagined historical thriller, Liberation brings to life one of World War II's most fascinating unsung heroines in all her fierce power and complexity. This is the story of one of the one of the war's most decorated women, told like never before.

New York, 2006. Amy Sullivan’s life is a mess. Fired from her dream job at a prestigious newspaper, she gets a call from her 90-year-old grandmother in the South of France. Maureen Ritter flies to America, the land of her birth, ostensibly to visit her ailing sister, but soon she begins to share with Amy what she’s hidden for more than 60 years—the story of her war.

París, 1939. La joven Odile Souchet lo tiene todo: un atractivo novio oficial de policía y un trabajo de ensueño en la Biblioteca Americana de París. Pero cuando estalla la guerra y los nazis marchan sobre París, Odile se expone a perder todo lo que le importa, incluida su querida biblioteca.

The second book in Jeffrey Archer’s highly acclaimed The Clifton Chronicles, The Sins of the Father takes the reader on a breath-taking journey from the backstreets of Bristol to the boardrooms of Manhattan.The book opens in New York, 1939. Harry Clifton, under the new identity of Tom Bradshaw, finds himself arrested for first degree murder.

Jeremy Littlefield stands at a crossroads, his loyalties torn between two continents. On the verge of departing for Burma, he faces a crucial decision: heed the urgent call of the Pacific Theater, or remain in France to support the Resistance alongside his beloved Amélie. Each choice carries the weight of survival, not just for himself, but for those he might leave behind.

In the heart of darkening Europe, amidst the looming war, "Vienna on Fire" by Don Gabor tells the riveting story of Greta Kolbe, an eighteen-year-old Jewish woman whose life was upended when German troops annexed Austria in 1938. Her peaceful existence is replaced by a nightmare of terror as she, along with Vienna's Jewish community, faces an ordeal of intimidation. Greta's journey of resilience begins as she flees Nazi Vienna to escape arrest for her resistance activities, embarking on a dangerous trek to Holland, with a spiteful ex-suitor and the Gestapo closely trailing her.

Uncovering the echoes of female heroism, one secret at a time. In The Echo of Valor, book 2 in the Timeless Agents series, the secrets of the past meet the recognition of the present. Torquay, 2007 In the seaside town of Torquay on England’s south coast, Dr Mia Thompson’s encounter with her reclusive client, Eileen Nearne, sparks an unexpected discovery. Eileen’s quiet life belies her extraordinary past as an SOE secret agent in Nazi-occupied France during World War II. From daring missions to capture by the Gestapo and survival in a concentration camp, Eileen’s story is one of ...