WINTER OF DISCONTENT

Welcome

Schluesselburg is taken by the German army on

LUNCHTIME FOR HITLER

28 August 1941

GARHWALI GRIT

4 August 1915

SPANISH CIVIL WAR

Spain tears itself apart in a grim prelude to WWII as the Second Spanish Republic is defeated and Francisco Franco becomes a fascist dictator for decades

LEADERS & COMMANDERS

From ruthless generals to professors turned prime ministers, the war saw many influential figures

ORWELL IN SPAIN

At the start of the civil war the author and journalist was fighting on the front lines, but when internal conflict swept through the Republicans he barely escaped with his life

INTERNATIONAL BRIGADES

The Second Spanish Republic was militarily supported by 35,000 volunteers from across the world that formed into battalions to fight fascism

BATTLE FOR CATALONIA

In December 1938, the Nationalist forces of Francisco Franco launched a massive operation to seize the last Republican stronghold

CITY UNDER SIEGE LENINGRAD

It was the Soviet Union’s second city and Tsarist Russia’s glorious former capital, and Hitler hated it as the birthplace of Bolshevism. From 1941 he surrounded it, bombarded it and starved it in one of the longest and bloodiest sieges in history

CANNIBALS OF LENINGRAD

In the most desperate times of the long siege, people were driven to unthinkable acts in order to survive

WAY OF THE SAMURAI

The common view of warrior classes from bygone eras is one of bloody violence and rough manners – but the samurai turned their lives into works of art

JISEI DEATH POETRY

In preparation for their death in battle, or as part of ritual suicide, samurai composed a traditional poem bidding farewell to life

THE TRANQUILLITY OF TEA

Japanese samurai had a special relationship with tea

THE SIEGE OF PARIS

In September 1870, three great German armies gathered around Paris and commenced a siege that would last more than four months

HALIFAX 1917

A 2,900-TON CATASTROPHE

BRITAIN & AFGHANISTAN 2001-21

A TROUBLED HISTORY

THOMAS WILLIAM HOLMES

In the mud, shell holes and wire of Passchendaele, a daring Canadian soldier, having lied about his age, faced relentless enemy fire to singlehandedly clear a pillbox, becoming the country’s youngest VC recipient

M3 LEE

These Medium Tanks served to restock Britain’s sparse supply of armoured vehicles in the wake of the retreat from France

MUSEUMS & EVENTS

Discover WWII hiking trails in Western Europe, a renovated Scottish regimental museum and English Heritage’s substantial guide to the Battle of Hastings

SEPTEMBER 1941

WWII THIS MONTH…

PLAN A

THIS HARROWING TALE OF HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS PLOTTING REVENGE IS A STUNNING REMINDER OF THE DEPTHS MANKIND CAN SINK TO

NURSING CHURCHILL

THE HUMAN AND SELDOM-SEEN SIDE OF WINSTON CHURCHILL IS REVEALED BY THE NURSE WHO LOOKED AFTER HIM WHEN HE WAS STRICKEN WITH PNEUMONIA IN 1943

THE CHAMPION OF AUSCHWITZ

A WELL-INTENTIONED BUT ULTIMATELY FLAT PORTRAIT OF A REMARKABLE SURVIVOR

T-34 SHOCK THE SOVIET LEGEND IN PICTURES

A WELCOME DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF THE ICONIC TANK

STALINISM AT WAR

AN IN-DEPTH EXAMINATION OF HOW THE BRUTAL STALINIST SYSTEM WAS VICTORIOUS IN RUSSIA’S DARKEST HOUR

LAWRENCE

How did an eccentric archaeologist inspire victory over the Ottoman Empire?

DUTCH ARMOUR

This damaged suit of armour was worn by Admiral Jacob van Heemskerck, who was killed fighting the Spanish during the Battle of Gibraltar