Paul StJohn Mackintosh – författare

Comic-operetta stage set, or ghost town haunted by the walking dead – Sigmaringen still fascinates long after its collapse at the end of the Second World War. This enclave of French Vichy officials and fascists on German soil – refugees and hostages maintained at the Nazis’ pleasure – played out the last residue of French collaborationism in the closing months of the war, presided over by the inert figurehead of Marshal Pétain, against the fairytale backdrop of Sigmaringen Castle. No single English-language history of the Sigmaringen enclave exists, yet it brought together some of the most colourful and controversial collaborationists, from the militant French SS officer Joseph Darnand to the delirious writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline, in a petri dish for the last samples of the collaborationism that had infected France and laid her low.Vichy’s Last Castle brings together contemporary documents, eye-witness reports, diplomatic communiques and protests, and personal chronicles, alongside post-war analyses, war crimes trials, apologetics and memoirs, to provide a complete picture of the Sigmaringen enclave, from daily life to political chicanery. From the vain, formal protests of Marshal Pétain to the hallucinatory stream-of-consciousness of Céline, the book draws on contemporary photographs as well as texts to encapsulate this bizarre milieu, where the rank-and-file starved and suffered, while the elite played and plotted their tragicomic endgame, in a sublimely appropriate Wagnerian setting.

The occupation and liberation of Strasbourg was described by de Gaulle as ‘one of the most brilliant episodes in our military history’, yet is overshadowed outside France by the Battle of the Bulge. France’s equivalent to Douglas MacArthur’s oath ‘I shall return,’ General Philippe Leclerc’s Oath of Kufra, ‘not to lay down our arms until our colours, our beautiful colours, fly over Strasbourg Cathedral’, guided his celebrated 2nd Armoured Division across France from Normandy to the Rhine, until in November 1944 he recaptured Strasbourg in a daring feat of arms.Strasbourg was menaced as soon as it was liberated, as Hitler sought in the wake of the Ardennes Offensive to recapture this coveted trophy. SHAEF was on the verge of abandoning the city to Nazi vengeance until an eleventh-hour meeting between de Gaulle, Churchill and Eisenhower reversed the decision and sent French and American forces to defend it. The defenders – including recruits from France’s colonies – sacrificed themselves heroically. After this bloody victory, Strasbourg’s liberators and defenders crossed the Rhine to occupy Germany, sharing honours with 101st Airborne’s Band of Brothers in Hagenau and the Eagle’s Nest.The author explores the history behind the Franco-German rivalry over this polyglot city, its loss, its insanely unbalanced Nazi occupation, its liberation by the Free French forces, and its defence against Hitler’s vengeance. It also looks at the neglected contribution of France’s multi-ethnic colonial soldiers to the salvation of the city and the country, and Strasbourg’s modern role as an icon of restored European harmony and unity.

The Corps Franc Pommiès (CFP) was founded on 17 November 1942 by its namesake, André Pommiès. It operated in south-western France, becoming one of the largest and most important Resistance units in the south. After initial work in the sabotage of rail and road networks, factories and power plants, on 15 April 1944 it sabotaged the Hispano-Suiza factory in Soues in the Hautes-Pyrénées, forestalling Allied bombing of the factory and the inevitable collateral damage.This was no small, covert cell: the CFP mobilized some 12,000 combatants to support the D-Day landings. Its harassment of the Gestapo, the fascist Milice, and other Occupation forces turned the area around Toulouse into a no man’s land for the Nazis. The CFP linked up with the newly formed French 1st Army during the advance into central France and fought in the brutal campaign to liberate Alsace. It participated in the Rhine crossings, the march on Stuttgart, and the French occupation of Germany, becoming the first French regiment to occupy Berlin. Their story is brought to life in this book, the first in the English language to record their heroic deeds.

The occupation and liberation of Strasbourg was described by de Gaulle as ‘one of the most brilliant episodes in our military history’, yet is overshadowed outside France by the Battle of the Bulge. France’s equivalent to Douglas MacArthur’s oath ‘I shall return,’ General Philippe Leclerc’s Oath of Kufra, ‘not to lay down our arms until our colours, our beautiful colours, fly over Strasbourg Cathedral’, guided his celebrated 2nd Armoured Division across France from Normandy to the Rhine, until in November 1944 he recaptured Strasbourg in a daring feat of arms.Strasbourg was menaced as soon as it was liberated, as Hitler sought in the wake of the Ardennes Offensive to recapture this coveted trophy. SHAEF was on the verge of abandoning the city to Nazi vengeance until an eleventh-hour meeting between de Gaulle, Churchill and Eisenhower reversed the decision and sent French and American forces to defend it. The defenders – including recruits from France’s colonies – sacrificed themselves heroically. After this bloody victory, Strasbourg’s liberators and defenders crossed the Rhine to occupy Germany, sharing honours with 101st Airborne’s Band of Brothers in Hagenau and the Eagle’s Nest.The author explores the history behind the Franco-German rivalry over this polyglot city, its loss, its insanely unbalanced Nazi occupation, its liberation by the Free French forces, and its defence against Hitler’s vengeance. It also looks at the neglected contribution of France’s multi-ethnic colonial soldiers to the salvation of the city and the country, and Strasbourg’s modern role as an icon of restored European harmony and unity.

An exciting investigative roleplaying game exploring the supernatural and esoteric mysteries in early 20th century Britain.Casting the Runes is an investigative roleplaying game based on the ghost stories and tales of the supernatural by renowned medievalist and writer, M. R. James.Casting the Runes is powered by the GUMSHOE game engine, the perfect rules for investigation and tense, supernatural events. Set in the Edwardian Era (approximately 1901-1910, during the reign of King Edward VII of Great Britain), players take on the roles of occult investigators: antiquarians, scholars, archivists, archaeologists, detectives, and so on, exploring the supernatural and uncovering arcane and esoteric mysteries.The GUMSHOE engine, created by renowned game designer Robin Laws, has been carefully tailored to the ghost story genre, and everything you need to explore the Edwardian world and create your own Jamesian stories is included in one book.

Exciting adventures for the Casting the Runes investigative roleplaying game exploring the supernatural and esoteric mysteries in early 20th century Britain.This collection of adventures for the Casting the Runes RPG takes the investigators across the British Isles, from London to Edinburgh, the fens to the West Country, in their quest to solve supernatural occurrences and sinister manifestations.The scenarios are presented as individual tales, but can also be strung together to form a loose campaign.The Malvern MysteryExcavations near Malvern Parva lead to sinister disturbances at the local church.The Eastminster EnigmaA coven of black magicians desecrate Eastminster Cathedral, and the investigators' help is needed in laying to rest their handiwork.The Fiend of the FensSomething wicked stalks the fens near the village of Holme; the characters muct steel themselves for an encounter from the depths of English folklore.The Predestination EngineThe investigators travel to Scotland to research a mysterious charlatan who is causing madness and devastation as he seeks to answer the ultimate question: Are you Saved, or Damned?The Oakhill HauntingA pair of elderly spinsters are plagued by things that go bump in the night. Can the restless spirits be appeased?Between St Magnus & St Mary OverieAn unlikely magician dabbles in something he shouldn't, and now the borough of Southwark is assailed by supernatural horrors.

Mythic Venice focuses on the history of the Republic at the height of its power, and arguably its most typical period. From Venice’s acquisition of Corfu in 1401 and Dalmatia in 1409 to its participation in the great naval victory against the Turks at Lepanto in 1571, the Republic extended its territorial reach and its sway far enough to be treated as a contemporary European great power – the only one that medieval and early modern Italy ever produced. Mythic Venice provides setting information and rules additions to adapt the Design Mechanism’s Mythras system to the world of the Venetian Republic. It needs the core Mythras rules although it can be integrated into most RPG rule systems following the d100 pedigree. It also forms a natural companion to other Mythras setting books, especially Mythic Constantinople.