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Sinclair McKay – författare

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50 produkter

Bletchley Park
The Secret Archives
AvSinclair McKay,Bletchley Park
Inbunden, Engelska, 2016
327 kr
Skickas
This is beautifully slipcased presented collector’ s edition of the best selling title, The Lost World of Bletchley Park, a comprehensive illustrated history of this remarkable place, from its pre-war heyday as a country estate, its wartime requisition and how it became the place where modern computing was invented and the German Enigma code was cracked, to its post-war dereliction and then rescue towards the end of the twentieth century as a museum.Removable memorabilia includes:1938 recruiting memo with a big tick against Turing’ s name Churchill’ s ‘ Action this day’ letter giving code breakers extra resources Handwritten Turing memos Top Secret Enigma decryptions, about the sinking of the Bismark, German High Command’ s assessment of D-Day threat and the message announcing Hitler’ s suicide A wealth of everyday items such as call-up papers, security notices and propaganda posters Newly redesigned interiors with 25% new content, high end slipcase package featuring removable facsimile documents, this is an essential purchase for everyone interested and wanting to experience the place where code-breaking helped to win the war.
Secret Listeners
The Men and Women Posted Across the World to Intercept the German Codes for Bletchley Park
AvSinclair McKay
Häftad, Engelska, 2013
157 kr
Skickas
Behind the celebrated code-breaking at Bletchley Park lies another secret…The men and women of the ‘ Y’ (for Wireless’ ) Service were sent out across the world to run listening stations from Gibraltar to Cairo, intercepting the German military’s encrypted messages for decoding back at the now-famous Bletchley Park mansion. Such wartime postings were life-changing adventures – travel out by flying boat or Indian railways, snakes in filing cabinets and heat so intense the perspiration ran into your shoes - but many of the secret listeners found lifelong romance in their far-flung corner of the world. Now, drawing on dozens of interviews with surviving veterans, Sinclair McKay tells their remarkable story at last.
Ramble On
The Story of Our Love for Walking Britain
AvSinclair McKay
E-bok
Engelska, 2012
94 kr
Läs direkt efter köp
A history of walking over the British countryside.Published to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Ramblers’ Association, `Ramble On’ tells the story of how country walks were transformed from a small and often illegal pastime to the most popular recreational activity in the country.From the brave band of hikers who scaled the off-limits peak Kinder Scout in 1932, via the intricate Lake District guides of Alfred Wainwright, to the resistant landowners (including the notorious Nicholas Van Hoogstraten, Madonna and Jeremy Clarkson) who have done their level best (and worst) to keep walkers off their land – this is the definitive history of rambling.Perfectly capturing the sense of exhilaration on reaching the summit of a blustery hill-top path, `Ramble On’ is for anyone who has ever pulled on a pair of walking boots or is partial to the taste of Kendal mintcake.
Ramble On
The Story of Our Love for Walking Britain
AvSinclair McKay
Häftad, Engelska, 2013
156 kr
Skickas inom 5-8 vardagar
This fascinating ramble through the history of walking delves into our relationship with the British countryside.‘Ramble On’ tells the story of how country walks were transformed from a small and often illegal pastime to the most popular recreational activity in the country.From the brave band of hikers who scaled the off-limits peak Kinder Scout in 1932, via the intricate Lake District guides of Alfred Wainwright, to the resistant landowners (including the notorious Nicholas Van Hoogstraten, Madonna and Jeremy Clarkson) who have done their level best (and worst) to keep walkers off their land – this is the definitive history of rambling.Perfectly capturing the sense of exhilaration on reaching the summit of a blustery hill-top path, ‘Ramble On’ is for anyone who has ever pulled on a pair of walking boots or is partial to the taste of Kendal mintcake.
Ramble On
AvSinclair McKay
Ljudbok
Engelska, 2012
226 kr
Lyssna direkt efter köp
A history of walking and our relationship with the British countryside.On the afternoon of Sunday April 24, 1932, a group of approximately five hundred men and women set out for the summit of Kinder Scout, the highest point in Derbyshire''s Peak District. They were not here to take in the fresh air and breathtaking vistas: they were here to make a stand. Kinder Scout, like almost every other site of natural beauty in Britain at that time, was privately owned and fiercely guarded. This wild, open landscape was one that they had absolutely no right to visit.Ramble On tells the story of how country walks and rambling were transformed from a small and often illegal pastime to the most popular recreational activity in the country.But the story of rambling is not so much about parliamentary acts as it is about the remarkable people who campaigned for (and in some cases against) the pastime. There was a Lancastrian town council accountant called Alfred Wainwright, who in the 1950s changed his life, and the lives of many others, when he popularised walking in the Lake District with his series of guides. And any history of rambling would be incomplete without mentioning the resistant landowners – from the notorious Nicholas Van Hoogstraten to celebrities such as Madonna and Jeremy Clarkson – who have done their level best (and worst) to keep walkers off their land.Above all, this tale is about the exhilaration of a gusty hill-top path; the curious unease that a labyrinthine dark forest floor can induce; the feel of different soil, peat and rock; the sight of alternating sunlight and shadow sweeping across vast valleys. Both a biography of Britain''s favourite outdoor pursuit and a celebration of our wonderful countryside, Ramble On is for anyone who has ever pulled on a pair of walking boots or is partial to the taste of Kendal mintcake.
Dresden
The Fire and the Darkness
AvSinclair McKay
Ljudbok
Engelska, 2020
167 kr
Lyssna direkt efter köp
The Sunday Times Top 10 bestseller, brought to by Penguin and published for the 75th anniversary''Powerful . . . there is rage in his ink. McKay''s book grips by its passion and originality. Some 25,000 people perished in the firestorm that raged through the city. I have never seen it better described'' Max Hastings, Sunday TimesIn February 1945 the Allies obliterated Dresden, the ''Florence of the Elbe''. Bombs weighing over 1,000 lbs fell every seven and a half seconds and an estimated 25,000 people were killed. Was Dresden a legitimate military target or was the bombing a last act of atavistic mass murder in a war already won?From the history of the city to the attack itself, conveyed in a minute-by-minute account from the first of the flares to the flames reaching almost a mile high - the wind so searingly hot that the lungs of those in its path were instantly scorched - through the eerie period of reconstruction, bestselling author Sinclair McKay creates a vast canvas and brings it alive with touching human detail.Along the way we encounter, among many others across the city, an elderly air-raid warden and his wife vainly striving to keep order amid devouring flames, a doctor who carried on operating while his home was in ruins, novelist Kurt Vonnegut who never thought that his own side might want to unleash the roaring fire, and fifteen-year-old Winfried Bielss, who, having spent the evening ushering refugees, wanted to get home to his stamp collection.Impeccably researched and deeply moving, McKay uses never-before-seen sources to relate the untold stories of civilians and vividly conveys the texture of contemporary life. Dresden is invoked as a byword for the illimitable cruelties of war, but with the distance of time, it is now possible to approach this subject with a much clearer gaze, and with a keener interest in the sorts of lives that ordinary people lived and lost, or tried to rebuild.Writing with warmth and colour about morality in war, the instinct for survival, the gravity of mass destruction and the importance of memory, this is a master historian at work.''Churchill said that if bombing cities was justified, it was always repugnant. Sinclair McKay has written a shrewd, humane and balanced account of this most controversial target of the Anglo-American strategic bombing campaign, the ferocious consequence of the scourge of Nazism'' Allan Mallinson, author of Fight to the Finish''Beautifully-crafted, elegiac, compelling - Dresden delivers with a dark intensity and incisive compassion rarely equalled. Authentic and authoritative, a masterpiece of its genre'' Damien Lewis, author of Zero Six Bravo''Compelling . . . Sinclair McKay brings a dark subject vividly to life'' Keith Lowe, author of Savage Continent''This is a brilliantly clear, and fair, account of one of the most notorious and destructive raids in the history aerial warfare. From planning to execution, the story is told by crucial participants - and the victims who suffered so cruelly on the ground from the attack itself and its aftermath'' Robert Fox, author of We Were There© Sinclair McKay 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020
Berlin
Life and Loss in the City That Shaped the Century
AvSinclair McKay
Inbunden, Engelska, 2022
220 kr
Skickas
The Sunday Times-bestselling author of Dresden returns with a monumental biography of the city that defined the twentieth century - Berlin'I loved this book . . . apposite and wise . . . To anyone who knows Berlin a little and is fascinated by it, but would like to understand it better, this is a wonderful aid' David Aaronovitch, The TimesThroughout the twentieth century, Berlin stood at the centre of a convulsing world. This history is often viewed as separate acts: the suffering of the First World War, the cosmopolitan city of science, culture and sexual freedom Berlin became, steep economic plunges, the rise of the Nazis, the destruction of the Second World War, the psychosis of genocide, and a city rent in two by competing ideologies. But people do not live their lives in fixed eras. An epoch ends, yet the people continue - or try to continue - much as they did before. Berlin tells the story of the city as seen through the eyes not of its rulers, but of those who walked its streets.In this magisterial biography of a city and its inhabitants, bestselling historian Sinclair McKay sheds new light on well-known characters - from idealistic scientist Albert Einstein to Nazi architect Albert Speer - and draws on never-before-seen first-person accounts to introduce us to people of all walks of Berlin life. For example, we meet office worker Mechtild Evers, who in her efforts to escape an oncoming army runs into even more appalling jeopardy, and Reinhart Cruger, a 12-year-old boy in 1941 who witnesses with horror the Gestapo coming for each of his Jewish neighbours in turn. Ever a city of curious contrasts, moments of unbelievable darkness give way to a wry Berliner humour - from banned perms to the often ridiculous tit-for-tat between East and West Berlin - and moments of joyous hope - like forced labourers at a jam factory warmly welcoming their Soviet liberators.How did those ideologies - fascism and communism - come to flower so fully here? And how did their repercussions continue to be felt throughout Europe and the West right up until that extraordinary night in the autumn of 1989 when the Wall - that final expression of totalitarian oppression - was at last breached? You cannot understand the twentieth century without understanding Berlin; and you cannot understand Berlin without understanding the experiences of its people. Drawing on a staggering breadth of culture - from art to film, opera to literature, science to architecture - McKay's latest masterpiece shows us this hypnotic city as never before.'Remarkable . . . A majestic work of non-fiction' Matthew d'Ancona'A masterful account of a city marked by infamy . . . If there is a book that must be read this year, this is it' Amanda Foreman'Stunning . . . It's eye-opening, enlightening and wonderfully told' Norman Ohler, author of Blitzed'An electrifying new account of Berlin' Julia Boyd, author of Travellers in the Third Reich'One of my favourite historians' Dan Snow
Saint Petersburg
Sacrifice and Redemption in the City That Defied Hitler
AvSinclair McKay
Inbunden, Engelska, 2025
274 kr
Skickas
'One of my favourite historians' Dan Snow'McKay is a gifted writer; his prose has the cadence, tone and power of a Shostakovich symphony. Horror is majestically conveyed’ Gerard DeGroot, The Times ‘Richly-layered and packed with insight, this riveting account of terrible events tells us as much about the present as it does the past’ Patrick Bishop, author of Paris '44.'McKay's magisterial history of Peter the Great’s monumental gift to Russia will become a classic' Amanda Foreman, author of GeorgianaIn the crucible of the Second World War, Saint Petersburg – then known as Leningrad – stands as a testament to human endurance. As the Nazis encircle the city, intent on annihilating its 1.5 million inhabitants, the narrative plunges into the harrowing 900 days and nights of relentless hardship and unyielding resilience.Starving residents, horrified by their own gaunt reflections, resort to bulking bread with wood shavings, consuming wallpaper paste, and even turning to their pets. Workers at the mass crematorium numb their horror with extra vodka rations. Yet, amid this suffering, the resilience of culture and hope shines through, with orchestras and theatres defiantly continuing their performances, a flicker of humanity against the backdrop of despair.This book not only chronicles the Siege of Leningrad but also traces the pivotal importance of Saint Petersburg across the centuries. From Peter the Great’s visionary founding of the city, through its revolutionary rebirth as Petrograd and its Soviet identity as Leningrad, to its renaissance as Saint Petersburg in the post-Soviet era, we explore the layers of history that shape this extraordinary place.'The story of the siege of Leningrad is one of the great epics of modern history. It has been told many times before, but never in such an engrossing, moving, often horrifying but also uplifting way' Brendan Simms
Churchill’s Boffins
The Remarkable True Story of the Scientists Who Defeated Hitler
AvSinclair McKay
Inbunden, Engelska, 2027
274 kr
Kommande
The incredible story of the unsung heroes whose scientific discoveries helped defeat the Nazis, from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Dad’s ArmyChurchill's Boffins were a fascinating group of intellectuals who harnessed the latest scientific advancements – including their own innovations – to develop sometimes quirky but highly effective weapons in the fight against Hitler.In this lively, character-driven history, Sunday Times bestselling author Sinclair McKay tells the little-known story of Churchill’s secret technological war. At its core was an army of eggheads crafting ingenious gadgets – cameras hidden in trouser buttons, bombs disguised as potatoes – and developing extraordinary means to misdirect enemy planes, hunt submarines, and protect civilians.Through vivid storytelling and fresh sources, Churchill’s Boffins chronicles the free-thinking, wildly imaginative work of these revolutionary and here-to unrecognised scientists. We meet R.V Jones, who invented a new means of homing in on bombing targets using invisible beams; Dorothy Garrod, a pre-war archaeologist who used her skills to analyse aerial views of Hitler's secret research bases for signs of nuclear activity; and Stuart Macrae, who worked from his suburban home under the Ministry of Unorthodox Weaponry.McKay shows that this was also a new era poised on the edge of technological revolution. Once the ‘boffins’ had helped defeat the Nazis, it was this generation of visionaries who, from their advances in computing to the development of space exploration, would shape our world today.
Dad’s Army
The Glorious True Story of the Home Guard
AvSinclair McKay
Inbunden, Engelska, 2026
242 kr
Skickas
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERThe remarkable story of the real 'Dad's Army' in wartime Britain, from the bestselling historian of The Secret Life of Bletchley Park'Impeccably researched and deliciously entertaining, Dad's Army shines a bright searchlight on to an organization dismissed for far too long as humorously incompetent' Giles Milton, author of The Stalin AffairWith the threat of invasion from Hitler's forces looming large in 1940, British men of all ages and backgrounds assembled under the banner of the Home Guard. At its height, this voluntary force, much later nicknamed ‘Dad’s Army’, was made up of almost two million volunteers prepared to defend every corner of the kingdom. Numerous notable figures were involved including George Orwell, A. A. Milne, and C. S. Lewis; many women took part too, including in the Women's Home Defence Force, which was formed in 1941.In Dad’s Army, Sunday Times bestselling author Sinclair McKay tells the remarkable story of these courageous, highly trained and often pioneering men and women through original archival research, vivid storytelling and insights into the beloved television comedy that has shaped the national memory of the Home Guard.Far from the stereotype of charming incompetence, McKay shows that the Home Guard were in fact entirely serious in their approach. Many volunteers had fought in the First World War, and radical veterans from the Spanish Civil War taught new techniques in lethal guerilla fighting.Chocolate-box village greens throughout the country were reimagined as bloody battlefields, with duties including rifle and mortar training, night-time patrols and manning anti-aircraft guns – all on top of volunteers’ everyday jobs. Yet all of this was underpinned by an essential good humour, with moments of levity and camaraderie vital in keeping up a much-needed spirit of defiance.Rich in character, nostalgia, and fascinating sources, Dad's Army brings to life the extraordinary true story of the Home Guard and the men and women who stood ready to defend Britain during World War II.
History of the World in 22 Traitors
AvSinclair McKay
Inbunden, Engelska, 2026
167 kr
Kommande
Murderers who struck out for personal gain, or to take control of empires.Seducers who used deceit between the sheets to fool their targets. Spies who smuggled secrets to the opposing power either for money or because of ideology.History is filled with traitors, from medieval pretenders to thrones to Nazi sympathisers, legends of antiquity to fables of the Old Testament — and we've long been darkly fascinated by the machinations behind their treachery.In this lively new history, Sunday Times bestselling author Sinclair McKay explores the past's most notorious traitors. In 22 bite-sized chapters, McKay delves deep into the treason and scandal, and explores the role of traitors in shaping our history, mythology, and literature. We meet some of the most infamous defectors and disgraced collaborators, from those whose names became bywords for treachery, like Benedict Arnold and Vidkun Quisling, to fictional traitors, like Sir Lancelot and Guinevere, and the Macbeths.Through vivid storytelling and examples from ancient civilisations to the modern day, McKay details some of the most brazen betrayals, murderous acts and shocking duplicity. And, by examining some of history’s toughest moral and ethical dilemmas, he shows us that the line between treachery and faithfulness can sometimes be needle-thin . . .
Dresden
The Fire and the Darkness
AvSinclair McKay
Häftad, Engelska, 2020
157 kr
Skickas
A Times/Sunday Times Book of the Year'Powerful . . . there is rage in his ink. McKay's book grips by its passion and originality. Some 25,000 people perished in the firestorm that raged through the city. I have never seen it better described' Max Hastings, Sunday TimesIn February 1945 the Allies obliterated Dresden, the 'Florence of the Elbe'. Explosive bombs weighing over 1,000 lbs fell every seven and a half seconds and an estimated 25,000 people were killed. Was Dresden a legitimate military target or was the bombing a last act of atavistic mass murder in a war already won?From the history of the city to the attack itself, conveyed in a minute-by-minute account from the first of the flares to the flames reaching almost a mile high - the wind so searingly hot that the lungs of those in its path were instantly scorched - through the eerie period of reconstruction, bestselling author Sinclair McKay creates a vast canvas and brings it alive with touching human detail.Along the way we encounter, among many others across the city, a Jewish woman who thought the English bombs had been sent from heaven, novelist Kurt Vonnegut who wrote that the smouldering landscape was like walking on the surface of the moon, and 15-year-old Winfried Bielss, who, having spent the evening ushering refugees, wanted to get home to his stamp collection. He was not to know that there was not enough time.Impeccably researched and deeply moving, McKay uses never-before-seen sources to relate the untold stories of civilians and vividly conveys the texture of contemporary life. Dresden is invoked as a byword for the illimitable cruelties of war, but with the distance of time, it is now possible to approach this subject with a much clearer gaze, and with a keener interest in the sorts of lives that ordinary people lived and lost, or tried to rebuild.Writing with warmth and colour about morality in war, the instinct for survival, the gravity of mass destruction and the manipulation of memory, this is a master historian at work.'Churchill said that if bombing cities was justified, it was always repugnant. Sinclair McKay has written a shrewd, humane and balanced account of this most controversial target of the Anglo-American strategic bombing campaign, the ferocious consequence of the scourge of Nazism' Allan Mallinson, author of Fight to the Finish'Beautifully-crafted, elegiac, compelling - Dresden delivers with a dark intensity and incisive compassion rarely equalled. Authentic and authoritative, a masterpiece of its genre' Damien Lewis, author of Zero Six Bravo'Compelling . . . Sinclair McKay brings a dark subject vividly to life' Keith Lowe, author of Savage Continent'This is a brilliantly clear, and fair, account of one of the most notorious and destructive raids in the history aerial warfare. From planning to execution, the story is told by crucial participants - and the victims who suffered so cruelly on the ground from the attack itself and its aftermath' Robert Fox, author of We Were There
Dresden
The Fire and the Darkness
AvSinclair McKay
E-bok
Engelska, 2020
122 kr
Läs direkt efter köp
A Times/Sunday Times Book of the Year'Powerful . . . there is rage in his ink. McKay's book grips by its passion and originality. Some 25,000 people perished in the firestorm that raged through the city. I have never seen it better described' Max Hastings, Sunday TimesIn February 1945 the Allies obliterated Dresden, the 'Florence of the Elbe'. Explosive bombs weighing over 1,000 lbs fell every seven and a half seconds and an estimated 25,000 people were killed. Was Dresden a legitimate military target or was the bombing a last act of atavistic mass murder in a war already won?From the history of the city to the attack itself, conveyed in a minute-by-minute account from the first of the flares to the flames reaching almost a mile high - the wind so searingly hot that the lungs of those in its path were instantly scorched - through the eerie period of reconstruction, bestselling author Sinclair McKay creates a vast canvas and brings it alive with touching human detail.Along the way we encounter, among many others across the city, a Jewish woman who thought the English bombs had been sent from heaven, novelist Kurt Vonnegut who wrote that the smouldering landscape was like walking on the surface of the moon, and 15-year-old Winfried Bielss, who, having spent the evening ushering refugees, wanted to get home to his stamp collection. He was not to know that there was not enough time.Impeccably researched and deeply moving, McKay uses never-before-seen sources to relate the untold stories of civilians and vividly conveys the texture of contemporary life. Dresden is invoked as a byword for the illimitable cruelties of war, but with the distance of time, it is now possible to approach this subject with a much clearer gaze, and with a keener interest in the sorts of lives that ordinary people lived and lost, or tried to rebuild.Writing with warmth and colour about morality in war, the instinct for survival, the gravity of mass destruction and the manipulation of memory, this is a master historian at work.'Churchill said that if bombing cities was justified, it was always repugnant. Sinclair McKay has written a shrewd, humane and balanced account of this most controversial target of the Anglo-American strategic bombing campaign, the ferocious consequence of the scourge of Nazism' Allan Mallinson, author of Fight to the Finish'Beautifully-crafted, elegiac, compelling - Dresden delivers with a dark intensity and incisive compassion rarely equalled. Authentic and authoritative, a masterpiece of its genre' Damien Lewis, author of Zero Six Bravo'Compelling . . . Sinclair McKay brings a dark subject vividly to life' Keith Lowe, author of Savage Continent'This is a brilliantly clear, and fair, account of one of the most notorious and destructive raids in the history aerial warfare. From planning to execution, the story is told by crucial participants - and the victims who suffered so cruelly on the ground from the attack itself and its aftermath' Robert Fox, author of We Were There
Berlin
Life and Loss in the City That Shaped the Century
AvSinclair McKay
Häftad, Engelska, 2023
157 kr
Skickas
The Sunday Times-bestselling author of Dresden returns with a monumental biography of the city that defined the twentieth century - BerlinThroughout the twentieth century, Berlin stood at the centre of a convulsing world. This history is often viewed as separate acts: the suffering of the First World War, the cosmopolitan city of science, culture and sexual freedom Berlin became, steep economic plunges, the rise of the Nazis, the destruction of the Second World War, the psychosis of genocide, and a city rent in two by competing ideologies. But people do not live their lives in fixed eras. An epoch ends, yet the people continue - or try to continue - much as they did before. Berlin tells the story of the city as seen through the eyes not of its rulers, but of those who walked its streets.In this magisterial biography of a city and its inhabitants, bestselling historian Sinclair McKay sheds new light on well-known characters - from idealistic scientist Albert Einstein to Nazi architect Albert Speer - and draws on never-before-seen first-person accounts to introduce us to people of all walks of Berlin life. For example, we meet office worker Mechtild Evers, who in her efforts to escape an oncoming army runs into even more appalling jeopardy, and Reinhart Cruger, a 12-year-old boy in 1941 who witnesses with horror the Gestapo coming for each of his Jewish neighbours in turn. Ever a city of curious contrasts, moments of unbelievable darkness give way to a wry Berliner humour - from banned perms to the often ridiculous tit-for-tat between East and West Berlin - and moments of joyous hope - like forced labourers at a jam factory warmly welcoming their Soviet liberators.How did those ideologies - fascism and communism - come to flower so fully here? And how did their repercussions continue to be felt throughout Europe and the West right up until that extraordinary night in the autumn of 1989 when the Wall - that final expression of totalitarian oppression - was at last breached? You cannot understand the twentieth century without understanding Berlin; and you cannot understand Berlin without understanding the experiences of its people. Drawing on a staggering breadth of culture - from art to film, opera to literature, science to architecture - McKay's latest masterpiece shows us this hypnotic city as never before.'Remarkable . . . A majestic work of non-fiction' Matthew d'Ancona'Sinclair McKay was born to write this book' David Aaronovitch, The Times'A masterful account of a city marked by infamy . . . If there is a book that must be read this year, this is it' Amanda Foreman'An electrifying new account of Berlin' Julia Boyd, author of Travellers in the Third Reich'One of my favourite historians' Dan Snow
Berlin
Life and Loss in the City That Shaped the Century
AvSinclair McKay
E-bok
Engelska, 2022
122 kr
Läs direkt efter köp
The Sunday Times-bestselling author of Dresden returns with a monumental biography of the city that defined the twentieth century - BerlinThroughout the twentieth century, Berlin stood at the centre of a convulsing world. This history is often viewed as separate acts: the suffering of the First World War, the cosmopolitan city of science, culture and sexual freedom Berlin became, steep economic plunges, the rise of the Nazis, the destruction of the Second World War, the psychosis of genocide, and a city rent in two by competing ideologies. But people do not live their lives in fixed eras. An epoch ends, yet the people continue - or try to continue - much as they did before. Berlin tells the story of the city as seen through the eyes not of its rulers, but of those who walked its streets.In this magisterial biography of a city and its inhabitants, bestselling historian Sinclair McKay sheds new light on well-known characters - from idealistic scientist Albert Einstein to Nazi architect Albert Speer - and draws on never-before-seen first-person accounts to introduce us to people of all walks of Berlin life. For example, we meet office worker Mechtild Evers, who in her efforts to escape an oncoming army runs into even more appalling jeopardy, and Reinhart Cruger, a 12-year-old boy in 1941 who witnesses with horror the Gestapo coming for each of his Jewish neighbours in turn. Ever a city of curious contrasts, moments of unbelievable darkness give way to a wry Berliner humour - from banned perms to the often ridiculous tit-for-tat between East and West Berlin - and moments of joyous hope - like forced labourers at a jam factory warmly welcoming their Soviet liberators.How did those ideologies - fascism and communism - come to flower so fully here? And how did their repercussions continue to be felt throughout Europe and the West right up until that extraordinary night in the autumn of 1989 when the Wall - that final expression of totalitarian oppression - was at last breached? You cannot understand the twentieth century without understanding Berlin; and you cannot understand Berlin without understanding the experiences of its people. Drawing on a staggering breadth of culture - from art to film, opera to literature, science to architecture - McKay's latest masterpiece shows us this hypnotic city as never before.'Remarkable . . . A majestic work of non-fiction' Matthew d'Ancona'Sinclair McKay was born to write this book' David Aaronovitch, The Times'A masterful account of a city marked by infamy . . . If there is a book that must be read this year, this is it' Amanda Foreman'An electrifying new account of Berlin' Julia Boyd, author of Travellers in the Third Reich'One of my favourite historians' Dan Snow
The Secret Lives of Codebreakers: The Men and Women Who Cracked the Enigma Code at Bletchley Park
AvSinclair McKay
Häftad, Engelska, 2012
344 kr
Skickas inom 3-6 vardagar
The Scotland Yard Puzzle Book: Test Your Inner Detective by Solving Some of the World's Most Difficult Cases
AvSinclair McKay
Häftad, Engelska, 2020
275 kr
Skickas inom 3-6 vardagar
Meeting Churchill
A Life in 90 Encounters
AvSinclair McKay
Häftad, Engelska, 2024
160 kr
Skickas
This insightful portrait of Winston Churchill delves beyond well-known political moments, incorporating perspectives from various individuals who encountered him throughout his life.From Bletchley Park codebreakers and Hollywood stars such as Charlie Chaplin, through writers as varied as H. G. Wells and P. G. Wodehouse, to the likes of Harold Wilson, Mahatma Gandhi and Queen Elizabeth II, these lesser-known interactions reveal glimpses of the man behind the legend.We meet Churchill the exuberant schoolboy thug with an early mania for bull-dogs, and Churchill the elder statesman shedding a tear in the House of Commons smoking room. Other incidents include a young journalist rudely dismissing a call from Churchill as a prank, and a visiting Dwight D. Eisenhower dreaming of being strangled, only to awake entangled in Churchill’s borrowed nightshirt.The book showcases the profound transformations during Churchill’s lifetime, which ran from Benjamin Disraeli’s premiership to the release of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Route 66’, and the shift from steam to atomic power. Examining controversial aspects of his legacy, this multifaceted portrait challenges preconceived notions, inviting readers to reconsider the complexities of Churchill.
Meeting Churchill
A Life in 90 Encounters
AvSinclair McKay
E-bok
Engelska, 2023
122 kr
Läs direkt efter köp
This insightful portrait of Winston Churchill delves beyond well-known political moments, incorporating perspectives from various individuals who encountered him throughout his life.From Bletchley Park codebreakers and Hollywood stars such as Charlie Chaplin, through writers as varied as H. G. Wells and P. G. Wodehouse, to the likes of Harold Wilson, Mahatma Gandhi and Queen Elizabeth II, these lesser-known interactions reveal glimpses of the man behind the legend.We meet Churchill the exuberant schoolboy thug with an early mania for bull-dogs, and Churchill the elder statesman shedding a tear in the House of Commons smoking room. Other incidents include a young journalist rudely dismissing a call from Churchill as a prank, and a visiting Dwight D. Eisenhower dreaming of being strangled, only to awake entangled in Churchill’s borrowed nightshirt.The book showcases the profound transformations during Churchill’s lifetime, which ran from Benjamin Disraeli’s premiership to the release of the Rolling Stones’ ‘Route 66’, and the shift from steam to atomic power. Examining controversial aspects of his legacy, this multifaceted portrait challenges preconceived notions, inviting readers to reconsider the complexities of Churchill.
Saint Petersburg
Sacrifice and Redemption in the City That Defied Hitler
AvSinclair McKay
E-bok
Engelska, 2025
122 kr
Läs direkt efter köp
‘Richly-layered and packed with insight, this riveting account of terrible events tells us as much about the present as it does the past’ Patrick Bishop, author of Paris '44From Peter the Great to Putin, a biography of the city Hitler tried - and failed - to wipe off the mapThe siege of Saint Petersburg – then known as Leningrad – stands as a testament to human endurance. Intended by the Nazis as civilian extermination, the numbers who perished in this 900-day ordeal almost outweighed the entire total of British and American troop deaths in the Second World War.The city’s 2.5 million residents began to starve as rations shrank and dwindled. As temperatures plunged to minus 43°C, electricity faltered, and fuel ran out. Yet, amid this suffering, the resilience of culture and hope shone through, with orchestras and theatres defiantly continuing their performances, a flicker of humanity against the backdrop of despair.In Saint Petersburg, bestselling historian Sinclair McKay book chronicles the horrors of the siege through immersive prose and gripping first-hand accounts. He also traces the pivotal importance of Saint Petersburg across the centuries, from Peter the Great’s visionary founding of the city to the way it has shaped its most infamous son, Vladimir Putin.From its darkest moments to its enduring spirit, Saint Petersburg explore the layers of history that have shaped this extraordinary place.'McKay is a gifted writer; his prose has the cadence, tone and power of a Shostakovich symphony. Horror is majestically conveyed’ Gerard DeGroot, The Times
Saint Petersburg
The City That Defied Hitler
AvSinclair McKay
Häftad, Engelska, 2026
157 kr
Skickas
‘Richly-layered and packed with insight, this riveting account of terrible events tells us as much about the present as it does the past’ Patrick Bishop, author of Paris '44From Peter the Great to Putin, a biography of the city Hitler tried - and failed - to wipe off the mapThe siege of Saint Petersburg – then known as Leningrad – stands as a testament to human endurance. Intended by the Nazis as civilian extermination, the numbers who perished in this 900-day ordeal almost outweighed the entire total of British and American troop deaths in the Second World War.The city’s 2.5 million residents began to starve as rations shrank and dwindled. As temperatures plunged to minus 43°C, electricity faltered, and fuel ran out. Yet, amid this suffering, the resilience of culture and hope shone through, with orchestras and theatres defiantly continuing their performances, a flicker of humanity against the backdrop of despair.In Saint Petersburg, bestselling historian Sinclair McKay book chronicles the horrors of the siege through immersive prose and gripping first-hand accounts. He also traces the pivotal importance of Saint Petersburg across the centuries, from Peter the Great’s visionary founding of the city to the way it has shaped its most infamous son, Vladimir Putin.From its darkest moments to its enduring spirit, Saint Petersburg explore the layers of history that have shaped this extraordinary place.'McKay is a gifted writer; his prose has the cadence, tone and power of a Shostakovich symphony. Horror is majestically conveyed’ Gerard DeGroot, The Times
Saint Petersburg
Sacrifice and Redemption in the City That Defied Hitler
AvSinclair McKay
Ljudbok
Engelska, 2025
206 kr
Lyssna direkt efter köp
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 McKay writes, St Petersburg has always been a city that has drawn Westerners who wanted to see into Russia. It is also a city where much has happened. It was St Petersburg until 1917, Petrograd after the revolution, Leningrad after Lenin’s death in 1924, and St Petersburg once again from 1991.This biography of a city stretches from Peter the Great to Vladimir Putin, who was born and made in St Petersburg. The story centres the ‘900 days and nights’ of the Siege of Leningrad, 1941–44. Unlike Paris or Prague, the Nazis weren’t trying to take over, they wanted to wipe it off the map. According to some, this siege of 1.5 million people – including Putin’s mother – was an attempted genocide. Based on first-hand and many unpublished accounts from figures from all walks of life – irascible authors, factory workers, bakers, furriers, dancers, sailors, grandparents, children – this masterpiece reveals the central importance of St Petersburg over the centuries. This is the story of the city told from the perspective of the people who lived there.''One of my favourite historians'' Dan Snow© Sinclair McKay 2025 (P) Penguin Audio 2025
Dad’s Army
The Glorious True Story of the Home Guard
AvSinclair McKay
Häftad, Engelska, 2027
132 kr
Kommande
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERThe remarkable story of the real 'Dad's Army' in wartime Britain, from the bestselling historian of The Secret Life of Bletchley ParkWith the threat of invasion from Hitler's forces looming large in 1940, British men of all ages and backgrounds assembled under the banner of the Home Guard. At its height, this voluntary force, much later nicknamed ‘Dad’s Army’, was made up of almost two million volunteers prepared to defend every corner of the kingdom. Numerous notable figures were involved including George Orwell, A. A. Milne, and C. S. Lewis; many women took part too, including in the Women's Home Defence Force, which was formed in 1941.In Dad’s Army, Sunday Times bestselling author Sinclair McKay tells the remarkable story of these courageous, highly trained and often pioneering men and women through original archival research, vivid storytelling and insights into the beloved television comedy that has shaped the national memory of the Home Guard.Far from the stereotype of charming incompetence, McKay shows that the Home Guard were in fact entirely serious in their approach. Many volunteers had fought in the First World War, and radical veterans from the Spanish Civil War taught new techniques in lethal guerilla fighting.Chocolate-box village greens throughout the country were reimagined as bloody battlefields, with duties including rifle and mortar training, night-time patrols and manning anti-aircraft guns – all on top of volunteers’ everyday jobs. Yet all of this was underpinned by an essential good humour, with moments of levity and camaraderie vital in keeping up a much-needed spirit of defiance.Rich in character, nostalgia, and fascinating sources, Dad's Army brings to life the extraordinary true story of the Home Guard and the men and women who stood ready to defend Britain during World War II.'Impeccably researched and deliciously entertaining, Dad's Army shines a bright searchlight on to an organization dismissed for far too long as humorously incompetent' Giles Milton, author of The Stalin Affair
Dad’s Army
The Glorious True Story of the Home Guard
AvSinclair McKay
E-bok
Engelska, 2026
167 kr
Läs direkt efter köp
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERThe remarkable story of the real 'Dad's Army' in wartime Britain, from the bestselling historian of The Secret Life of Bletchley Park'Impeccably researched and deliciously entertaining, Dad's Army shines a bright searchlight on to an organization dismissed for far too long as humorously incompetent' Giles Milton, author of The Stalin AffairWith the threat of invasion from Hitler's forces looming large in 1940, British men of all ages and backgrounds assembled under the banner of the Home Guard. At its height, this voluntary force, much later nicknamed ‘Dad’s Army’, was made up of almost two million volunteers prepared to defend every corner of the kingdom. Numerous notable figures were involved including George Orwell, A. A. Milne, and C. S. Lewis; many women took part too, including in the Women's Home Defence Force, which was formed in 1941.In Dad’s Army, Sunday Times bestselling author Sinclair McKay tells the remarkable story of these courageous, highly trained and often pioneering men and women through original archival research, vivid storytelling and insights into the beloved television comedy that has shaped the national memory of the Home Guard.Far from the stereotype of charming incompetence, McKay shows that the Home Guard were in fact entirely serious in their approach. Many volunteers had fought in the First World War, and radical veterans from the Spanish Civil War taught new techniques in lethal guerilla fighting.Chocolate-box village greens throughout the country were reimagined as bloody battlefields, with duties including rifle and mortar training, night-time patrols and manning anti-aircraft guns – all on top of volunteers’ everyday jobs. Yet all of this was underpinned by an essential good humour, with moments of levity and camaraderie vital in keeping up a much-needed spirit of defiance.Rich in character, nostalgia, and fascinating sources, Dad's Army brings to life the extraordinary true story of the Home Guard and the men and women who stood ready to defend Britain during World War II.
Bletchley Park Brainteasers
The bestselling quiz book full of puzzles inspired by Bletchley Park code breakers
AvSinclair McKay
E-bok
Engelska, 2017
44 kr
Läs direkt efter köp
Bestselling Bletchley Park Brainteasers continues to delight hundreds of thousands of devoted puzzlers with its fiendish puzzles, riddles and enigmas. It''s never to late to join the code breakers of Bletchley Park in their enjoyment of a devilish challenge!Would you love to master morse code? Could you have have outsmarted an enigma machine? Would your love of chess have seen you recruited into the history books?When scouring the land for top-level code breakers, the Bletchley Park recruiters left no stone unturned. As well as approaching the country''s finest mathematicians, they cast their nets much wider, interviewing sixth-form music students who could read orchestral scores, chess masters, poets, linguists, hieroglyphics experts and high society debutantes fresh from finishing school. To assess these individuals they devised various ingenious mind-twisters - hidden codes, cryptic crosswords, secret languages, complex riddles - and it is puzzles such as these, together with the fascinating recruitment stories that surround them, that make up the backbone of this book. The code breakers of Bletchley Park were united in their love of a good puzzle. If you feel the same, why not dive in, put your mental agility to the test and discover: Would Bletchley Park have recruited YOU?
Bletchley Park Brainteasers
The bestselling quiz book full of puzzles inspired by Bletchley Park code breakers
AvSinclair McKay
Häftad, Engelska, 2017
210 kr
Skickas inom 5-8 vardagar
Bestselling Bletchley Park Brainteasers continues to delight hundreds of thousands of devoted puzzlers with its fiendish puzzles, riddles and enigmas. It's never to late to join the code breakers of Bletchley Park in their enjoyment of a devilish challenge!Would you love to master morse code? Could you have have outsmarted an enigma machine? Would your love of chess have seen you recruited into the history books?When scouring the land for top-level code breakers, the Bletchley Park recruiters left no stone unturned. As well as approaching the country's finest mathematicians, they cast their nets much wider, interviewing sixth-form music students who could read orchestral scores, chess masters, poets, linguists, hieroglyphics experts and high society debutantes fresh from finishing school. To assess these individuals they devised various ingenious mind-twisters - hidden codes, cryptic crosswords, secret languages, complex riddles - and it is puzzles such as these, together with the fascinating recruitment stories that surround them, that make up the backbone of this book. The code breakers of Bletchley Park were united in their love of a good puzzle. If you feel the same, why not dive in, put your mental agility to the test and discover: Would Bletchley Park have recruited YOU?
Secret Service Brainteasers
Do you have what it takes to be a spy?
AvSinclair McKay
E-bok
Engelska, 2018
44 kr
Läs direkt efter köp
You''ve already broken codes in Sinclair McKay''s bestselling Bletchley Park Brainteasers, now it''s time to pit your wits against the secret heroes of MI5 and MI6 and find out if YOU have what it takes to be a spy!If you cracked the GCHQ Puzzle Book and followed the Ordnance Survey Puzzle Book, you MUST show off your James Bond credentials with Secret Service Brainteasers. . .Whether you have linguistic flair, an instinct for technology or good old common sense, pit your wits against some of the greatest minds of our time with ingenious brainteasers including secret languages, sabotage themed brain bogglers, deadly countdowns and hidden codes.Weaving astonishing stories of the men and women who operate from the shadows, the secret heroes and heroines of MI5 and MI6 who have faced extraordinary and terrifying challenges and a wide range of mind twisting puzzles, Secret Service Brainteasers will test your mental agility to discover: Do YOU have what it takes to be a spy?
Secret Service Brainteasers
Do you have what it takes to be a spy?
AvSinclair McKay
Häftad, Engelska, 2018
168 kr
Skickas inom 5-8 vardagar
You've already broken codes in Sinclair McKay's bestselling Bletchley Park Brainteasers, now it's time to pit your wits against the secret heroes of MI5 and MI6 and find out if YOU have what it takes to be a spy!If you cracked the GCHQ Puzzle Book and followed the Ordnance Survey Puzzle Book, you MUST show off your James Bond credentials with Secret Service Brainteasers. . .Whether you have linguistic flair, an instinct for technology or good old common sense, pit your wits against some of the greatest minds of our time with ingenious brainteasers including secret languages, sabotage themed brain bogglers, deadly countdowns and hidden codes.Weaving astonishing stories of the men and women who operate from the shadows, the secret heroes and heroines of MI5 and MI6 who have faced extraordinary and terrifying challenges and a wide range of mind twisting puzzles, Secret Service Brainteasers will test your mental agility to discover: Do YOU have what it takes to be a spy?
Scotland Yard Puzzle Book
Crime Scenes, Conundrums and Whodunnits to test your inner detective
AvSinclair McKay
E-bok
Engelska, 2019
44 kr
Läs direkt efter köp
Pit your wits against the brilliant minds of Scotland Yard, from the bestselling author of Bletchley Park Brainteasers, Sinclair McKay. If you cracked the GCHQ Puzzle Book and tore through the Ordnance Survey Puzzle Book, you MUST show off your brainteaser abilities and prove that you have what it takes to be a detective at the Yard...How can a man be in two places at once? How might a murder be committed when no one is seen entering or exiting the house? Can an entire crime be solved with just a suitcase of empty beer bottles?It''s time for you to tackle the conundrums that confounded the best detectives over the years.Since it opened its doors in 1829, Scotland Yard has used the science of detection to solve the most macabre of murders and catch the most audacious of thieves. The Scotland Yard Puzzle Book takes a look through the history of this famous institution and recreates some of the most complex puzzles its detectives have ever faced. Technology can now shine a light on some of the most difficult cases, but the analytical mind needed to crack the clues remains as essential as ever. Do you have what it takes to be a Scotland Yard detective?
Scotland Yard Puzzle Book
Crime Scenes, Conundrums and Whodunnits to test your inner detective
AvSinclair McKay
Häftad, Engelska, 2019
178 kr
Skickas inom 5-8 vardagar
Pit your wits against the brilliant minds of Scotland Yard, from the bestselling author of Bletchley Park Brainteasers, Sinclair McKay. If you cracked the GCHQ Puzzle Book and tore through the Ordnance Survey Puzzle Book, you MUST show off your brainteaser abilities and prove that you have what it takes to be a detective at the Yard...How can a man be in two places at once? How might a murder be committed when no one is seen entering or exiting the house? Can an entire crime be solved with just a suitcase of empty beer bottles?It's time for you to tackle the conundrums that confounded the best detectives over the years.Since it opened its doors in 1829, Scotland Yard has used the science of detection to solve the most macabre of murders and catch the most audacious of thieves. The Scotland Yard Puzzle Book takes a look through the history of this famous institution and recreates some of the most complex puzzles its detectives have ever faced. Technology can now shine a light on some of the most difficult cases, but the analytical mind needed to crack the clues remains as essential as ever. Do you have what it takes to be a Scotland Yard detective?