The centre of Britain's codebreaking operation was located at Bletchley Park where a hastily assembled army of codebreakers battled to decipher Germany's secret wartime communications. A motley collection of linguists, mathematicians and crossword enthusiasts pitted their combined wits against the 'unbreakable' naval Enigma codes and Lorenz ciphers used by Hitler and the German High Command. They deciphered high-level signals intelligence disseminated to military commanders was known as Ultra, and had a major influence on the outcome of the war and success in the battle for the Atlantic. British interest in codes and ciphers stretches back to the court of Elizabeth I and her spymaster Sir Francis Walsingham. The book traces the history of the school established by him in the 1570s to the work of the Secret Office of the Post Office in the 18th century to the creation of the Government Code and Cipher School in 1919. The exploits of the two World Wars form a major aspect of the story and include the achievements of the Admiralty's Room 40 and the infamous Zimmermann Telegram, the contribution made by Alan Turing and his ground-breaking work into computing, and a brief overview of post-war developments and the importance of signals intelligence in the Cold War. 132 page extra large softback, many illus.

The highwaymen's 'Lives' in this book were taken from 'A General History of the Lives and Adventures of the Most Famous Highwaymen, Murderers, Street-Robbers etc. to Which is Added, a Genuine Account of the Voyages and Plunders of the Most Notorious Pyrates...' published in 1734. Modern styling has been applied but spellings and punctuation generally left as in the original volume for authenticity. Captain Charles Johnson celebrated 'A General History of the Pirates' (1724) is the most famous book about pirates ever written. Buoyed by the volume?s runaway success, he followed up with this book of 1734. Published here for the first time in two centuries, it provides over 50 accounts of the most notorious British criminals of the 17th and 18th centuries including the famous highwayman William Davis, alias The Golden Farmer, the cross-Channel gentleman highwayman Claude du Vall who liked to dance at the roadside with the ladies he robbed, the prolific road adventurer Old Mob who robbed Judge Jeffries, shooting his coachmen, one in the arm and one in the leg, and the Royalist carriage raider James Hind. The volume opens with the life of Sir John Falstaff, as beautifully drawn here as by Shakespeare, plus Robin Hood, Walter Tracey, Thomas Rumbold, Jack Bird, Captain Dudley, Captain Ruatz, Moll Cutpurse, Edward and Joan Bracey, Patrick O-Bryan, Tom Austin, Captain Evan Evans, Avery, Ned Bonnet, Jack Hawkins and George Simpson and others. Here are noted highwaymen, foot-pads, shop-lifts and cheats of both sexes which were amalgamated into one large and expensive extensive volume, a coffee table book of its time for its production value. With a journalistic flair, these wild accounts were a curious blend of fact and fiction that helped ferment the romanticised image of the gentleman highwayman that persists to this day. And while there are tales of gallantry, adventure and seduction, these are more than matched by acts of ruthless brutality, murder and treachery. Many of these criminals were famous in their day, their arrests, trials and hangings were a public sensation. In the introduction to this new edition, Sam Willis delves into the mysterious identities of authors Alexander Smith and Captain Charles Johnson, both of whom remain enigmatic to this day, and explains why these biographies are still so relevant. It has long been suspected that Captain Charles Johnson was a pseudonym for Daniel Defoe, author of Robinson Crusoe. Glamorous British Library 393 page illustrated edition.

Sub-titled 'The True Story of the Starr Brothers, British Secret Agents in Nazi-Occupied France.' Here for the first time is the astounding story of the greatest clandestine organisation and of two heroic brothers whose ordeals during and after the war challenged accepted myths of wartime resistance in occupied France. As far as the public knew, SOE did not exist, but in July 1940 during the darkest days, Prime Minister Winston Churchill created a top-secret operation to 'set Europe ablaze.' Special Operations Executive would not only change the course of the war but the nature of combat itself. Parachuting behind enemy lines and hiding in plain sight, the agents infiltrated Nazi-occupied territory to recruit and arm local French résistants. The Starr brothers stood out to become legendary figures to the guerrillas, assassins and saboteurs they led. Both brothers were sent across the channel to organise resistance to the Nazis. George commanded networks of resistance fighters in Southwest France, cutting German communications and delaying the arrival of Nazi tanks to Normandy after D-day by 17 days. Younger brother John laid the groundwork for the Resistance in Burgundy until he was captured, tortured and imprisoned by the Nazis. Feats of boldness and bravado were many, but appalling scandals including George's supposed torture and execution of prisoners, and John's alleged collaboration with his German captors, overshadowed them all. At the end of the war Britain, France and the US awarded the Starr brothers medals for heroism, yet their battle honours did little to allay post-war allegations against them. On their return to Britain, military authorities accused one brother of heinous war crimes and the other of treason. The book is written with complete access to only recently declassified documents alongside interviews with surviving wartime Resistance fighters. It is a dramatic tale of spies, sabotage and daring with list of characters and their codenames, men and women infiltrating, arriving by parachute, submarine, sailboat and Westland Lysander light aircraft that landed on occupied soil at great risk. The typical SOE team consisted of an organiser, a radio operator (W/T for wireless telegrapher), and a courier. Wireless telegraphers tapped out letters in Morse code to maintain links with London, while couriers carried messages on bicycles, buses, trains and cars from organisers to field agents. Couriers were often women, whom the Germans scrutinised less than military-age men. The Starr brothers could rely on only a handful of men and women whose patriotism and stubbornness made them risk savage torture, execution, or slow, humiliating and anonymous death in concentration camps. The occupation set Frenchman against Frenchman. British agents like the Starr brothers learned how to kill; training skills could not teach them whom to trust. 322pp, 16 pages of photos.

'We felt an urge to document what we had witnessed. If we who had experienced it, I reasoned, did not reveal the bitter truth, people simply would not believe the extent of the Nazi's evil. I wanted to share our life, the events and our struggle to survive.' Thomas Geve was born in 1929 in Germany. From 1933 onwards, he and his family felt the full force of Nazi persecution. After years of constant danger and hardship, he and his mother were arrested and transported to Auschwitz-Birkenau in June 1943. 22 months later, Thomas was liberated, and after a period of recouperation was reunited with his father in London. After completing his studies and graduating with an engineering degree, Thomas moved to Israel in July 1950, raised a family and lived peacefully in retirement. When he was liberated at the age of 15, Thomas had survived the third concentration camp where he had been separated from his mother and left to fend for himself in the men's camp of Auschwitz I at the age of 13. On his eventual release, Thomas felt compelled to capture daily life in the death camps in more than 80 profoundly moving drawings. Infamous scenarios synonymous with this dark period of history were poignantly and accurately portrayed in simplistic detail, and for years Thomas continued to raise awareness about the Holocaust. Thomas experienced illness, witnessed physical brutality and murder of many inmates, and in his illustrated diary of his life and surroundings, recounted the quotidian work routine, cruelty of the guards, and his chronic hunger. 'As the women trudged passed, they hardly bothered to lift up their heads in greeting. Dressed in rags, their hair shorn and faces worn with worry and despair, they still had sufficient energy to shuffle along the dusty roadway. I reflected that weeks ago, these same women might have strolled along the streets of Budapest clad in elegant clothes, attracting the glance of many admirers...Trying to cheer them up, we bared our shave heads, waved our blue-white caps and forced a smile.' 32 of the naïve drawings are reproduced in colour. 332pp, paperback with other illus.

Stories of human cruelty and compassion, Dr Gwen Adshead has spent 30 years providing therapy inside secure hospitals in prisons. Whatever her patient's crime - serial homicide, stalking or arson - she helps them to better know their minds by enabling them to articulate their life experience. Case by case she takes us into the treatment room and sheds new light on the unpredictable nature of the therapeutic process as doctor and patient try to find words for the unspeakable. This book has now become a Sunday Times Bestseller with the sub-title 'Encounters In Forensic Psychiatry', and it is a myth-buster of a book 'crammed with compelling, constructive, candid and compassionate insights into the criminal mind.' - Val McDermid. From one of the most distinguished and brilliant minds in psychiatry, you will keep reading not out of morbid or macabre fascination of these stories of extreme cruelty, but to understand the darker side of what it means to be human. It is a captivating journey through the corridors of Broadmoor Hospital and beyond, into the prison system, the community and the consultation room and Adshead's voice is constant and reassuring. Large softback, 355pp.

Sub-titled 'How Prejudice Becomes Hate and What We Can Do To Stop It', the book asks, are our brains wired to hate? Does online hate incite violence on the streets? With hate crimes at an all-time high, what can we do to help turn the tide? Drawing on 20 years of research as well as his own experience as a hate crime victim, world-renowned criminologist Matthew Williams uncovers the answers to these pressing questions of our age. Exploring evolution and biology as well as social media and global events such as financial meltdowns, worldwide pandemics and even sporting tournaments, he exposes the conditions for hateful behaviour. His journey sees him talking to perpetrators and victims, delving into the murky recesses of the Internet, and having his brain scanned by neuroscientists to reveal the science behind hate. Professor Williams' expert analysis has been fundamental to several high-profile crime TV documentaries on the rise of hate crime and speech and his ability to translate highly complex science into meaningful and accessible journalism to a mass audience is impressive. Traversing the globe and reaching back through time from our tribal ancestors in prehistory to Artificial Intelligence in the 21st century, the book is a surprising examination of the elusive 'tipping point' between prejudice and hate. 429pp in very large softback with diagrams and colour photos.

'Why British Servicemen Are Dying Unnecessarily' is the sub-title of this important book which asks the question, 'Who speaks for the dead? David Hill's noble aim is to prevent a recurrence of avoidable fatal accidents and ensure natural justice. The root causes of most accidents are usually deficiencies in systems whether management, design, certification, maintenance and/or operation. Second, those responsible find the most convenient approach is to blame the individuals at the coalface, commonly the pilots such as at the RAF Chinook ZD576 at the Mull of Kintyre. David Hill revealed perhaps the greatest breach of the Military Covenant - the aircraft was not airworthy, and this was concealed from the aircrew and passengers. In this way, his new book is a follow up and he cites a number of test cases, not all aviation related, to over 100 avoidable deaths of our servicemen. Savings at the expense of safety have killed too many and this book looks at the avoidable fatalities that occurred between 1987 and 2006, all linked by maladministration. They include the Sea King ASaC Mk7, the Tornado ZG710/Patriot shootdown, Snatch Land Rovers, the Kajaki Dam minefield incident, and Nimrod XV230. Evidence concealed from inquiries and families is revealed for the first time. With the active participation of government, this cover-up protected the guilty. Instead, innocent people were named and shamed. Other examples are HMS Ark Royal Radar Plot of Collision Tracks, a there is a map of the Helmand Province, and a general view of Scissor and Drogue Shackle arrangement among the 12 illustrations. 288pp, large softback.

'How Six Unlikely Heroes Saved Thousands of Jews from the Holocaust'. In May 1940, desperate Jewish refugees in Kaunas, the capital of Lithuania, faced annihilation until an ordinary Dutch man became their saviour. Over a period of 10 feverish days, Jan Zwartendijk, the newly appointed Dutch consul, wrote thousands of visas that would ostensibly allow Jews to travel to the Dutch colony of Curaçao on the other side of the world. With the help of Chiune Sugihara, the consul for Japan, while taking great personal and professional risks, Jan enabled up to 10,000 men, women and children to escape the country on the Trans-Siberian Express train, through Soviet Russia to Japan and then on to China, saving them from the Nazis and the concentration camps. Most of the Jews he helped escape survived the war and they and their descendants settled in America, Canada, Australia and other countries. Zwartendijk and Sugihara were true heroes, and yet they were both shunned by their own countries after the war, and their courageous, unstinting actions have remained relatively unknown. Dutch author Jan Brokken wrests this heroic story from oblivion and traces the journeys of a number of the rescued Jews. This remarkable story is reconstructed with the help of Zwartendijk's children, documents and personal testimonies. It is also the story of the three other consuls and two ambassadors, all equally unknown, who together set up one of the greatest rescue operations of the 20th century. This should have been a Spielberg film. 478pp, well illus.

Sub-titled 'A Memoir of Family Property and Stolen Nazi Treasure', this is an unputdownable tale of one man's quest to recover his family's property. The author takes up his Holocaust-survivor grandfather's former battle to reclaim their family's property in Sosnowiec, Poland. There, Menachem meets a Polish lawyer known as 'The Killer' who agrees to take his case and becomes involved with a band of Silesian treasure-seekers, all the while piecing together his family's complex history. '...Then I read the file, saw how my grandfather had tried and failed for more than 20 years to reclaim what his family had lost, and here was an opportunity, I thought, to allow myself to be disturbed. The building, maybe, was a means to access a history, a person, that I'd always thought inaccessible, immutably closed.' The devastating facts are chased down in this part travelogue, part memoir, part meditation on all that history hides from us. 277pp in large paperback.

Immortalised in the novel of the same name by Alexander Dumas, the real Man In The Iron Mask became a prisoner on the orders of Louis XIV and remained in custody for the remaining 34 years of his life, being closely guarded by a single gaoler, Saint-Mars, first at Pignerol on the Italian border and finally in Paris. Countless books and films have speculated about his identity and the reason for the mask, which was probably made of velvet rather than iron. The story starts in 1669 when Louvois, Louis XIV's minister of state for war, wrote to Saint-Mars, the governor of Pignerol gaol, to expect a high-security prisoner. Such was the secrecy involved that it was not until a week later that orders were given for the arrest of Eustache Dauger or Danger in Dunkirk. Saint-Mars was a musketeer who had served under the comte d'Artagnan, a historical figure whom Dumas would use in this novel The Three Musketeers. Saint-Mars's sister was a great beauty who became the mistress of his boss Louvois, through whom a steady stream of instructions from the king percolated. A fellow-prisoner was Nicholas Fouquet, who had harboured ambitions to run the country on behalf of the pleasure-loving young Louis XIV, and in time Eustache was allowed to join Fouquet's service as a valet or gentleman's gentleman, which was his profession. Other prisoners included the "Mad Jacobin" monk Lapierre and the former court favourite Lauzun. The author examines a range of theories about the mask, including the possibility that the Dauger was a royal bastard and the mask was to hide the prisoner's uncanny likeness to the king himself. A different possible explanation for his imprisonment relates to King Charles II of England's plan to convert to Catholicism. 280pp, colour reproductions.