Second World War

Winston as Warlord: A Critical Appreciation

Richard Wilkinson charts the highs and lows of Winston Churchill in 1940-45.

1941: Sunday Lessons

Greg Carleton explains how disastrous defeats for the Soviet Union and the US in 1941 were transformed into positive national narratives by the two emerging superpowers.

Medmenham: Spying from the Sky

Taylor Downing tells the story of the Central Interpretation Unit at Medmenham, Buckinghamshire, where the RAF’s aerial photo interpreters played a critical role in Britain’s wartime struggle.

Vichy: France's Shield or Hitler's Sword?

Lindsay Pollick reviews changing interpretations.

Death of Nancy 'White Mouse' Wake

The Australian secret agent known as the 'White Mouse', and once the Gestapo's most wanted person, died August 7th 2011, aged 98.

Eichmann in the Dock Again

The 50th anniversary of the trial and execution of the Final Solution’s master bureaucrat has inspired a number of books, exhibitions and films. How to they contribute to our understanding?

Adolf Eichmann kidnapped in Argentina

Eichmann was captured in Argentina on May 11th, 1960.

Formal End of the Second World War

The Second World War formally ended on May 8th, 1945. Here, Adam Tooze examines the events in Germany that ignited the Second World War. Did Hitler intend to provoke a general war over Poland in September 1939?

Russian Historiography: Now You See Them...

Roger Moorhouse revisits a perceptive article by John Erickson on the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, first published in History Today in 2001, its insights born of a brief period of Russian openness.