Second World War

Belsen and the BBC: What Wireless Listeners Learned

Richard Dimbleby’s account of what he witnessed at Bergen-Belsen in April 1945 has become infamous in Britain. Less well known is the work of two other BBC employees who made radio programmes about Belsen shortly after the camp’s liberation.

Paradise After Hell

Rhiannon Looseley uncovers the forgotten history of the evacuation of over 100,000 French soldiers from Dunkirk to Britain in May 1940, and describes what happened to them on their brief sojourn across the Channel and return to France soon after.

The Rise and Fall of the Big Three

Paul Dukes assesses the roles of the major statesmen from Britain, the USA and the USSR during the Second World War and the onset of the Cold War.

Don't Lose it Again!

Donald Zec has written the life of his brother, the wartime political cartoonist Philip Zec, to remind the world of his rich collection of cartoons that caught the mood of the British people at war. The following is an extract from the book.

Germany's Occupation of the Channel Islands

As the rest of Britain gears up for the sixtieth anniversary of VE Day on May 8th, Peter Tabb describes the last moments of the German Occupation of the Channel Islands, where the end of the War came twenty-four hours later.

Overlord, Over-ruled and Over There

David Nicholas suggests that America’s involvement in northern Europe was unwittingly shaped by a British War Office official, against the wishes of the President.