Caroline Moorehead ist eine gefeierte Autorin, deren Werk tief in historische Erzählungen eintaucht, wobei sie sich besonders auf Widerstand und menschliche Erfahrungen in herausfordernden Zeiten konzentriert. Ihre Schriften zeichnen sich durch akribische Recherche und die fesselnde Fähigkeit aus, vergangene Ereignisse durch packendes Storytelling lebendig werden zu lassen. Mooreheads literarische Beiträge erforschen oft Themen wie Widerstandsfähigkeit und die anhaltende Kraft des menschlichen Geistes angesichts von Widrigkeiten. Sie gestaltet Erzählungen, die bedeutende historische Momente durch die Linse individuellen Mutes und kollektiven Handelns beleuchten.
Set in the remote villages of the southern Massif Central in France, this narrative explores the remarkable history of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon during World War II. The local inhabitants courageously sheltered thousands from the Gestapo, including resisters, Freemasons, communists, and primarily Jewish orphans whose parents had been deported. Their collective bravery and moral conviction highlight a profound act of humanity amidst the horrors of war.
A diverse group of individuals, including teachers, students, and professionals, united in their courageous efforts against the Nazi regime. They engaged in activities such as distributing anti-Nazi leaflets, hiding Jews, and transporting weapons. This remarkable resistance network spanned ages and backgrounds, from a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl to a farmer's wife in her sixties, showcasing the extraordinary bravery and commitment of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances.
A gripping tale of intrigue... I was enormously moved Observer
Set in early 20th-century Florence, the narrative follows the Rosselli family, particularly matriarch Amelia, as they confront the rise of fascism under Mussolini. With a strong commitment to antifascism, her sons, Carlo and Nello, boldly oppose the regime, risking their status among the elite. As Mussolini's oppressive police state takes hold, the family's resistance evolves into active defiance, highlighting the tension between cultural aristocracy and political conviction in a time of national turmoil.
This volume is the biography of a pioneer of field archeology, Heinrich Schliemann (1822-1890), retelling how Schliemann rose from grocer's apprentice in Germany to wealthy indigo merchant in St. Petersburg to his final re-creation as an archaeologist. Although Schliemann outraged scholars with his boastfulness, penchant for willful ambiguousness in his writings, and brutal methods of excavation, he amazed the world by discovering one of the most important and glorious sites in the history of mankind. The author emphasizes Schliemann's story to track the fate of Priam's Treasure. This cache of gold and other artifacts was discovered and stolen by Schliemann, later hidden by the Nazis, and then stolen and hidden by the Russians
An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France
A diverse group of 230 courageous women in France, ranging from a sixteen-year-old schoolgirl to a farmer's wife in her sixties, united in their resistance against Nazi occupation. They engaged in various acts of defiance, including distributing anti-Nazi literature, hiding Jews, and aiding resisters. Despite being strangers, they formed deep bonds while enduring imprisonment by the Gestapo, finding strength in their shared experiences and camaraderie amidst the challenges they faced.
In the late summer of 1943, when Italy changed sides in the War and the Germans - now their enemies - occupied the north of the country, an Italian Resistance was born. Ada, Frida, Silvia and Bianca were four young Piedmontese women who joined the Resistance, living clandestinely in the mountains surrounding Turin. They were not alone. Between 1943 and 1945, as the Allies battled their way north, thousands of men and women throughout occupied Italy rose up and fought to liberate their country from the German invaders and their Fascist collaborators. The bloody civil war that ensued across the country pitted neighbour against neighbour, and brought out the best and worst in Italian society. The courage shown by the partisans was exemplary, and eventually bound them together as a coherent fighting force. The women's contribution was invaluable - they fought, carried messages and weapons, provided safe houses, laid mines and took prisoners. Ada's house deep in the mountains became a meeting place and refuge for many of them
Edda Mussolini was Benito's favourite daughter- spoilt, venal, uneducated but clever, faithless but flamboyant, a brilliant diplomat, wild but brave, and ultimately strong and loyal. She was her father's confidante during the 20 years of Fascist rule, acting as envoy to both Germany and Britain, and playing a part in steering Italy to join forces with Hitler. From her early twenties she was effectively first lady of Italy. She married Galeazzo Ciano, who would become the youngest Foreign Secretary in Italian history, and they were the most celebrated and glamorous couple in elegant, vulgar Roman fascist society. Their fortunes turned in 1943, when Ciano voted against Mussolini in a plot to bring him down, and his father-in-law did not forgive him. In a dramatic story that takes in hidden diaries, her father's fall and her husband's execution, an escape into Switzerland and a period in exile, we come to know a complicated, bold and determined woman who emerges not just as a witness but as a key player in some of the twentieth century's defining moments. And we see Fascist Italy with all its glamour, decadence and political intrigue, and the turbulence before its violent end.
On an icy dawn morning in Paris in January 1943, a group of 230 French women resisters were rounded up from the Gestapo detention camps and sent on a train to Auschwitz - the only train, in the four years of German occupation, to take women of the resistance to a death camp.
A SUNDAY TIMES TOP FIVE BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE 2014 From the author of the New York Times bestseller A Train in Winter comes the extraordinary story of a French village that helped save thousands who were pursued by the Gestapo during World War II. High up in the mountains of the southern Massif Central in France lies a cluster of tiny, remote villages united by a long and particular history. During the Nazi occupation, the inhabitants of the Plateau Vivarais Lignon saved several thousand people from the concentration camps. As the victims of Nazi persecution flooded in - resisters, freemasons, communists and Jews, many of them children - the villagers united to keep them safe. The story of why and how these villages came to save so many people has never been fully told. But several of the remarkable architects of the mission are still alive, as are a number of those they saved. Caroline Moorehead has sought out and interviewed many of the people involved in this extraordinary undertaking, and brings us their unforgettable testimonies. It is a story of courage and determination, of a small number of heroic individuals who risked their lives to save others, and of what can be done when people come together to oppose tyranny.