War Stories: From the Charge of the Light Brigade to the Battle of the Bulge and Beyond

by Ann MacMillan, Peter Snow

Overview

A uniquely intimate narrative of ordinary men and women facing the challenges and turmoil of war with acts of great heroism and humanity.

A fascinating account of ordinary men and women swept up in the turbulence of conflict, War Stories tells the tales of thirty-four individuals who have pushed the boundaries of love, bravery, suffering, and terror beyond the imaginable.

These stories span three centuries and five continents. There is the courage of Edward Seager who survived the Charge of the Light Brigade; the cunning of Krystyna Skarbek, quick-thinking spy and saboteur during the Second World War; the skullduggery of Benedict Arnold, who switched sides in the American War of Independence and the compassion of Magdalene de Lancey who tenderly nursed her dying husband at Waterloo.

Told with vivid narrative energy and full of unexpected insights, War Stories moves effortlessly from tales of spies, escapes, and innovation to uplifting acts of humanity in times of crisis, celebrating men and women whose wartime experiences are beyond compare.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781681778525
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	09/04/2018
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Ann MacMillan grew up in Canada, where she worked for CHIN Radio, Global TV News, and CTV News. She worked for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation for many years, before moving to London to marry Peter Snow.

Peter Snow is a highly respected author and broadcaster. He presented BBC's Newsnight from 1980 to 1997. An indispensable part of election nights, he has also covered military matters on the world's battlefields for forty years. He is the author of several history books, including When Britain Burned the White House. He lives in London.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Courage

1 Edward Seager: One of the 600, Balaclava, 1854 7

2 Joshua Chamberlain: Professor and American Civil War Commander, 1862-5 15

3 Private Johnson Beharry VC: Firefight in Iraq, 2004 24

Messengers

4 Paul Revere: Revolutionary Messenger, 1775 37

5 Laura Secord: Niagara Heroine, 1812-13 46

6 Harry Percy: Percy's Purse, Waterloo, 1815 52

Special Forces

7 Krystyna Skarbek: Spy, Saboteur and Enchantress, 1939-45 65

8 Mike Sadler: SAS Driver and Navigator, 1941-5 75

9 Corran Purdon: Commando in 'the greatest ever raid', St Nazaire, 1942 82

Spies and Intelligence

10 Benedict Arnold: America's Greatest Turncoat, US War of Independence, 1775-81 93

11 Sonya: Spying for China and Russia, 1930-50 104

12 Ursula Graham Bower: Guerrilla Queen, Nagaland, 1942-5 114

Couples

13 Sir Robert and Lady Sale: Terror in Afghanistan, 1841-2 127

14 Harry and Juana Smith: From Badajoz to Waterloo, 1812-15 137

15 Helen and Edward Thomas: The Last Goodbye, 1917 147

Innovation

16 Alexis Soyer: Celebrity Chef, Crimean War, 1855-6 159

17 Dr Norman Bethune: Pugnacious Medical Genius, 1936-9 168

Medicine

18 Magdalene de Lancey: Nursing a Dying Husband, Waterloo, 1815 181

19 Sumner Jackson: An American in Paris, 1940-4 189

20 Augusta Chiwy: Forgotten Angel of Bastogne 1944-5 197

War at Sea

21 John Bulkeley: The Wreck of the Wager, 1741 209

22 Martin Nasmith: Submariner on the Rampage, Gallipoli, 1915 216

23 Charles Lightoller: From the Titanic to Dunkirk, 1912-40 226

War in the Air

24 Billy Bishop: Canadian Fighter Pilot, 1915-18 237

25 Butch O'Hare: Second World War Ace, 1941-3 245

Escapes

26 Franz von Werra: Luftwaffe Escapee in UK and Canada, 1940-1 259

27 Eric Newby: Escape in Italy, the Fugitive with a Sense of Humour, 1943 269

28 Ahmad Terkawi: Flight from Syria, 2012-15 278

Compassion

29 Mary Borden: Nurse and Novelist, 1914-18 and 1939-45 291

30 John Rabe: The Living Buddha of Nanking, 1937-8 301

31 Nicholas Winton: Children's Saviour, 1939 311

Acknowledgements 321

Illustration Credits 323

Notes and Sources 325

Index 335

Editorial Reviews

"An excellent account. Snow has told the story of those engagements with brio and a gift for making sense of the complexities of battle. A fine example of serious and literate popular history. It ranks with Anthony S. Pitch's The Burning of Washington as among the best accounts of a war."

The Washington Post [Praise for When Britain Burned the White House]

"Each account is exciting, and together they present readers with a wide variety of events, personalities, and historical eras. Snow and MacMillan’s substantial, useful, and informative volume of true war stories will interest readers and researchers alike."

Booklist

Each account is exciting, and together they present readers with a wide variety of events, personalities, and historical eras. Snow and MacMillan’s substantial, useful, and informative volume of true war stories will interest readers and researchers alike.

Booklist