Robert Kershaw

The German View of Market Garden and the Battle of Arnhem September 1944

IT NEVER SNOWS IN SEPTEMBER

A visceral and momentous narrative of the first twenty-four hours of D-Day on Omaha Beach: the most dramatic Allied landing of World War II.

Twenty-Four Hours at Omaha Beach

Landing on the Edge of Eternity

'I thought Tank Men was a triumph ...it is a really fine piece of work' - Richard Holmes 'Some of the eye witness accounts Kershaw has collected for this comprehensive review of tank warfare have the power to chill the reader to the bone. This is warfare at the sharp end' --NOTTINGHAM EVENING POST The First World War saw the birth of an extraordinary fighting machine that has fascinated three generations: the tank. In Tank Men, ex-soldier and military historian Robert Kershaw brings to life the grime, the grease and the fury of a tank battle through the voices of ordinary men and women who lived and fought in those fearsome machines. Drawing on vivid, newly researched personal testimony from the crucial battles of the First and Second World Wars, this is military history at its very best.

Tank Men

Seventy years ago the army’s elite air assault force, the Parachute Regiment was formed, tough and well-trained, designed to fight hazardous operations behind enemy lines, with little or no backup. These are the ‘Sky Men’. Any army’s mavericks. Trained to operate independently in testing conditions. Dropping into the middle of enemy territory, these tough British, American, German and Russian soldiers engage in gruelling combat the most dangerous conflict zones in the world. Robert Kershaw, an ex-Parachute Regiment officer, reveals the history of these airborne forces, and their important role during the most dramatic battles of the twentieth century. He finds out what makes them tick, what drives a ‘Sky Man’ to take these extraordinary risks, what marks these sky warriors out from ordinary soldiers? Based on exclusive interviews with soldiers from around the world, as well as letters and diaries, Sky Men is full of vivid personalities, and nail-biting action. It is the story of the army’s biggest risk-takers, The Paras.

Sky Men

In the spring of 1941, having abandoned his plans to invade Great Britain, Hitler turned the might of his military forces on to Stalin's Soviet Russia. The German army quickly advanced far into Russian territory as the Soviet forces suffered defeat after defeat. With brutality and savagery displayed on both sides, the Eastern front was a campaign in which no quarter was given. Although Hitler's decision to launch 'Barbarossa' was one of the crucial turning points of the war, at first the early successes of the German army pointed to the continuing triumph of the Nazi state. As time wore on, however, the Eastern front became a byword for death for the Germans. In War Without Garlands, Robert Kershaw examines the campaign largely through the eyes of the German forces who were sent to fight and die for Hitler's grandiose plans. He draws on German war diaries, post-combat reports and secret SS files. This original material, much of which has never before been published in English, sheds new light on operation 'Barbarossa', including the extent to which the German soldiers were genuinely surprised at the decision to attack Russia, given the well-publicised non-aggression pact. Barbarossa was a brutal, ideologically driven campaign which decided the outcome of World War II. This seminal account will be required reading for all historians of World War II and all those interested in the course of the war.

War Without Garlands

The Battle of Borodino resonates with the patriotic soul of Mother Russia. The epic confrontation in September 1812 was the single bloodiest day of the Napoleonic Wars, leaving France’s Grande Armée limping to the gates of Moscow and on to catastrophe in snow and ice. Generations later, in October 1941, an equally bitter battle was fought at Borodino. This time Hitler’s SS and Panzers came up against elite Siberian troops defending Stalin’s Moscow. Remarkably, both conflicts took place in the same woods and gullies that follow the sinuous line of the Koloch River. Borodino Field relates the gruelling experience of the French army in Russia, juxtaposed with the personal accounts, diaries and letters of SS and Panzer soldiers during the Second World War. Acclaimed historian Robert Kershaw draws on previously untapped archives to narrate the odyssey of soldiers who marched along identical tracks and roads on the 1,000-kilometre route to Moscow, and reveals the astonishing parallels and contrasts between two battles fought on Russian terrain over 100 years apart.

How Napoleon and Hitler Met Their Matches Outside Moscow

Borodino Field 1812 & 1941

The first day of the Somme has had more of a widespread emotional impact on the psyche of the British public than any other battle in history. Now, 100 years later, Robert Kershaw attempts to understand the carnage, using the voices of the British and German soldiers who lived through that awful day. In the early hours of 1 July 1916, the British General staff placed its faith in patriotism and guts, believing that one ‘Big Push’ would bring on the end of the Great War. By sunset, there were 57,470 men – more than half the size of the present-day British Army – who lay dead, missing or wounded. On that day hope died. Juxtaposing the British trench view against that from the German parapet, Kershaw draws on eyewitness accounts, memories and letters to expose the true horror of that day. Amongst the mud, gore and stench of death, there are also stories of humanity and resilience, of all-embracing comradeship and gritty patriotic British spirit. However it was this very emotion which ultimately caused thousands of young men to sacrifice themselves on the Somme.

24 Hours at the Somme

In Never Surrender Robert Kershaw captures the authentic voices of the ordinary heroes of the Second World War, from the soldiers fighting abroad to those battling on the home front, and creates an extraordinary portrait of a generation fighting for survival. Beginning with first-hand accounts of the reaction to Chamberlain's declaration of war in 1939, Kershaw portrays the many aspects of war through the words of those who were there, from the sailors of the little ships of Dunkirk to German soldiers preparing for Operation 'Sea Lion'. He takes us from the nightly horrors of the Blitz to battles in the limitless desert of North Africa, and from jungle war in Burma to Lancaster bombers over Germany and the beaches of Normandy. This is an attempt to portray their ethos before it is too late. Featuring new interviews with veterans and civilians from Britain, the Commonwealth and Germany as well as diaries, letters, and first-hand accounts, this is a testimony to the remarkable men and women who lived through the Second World War - whose refusal to surrender changed them forever.

Lost Voices of a Generation at War

Never Surrender

In Never Surrender Robert Kershaw captures the authentic voices of the ordinary heroes of the Second World War, from the soldiers fighting abroad to those battling on the home front, and creates an extraordinary portrait of a generation fighting for survival. Beginning with first-hand accounts of the reaction to Chamberlain's declaration of war in 1939, Kershaw portrays the many aspects of war through the words of those who were there, from the sailors of the little ships of Dunkirk to German soldiers preparing for Operation 'Sea Lion'. He takes us from the nightly horrors of the Blitz to battles in the limitless desert of North Africa, and from jungle war in Burma to Lancaster bombers over Germany and the beaches of Normandy. Featuring new interviews with veterans and civilians from Britain, the Commonwealth and Germany as well as diaries, letters, and first-hand accounts, this is a testimony to the remarkable men and women who lived through the Second World War -- whose refusal to surrender changed them, and Britain, forever.

Robert Kershaw

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