PATRICK BISHOP

Adam Tomaszewski is a Polish airman, flying Hurricanes alongside British pilots as the Battle of Britain rages in the summer skies over Kent and Sussex. Facing death daily and far from his friends and family, Adam finds himself drawn to a maverick Irish soldier called Gerry Cunningham.'You're out of luck, brother,' are the first words Gerry says when they meet in the crush of men competing for the few women at a dance in a seaside hotel, but when Gerry betrays his lover Moira, Adam's fortunes seem to have changed. For the next four years, Adam's life and Gerry's are intertwined like good luck and bad, love and loss, life and death, their paths crossing at various points on Adam's perilous journey from the ruins of Poland to the rolling English countryside, from Egypt to Occupied France.A hauntingly evocative picture of wartime Britain, a twisting drama of fighting behind enemy lines, a compelling, suspenseful love story, A GOOD WAR proves Patrick Bishop - already acclaimed as a great historian of the war in the air - to be a superbly gifted novelist.

The Royal Air Force is synonymous with its heroic achievements in the summer of 1940, when Winston Churchills famous few - the Hurricane and Spitfire pilots of RAF Fighter Command - held Goerings Luftwaffe at bay in the Battle of Britain, thereby changing the course of the war. For much of the twentieth century, warplanes were fixed in the worlds imagination, a symbol of the perils and excitements of the modern era. But within the space of a hundred years, military aviation has morphed from the exotic to the mundane. An activity which was charged with danger - the domain of the daring - is now carried out by computers and pilotless drones. Aviators have always seemed different to soldiers and sailors - more adventurous, questing and imaginative. Their stories gripped the public and in both wars and air aces dominated each sides propaganda, capturing hearts and dreams. Writing with the verve, passion and the sheer narrative aplomb familiar to many thousands of readers from his bestselling Second World War aerial histories, Fighter Boys and Bomber Boys, Patrick Bishops Wings is a rich and compelling account of military flying from its heroic early days to the present.

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Extraordinary DOMINIC SANDBROOK SUNDAY TIMES An epic thriller droll moving with a cinematic eye and not a boring line in it OBSERVER Fascinating gripping SUNDAY TELEGRAPH Excellent a fresh unexpected take on the liberation of Paris JULIAN JACKSON author of France on TrialFrom the Sunday Times bestselling Patrick Bishop comes a heart stopping countdown narrative recreating the liberation of Paris in 1944 one of the great and most dramatic hinge moments of WW2 When the Germans marched in and the lamps went out in the City of Light the millions who loved Paris mourned Liberation four years later triggered an explosion of joy and relief It was the party of the century and everybody who was anybody was there General Charles de Gaulle seized the moment to create an instant legend that would take its place alongside the great moments in French history After years of oppression and humiliation Parisians had risen to reclaim their city and drive out the forces of darkness or so the story went This fresh new account of the liberation packed with revelation tells the story of those heady days of suspense danger exhilaration and vengeance through the eyes of a range of participants refle

A thrilling tale of incredible courage and resilience, a true wartime story of William Ash.The Cooler King is at once uplifting and inspirational, and stands as a testament to the durability of decent values and the invincible spirit of liberty.The Cooler King tells the astonishing story of William Ash, an American flyer brought up in Depression-hit Texas, who after being shot down in his Spitfire over France in early 1942 spent the rest of the war defying the Nazis by striving to escape from every prisoner of war camp in which he was incarcerated. Alongside William Ash is a cast of fascinating characters, including Douglas Bader, Roger Bushell, who would go on to lead the Great Escape, and Paddy Barthropp, a dashing Battle of Britain pilot who despite his very different background became Ashs best friend and shared many of his adventures. Using contemporary documents and interviews with Ashs comrades, Patrick Bishop vividly recreates the multiple escape attempts, while also examining the P.O.W. experience and analysing the passion that drove some prisoners to risk death in repeated bids for freedom.

El verano de 1940 parecía que iba a señalar el principio del fin para Gran Bretaña. Europa había caído bajo el empuje de los ejércitos de Hitler, y todo hacía presagiar que gran Bretaña sería el siguiente pais en ser invadido una vez fuese destruida la Real Fuerza Aerea. Sin embargo, fue en esta ultima mision donde los nazis tropezarian. A lo largo de 123 dias, Hermann Goering envio en continuas oleadas a los escuadrones de caza de la Luftwaffe con la intencion de dominar el espacio aereo britanico. Frente a ellos, apenas 3000 pilotos defendieron su patria con ferocidad. Este fascinante libro, escrito por el historiador y periodista Patrick Bishop, ofrece por primera vez la historia de esta decisiva batalla desde la perspectiva de los pilotos que la protagonizaron. Escrito a partir de cientos de entrevistas a los supervivientes, asi como multitud de diarios personales y cartas que hasta ahora no habian visto la luz, Bishop recrea con asombrosa proximidad y claridad lo que fue una insoportable y a la vez estimulante guerra de nervios.

A mediados de la primavera de 1940 Hitler y el ejército alemán parecían imparables, tras haber arrasado con todos aquellos que habían osado enfrentarse a ellos hasta el momento.Su único enemigo real en aquellos momentos era el Reino Unido, cuyo ejercito, aunque habia resultado vapuleado en Francia, habia conseguido evacuar casi milagrosamente mas de 300.000 hombres de las playas de Dunkerque en la Operacion Dinamo a finales de mayo de ese año.En este estado de cosas Hitler esperaba conseguir llegar a algun tipo de acuerdo con el gobierno britanico que pusiera fin a las hostilidades entre ambos paises, pero ante la negativa del gobierno de Winston Churchill de llevar a cabo ningun tipo de negociacion, sus opciones pasaban entonces por invadir el Reino Unido para asegurarse de que quedaba neutralizado como enemigo, y para ello se pusieron en marcha los preparativos de la operacion Leon Marino.La primera parte de esta operacion tenia como objetivo asegurar la destruccion de la RAF y asegurar la superioridad aerea de la Luftwaffe sobre las islas para poder acometer a invasion terrestre con garantias y aqui es donde entran en accion los aproximadamente 2.500 pilotos del Mando de Caza de la RAF y todo el personal de tierra que los apoyo.

THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER Extraordinary DOMINIC SANDBROOK SUNDAY TIMES An epic thriller droll moving with a cinematic eye and not a boring line in it OBSERVER Fascinating gripping SUNDAY TELEGRAPH Excellent a fresh unexpected take on the liberation of Paris JULIAN JACKSON author of France on Trial From the Sunday Times bestselling Patrick Bishop comes a heart stopping countdown narrative recreating the liberation of Paris in 1944 one of the great and most dramatic hinge moments of WW2 When the Germans marched in and the lamps went out in the City of Light the millions who loved Paris mourned Liberation four years later triggered an explosion of joy and relief It was the party of the century and everybody who was anybody was there General Charles de Gaulle seized the moment to create an instant legend that would take its place alongside the great moments in French history After years of oppression and humiliation Parisians had risen to reclaim their city and drive out the forces of darkness or so the story went This fresh new account of the liberation packed with revelation tells the story of those heady days of suspense danger exhilaration and vengeance through the eyes of a range of participant