Non-Fiction Books

On the night of March 24, 1944, 76 Allied RAF officers escaped from Stalag-Luft III, Nazi Germany’s most secure POW camp. It was the biggest, most daring break-out of World War II. The tenacity and ingenuity of the prisoners has become the stuff of legend, as they carried out their plan to dig the longest and most sophisticated tunnel ever conceived. But the men paid a high price for their bravery—of the 73 men recaptured, 50 were brutally executed on Hitler’s direct orders. The tireless RAF investigation into the atrocity offers a chilling insight into the last hours of the victims and the actions of the killers. Drawing on the meticulous research carried out for the war crimes trial, as well as interviews with survivors and families of the murdered men, Anton Gill gives us the definitive account of the escape and its shocking aftermath. Among the author’s many books are The Journey Back from Hell and Art Lover: A Biography of Peggy Guggenheim.

Much has been written about the doodlebugs, V2 rockets, and other advanced technologies that the Nazis used to terrorize Europe during World War II. But there is a less well-known under the barrage of Allied bombing, German scientists were secretly devising plans for an incredible battery of weapons that had the potential to drastically affect the outcome of the war. There were designs for a hypersonic space plane-a manned V1 flying bomb from which the hapless pilot would eject moments after aiming his craft at an Allied target-and plans for aircraft that consisted only of wings. There were dozens of other prototypes that were technologically way ahead of their time-against which the Allies would have been helpless. Exhaustively researched and grippingly written, Last Talons of the Eagle shows how history might well have been very different had these craft ever flown.

Did you know that 99.9% of all species that have ever existed on Earth are now extinct? This book, based on a major British television series, follows the stories of 6 of these creatures: the mammoth, saber-toothed tiger, Irish elk, dodo, great auk, and Tasmanian tiger. Examining the interplay between evolution and extinction, where factors like disease, adaptability, climate change, and the arrival of man can all spell death, the mysteries behind the disappearance of these unique beasts are laid bare. Illustrated with scores of dramatic photos, Extinct is a compelling account of creatures locked in a battle for survival, of explorers who traveled to the ends of the Earth to discover them, and of the scientists who have pieced together the puzzles of the fossils left behind. Anton Gill is the author of Art Lover: A Biography of Peggy Guggenheim and Journey Back from Hell. Alex West is the producer of the television series.

When she set sail on her doomed maiden voyage in April 1912, RMS Titanic was the jewel in the crown of the White Star Line. A floating palace, she was the largest and most technologically advanced moving object in the world. It spent barely five days at sea, but a skilled workforce of thousands of men and women had spent years building the ship in a remarkable feat of design and engineering. Here is the story of the riveters, who risked deafness from hammering millions of rivets that held together the enormous steel hull; the engineers, who had the gargantuan task of fitting engines to power the massive ship across the Atlantic at 23 knots; the electricians, who installed state-of-the-art communications systems and enormous steam-driven generators; and the carpenters, cabinetmakers, and artisans who labored over every last detail of the opulent state rooms. From the engine room to the ballroom, this book—the companion volume to the five-part National Geographic documentary series Rebuilding Titanic (spring 2011)—is a testament to those who designed, built, and fitted the “ship of dreams.”