PN1501 Martin Bormann was among the most sinister figures in Hitler’s inner circle, and by 1945 he had become the gatekeeper to the ailing Führer. In the final weeks inside the bunker beneath the Reich Chancellery garden in Berlin, Bormann was in many respects running things, often drafting orders on blank sheets of paper that Hitler … Read more
Before the gunfight near the O. K. Corral turned him into an enduring symbol of the American frontier, Doc Holliday lived a quieter, more complicated life in the Arizona territorial capital of Prescott. The man who would become famous in Tombstone spent months in Prescott on two separate occasions in 1879 and 1880, and the … Read more
Mia moglie è incinta e mio fratello ha smesso di guardarmi in faccia. Martedì ha portato la sponda del lettino: quella che nostra madre ha tenuto in soffitta per undici anni, quella su cui abbiamo dormito tutti e tre, quella su cui hanno dormito i nostri corpi da neonati. L’ha levigata, l’ha coperta con due … Read more
Charlie usłyszał dźwięk po raz pierwszy o czwartej nad ranem. Leżał skulony pod kołdrą, cienkie ramiona wystawały spod krawędzi koca, a w ciszy domu rozlegał się tylko jego przyspieszony, płytki oddech. To był ten suchy, szorstki dźwięk, który pojawiał się, gdy choroba brała górę. Obudził się z wilgotnymi policzkami, ale już nie płakał. Nie miał … Read more
I lavori di giardinaggio erano appena stati sistemati, l’erba nuova era ancora umida di rugiada, e già i fiori del funerale non erano ancora appassiti del tutto quando i suoi tre figli, quelli del primo matrimonio, stavano già tramando. Si erano presentati a casa mia, la casa di Gerald, il giorno dopo la cerimonia, con … Read more
Det kvällde en unken lukt av läder mot mig innan jag ens hunnit se vad han höll i. Vid sextiosju års ålder lär man sig känna lukten av fara långt innan den syns. Där stod han i matsalen, min son Eric, med sitt eget bälte uppknäppt i händerna, som om rädsla var det enda språk … Read more
Wiadomość przyszła we wtorek rano, kiedy stałam przy kuchennym blacie i dolewałam sobie kawy do filiżanki. Dzień wcześniej syn prosił mnie o wysłanie mu jakichś dokumentów, więc założyłam, że właśnie w tej sprawie pisze. Zamiast tego przeczytałam coś, co zmroziło mnie w pół ruchu. Proszę, nie zamieniaj tego w coś większego, niż jest. Potem podniosłam … Read more
In January 1945, at a frozen crossroads outside Houffalize, Belgium, heavy snow blanketed the pine trees and the bodies of the dead. A group of German soldiers stood in the middle of the road with their hands raised, having surrendered after a bitter hour-long firefight in the blinding white storm. American infantrymen moved down the … Read more
In September 1938, Adolf Hitler threatened to unleash a European war unless the Sudetenland, a border area of Czechoslovakia inhabited by ethnic Germans, was ceded to Germany. The leaders of Britain, France, Italy, and Germany met in Munich on September 29 and 30, 1938, and agreed to the German annexation of the Sudetenland in exchange … Read more
When Allied soldiers began liberating the concentration camps set up across Germany, they encountered scenes that would haunt them for the rest of their lives. Thousands upon thousands of corpses lay exposed, clouds of flies hovering over them, and the nauseating smell of rotting bodies filled the air. Survivors who looked like living skeletons stood … Read more