Y1806 In July 1943, Allied High Command gathered in a smoky briefing room in Algiers, North Africa, to finalize plans for the invasion of Sicily. The operation, code-named Husky, would pit American and British forces against Axis defenders on the largest island in the Mediterranean. On one side of the room sat General Sir Harold Alexander … Read more
Edwina Ashley was born on November 28, 1901, into a world of opulence and privilege. Her father, Wilfred Ashley, was a distinguished Conservative MP, and her mother, Maud, was the cherished daughter of Sir Ernest Cassel, one of the wealthiest men in Britain. Despite the cocoon of luxury that surrounded her, Edwina's childhood was marked … Read more
The first line of Andrew Lownie's book on Prince Philip has drawn attention for a passing reference to a relationship between Philip and Sarah Ferguson's mother, Susan Barrantes. Lownie has said the story is not new and had circulated for years, but that his editors removed the word "alleged," so it appeared as a direct … Read more
Prince Philip and Penelope Knatchbull formed a friendship that lasted for decades, and the palace knew about it long before the public did. What made the relationship notable was not its existence but its steadiness. Penny, as she was known, appeared year after year at carriage driving events, country weekends, and royal gatherings where seating … Read more
In October 1956, Queen Elizabeth II stood on a quay and watched her husband sail away. She would not stand beside him again for four months. Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was bound for the far side of the world, past the ice of the Antarctic, to islands no reigning sovereign had ever reached. He … Read more
On November 19, 1944, the intelligence section of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division received a field report from the Alsace Corridor south of Cherbourg, France. Obersturmführer Klaus Riedel marked it with a question he could not answer. The report described a single American soldier, a black private, with no officer present. He had advanced … Read more
The ancient French city of Brest was gone. After 39 straight days of relentless American artillery fire, it had been reduced to 30 million tons of smoking, pulverized rubble. The stench of explosives and death hung heavy in the September air. Major General Troy Middleton, commander of the United States VIII Corps, had not slept … Read more
On October 16, 1946, shortly after 1:00 a.m., three wooden scaffolds stood in the gymnasium of the Nuremberg prison. Each had black stairs, black trap doors, and thirteen steps leading up to death. Waiting at the top was Master Sergeant John C. Woods, the official executioner of the United States Army. Woods was a short, … Read more
Babcia Eleonora nigdy nie tłumaczyła, do czego służą klucze w drewnianym pudełku. Mała Danuta przywarła kiedyś uchem do drzwi kuchni, gdy jej matka i babcia rozmawiały przyciszonymi głosami. Babcia milczała przez długą chwilę, po czym odpowiedziała: „Wróci, ale nie do ciebie”. Danuta wtedy nie rozumiała tych słów, ale zapamiętała je na całe życie. Później, gdy … Read more
World War II was fought on maps, in trenches, in the sky, and across open oceans. But another war was fought inside Allied command itself — a war of egos, philosophies, and pure personality. The two men at the center of that internal conflict were the most famous generals on the Western Front: British Field … Read more