In the spring of 1945, as Allied forces pushed deep into Germany, American troops made their way to a remote salt mine near the town of Merkers. Deep inside, they found a sight that would become legend: stacks of paintings, crates of gold, and the cultural treasures of a continent hidden in the dark. But … Read more
It is just before 3:00 in the morning on November 26, 1983, and six armed men are walking toward one of the most secure warehouses in Britain. They believe they are there for cash, maybe two or three million pounds, a payroll shipment that Tony Black, a guard, has told them about. What they do … Read more
In the winter of 1807, as Napoleon’s army swept through Portugal, the royal court fled across the Atlantic to Brazil. For the Portuguese monarchy, it was a humiliating retreat. For one ambitious princess, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. . Described as a monster by her critics, mocked for her appearance, and feared for … Read more
In the autumn of 1986, a 65-year-old man traveled halfway around the world to sit in an office in Beijing, facing a university professor whom rumors had long claimed was his son. He was the husband of the Queen of England, and the moment cameras captured them together,a 40-year-old rumor sprang back to life. Prince … Read more
On April 28, 1881, Billy the Kid—legally William H. Bonney—escaped from the Lincoln County courthouse in one of the most daring and debated jailbreaks of the American West. He was awaiting execution for the murder of Sheriff William Brady. The escape cost two deputy sheriffs their lives. Now, more than a century later, historians still … Read more
In April 1945, as the Third Army pushed through a small German town, General George S. Patton’s jeep slowed near a half-collapsed farmhouse on its outskirts. Three days of fighting had left broken windows, collapsed roofs, and civilians struggling to survive. A woman stood at the entrance with three thin childrenbehind her, the youngest no … Read more
On the night of January 30, 1933, thousands of torches flooded Berlin’s Wilhelmstrasse as columns of marchers carried a river of fire through the city. From a lit window above the crowds, Adolf Hitler, Germany’s new chancellor, looked out at the capital that had been placed in his hands that morning. In the months and … Read more
In June 1944, a decorated SS Colonel established his headquarters inside a medieval abbey outside Caen, France. What happened next would follow him for the rest of his life and put him in the dock of the first war crimes trial Canada ever conducted. His superiors awarded him the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross … Read more
On February 18, 1851, a 14-year-old girl watched her parents and four siblings die under swinging war clubs on a riverbank in what is now southern Arizona. Olive Oatman survived. So did her seven-year-old sister, Mary Ann. Their 15-year-old brother Lorenzo was struck in the head and thrown over a cliff, left for dead but … Read more
On May 6, 1955, an American film actress stood before a camera in the palace of a tiny European principality, smiling for the official engagement portraits. Two months earlier, she had accepted the Academy Award for Best Actress. She did not know that within eleven months, she would sign her name into the legal register … Read more