Hamish Hamilton Ltd.

IntroductionThis chronological account of World War II begins in 1931, eight years before the outbreak of hostilities. No one can understand how war began without going back to its origins. It seemed that 1931 was the pivotal year in which events, political and military, began unfolding which led...

THE WILD Esther Freud William could hear them in the sudden stillness, the scuffle of the children's feet, their clumsiness as the workshop door swung open and then shut. There was a high chime as a trowel bounced on the path, and the cat flap in the loose panel of the door rattled as it...

DECLARATION OF WAR The sky was low and London-grey, seated firmly like th( of a pressure-cooker on Heathrow airport. Shiverish autu faces emerged from the coaches and cars soon to bathe in alluring artificial glow of the departure lounge. In the of 1971, it was a good day for minor criminals and...