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The Glass Mountain: escape and discovery in wartime Italy
Malcolm Gaskill knew little about his great uncle Ralph’s wartime experiences, other than that he’d been a prisoner in Italy and cut his way out of a train with a knife and fork. In The Glass Mountain, he uncovers the full extent of Ralph’s adventures for the first time, revealing a life transformed by conflict, while lifting the lid on a long-forgotten episode of World War II.
The Glass Mountain: escape and discovery in wartime Italy
Malcolm Gaskill
Allen Lane, hbk, 416pp (£25)
ISBN 978-0241622599
Spitfires: the American women who flew in the face of danger during World War II
Crop dusters and debutantes, college girls and flying circus performers – all of them were trained pilots. Denied the right to fly for their country on the grounds of their gender, 25 daring young aviators bolted for England in 1942, becoming the first American women to command military aircraft. Becky Aikman tells their story.
Spitfires: the American women who flew in the face of danger during World War II
Becky Aikman
Bloomsbury, hbk, 368pp (£23.68)
ISBN 978-1635576566
Those Who Are About to Die: gladiators and the Roman mind
Dressed in armour and clutching a bloody sword, the Roman gladiator is an icon of the ancient world. But what did he really mean to the Romans? And what does he reveal about their society? Told through 24 hours of a gladiator’s life, Those Who Are About to Die offers a compelling insight into one of history’s least forgiving arenas.
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