S. P. Mackenzie Livres

Douglas Bader, a legendary British fighter pilot, overcame the loss of both legs in an accident to command the Canadian Fighter Squadron during the Battle of Britain. His resilience led to multiple escape attempts from German POW camps, including Colditz Castle, prompting captors to confiscate his prosthetics. Despite his flaws, Bader's achievements during WWII and his later advocacy for disabled charities are notable. This study utilizes newly available memoirs and documents to present a balanced view of his remarkable life and legacy.

More than a quarter of a century after his death, Douglas Bader remains the most famous fighter pilot Britain has every known. He lost both of his legs a flying accident in 1931, but overcame his disability and returned to the RAF in 1939, rising to command a Canadian fighter squadron and then the first RAF fighter wing during the Battle of Britain. Shot down and made prisoner, he made numerous escape attempts and became so aggravating to his German captors that he was held in Colditz Castle. Widely recognised for his exploits during the war, he became even more famous from the 1950s onward as a result on a bestselling biography that served as the basis of the hit film Reach for the Sky.While he had as many flaws as laudable qualities, Bader undeniably achieved great things, both during the Second World War and in his later work for the disabled. Bader's War makes use of new memoirs, interviews, and documents that have only recently become available to shed more light on various episodes in his life and provide a rounded and unbiased portrayal of this fascinating man.

Exploring the psychological impact of superstition on Allied aircrew during World War II, this study reveals how faith and rituals influenced morale amidst perilous missions. With a staggering 45.5% casualty rate among Bomber Command personnel, many airmen turned to various beliefs, from traditional to eccentric, to cope with the dangers they faced. Military historian S. P. MacKenzie offers a groundbreaking analysis of how these practices shaped the experiences and mental resilience of those flying against fate in the skies.

"MacKenzie explores both continuity and change in the presentation of a wartime event that acquired and retains near-mythical dimensions in popular consciousness and has been represented many times in feature films and television dramas. Alongside relevant technical developments, the book also examines the social, cultural, and political changes occurring in the second half of the 20th century and first decade of current century that helped shape how the battle came to be framed dramatically."--Provided by publisher.

The story of Colditz has been told often but this book chronicles the development of the Colditz myth and puts what happened inside the castle in the context of British and Commonwealth POW life in Germany as a whole. Being a captive of the Third Reich was more complicated and tougher than the popular myth would suggest. Both physical and mental demands of survival far outweighed escaping activity in order of importance in most camps. For the first time McKenzie seeks, for the first time, to place Colditz - both the camp and the legend - in a wider historical context.

Poznejte nejdůležitější události 2.světové války probíhající v Evropě. Kniha se zaměřuje nejen na samotné vojenské operace, ale i na společnost a hospodářství jednotlivých zemí, na odbojová hnutí i kolaborace.