Forgotten Bastards of the Eastern Front: An Untold Story of World War II

£10.99
ISBN
9780141991108
Delivery
In Stock Online
Click & Collect
Stock delivered to London Store within two working days
"Many books claim to tell an "unknown" story of the Second World War. Few of them actually do. Forgotten Bastards is a rare exception... This is gripping history" Duncan Weldon

A riveting story of World War II from the author of ''Chernobyl'', winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction

In November 1943, with the outcome of the Second World War hanging in the balance, the Allies needed a new plan. The Americans'' audacious suggestion to the Soviets was to open a second air front, with the US Air Force establishing bases in Soviet-controlled territory. Despite Stalin''s obvious reservations about the presence of foreign troops in Russia, he was persuaded. Operation Baseball and then Frantic were initiated in early 1944 as B-17 Superfortresses were flown from bases in Italy to the Poltova region in today''s Ukraine.

Award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy tells the gripping, little-known story of this encounter between American and Soviet soldiers and how their collaboration quickly fell apart, mirroring the transition from the Grand Alliance to the Cold War. Soviet secret policemen watched over the Americans, shadowing their every move. A catastrophic air raid by the Germans revealed the limitations of Soviet air defences. As their initial enthusiasm turned into disappointment, the American soldiers started calling themselves the Forgotten Bastards of Ukraine. Ultimately, no common purpose could overcome their cultural and political differences.

Drawing on newly opened Russian archives as well as CIA records, ''Forgotten Bastards of the Eastern Front'' offers a riveting bottom-up history of one of the Second World War''s most unlikely alliances.
More Information
Weight 0.293000
Author Plokhy, Serhii
Availability IP
Department History
Format Paperback
ISBN 9780141991108
Pages 384
Published 06/08/2020
Publisher Penguin
Section History
Size Unfolded 198x129mm
Write Your Own Review
You're reviewing:Forgotten Bastards of the Eastern Front: An Untold Story of World War II
Copyright © 1853-2024 Edward Stanford Ltd. All rights reserved.