Kirjahaku

The use of terror has been a characteristic of Russia from the days of the Tsars. The Okhrana was the oppressive police force of the Romanovs. Then came the Cheka, the OGPU, SMERSH and the NKVD - organisations that used terror to control every aspect of military and civilian life. So, during the Great Patriotic War , Soviet soldiers and citizens feared not only the Germans but the tentacles of the secret police. To maintain iron discipline in the face of the German onslaught, to root out dissent and defeatism and to counter the threat of treachery and collaboration, the agents of the NKVD waged a merciless campaign against their own people. The full extent of this extraordinary wartime operation is told in Rupert Butler's compelling study.

An in-depth, highly illustrated, examination of the first Waffen-SS unit to be formed, from its initial role as Hitler's bodyguard, through the battles it fought in France, the Eastern Front and Hungary. 'I swear to thee, Adolf Hitler, as Fuhrer and Chancellor of the German Reich, loyalty and bravery. I vow to thee, and to the superiors whom thou shalt appoint, obedience unto death, so help me God.' - SS Oath of Loyalty SS-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, the second in a series of books on the divisions of the Waffen-SS, is an in-depth examination of the first Waffen-SS unit to be formed, the SS-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. The book explores the background to the unit's formation, including its origins as the Fuhrer's bodyguard, the men it recruited, the key figures involved in the division, and its organisation. The book outlines the unit's involvement in the fall of France, and its service on the Eastern Front, from the invasion of Russia, the battle of Kharkov, and the defence of Warsaw, to the fruitless attempt to relieve Budapest. Illustrated with rare photographs, and with an authoritative text, SS-Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler is a definitive history of one of Germany's top fighting units of World War II.

This the fourth in a series of books on the divisions of the Waffen-SS which explores the background to the unit's formation, the men it recruited, the key figures involved and its organisation. - Illustrated with rare photographs and with an authoritative text and detailed appendices, SS-Wiking is a definitive history of one of Germany's top fighting units of WWII. - This is an in-depth examination of one of the most notorious of the SS Divisions, the Wiking, which was largely recruited from foreign volunteers from German occupied countries. - Despite their non-Germanic background, the Norwegians, Dutch, Danes, Belgians, Finns and other nationalities, often motivated by an extreme anti-Communist zeal, fought hard on the Eastern Front for the Nazi cause and won considerable praise for their bravery. - It looks at the specialist training of the Waffen-SS and the uniforms and insignia that members of the Wiking division wore. - It also provides a full combat record of the unit describing their service on the Eastern Front, including the invasion of Russia, the capture of Rostov, the hard fought defensive battles of 1943, the breakout from the Cherkassy pocket and the defence of Warsaw, to the fruitless attempt to relieve Budapest and the unit's effective destruction by the war's end.

This book is an in-depth examination of the unit formed in 194,3 exploring the type of young men it recruited, its organisation, uniforms, insignia plus a full combat record of the division which fought on both fronts in WWII. - The divisions of the Waffen-SS were the elite of Hitler's armies in World War II. - The majority of the division's recruits were 17 year olds who were fanatically devoted to the Nazi cause and to Hitler personally. - The reader is provided with an in-depth examination of the unit formed exploring the background to the unit's formation, the type of young men it recruited, the key figures involved in the division, its organisation, uniforms and insignia that members wore to distinguish themselves on the battlefield. - This book provides a full combat record of the division and it outlines the unit's involvement in the defence of Normandy, the battle for Caen and the catastrophe of the Falaise Gap, refitting in Germany before the Ardennes offensive and its service on the Eastern Front at the end of the war, fighting to recapture Budapest. - Illustrated with rare photographs and with an authoritative text, this book is a definitive history of one of Germany's most fanatical fighting units of World War II.

Charts Stalin's use of the re-named NKVD to carry out the purges of the 1930s in which millions were arrested and ended their lives in forced-labour camps. This book looks at the organisation of the state's secret police in Russia during this time, its vast network of spies and informers, its units within the Red Army, and the special prisons.