"Le programme de réarmement initié par le général de Gaulle en France, durant l'automne de 1944, demeure un sujet peu exploré, relégué dans l'ombre de l'amalgame des Forces françaises de l'intérieur au sein de la 1re armée française. Le gouvernement provisoire a vainement tenté d'obtenir en métropole un soutien américain similaire à celui intervenu pour l'équipement de huit divisions en Afrique du Nord en 1943-1944. Sous l'angle des seules livraisons de matériel allié, l'échec fut patent. Pourtant, au-delà de ce constat, la France a mis sur pied dix nouvelles divisions en métropole avant le 8 mai 1945, dont sept...
"Holding Their Breath uncovers just how close Britain, the United States, and Canada came to crossing the red line that restrained chemical weapon use during World War II. Unlike in World War I, belligerents did not release poison gas regularly during the Second World War. Yet, the looming threat of chemical warfare significantly affected the actions and attitudes of these three nations as they prepared their populations for war, mediated their diplomatic and military alliances, and attempted to defend their national identities and sovereignty.
The story of chemical weapons and World War II begins in the...
"1942 est une année de bascule : sur tous les théâtres - Pacifique, Afrique du Nord, Front de l'Est - la Seconde Guerre mondiale change de dynamique. Après une domination allemande en Europe et japonaise dans le Pacifique, les alliés reprennent l'initiative par une série de victoires militaires et d'avancées technologiques (projet Manhattan, bombardement stratégique...). Mais 1942 laisse aussi une empreinte indélébile sur les sociétés européennes, la Shoah prenant alors sa dimension industrielle tandis que les Résistances partout émergent avec force. Pour rendre compte de cette année exceptionnelle, ce livre...
"When the P-51 Mustang began tearing across European skies in early 1944, the Allies had been losing the air war for years. Staggering numbers of bomber crews, both British and American, had been shot down and killed thanks to the Luftwaffe’s superior fighter force. Not only did the air war appear grim, but any landing of troops in France was impossible while German fighters hunted overhead. But behind the scenes, a team of visionaries had begun to design a bold new type of airplane, one that could outrun and outmaneuver Germany’s best.
Wings of War is the incredible true story of the P-51 Mustang fighter...
"Churchill's American Arsenal reveals how the technology, know-how, and production power behind the victorious Allied partnership during World War II extended beyond the battlefront and onto the home-front.
Many weapons and inventions were credited with winning World War II, most famously in the assertion that the atomic bomb "ended the war, but radar won the war." What is less well known is that both airborne radar and the atomic bomb were invented in British laboratories, but built by Americans. The same holds true for many other American weapons credited with the Allied victory: the P-51 Mustang...