Hitler's British Isles
Written by Duncan Barrett
Narrated by Duncan Barrett
4.5/5
()
Unavailable in your country
Unavailable in your country
About this audiobook
'An absolutely fascinating account of life under German rule in the Channel Islands during the war. As a Guernsey girl I grew up with these stories and recognise family and friends in these pages. Duncan Barrett has done a brilliant job of reflecting the peculiar challenges that existed for those living under occupation. It is an under-told story of an extraordinary time in recent British history.' - Sarah Montague, The Today Programme presenter.
**The new book from the Sunday Times bestselling author of Sugar Girls**
In the summer of 1940, Britain stood perilously close to invasion. One by one, the nations of Europe had fallen to the unstoppable German Blitzkrieg, and Hitler’s sights were set on the English coast. And yet, following the success of the Battle of Britain, the promised invasion never came. The prospect of German jackboots landing on British soil retreated into the realm of collective nightmares. But the spectre of what might have been is one that has haunted us down the decades, finding expression in counterfactual history and outlandish fictions. What would a British occupation have looked like?
The answer lies closer to home than we think, in the experiences of the Channel Islanders – the only British people to bear the full brunt of German Occupation. For five years, our nightmares became their everyday reality. The people of Guernsey, Jersey and Sark got to know the enemy as those on the mainland never could, watching in horror as their towns and villages were suddenly draped in Swastika flags, their cinemas began showing Nazi propaganda films, and Wehrmacht soldiers goose-stepped down their highstreets.
Those who resisted the regime, such as the brave men and women who set up underground newspapers or sheltered slave labourers, encountered the full force of Nazi brutality. But in the main, the Channel Islands occupation was a ‘model’ one, a prototype for how the Fuhrer planned to run mainland Britain. As a result, the stories of the islanders are not all misery and terror. Many, in fact are rather funny – tales of plucky individuals trying to get by in almost impossible circumstances, and keeping their spirits up however they could. Unlike their compatriots on the mainland, the islanders had no Blitz to contend with, but they met the thousand other challenges the war brought with a similar indomitable spirit. The story of the Channel Islands during the war is the history that could so nearly have come to pass for the rest of us. Based on interviews with over a hundred islanders who lived through it, this book tells that story from beginning to end, opening the lid on life in Hitler’s British Isles.
Duncan Barrett
Duncan Barrett & Nuala Calvi are the bestselling authors of GI Brides and The Sugar Girls. Duncan studied English at Cambridge and now works as a writer and editor, specializing in biography and memoir. Nuala is a writer and journalist. She trained at London College of Printing and has written for The Times, The Independent, the BBC, CNN, and numerous Time Out books. They both live in London.
More audiobooks from Duncan Barrett
GI Brides: The Wartime Girls Who Crossed the Atlantic for Love Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sugar Girls: Tales of Hardship, Love and Happiness in Tate & Lyle’s East End Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Girls Who Went to War: Heroism, heartache and happiness in the wartime women’s forces Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Hitler's British Isles
Related audiobooks
The Blitz: The British Under Attack Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Germans in Normandy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Battle of the Somme: The History and Legacy of World War I’s Biggest Battle Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5No Greater Ally: The Untold Story of Poland's Forces in World War II Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hurricats: The Incredible True Story of Britain's 'Kamikaze' Pilots of World War Tw Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When Britain Saved the West: The Story of 1940 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peace and War: Britain in 1914 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Grey Goose of Arnhem: The Story of the Most Amazing Mass Escape of World War II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDuel Under the Stars: The Memoir of a Luftwaffe Night Pilot in World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Theatre of War: The Pacific Campaign Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5WW1: Tales from the Trenches Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Operation Typhoon: The History of the Fight for Moscow between the Nazis and Soviets Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5WW2: Spies, Snipers and Tales of the World at War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Case White: The Invasion of Poland 1939 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Berlin Airlift: The Cold War's most remarkable operation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I Flew for the Führer: The Memoirs of a Luftwaffe Fighter Pilot Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Haig's Enemy: Crown Prince Rupprecht and Germany's War on the Western Front Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5John Murray's Diary 1914-1918: Australia in the Great war Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Battle of Monte Cassino: The History of the Battle for Rome during World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
History For You
Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Swingtime for Hitler: Goebbels’s Jazzmen, Tokyo Rose, and Propaganda That Carries a Tune Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Demon Copperhead: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Black AF History: The Un-Whitewashed Story of America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Razorblade Tears: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All the Sinners Bleed: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Story of Art Without Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Small Mercies: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dead Are Arising: The Life of Malcolm X Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Lafayette in the Somewhat United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5An American Marriage: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Secret History of the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Hitler's British Isles
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This novel focuses on the broad range of issues and problems people faced without making any individual the main character. A well researched telling of how the Nazi German military took over a British island during WWII, and how British people reacted, tried to continue their lives, and how some attempted to rebel in both big and little ways while their home was under occupation by German troops.