This compelling anthology has been drawn from the archives of Reader's Digest magazine, and features first person accounts of adventure, courage, horror and triumph. This is the story of the war as experienced by soldiers and civilians - ordinary people caught in extraordinary times - whose tales give a powerful insight into the the conflict that changed the world. My Ride on a Torpedo, by the captain of the destroyer St Laurent in 1940, describes how his quick thinking saved an entire ship when a 600-pound warhead of TNT broke loose on deck; Night Train to Chittagong tells of a dangerous railway journey from Bengal; in Christmas Eve at Frontstalag 122 a leader of the French underground network tells how a coldhearted Nazi prison guard melted before his charges' makeshift creche. The facsimile articles offer a fascinating and nostalgic glimpse of the personal side of war, all recounted in inimitable Reader's Digest style.

Author Biography

Air Chief Marshal The Lord Stirrup was Chief of the Defence Staff from 2006 to 2010. Earlier in his career, as an RAF fighter pilot, he saw action himself in the Dhofur War. Since his retirement, he has sat in the House of Lords as a crossbench peer.