The Poison Tide

Nightfall, 6 June 1944. D-Day is over and the Allies have carved a tenuous foothold in 'Fortress Europe'. The future of Europe hangs in the balance as Hitler's formidable SS Panzer troops threaten to drive them back into the sea. D-DAY TO BERLIN is the remarkable story of the Allied struggle for survival - the battle from the beaches of Normandy to the heart of Hitler's Reich and ultimate victory just eleven months later. The campaign to free Europe from Nazi oppression through the collective operations from D-DAY TO BERLIN mark one of the greatest ever military offensives. The Allies overcame initial setbacks to inflict a devastating defeat on Hitler's crack divisions in France - a victory that was threatened just months later in the bitter winter fighting of the Battle of the Bulge. The final crossing of the Rhine and the advance into Germany changed the course of European history forever. In D-DAY TO BERLIN we meet men and women from both sides - British, American and German soldiers - whose bravery and endurance made the final push through Europe the defining drama of the Second World War.

The Battle of the Somme, fought between July and November 1916, was among the bloodiest conflicts of all time. The aim was to end the stalemate on the Western Front - the result was carnage. In a total of just over a hundred days of fighting, the death toll reached 310,459. Half the bodies were never recovered. At the close of the battle, the British and French forces had not even reached the line they set themselves for the first day. Yet, despite its horrific destruction, the fighting at the Somme was characterised by incredible individual bravery. In commemoration of the 90th anniversary of the battle, Martin Gilbert, one of Britain's most distinguished historians, graphically recreates the tragedy. He interweaves individual stories, wartime documents, letters and poetry in a deeply moving, succinct narrative. From gripping descriptions of struggles on the battlefield to poignant evocations of the memorials and cemeteries that stand there today, this is a definitive guide to the Somme. It is a story of unparalleled folly and heroism, from which, as it unfolds, there emerge deep implications that are shared by all wars.

In the villages and on the mountains of County Tyrone, in the heartland of the Provisional IRA's most active Brigade, the golden rule is 'Hear nothing, see nothing, know nothing'. To collaborate with British Intelligence is to invite an inescapable death sentence.But there is word on the mountain that inside the Brigade there is a 'tout', an informer. He will be identified, interrogated, tortured, then hooded and shot.Gary Brennard, the MI5 field agent, and Parker, who runs the informer, have to protect their man at all costs: he is the critical asset to hold on to until the stakes are high enough... and if the innocent step into the crossfire, that's just bad luck.

Ashley, a disaffected geography teacher and Jay, a printer in a local arts project, are about to start a family, though both have mixed feelings about becoming parents, especially when their house is crumbling around them and their neighbourhood seems increasingly anarchic. As Jay becomes deeply involved in the fight to save the ancient woodland of Hogslea Common from a planned motorway, Ashley corresponds with his carefree brother, who is backpacking round the world. With the gap between the couple widening as steadily as the cracks in their walls, Ashley has to choose between his parents' values and abandoning a society he finds increasingly precarious and menacing.By the author of the award-winning PIG, this is a sharply observed, often funny and thought-provoking tale of modern life and of the choices we all have to make - as parents, children and members of society.