Alex Kershaw

Este libro repasa la biografía del fotógrafo Robert Capa, considerado uno de los pioneros del reporterismo de guerra. Su juerte, a los 41 años de edad, puso fin a una increible carrera profesional y a una vida extraordinario que aquí se narra con total detalle.

Un soñador americano. Pocas vidas tan apasionantes como la del escritor Jack London. La obra nos lleva desde las paradisíacas islas de los mares del sur a las gélidas tierras de Alaska. Corresponsal de guerra en Asia y cronista de la revolucion mejicana. Cabecilla en la marcha de los desheredados. Mendigo y millonario, atleta y alcoholico, ballenero y pionero del cultivo ecologico. La obra de Alex Kershaw se lee con tanto placer y emocion como las propias novelas de Jack London, pues contiene todos sus ingredientes: la aventura, el amor apasionado, el idealismo, la revolucion y el hombre enfrentado a la naturaleza en su estado mas puro y salvaje.

Historys greatest story reinvigorated as only Alex Kershaw can Adam Makos, New York Times bestselling author of A Higher CallAn absolute triumphJames M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize Finalist and national bestselling author of Target Tokyo and RampageThe unforgettable human drama of historys most consequential invasion John C. McManus, author of The Dead and Those About to Die: D-DayThe Big Red One at Omaha Beach Beginning in the pre-dawn darkness of June 6, 1944, The First Wave follows ten men attempting to carry out D-Days most critical missions. Their actions would determine the fate of the invasion of Hitlers Fortress Europe. The ten make a charismatic, unforgettable cast. They include the first American paratrooper to touch down on Normandy soil; the only British soldier that day to earn a Victorias Cross; the Canadian brothers who led their decimated troops onto Juno Beach under withering fire; the colonel who faced the powerful 150mm guns of the Merville Battery; as well as a French commando who helped destroy German strongholds on Sword Beach. The book will give authentic voice to the invaders enemies, the German enlisted men and officers tasked with destroying the Allies as they hit the beaches. The result is an utterly immersive, adrenaline-driven drama, an epic of close combat and extraordinary heroism. It is the capstone Alex Kershaws remarkable career, built on his close friendships with D-Day survivors and his intimate understanding of the Normandy battlefield. For the seventy-fifth anniversary, here is a fresh take on the Second World Wars longest day.Praise for Alex Kershaw: From the opening pages, when Kershaw...drops us into the invasion of Paris, we know that we are in good hands. This is classic narrative nonfiction, constructed and written like a thriller. Chicago Tribune Exceptional.... balances evocative prose with attention to detail and is a worthy addition to vibrant classics of small-unit history like Stephen Ambroses Band of Brothers. Wall Street Journal Kershaws writing is seamless. He incorporates information from a vast array of sources, but it works--you get a sense of the different voices coming into the story....A gripping read. Minneapolis Star Tribune

The epic story of the vastly outnumbered platoon that stopped Germanys leading assault in the Ardennes forest and prevented Hitlers most fearsome tanks from overtaking American positions On a cold morning in December, 1944, deep in the Ardennes forest, a platoon of eighteen men under the command of twenty-year-old lieutenant Lyle Bouck were huddled in their foxholes trying desperately to keep warm. Suddenly, the early morning silence was broken by the roar of a huge artillery bombardment and the dreadful sound of approaching tanks. Hitler had launched his bold and risky offensive against the Allies-his "last gamble"-and the small American platoon was facing the main thrust of the entire German assault. Vastly outnumbered, they repulsed three German assaults in a fierce day-long battle, killing over five hundred German soldiers and defending a strategically vital hill. Only when Boucks men had run out of ammunition did they surrender to the enemy. As POWs, Boucks platoon began an ordeal far worse than combat-survive in captivity under trigger-happy German guards, Allied bombing raids, and a daily ration of only thin soup. In German POW camps, hundreds of captured Americans were either killed or died of disease, and most lost all hope. But the men of Boucks platoon survived-miraculously, all of them. Once again in vivid, dramatic prose, Alex Kershaw brings to life the story of some of Americas little-known heroes-the story of Americas most decorated small unit, an epic story of courage and survival in World War II, and one of the most inspiring stories in American history.

A wonderfully rich and evocative biography of the great war photographer, Robert Capa, whose life was every bit as dramatic as the pictures he took.A Hungarian, Capa was driven from his country by political oppression and became the greatest war photographer of his generation with his work during the Spanish Civil War. His work during WWII made him a legend as he covered many of the significant moments of the war, crossing the Atlantic with the first convoys, enduring the London Blitz and following the Allies through North Africa, Italy and then the liberation of France. Founder of Magnum, he was one of the earliest casualties of what would become the Vietnam war, being killed in IndoChina in 1954. Friend of Hemingway, Gary Cooper, Gene Kelly, John Huston, lover of Ingrid Bergman, he is one of the great figures of the twentieth century.A tale rich with intrigue, love, lust, lies and betrayal...I loved this book Janine di GiovanniAmbition, integrity and courage were intertwined in Capa, as Alex Kershaw persuades in this elegant biography ...a spellbinding portrait of his gypsy life.Sunday TimesPacked with good stories, and snappily written, Blood and Champagne is as full of life as the man it celebrates.ObserverRemarkably fineDaily Telegraph

*The instant New York Times bestseller*The untold story of four of the most decorated soldiers of World War IIall Medal of Honor recipientsfrom the beaches of French Morocco to Hitlers own mountaintop fortress, by the national bestselling author of The First WavePitch-perfect.The Wall Street Journal Riveting.World War II magazine Alex Kershaw is the master of putting the reader in the heat of the action.Martin Dugard As the Allies raced to defeat Hitler, four men, all in the same unit, earned medal after medal for battlefield heroism. Maurice Footsie Britt, a former professional football player, became the very first American to receive every award for valor in a single war. Michael Daly was a West Point dropout who risked his neck over and over to keep his men alive. Keith Ware would one day become the first and only draftee in history to attain the rank of general before serving in Vietnam. In WWII, Ware owed his life to the finest soldier he ever commanded, a baby-faced Texan named Audie Murphy. In the campaign to liberate Europe, each would gain the ultimate accolade, the Congressional Medal of Honor. Tapping into personal interviews and a wealth of primary source material, Alex Kershaw has delivered his most gripping account yet of American courage, spanning more than six hundred days of increasingly merciless combat, from the deserts of North Africa to the dark heart of Nazi Germany. Once the guns fell silent, these four exceptional warriors would discover just how heavy the Medal of Honor could beand how great the expectations associated with it. Having survived against all odds, who among them would finally find peace?

From Alex Kershaw, author of the New York Times bestseller Against All Odds, comes an epic story of courage, resilience, and faith during the Second World War General George Patton needed a miracle. In December 1944, the Allies found themselves stuck. Rain had plagued the troops daily since September, turning roads into rivers of muck, slowing trucks and tanks to a crawl. A thick ceiling of clouds had grounded American warplanes, allowing the Germans to reinforce. The sprint to Berlin had become a muddy, bloody stalemate, costing thousands of American lives. Patton seethed, desperate for some change, any change, in the weather. A devout Christian, he telephoned his head chaplain. Do you have a good prayer for the weather? he asked. The resulting prayer was soon printed and distributed to the 250,000 men under Pattons command. Pray when driving, the men were told. Pray when fighting. Pray alone. Pray with others. Pray by night and pray by day. Pray for the cessation of immoderate rains, for good weather for Battle. . . . Pray for victory. . . . Pray for Peace. Then came the Battle of the Bulge. Amid frigid temperatures and heavy snow, 200,000 German troops overwhelmed the meager American lines in Belgiums Ardennes Forest, massacring thousands of soldiers as the attack converged on a vital crossroads town called Bastogne. There, the 101st Airborne was dug in, but the enemy were lurking, hidden in the thick blanket of fog that seemed to never dissipate. A hundred miles of frozen roads to the south, Patton needed an answer to his prayer, fast, before it was too late.

The best-selling author of The Liberator brings to life the incredible true story of an American doctor in Paris, and his heroic espionage efforts during World War II.The leafy Avenue Foch, one of the most exclusive residential streets in Nazi-occupied France, was Pariss hotbed of daring spies, murderous secret police, amoral informers, and Vichy collaborators. So when American physician Sumner Jackson, who lived with his wife and young son Phillip at Number 11, found himself drawn into the Liberation network of the French resistance, he knew the stakes were impossibly high. Just down the road at Number 31 was the "mad sadist" Theodor Dannecker, an Eichmann protege charged with deporting French Jews to concentration camps. And Number 84 housed the Parisian headquarters of the Gestapo, run by the most effective spy hunter in Nazi Germany. From his office at the American Hospital, itself an epicenter of Allied and Axis intrigue, Jackson smuggled fallen Allied fighter pilots safely out of France, a job complicated by the hospital directors close ties to collaborationist Vichy. After witnessing the brutal round-up of his Jewish friends, Jackson invited Liberation to officially operate out of his home at Number 11but the noose soon began to tighten. When his secret life was discovered by his Nazi neighbors, he and his family were forced to undertake a journey into the dark heart of the war-torn continent from which there was little chance of return.Drawing upon a wealth of primary source material and extensive interviews with Phillip Jackson, Alex Kershaw recreates the City of Light during its darkest days. The untold story of the Jackson family anchors the suspenseful narrative, and Kershaw dazzles readers with the vivid immediacy of the best spy thrillers. Awash with the tense atmosphere of World War IIs Europe, Avenue of Spies introduces us to the brave doctor who risked everything to defy Hitler.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER Alex Kershaw,New York Times bestselling author of Against All Odds, returns with an utterly immersive, adrenaline-driven account of D-Day combat. Meet the assaulters: pathfinders plunging from the black, coxswains plowing the whitecaps, bareknuckle Rangers scaling sheer rock . . . Fast-paced and up close, this is historys greatest story reinvigorated as only Alex Kershaw can.Adam Makos, New York Times bestselling author of Spearhead and A Higher Call Beginning in the predawn darkness of June 6, 1944, The First Wave follows the remarkable men who carried out D-Days most perilous missions. The charismatic, unforgettable cast includes the first American paratrooper to touch down on Normandy soil; the glider pilot who braved antiaircraft fire to crash-land mere yards from the vital Pegasus Bridge; the brothers who led their troops onto Juno Beach under withering fire; as well as a French commando, returning to his native land, who fought to destroy German strongholds on Sword Beach and beyond. Readers will experience the sheer grit of the Rangers who scaled Pointe du Hoc and the astonishing courage of the airborne soldiers who captured the Merville Gun Battery in the face of devastating enemy counterattacks. The first to fight when the stakes were highest and the odds longest, these men would determine the fate of the invasion of Hitlers fortress Europeand the very history of the twentieth century. The result is an epic of close combat and extraordinary heroism. It is the capstone Alex Kershaws remarkable career, built on his close friendships with D-Day survivors and his intimate understanding of the Normandy battlefield. For the seventy-fifth anniversary, here is a fresh take on World War IIs longest day.Praise for The First Wave:Masterful... readers will feel the sting of the cold surf, smell the acrid cordite that hung in the air, and duck the zing of machine-gun bullets whizzing overhead. The First Wave is an absolute triumph.James M. Scott, bestselling author of Target TokyoThese pages ooze with the unforgettable human drama of historys most consequential invasion.John C. McManus, author of The Dead and Those About to Die

"Contra Todas as Probabilidades é um lembrete oportuno dos horrores da guerra, da bravura e dos sacrifícios da Geração Grandiosa." — Booklist "Alex adora nos contar os relatos históricos da Segunda G

A full-blooded, pacy biography of one of the most charismatic writers of the century, whose life and work were to inspire Hemingway, Steinbeck, Kerouac and Mailer. We cannot help but read on: TLS. The energy, dynamism and sheer bursting life-force of Jack London bowls you over: Scotsman. Jack Londons life story (18761916) is as dramatic as any of the fiction he wrote. Born illegitimate in San Francisco, he was (in his teens) an oyster pirate, seal-hunter, hobo, Klondike goldminer and spectacular drinker. On publication of The Call of the Wild in 1903, he became the most highly publicised writer in the world. Subsequent books, including Martin Eden, White Fang, The Iron Heel, The People of the Abyss, John Barleycorn, The Sea Wolf, continue in print as world classics in many languages. Apart from writing 50 books, he lectured for the Socialist Party in America; was a war correspondent in Korea and Mexico; introduced surfing to the West Coast; sailed the seven seas in his yacht, the Snark.

Una biografía absolutamente veraz que puede leerse como una novela histórica de aventuras.El extraordinario fotógrafo Robert Capa fue testigo de excepción de los grandes acontecimientos históricos y belicos del siglo XX: la Guerra Civil española, el desembarco de Normandia o la fundacion del Estado de Israel.Incansable viajero, jugador, bebedor y mujeriego, murio a los 41 años al pisar una mina en la guerra de Indochina, despues de una vida intensa y apasionante. A partir de entrevistas con personajes que le conocieron bien y de material de archivo, Alex Kershaw ha escrito una biografia absolutamente veraz que puede leerse como una novela historica de aventuras.

La apasionante historia una de las últimas grandes batallas en el frente occidental durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial.Una fría mañana de diciembre de 1944, en medio del bosque de las Ardenas, un peloton de dieciocho hombres bajo el mando del teniente Lyle Bouck intentaban mantenerse calientes en sus camastros. De pronto, el silencio de la mañana fue roto por el estruendo de un inmenso bombardeo de artilleria y el estremecedor sonido de tanques avanzando. Hitler habia lanzado una audaz y arriesgada ofensiva contra los aliados, su ultima baza, y este pequeño peloton se enfren-taba al eje principal del ataque nazi.Ante fuerzas infinitamente superiores en numero, los hombres de Bouck lograron rechazar hasta tres ataques alemanes en un durisimo enfrentamiento, la batalla de Lanzerath, que duro un dia entero, causaron mas de quinientas bajas al enemigo y protegieron una posicion vital. Solo se rindieron al quedarse sin municion. Entonces comenzo para ellos una batalla tan dura como la anterior: la supervivencia como prisioneros de guerra rodeados por guardias agresivos, bajo la amenaza del fuego amigo y con minusculas raciones de comida. Cientos de prisioneros de guerra fallecieron en manos alemanas, pero milagrosamente todos los hombres de Bouck sobrevivieron para convertirse en el peloton mas condecorado de la Segunda Guerra Mundial y pudieron contar su historia.El largo invierno cuenta la detallada preparacion de la batalla por las tropas especiales alemanas, su importancia en el devenir de la guerra, el cautiverio y la liberacion. Pero sobre todo narra la epica lucha de un pequeño grupo de hombres atrapados en el centro de la batalla mas decisiva de la Segunda Guerra Mundial. Un relato de valor y coraje en la mejor tradicion de la historia militar.Reseñas:Una lectura fascinante.USATodayUna historia heroica e inspiradora que necesitaba ser contada.The Washington Post

Una biografía absolutamente veraz que puede leerse como una novela histórica de aventuras. El extraordinario fotógrafo Robert Capa fue testigo de excepción de los grandes acontecimientos históricos y belicos del siglo XX: la Guerra Civil española, el desembarco de Normandia o la fundacion del Estado de Israel. Incansable viajero, jugador, bebedor y mujeriego, murio a los 41 años al pisar una mina en la guerra de Indochina, despues de una vida intensa y apasionante. A partir de entrevistas con personajes que le conocieron bien y de material de archivo, Alex Kershaw ha escrito una biografia absolutamente veraz que puede leerse como una novela historica de aventuras.

A través de los retratos individuales conocemos el heroísmo de los pilotos, de los que solo uno sobrevivió a esa guerra. Mucho antes de que Estados Unidos entrara en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, un puñado de pilotos norteamericanos se unieron a los escuadrones de combate de la RAF britanica. Estos pocos hombres, a diferencia de otras iniciativas apoyadas tacitamente por el gobierno de Washington, se alistaron individualmente y fueron unos adelantados, pues lucharon a los mandos de sus Spitfires desde mayo de 1940, cuando el Reino Unido combatia en solitario la amenaza nazi y sus dias parecian contados. Idealistas y aventureros, los pilotos desoyeron todas las declaraciones de neutralidad del gobierno estadounidense movidos por una mezcla de repugnancia moral hacia el nazismo y una fascinacion por el combate aereo en una epoca en que aun tenia un halo de leyenda. Repartidos individualmente o por parejas en los distintos escuadrones, cada uno vivio su propia historia, que Kershaw logra introducir magistralmente en el marco global dela dramatica Batalla de Inglaterra. A traves de los retratos individuales conocemos la extraordinaria vida que llevaban en las cabinas, en los escuadrones y en Inglaterra, y el heroismo de estos pilotos, de los que solo uno sobrevivio a la guerra que contribuyeron decisivamente a ganar.