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History

The books behind the blog

Four novels and a history, each set among the real events of the Second World War.

Explore the books Free ebook of Ordinary Heroes (opens in a new tab)
British Sport during the Second World War

British Sport during the Second World War

How war disrupted Britain's sporting calendar, claimed the lives of leading athletes, and changed the careers of sportsmen who served between 1939 and 1945.

By the author of Ordinary Heroes
Cliveden and the Seeds of Appeasement

Cliveden and the Seeds of Appeasement

How a grand Thames-side country house helped shape Britain’s policy of appeasement in the 1930s — and how those events echo through my fiction.

Read the novel: The Blue Pencil
Collaboration in the Second World War

Collaboration in the Second World War

How occupied nations balanced survival, ideology, and betrayal--and how post-war reckoning reshaped Europe's memory of collaboration.

Read the novel: The Blue Pencil
Crime in the London Blitz

Crime in the London Blitz

A historical overview of criminal activity in wartime London, from looters to traitors.

Read the novel: Two Families at War
Portrait of author and illustrator Judith Kerr OBE

Judith Kerr OBE: Refugee, Writer of Outstanding Children and Young Persons’ Literature and Illustrator

David Lowther remembers the life and work of Judith Kerr, from her escape from Nazi Germany to When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit and The Tiger Who Came to Tea.

Read the novel: Ordinary Heroes
The Liberation of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp

The Liberation of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp

Marking 80 years since British forces uncovered the horrors of Bergen-Belsen, this post explores the liberation, aftermath, and lasting impact.

Read the book: Liberating Belsen
Neville Chamberlain Did the Wrong Thing

Neville Chamberlain Did the Wrong Thing

The case for and against Neville Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler, from the Rhineland to the Munich Agreement, and why David Lowther believes Britain and France should have stood up to Hitler in 1938.

Read the novel: The Blue Pencil
Occupied Islands and Liberation 1940–2025

Occupied Islands and Liberation 1940–2025

Reflecting on 80 years since the liberation of Jersey from German occupation during WWII — resistance, hardship, and remembrance.

By the author of Ordinary Heroes
Brendan Fraser as Dwight Eisenhower and Andrew Scott as James Stagg in Pressure

Pressure

David Lowther reviews Pressure, the film about the final 72 hours before D-Day and the momentous decision facing General Dwight D. Eisenhower.

By the author of Ordinary Heroes
The Cinema and Propaganda in the Second World War

The Cinema and Propaganda in the Second World War

How Britain, the USA, and Nazi Germany used popular cinema to shape opinion and morale before and during WWII, with case studies from 1942–1943.

By the author of Ordinary Heroes
The Battle of the Bulge

The Battle of the Bulge

A gripping account of the surprise German offensive in the Ardennes during December 1944, one of WWII’s most brutal campaigns.

By the author of Ordinary Heroes
Two Families at War

Two Families at War

The story behind my Blitz crime novel, from German Jewish refugees to a North London crime family, and the research that shaped the book.

Read the novel: Two Families at War
World War II with Tom Hanks

World War II with Tom Hanks

A review of Tom Hanks's 20-part World War II documentary series, from the invasion of Poland to the Berlin Airlift and the beginnings of the Cold War.

By the author of Ordinary Heroes
Vengeance and the Second World War

Vengeance and the Second World War

Reflections on revenge, displacement, ethnic violence, and the long aftermath of the Second World War in Europe.

By the author of Ordinary Heroes