This is a comprehensive account of a definitive and mutually self-defeating confrontation, which marked one of the great untold tragedies of European history yet, paradoxically, sowed the seeds of Franco-German reconciliation after 1949.
"In January 1923 French and Belgian forces occupied Germany's Ruhr District, which contained its prime industrial assets, in lieu of unpaid reparations. This unilateral attempt to enforce the crumbling Versailles settlement precipitated a wider struggle for long-term control of …
70 years ago, 133 airmen of 617 Squadron, later known as the Dambusters set out to destroy the Ruhr Dams in Germany. This book not only covers the raid in some detail, but also records what has gone on since May 1943. This one operation amongst many carried out by Bomber Command…