Sir Martin Gilbert (1936-2015) was a leading British historian and the author of more than eighty books. Specializing in 20th century history, he was the official biographer of Winston Churchill and wrote a best-selling eight-volume biography of the war leader’s life.
Born in London in 1936, Martin Gilbert was evacuated to Canada with his family at the beginning of World War II as part of the British government’s efforts to protect children from the brutal bombings of the Luftwaffe. He was made a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford, in 1962. He is the author of several definitive historical works examining the Holocaust, the First and Second World Wars, and the history of the 20th century.
In 1990, Gilbert was designated a Commander of the Order of the British Empire, and was awarded a Knighthood in 1995. Oxford University awarded him a Doctorate in 1999. Gilbert was a sought-after speaker on Churchill, Jewish history, and the history of the 20th century, and traveled frequently to lecture at colleges, universities, and organizations around the world.
The 20th century has been one of the most unique in human history. It has seen the rise of some of humanity’s most important advances to date, as well as many of its most violent and terrifying wars. This is a condensed version of renowned historian Martin Gilbert’s masterful examination of the century’s history, offering the highlights of a three-volume work covering more than 3,000 pages.
From the invention of aviation to the rise of the Internet, and from events and cataclysmic changes in Europe to those in Asia, Africa, and North America, Martin examines art, literature, war, religion, life and death, and celebration and renewal throughout the world, and throughout this turbulent and astonishing century.
Few have written about the atrocities of the Holocaust with the combined skill, thoughtfulness, and rigorous devotion to political, social, and military context as Sir Martin Gilbert.Focusing on firsthand narratives from survivors and supported by contextual scholarship, Gilbert presents a masterful cross-section of the experiences of the millions of European Jews who lost their homes, careers, families, and lives at the hands of Hitler’s "Final Solution." The accounts of these journeys are at once unique and unified by both their tragedy and by their triumphs.Gilbert’s vast knowledge on the subject, coupled with his frank and readable style, makes Final Journey accessible to readers and scholars alike. The text is supported by 84 photographs—many of which were published for the first time with the title’s first edition in 1979—and 24 pages of maps prepared by the author, which help to bring the stories of the men, women, and children back to life in unflinching detail.
"An unforgettable contribution to the history of the last war." –Jewish ChronicleWhy did they wait so long? Among the myriad questions of what the Allies could have done differently in World War II, understanding why it took them so long to respond to the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps—specifically Auschwitz—remains vital today.In Auschwitz and the Allies, Martin Gilbert presents a comprehensive look into the series of decisions that helped shape this particular course of the war, and the fate of millions of people, through his eminent blend of exhaustive devotion to the facts and accessible, graceful writing.Featuring 20 maps prepared specifically for this history and 34 photographs, along with firsthand accounts by escaped Auschwitz prisoners, Gilbert reconstructs the span of time between Allied awareness and definitive action in the face of overwhelming evidence of Nazi atrocities.
