As England becomes enmeshed in the early days of World War II and the men are away fighting, the women of Chilbury village forge an uncommon bond. They defy the Vicar’s stuffy edict to close the choir and instead “carry on singing,” resurrecting themselves as the Chilbury Ladies’ Choir. We come to know the home-front struggles of five unforgettable choir members: a timid widow devastated when her only son goes to fight; the older daughter...

When Paul, a French boy living in a Nazi controlled village, finds an American paratrooper in a tree near his home, he has a chance to play a role in the Allies plan to crush the Nazis.

"Every war requires more than just the efforts of traditional soldiers. Some heroes' stories are not appreciated during their time. In Beyond the Battlefield: Homefront Heroes, you'll go Beyond the Battlefield to uncover the crucial work done by people at home to help during wartime. These efforts include growing Victory Gardens, smuggling soldiers out of hospitals to safety, saving lives of Jewish children in the Warsaw ghetto, and more!"-- www.rourkeeducationalmedia.com...

"Viann and Isabelle have always been close despite their differences. Younger, bolder sister Isabelle lives in Paris while Viann lives a quiet and content life in the French countryside with her husband Antoine and their daughter. When World War II strikes and Antoine is sent off to fight, Viann and Isabelle's father sends Isabelle to help her older sister cope. As the war progresses, it's not only the sisters' relationship that is tested, but also...

"Unlike World War I, when the horrors of battle were largely confined to the front, World War II reached into the lives of ordinary people in an unprecedented way. Entire countries were occupied, millions were mobilized for the war effort, and in the end, the vast majority of the war's dead were non-combatant men, women, and children. Inhabitants of German-occupied Europe--the war's deadliest killing ground--experienced forced labor, deportation,...

Multi-million-copy bestselling historian Kenneth C. Davis sets his sights on war stories in The Hidden History of America at War. In prose that will remind you of "the best teacher you ever had" (People Magazine), Davis brings to life six emblematic battles, revealing untold tales that span our nation's history, from the Revolutionary War to Iraq. Along the way, he illuminates why we go to war, who fights, the grunt's-eye view of combat,...

"The fateful days and weeks surrounding 6 June 1944 have been extensively documented in histories of the Second World War, but less attention has been paid to the tremendous impact of these events on the populations nearby. The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy tells the inspiring yet heartbreaking story of ordinary people who did extraordinary things in defense of liberty and freedom. On D-Day, when transport planes dropped paratroopers from the 82nd...

"As the Nazi war machine is pushed back across Europe, defeat has become inevitable. But there are those who seek to continue the fight beyond the battlefield. German intelligence officer Captain Gregor Reinhardt has just been reassigned to the Feldjaegerkorps-a new branch of the military police with far-reaching powers. His position separates him from the friends and allies he has made in the last two years, including a circle of fellow dissenting...

"During the clash between Union and Confederacy, quiet Tennessean Pearl MacFarlane is compelled to nurse both Rebel and Yankee wounded who seek refuge at her family's farm. She is determined to remain unmoved by the Yankee cause--until she faces the silent struggle of Union soldier Joshua Wheeler, a recent amputee. The MacFarlane family fits no stereotype Joshua believed in; still he is desperate to regain his footing--as a soldier, as a man, as a...

"After the ceasefire in 1988, the devastation to the landscape of Iraq wrought by the longest war of the twentieth century - the Iran-Iraq War - becomes visible. Yet, surveying this destruction from the sky, a strip of land bursting with green can be seen. The secret of this fertility, sustaining villages and remaining soldiers, is unclear. But it is said that one old woman is responsible for this lifeline"--