Author Description

'Powerfully argued and meticulously researched, this book changes the way we think about resistances in the past, while also providing new ways to think about the present.' Joanna Bourke, Professor of History, Birkbeck, University of London 'Transcends traditional approaches to anti-fascist resistance in mid-twentieth-century Europe by highlighting its international aspects: exploring instances of resisters crossing borders and of foreigners participating in "national" resistance movements.' Bob Moore, Professor Emeritus of Twentieth-Century European History, University of Sheffield 'This remarkable book blazes a trail in our understanding of resistance in and around the Second World War. No one will be able to look at the history of resistance in the same way after reading this.' Matthew Cobb, author of The Resistance: The French Fight Against the Nazis This landmark book, the product of years of research by a team of two dozen historians, reveals that resistance to occupation by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy during the Second World War was not narrowly delineated by country but startlingly international. Tens of thousands of fighters across Europe travelled to join networks far from their homes. Many were communists and Jews who were already being persecuted and on the move. Others were expatriate business people, escaped POWs, forced labourers or deserters. Their experiences would prove personally transformative and greatly affected the course of the conflict. From the International Brigades in Spain to the onset of the Cold War and the foundation of the state of Israel, they played a significant part in a period of upheaval and change during the long Second World War.