How could Nazi killers shoot Jewish women and children at close range? Why did Japanese soldiers rape and murder on such a horrendous scale? How was it possible to endure the torment of a Nazi death camp? Award-winning documentary maker and historian Laurence Rees has spent nearly 20 years wrestling with these questions in the course of filming hundreds of interviews with people tested to the extreme during World War II. He has come face-to-face with rapists, mass murderers, even cannibals, but he has also met courageous individuals who are an inspiration to us all. In "Their Darkest Hour", he presents 35 of his most electrifying encounters.

About the Author

Laurence Rees won the British Book Award for History Book of the Year 2006 for his international bestseller Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution'. His career as a writer and filmmaker, focusing on the Nazis and World War II, stretches back nearly 20 years and includes the acclaimed television series Nazis: A Warning from History, War of the Century, Horror in the East and Auschwitz: The Nazis and the 'Final Solution'. This body of work has won him myriad awards including a BAFTA, a Grierson Award and an International Documentary Award. He was educated at Solihull School and Oxford University, and is Creative Director of BBC TV History programmes.

Prizes

A collection of chilling first-hand accounts that throws new light on our understanding of World War II