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Australian Book Retailer of the Year 2021
Bernard O'Connor
Towards the end of 1943, the British Intelligence services were receiving reports that captured Soviet soldiers were fighting in the Wehrmacht in Western Europe and that captured Soviet citizens were…
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In the mid-1980s I attended a course on the Archaeology of Shropshire in which I studied some of the prehistoric hillforts found in the county. Little did I know how…
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'There's Life in Stanton Lacy, Hayton and Downton Hall' is a collection of newspaper articles from 1743 telling the history of the parish - births, marriages, deaths, accidents, inquests, sales…
Bernard O'Connor's 'There's Life in Stanton Long and Shipton' is a documentary history of the last 250 years of life in these small Shropshire villages. Based on newspaper articles, it…
Using over 250 years of newspaper articles, Bernard O'Connor provides a unique insight into the social and economic life in Hungerford, Broadstone and The Seven Sisters, quiet rural settlements in…
Using over 250 years of newspaper articles, Bernard O'Connor provides a unique insight into the social, economic and political life in Abdon and Tugford, quiet rural settlements in the Clee…
Most people in this country have never heard of the tiny community of Bouldon, near Diddlebury, Shropshire. There are only thirteen houses, a dairy unit and the Tally Ho public…
Using over 250 years of newspaper articles, Bernard O'Connor provides a unique insight into the social, economic and political life in Holdgate, Corvedale, and Holdgate Fee, part of its parish…
Using over 250 years of newspaper articles, Bernard O'Connor provides a unique insight into the social, economic and political life in Stoke St Milborough, a quiet rural settlement in the…
Using over 250 years of newspaper articles, Bernard O'Connor provides a unique insight into the social, economic and political life in Culmington, a quiet rural settlement in Corvedale. It includes…
During the Second World War, officers in the British and American Intelligence agencies reported links with the Vatican in Rome. This documentary history uses first-hand evidence, telegrams, letters, memoranda and…
Bernard O'Connor's 'There's life in Neenton, Shropshire' is a selection of articles from the British Newspaper Archive from 1771 to the present day. It provides insight into the social, economic…
When Benito Mussolini declared war on France and Britain on 10 June 1940, he had a secret weapon which he believed would release Britain's hold on Gibraltar, Malta, Corfu, Crete…
Bernard O'Connor's 'There's Life in Stanton Lacy, Hayton and Downton Hall Volume II' is a collection of newspaper articles from 1901 telling the history of the parish - births, marriages…
Volume I of 'Upton Grey in the News' contains hundreds of newspaper articles from the 18th and 19th centuries. They provide fascinating insight into the social, economic and political life…
The fascinating story of the mysterious Tempsford Airfield.
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The secret life of Brickendonbury Manor & the WW2 assassins & saboteurs who set occupied Europe alight.
The wartime story of how the Nazi Germany’s sent saboteurs from 1938 onwards to launch acts of terror on the street of England and amazingly employed collaborators from the IRA…
The amazing stories of 38 female spies who operated in occupied France and Vichy France, many told for the very first time.
Between 1940 and 1944 dozens of French men and some women were trained in industrial sabotage at Brickendonbury Manor, near Hertford, UK before being infiltrated into France on top secret…
In late-1943 Harry Ree, one of Britain’s secret agents operating in eastern France, witnessed an RAF bombing mission on Peugeot’s automobile factory in Sochaux/Montbeliard. As many bombs missed their target…
Following the Italian invasion of Albania, the British government was worried that Greece would be next. Their Intelligence Service in Athens prepared to sabotage their plans, stored explosives and trained…
The Clee Hills in Shropshire are designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty but few residents and even fewer visitors are aware that it is claimed that more people…
In August 1942, a young man arrived at the British Consulate in San Sebastian, northern Spain, claiming to be Kurt Konig, a German deserter. After preliminary questioning, his onward travel…
During the Second World War, Mrs Rochford of The Old Manor House, Little Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, took in a number of male lodgers. Exactly how much she, her family, and other…
As a result of a secret agreement between Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the Russian Communist Party and Premier of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR), and Winston Churchill…
Shortly after the start of the Second World War, the British Admiralty compulsorily purchased land near Ditton Priors, Shropshire, to store armaments. Using the Cleobury Mortimer and Ditton Priors Light…
During the Second World War, the British military and intelligence agencies had plans in case Germany invaded Spain and Portugal. This involved training British and Spanish agents to be secretly…
Over 15,000 pigeons were dropped into occupied Europe during WW2. Some were used by secret agents to send messages back to headquarters. Others were dropped by parachute into France, Belgium…
During the Second World War, Gibraltar faced the threat of invasion by Italy, Germany, and Spain. The Abwehr, the German Intelligence Service, rather than use their own saboteurs, paid young…
Over 16,000 pigeons were dropped into occupied Europe during the Second World War. Some were used by secret agents to send messages back to headquarters. Others were dropped into selected…
During the Second World War, the British Royal Air Force's Special Duties Squadrons parachuted thousands of pigeons into Belgium. Bletchley Park, the nerve centre of the British Intelligence Service, had…
In 1977, the author was taken to Castlereagh Interrogation Centre, Belfast, and was tortured for four days in an attempt to elicit confessions to terrorism.
In 1980 O'Connor made history…
Some readers in the Marches may have never heard of the Special Operations Executive. It was a top-secret subversive organisation set up in July 1940 with the aim of 'setting…
In December 1939, three months after the start of the Second World War, rather than let the British Royal Navy sink the German Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee, its captain ordered…
'There's Life in Clee St Margarets. Shropshire' includes over 250 years of newspaper articles which include details of births, engagements, marriages, accidents, deaths, crime, entertainment, sport, politics, auctions and sale…
'There's Life in Pattingham, Staffordshire' provides insight into the lives of people who lived, worked and died here since newspapers were published nearly three centuries ago. It includes articles on…
In February 1944, the Nazis began planning R-Netz, networks of trained espionage agents, wireless operators, saboteurs and assassins. Once the Allies invaded Western Europe, their missions were to stay behind…
According to recently declassified documents in the British National Archives, twenty-four women were engaged to provide assistance to officers of the Special Operations Executive (SOE) working clandestinely in Italy. The…
In June 1941, Britain's Royal Navy sank a German meteorological observation ship in the Arctic to obtain the codes it used to send messages to German U-Boats. Richard Kuehnel, one…
Shrewsbury's famous Nag's Head is a fine example of a late-Medieval coaching inn. It is visited and photographed by tourists and locals, but few know much about its history. Bernard…
The world-famous Feathers Hotel in Ludlow is a well-preserved Tudor coaching inn. It is visited and photographed by tourists and locals, but few know much about its history. Bernard O'Connor's…
The world-famous Feathers Hotel in Ludlow is a well-preserved Tudor Inn. It is visited and photographed by tourists and locals, but few know much about its history. Bernard O'Connor's latest…
