Twenty-One: Coming of Age in the Second World War

"During the Second World War, many of those who answered their country's call to arms found their lives changed beyond recognition. The majority were young men - and women - on the cusp of adulthood, who found themselves in corners of the globe that they had never heard of, much less ever dreamt of travelling to, fighting in battles more brutal and terrifying than they could ever have imagined. Many did not return, and those who did found that much had changed after long years of war - themselves included. The return to civilian life was often far from easy." "Now, more than sixty years on, this remarkable generation is fading. Most are now over eighty, and around the world more than two thousand veterans of the war are passing away every day." "Author James Holland recounts the real-life stories of twenty-one men and women from around the world who came of age in the most devastating war the world has ever known." "From the jungles of Burma to the D-Day beaches, from submarines and sailors to fighter pilots, infantrymen, tank drivers, spies, Special Forces and prisoners of war, these twenty-one stories from the cusp of adulthood are an account of a remarkable generation."--BOOK JACKET.