Ben Wheatley

A revolutionary study of the attrition of the German armoured force during the later years of World War II. Following the near-annihilation of the German armoured force in the winter of 1942/43 and the fall of Stalingrad in February 1943 the Panzertruppen were radically reorganized and modernized to face the challenges to come. This new study uses original methodologies to approach the subject in a new and innovative way. This, the first volume of a two-part series, covers the Tunisian campaign, battle for Italy, three of the four battles of Kharkov, the siege of Leningrad, defence of the Kuban, battle of Kursk (both the German attack and massive Soviet counter offensives), the German retreat from Ukraine/Central Russia and the collapse of the southern portions of the Eastern Front in spring of 1944. Historian Ben Wheatley argues that the heavy losses suffered by Germany in this period led to the strategic decision to reinforce the East and neglect the West, a decision that saw the German armoured formations wasted on the battlefields of Normandy. Using primary sources including contemporary aerial photography, mapping and detailed inventories of tank strengths, this book will advance our understanding of some of the most famous battles in military history.

When Dredd is called to investigate the death of sector chief Erikson, the overseer of Sector House 9, the crime scene paints a clear picture: the chief is found shot, with his own Lawgiver still in his hand. But all is not what it seems, and Dredd suspects foul play. When a PSI judge is called to consult, he senses a malevolent presence – one that is not done with Sector House 9 yet… The Haunting of Sector House 9 collects the classic chilling tale by Dredd co-creator John Wagner, Alan Grant, and Brett Ewins, as well as a brand-new sequel story penned by horror writer-director Ben Wheatley (Kill List, A Field in England) and drawn by Simon Coleby (The Royals: Masters of War).

Ben Wheatley and Amy Jump's award-winning, groundbreaking films Kill List, A Field in England, and In the Earth are available here for the first time, with a new introduction and foreword.

A ground-breaking new study that transforms our understanding of one of the most famous battles of the Second World War, widely mythologized as the largest tank battle in history. Today in Russia there are three official sacred battlefields: Kulikovo, where the Mongols were defeated in 1380; Borodino, where Russian troops slowed Napoleon’s Grande Armée before Moscow in 1812; the third is Prokhorovka, where the Soviet annihilation of Hitler’s elite SS Panzer force on 12 July 1943 in the largest armoured clash in history has traditionally been described as a key turning point in the war. The Panzers of Prokhorovka challenges this narrative. The battle was indeed an important Soviet victory, but a very different one to that described above. Based on ground-breaking archival research and supported by previously unpublished images of the battlefield, Ben Wheatley argues that German armoured losses were in fact negligible and a fresh approach is required to understand Prokhorovka. This book tackles the many myths that have built up over the years, and presents a new analysis of this famous engagement.

This is the first detailed study of Britain's open source intelligence (OSINT) operations during the Second World War, showing how accurate and influential OSINT could be and ultimately how those who analysed this intelligence would shape British post-war policy towards the Soviet Union. Following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the enemy and neutral press covering the German occupation of the Baltic states offered the British government a vital stream of OSINT covering the entire German East. OSINT was the only form of intelligence available to the British from the Nazi-occupied Soviet Union, due to the Foreign Office suspension of all covert intelligence gathering inside the Soviet Union. The risk of jeopardising the fragile Anglo-Soviet alliance was considered too great to continue covert intelligence operations. In this book, Wheatley primarily examines OSINT acquired by the Stockholm Press Reading Bureau (SPRB) in Sweden and analysed and despatched to the British government by the Foreign Research and Press Service (FRPS) Baltic States Section and its successor, the Foreign Office Research Department (FORD). Shedding light on a neglected area of Second World War intelligence and employing useful case studies of the FRPS/FORD Baltic States Section’s Intelligence, British Intelligence and Hitler's Empire in the Soviet Union, 1941-1945 makes a new and important argument which will be of great value to students and scholars of British intelligence history and the Second World War.

This is the first detailed study of Britain's open source intelligence (OSINT) operations during the Second World War, showing how accurate and influential OSINT could be and ultimately how those who analysed this intelligence would shape British post-war policy towards the Soviet Union. Following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the enemy and neutral press covering the German occupation of the Baltic states offered the British government a vital stream of OSINT covering the entire German East. OSINT was the only form of intelligence available to the British from the Nazi-occupied Soviet Union, due to the Foreign Office suspension of all covert intelligence gathering inside the Soviet Union. The risk of jeopardising the fragile Anglo-Soviet alliance was considered too great to continue covert intelligence operations. In this book, Wheatley primarily examines OSINT acquired by the Stockholm Press Reading Bureau (SPRB) in Sweden and analysed and despatched to the British government by the Foreign Research and Press Service (FRPS) Baltic States Section and its successor, the Foreign Office Research Department (FORD). Shedding light on a neglected area of Second World War intelligence and employing useful case studies of the FRPS/FORD Baltic States Section’s Intelligence, British Intelligence and Hitler's Empire in the Soviet Union, 1941-1945 makes a new and important argument which will be of great value to students and scholars of British intelligence history and the Second World War.