Paul StJohn Mackintosh

In the 1930s sunlit seaside town of Bexhill, Sussex, a sinister experiment unfolded behind the genteel façade of Augusta Victoria College. This exclusive finishing school catered to the daughters of Nazi leaders and German aristocracy - young women groomed not only in English manners and etiquette but as emissaries in Hitler’s charm offensive to win over Britain’s elite. Their blazers bore swastikas, and the school crest brazenly paired the Union Jack with the Nazi emblem, symbolizing a chilling vision: a union between the British Empire and the Third Reich. Among its pupils were Bettina von Ribbentrop, daughter of Hitler’s foreign minister; Isa von Bergen, daughter of the Nazi envoy to the Vatican; and Princess Herzeleide of Prussia, granddaughter of Kaiser Wilhelm II. Some would remain loyal to the regime; others, like Countess Reinhild von Hardenberg, would later join the resistance. But all were assets in a covert strategy to infiltrate British high society - and some of their hosts were disturbingly willing partners. Drawing on first-hand accounts and newly uncovered evidence, _Hitler’s Finishing School_ exposes the extraordinary story of this institution - the only one of its kind in Britain - and the web of influence, ambition, and betrayal that surrounded it. Scandalous, gripping, and steeped in intrigue, this is one untold history of how close Britain came to embracing the Nazi dream.

The Corps franc Pommiès (CFP) was founded on 17 November 1942 by its namesake André Pommiès. It operated in southwestern France, becoming one of the largest and most important Resistance units in the south. After initial work in sabotage of rail and road networks, factories and power plants, on 15 April 1944 it sabotaged the Hispano-Suiza factory in Soues in the Hautes-Pyrénées, forestalling Allied bombing of the factory and the inevitable collateral damage. This was no small covert cell: the CFP mobilized some 12,000 combatants to support the D-Day landings. Its harassment of the Gestapo, the fascist Milice, and other Occupation forces turned the area around Toulouse into a no-man’s land for the Nazis. The CFP linked up with the newly formed French 1st Army during the advance into central France and fought in the brutal campaign to liberate Alsace. It participated in the Rhine crossings, the march on Stuttgart, and the French occupation of Germany, becoming the first French regiment to occupy Berlin.

Mythic Venice focuses on the history of the Republic at the height of its power, and arguably its most typical period. From Venice’s acquisition of Corfu in 1401 and Dalmatia in 1409 to its participation in the great naval victory against the Turks at Lepanto in 1571, the Republic extended its territorial reach and its sway far enough to be treated as a contemporary European great power – the only one that medieval and early modern Italy ever produced. Mythic Venice provides setting information and rules additions to adapt the Design Mechanism’s Mythras system to the world of the Venetian Republic. It needs the core Mythras rules although it can be integrated into most RPG rule systems following the d100 pedigree. It also forms a natural companion to other Mythras setting books, especially Mythic Constantinople.

Comic-operetta stage set, or ghost town haunted by the walking dead – Sigmaringen still fascinates long after its collapse at the end of the Second World War. This enclave of French Vichy officials and fascists on German soil – refugees and hostages maintained at the Nazis’ pleasure – played out the last residue of French collaborationism in the closing months of the war, presided over by the inert figurehead of Marshal Pétain, against the fairytale backdrop of Sigmaringen Castle. No single English-language history of the Sigmaringen enclave exists, yet it brought together some of the most colourful and controversial collaborationists, from the militant French SS officer Joseph Darnand to the delirious writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline, in a petri dish for the last samples of the collaborationism that had infected France and laid her low. Vichy’s Last Castle brings together contemporary documents, eye-witness reports, diplomatic communiques and protests, and personal chronicles, alongside post-war analyses, war crimes trials, apologetics and memoirs, to provide a complete picture of the Sigmaringen enclave, from daily life to political chicanery. From the vain, formal protests of Marshal Pétain to the hallucinatory stream-of-consciousness of Céline, the book draws on contemporary photographs as well as texts to encapsulate this bizarre milieu, where the rank-and-file starved and suffered, while the elite played and plotted their tragicomic endgame, in a sublimely appropriate Wagnerian setting.

The occupation and liberation of Strasbourg was described by de Gaulle as ‘one of the most brilliant episodes in our military history’, yet is overshadowed outside France by the Battle of the Bulge. France’s equivalent to Douglas MacArthur’s oath ‘I shall return,’ General Philippe Leclerc’s Oath of Kufra, ‘not to lay down our arms until our colours, our beautiful colours, fly over Strasbourg Cathedral’, guided his celebrated 2nd Armoured Division across France from Normandy to the Rhine, until in November 1944 he recaptured Strasbourg in a daring feat of arms. Strasbourg was menaced as soon as it was liberated, as Hitler sought in the wake of the Ardennes Offensive to recapture this coveted trophy. SHAEF was on the verge of abandoning the city to Nazi vengeance until an eleventh-hour meeting between de Gaulle, Churchill and Eisenhower reversed the decision and sent French and American forces to defend it. The defenders – including recruits from France’s colonies – sacrificed themselves heroically. After this bloody victory, Strasbourg’s liberators and defenders crossed the Rhine to occupy Germany, sharing honours with 101st Airborne’s Band of Brothers in Hagenau and the Eagle’s Nest. The author explores the history behind the Franco-German rivalry over this polyglot city, its loss, its insanely unbalanced Nazi occupation, its liberation by the Free French forces, and its defence against Hitler’s vengeance. It also looks at the neglected contribution of France’s multi-ethnic colonial soldiers to the salvation of the city and the country, and Strasbourg’s modern role as an icon of restored European harmony and unity.

Exciting adventures for the Casting the Runes investigative roleplaying game exploring the supernatural and esoteric mysteries in early 20th century Britain. This collection of adventures for the Casting the Runes RPG takes the investigators across the British Isles, from London to Edinburgh, the fens to the West Country, in their quest to solve supernatural occurrences and sinister manifestations. The scenarios are presented as individual tales, but can also be strung together to form a loose campaign. The Malvern Mystery Excavations near Malvern Parva lead to sinister disturbances at the local church. The Eastminster Enigma A coven of black magicians desecrate Eastminster Cathedral, and the investigators' help is needed in laying to rest their handiwork. The Fiend of the Fens Something wicked stalks the fens near the village of Holme; the characters muct steel themselves for an encounter from the depths of English folklore. The Predestination Engine The investigators travel to Scotland to research a mysterious charlatan who is causing madness and devastation as he seeks to answer the ultimate question: Are you Saved, or Damned? The Oakhill Haunting A pair of elderly spinsters are plagued by things that go bump in the night. Can the restless spirits be appeased? Between St Magnus & St Mary Overie An unlikely magician dabbles in something he shouldn't, and now the borough of Southwark is assailed by supernatural horrors.

An exciting investigative roleplaying game exploring the supernatural and esoteric mysteries in early 20th century Britain. Casting the Runes is an investigative roleplaying game based on the ghost stories and tales of the supernatural by renowned medievalist and writer, M. R. James. Casting the Runes is powered by the GUMSHOE game engine, the perfect rules for investigation and tense, supernatural events. Set in the Edwardian Era (approximately 1901-1910, during the reign of King Edward VII of Great Britain), players take on the roles of occult investigators: antiquarians, scholars, archivists, archaeologists, detectives, and so on, exploring the supernatural and uncovering arcane and esoteric mysteries. The GUMSHOE engine, created by renowned game designer Robin Laws, has been carefully tailored to the ghost story genre, and everything you need to explore the Edwardian world and create your own Jamesian stories is included in one book.

Have you ever been haunted by a work of art? You may not be merely captured by the craft, but by something that lies in the work's depths. Something admiring you as you admire it. Do you know the King in Yellow? The Sepia Prince? The Duke of Rust? Have you heard their whispers coming to you from dried up parchment and faded photographs? Maybe another member of the King's court has lit upon your life, casting shadows and doubts. Do you worship them, fear them, revere them, or simply seek to understand them? These hallowed nobles who hold court around the King. Each noble holds an artform in their wavelength. For their color to shine, that art must practiced. There are no older or younger members of the court. Each has existed since before time was a concept they entertained. All of culture has evolved to suit their needs. Art is in the eye of the beholder, and color is only an abstract concept. The Chromatic Court is very real, you reading this has assured that... A Lovecraftian dark fantasy collection from Peter Rawlik, featuring all new stories by: Glynn Owen Barass, David Bernard, Jon Black, Simon Bucher-Jones, John Linwood Grant, Micah S. Harris, Rick Lai, MaTT Loughlin, Paul StJohn Mackintosh, Christine Morgan, Logan Noble, & Joseph S. Pulver Sr.

"I've been told that this is the most elegant thing I've ever written. I can't think how such a dark brew of motifs came together to create that effect. But there's unassuaged longing and nostalgia in here, interwoven with the horror, as well as an unflagging drive towards the final consummation. I still feel more for the story's characters, whether love or loathing, than for any others I've created to date. Tragedy, urban legend, Gothic romance, warped fairy tale of New York: it's all there. And of course, most important of all is the seductive allure of writing and of books - and what that can lead some people to do. You may not like my answer to the mystery of the third book. But I hope you stay to find out." - Paul StJohn Mackintosh