Long Journey To Destiny
by
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Hitler’s first conquests – Austria, the Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia, the demilitarized Rhineland – were bloodless. His first bloody strike east crushed Poland. To the west? On May 10, 1940, the Wehrmacht strikes The Netherlands which Hitler expects will capitulate within a day or two. He is mistaken. Grebbe Line defenders exhibit legendary Dutch stubbornness, Hitler’s airborne troops drop onto Rotterdam and The Hague – and meet fierce opposition, and outnumbered and outgunned Dutch troops change – unknowingly at the time – the course of WWII and world history. A stout-hearted queen and a Carmelite priest stand up to Nazism, and resistance fighters’ cunning and courage prove lethal for some of history’s lesser-known bad guys. Two girls emigrate from Romanian farms to Paris and then Amsterdam and make life-altering choices. A young American employee of a global steamship company finds himself swept into this maelstrom. This history-rich saga provides perspectives little known to Americans.
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About the Book
Hitler’s first conquests – Austria, the Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia, the demilitarized Rhineland – were bloodless. His first bloody strike east crushed Poland. To the west? On May 10, 1940, the Wehrmacht strikes The Netherlands which Hitler expects will capitulate within a day or two. He is mistaken. Grebbe Line defenders exhibit legendary Dutch stubbornness, Hitler’s airborne troops drop onto Rotterdam and The Hague – and meet fierce opposition, and outnumbered and outgunned Dutch troops change – unknowingly at the time – the course of WWII and world history. A stout-hearted queen and a Carmelite priest stand up to Nazism, and resistance fighters’ cunning and courage prove lethal for some of history’s lesser-known bad guys. Two girls emigrate from Romanian farms to Paris and then Amsterdam and make life-altering choices. A young American employee of a global steamship company finds himself swept into this maelstrom. This history-rich saga provides perspectives little known to Americans.
About the Author
Of Mike Johnson’s six books, five are meticulously researched historical novels. In those books Johnson’s aim is giving readers a sense of “really being there” as history unfolds. Toward that end Johnson has visited 22 nations a total of some 125 times. Places that he has visited where travelers seldom go include Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Singapore’s highest point, England’s Royal Military Academy, Colmar, France’s early books vault, the ruins of the one remaining gas chamber at Auschwitz, the history department at the University of Warsaw, the vast wine cellars beneath the French villages Riquewihr and Ribeauville, the mile-high castle overlooking Ribeauville, the Members Tea Rooms in Britain’s Houses of Parliament, the Army-Navy Club in London – and more. Johnson’s other book – Mascot, Minister, Man of Steel – pays tribute to the human spirit’s resilience by telling the story of kids he once knew who later faced serious adversity with courage and grace. Johnson can be emailed at bleedgreen67@msn.com.