Their Darkest Hour

A collection of chilling first-hand accounts that dive under the skin and psyche of people in World War II, from bestselling and award-winning author Laurence Rees - part of a reissue series celebrating his classic works


How could Nazi killers shoot Jewish women and children at close range? Why did Japanese soldiers rape and murder on such a horrendous scale? How was it possible to endure the torment of a Nazi death camp?

Award-winning documentary maker and historian Laurence Rees has spent decades wrestling with such questions in the course of filming hundreds of interviews with people tested to the extreme during World War II. He has come face-to-face with rapists, mass murderers, even cannibals, but he has also met courageous individuals who are an inspiration to us all.

In Their Darkest Hour he presents 35 of his most electrifying encounters.

'A remarkably powerful collection' Antony Beevor, Daily Telegraph

'An incredible, well-written, must-read book' Glasgow Evening Times

'A lasting contribution to our understanding of the Second World War and a powerful insight into the behaviour of human beings in crisis' Independent