I am delighted to be the winner of D-Day by Sir Martin Gilbert in this commemorative month of June!
Placing a copy of the book from Sir Martin’s private library, onto my own bookcase, will be a memorable moment. It will have travelled further than any of the winning books so far, in coming to Aotearoa New Zealand, but it will be welcomed unreservedly. And it will be among family, other books from Sir Martin’s prolific body of work. I can see the two copies of Holocaust Journey standing taller and Atlas of the Holocaust sprucing itself up. Churchill’s The Second World War (Volume 11) will need to move onto that shelf, as it’s a cousin really …
The Sir Martin Gilbert Memorial website is unique and valuable. It is a fitting and ongoing tribute to a man whose service as an historian has been focused and diligent. A man whose books are so readable – you absorb not only dates and events, but you are left as readers, touched, impacted, by the people who stand up from his pages. As a regular visitor to the website I continue to be fascinated by the huge range of information it holds. The recent addition of the selection of video clips of Sir Martin is particularly appreciated, giving as it does, opportunity to listen to him, at the same time giving a glimpse of his evident and cheerful patience with the technical recording process.
My first and most special of Sir Martin’s books was Holocaust Journey. What an unforgettable experience for those students who travelled with him on that journey. The book was my welcome companion and guide when I trudged alone through the Ghetto area of Warsaw some years ago. Having read most of his histories of that terrible time, it was logical to move on into his broader war research. Sir Martin’s no doubt meticulous record of D-Day, a key moment for all our lives, will be read with particular interest, all the more special for having come from his home and will indeed sit proudly on my bookcase.
Thank you to Lady Gilbert, to whom tribute is due for her dedicated work in developing and maintaining the Sir Martin Gilbert Memorial website to such a high standard. A true and worthy memorial.
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