Merry Christmas from We Have Ways of Making You Talk. Over the next 12 days Al and James are reading extracts from some of their favourite books about the Second World War. Today Al is reading from The Forgotten Soldier,

Throughout the Second World War, the Special Boat Service took part in daring assaults across Europe and Asia – usually in the dead of night and in small canoes. James Holland and Al Murray discuss these missions and the fate

Chapter 16: The Cauldron, by Zeno In September, 1944, the British 1st Airborne Division found itself in a fierce battle for the Dutch city of Arnhem. Al Murray reads the story of a single platoon trapped in the smoking ruins

When Patrick Marnham was sent a letter from an anonymous reader claiming to have inside knowledge about the French Resistance he was forced to re-examine his work on the subject. Here he joins Al and James to discuss the subterfuge