Biographies and Autobiographies
WORLD WAR I AND THE QUESTION OF ULSTER - The Correspondence of Lilian and Wilfrid Spender by Margaret Baguley. Based on a collection of some 2750 letters in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, this book is an edited selection of the wartime correspondence of Sir Wilfrid and Lady Lilian Spender against the backdrop of war in France and the political situation in Ulster. This is an accessible and unique source for both the academic and general reader interested in British, Irish and Northern Irish history, in particular those interested in British-Irish relations following the crisis over the Third Home Rule Bill, the military history of the first world war, the development of Ulster Unionism and the splits in Irish Unionism during the first world war. Hardback, 572 pages. Published price £45 – OUR PRICE £40.99.
FORWARD THE RIFLES – The War Diary of an Irish Solider 1914 – 1918, Captain David Campbell, M.C. David Campbell served in the Trinity College, Dublin OTC and on the outbreak of war was invited to apply for a commission, he did so. He served in the 6th Royal Irish Rifles and saw service in Gallipoli and Salonika before being invalided back to England. The diary covers the whole period of his service. Illustrated softback book, 158 pages. OUR PRICE - £9.99
THE KAISER'S BATTLE by Martin Middlebrook. Carefully researched account of the German Spring Offensive of 1918. Signed by the author. Illustrated softback, 431 pp. £16.99 - OUR PRICE £14.99
CAPTAIN STANILAND’S JOURNEY, The North Midland Territorials Go To War by Martin Middlebrook. Starting with the question, “Jane, why is your house called Lindenhoek?” Martin Middlebrook tells the story of two Lincolnshire brothers against a background of the 46th (North Midland) Division’s service on the Western Front. Signed by the author. Well illustrated softback. 143pp. £12.95 – OUR PRICE £10.99.
CAPTAIN STANILAND’S JOURNEY, The North Midland Territorials Go To War by Martin Middlebrook. Starting with the question, “Jane, why is your house called Lindenhoek?” Martin Middlebrook tells the story of two Lincolnshire brothers against a background of the 46th (North Midland) Division’s service on the Western Front. Signed by the author. Well illustrated softback. 143pp. £12.95 – OUR PRICE £10.99.
DEATH FOR DESERTION- The Story Of The Court Martial And Execution Of Sub. Lt. Edwin Dyett. Leonard Sellers. The author throws new light onto the case of Edwin Dyett (Nelson Battalion, Royal Naval Division) who was shot on 5th February, 1917 for desertion in the face of the enemy. Softback. 179 pp. Published price £12.95 - OUR PRICE £9.99.
MEET AT DAWN, UNARMED – Captain Robert Hamilton’s account of Trench Warfare and the Christmas Truce of 1914 by Andrew Hamilton and Alan Reed. An eye witness account of Trench Warfare and the Christmas Truce in 1914. On August 5th 1914, Robert Hamilton left his young family behind in Devon to start a momentous six month journey through France and Belgium with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. Captain Robert Hamilton's original diary has been reproduced, word for word, along with an informative commentary by Robert’s grandson, Andrew Hamilton and Great War enthusiast Alan Reed. Paperback book, 208 pages including 113 photos and 10 maps and sketches. Published Price £16.99 – OUR PRICE £14.99
HONOURED BY STRANGERS – The Life of Captain Francis Cromie, CB, DSO, RN – 1882 – 1918 by Roy Bainton. Captain Francis Cromie became a submarine commander at the remarkably young age of 24. In 1915 he was chosen to head a flotilla of submarines to attack German shipping in the Baltic Sea. He was decorated three times by the Czar of Russia and received the DSO. His murder in the British Embassy in 1918 at the age of 37 remained a tragic mystery for many years. Roy Bainton's extensive researches have revealed why Cromie has previously been omitted from official histories of that difficult period. Illustrated hardback, 316 pp. Published price £18.99 - OUR PRICE £5.99.
THE LIVING UNKNOWN SOLDIER – A true story of Grief and the Great War by Jean-Yves Le Naour. The remarkably powerful and moving true story of a soldier who lost his memory and identity during World War I, and of a people in mourning, who found in him the symbol of a lost generation. Released from a German POW camp with no memory of his name or his past life and no documents or distinguishing marks to identify him, the soldier was given the name Anthelme Mangin, and sent to an asylum for the insane. Jean Yves Le Naour meticulously recreates the twenty-year court battles waged over the Living Unknown Soldier. Illustrated hardback, 232 pp. Published price £15.99 OUR PRICE £4.99.
HAIG – A re-appraisal 80 years on by Brian Bond and Nigel Cave. This volume represents the collaboration of two leading historical societies, The British Commission for Military History and The Douglas Haig Fellowship. Leading historians have produced a comprehensive and fascinating study of the most significant and frequently debated aspects of Haig's momentous career. Softback £14.99 - OUR PRICE £12.99
THE ROAD TO ST. JULIEN, The letters of a stretcher bearer of the Great War. William St. Clair (edited John St. Clair) Continuous account from the moment of joining up in 1914, through the years of horror in the trenches, to the march into Germany in 1919 and the long aftermath of trying to make sense of what had happened. A private in the medical corps, St Clair wrote daily letters often scribbled under fire. Hardback. £19.95 – OUR PRICE £15.99.
CAPTURED AT KUT – Prisoner of the Turks, The Great War Diaries of Colonel William Spackman edited by Tony Spackman. This edited diary is Colonel Bill Spackman's extraordinary personal record of his experiences as the Medical Officer of an Indian Infantry battalion during the Mesopotamian Campaign 1914 - 1916. In particular he describes the harrowing events of the five month siege of Kut and, after the surrender of the 10,000 strong garrison in April 1916, the hardships of the 1,000 mile forced march to Anatolia in Turkey. Hardback £19.99 – OUR PRICE £15.49
MEN OF 18 IN 1918by Frederick James Hodges. A personal account by an infantryman of 1918. Frederick Hodges served on the Western Front in the Lancashire Fusiliers. Illustrated softback, 235 pp. £5.99 – OUR PRICE £4.99.
FOR LOVE AND COURAGE – The letters of Lt. Col. E W Hermon from the Western Front edited by Anne Nason. The letters have been transcribed and edited by Hermon’s granddaughter Anne Nason with the help of James Holland. The letters are believed to be unique in their candour and context since Hermon was Battalion Commander and thus his letters were not censored.Lt. Colonel E.W. Hermon died on the 9th of April 1917, the first day of the battle of Arras, leading his men of the 24th Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers into the attack. Hardback. 368 pp. £20 – OUR PRICE £15.99.
HAIG’S GENERALS edited by Ian Beckett & Steven Corvi. Chapters are devoted to Allenby, Byng, Birdwood, Gough, Horne, Monro, Plumer, Rawlinson and Smith-Dorrien. Offers a fascinating insight into the mentality of these men and into their methods as they sought a solution to the problem of war on the Western Front. Contributors include John Bourne, John Lee, Gary Sheffield and Peter Simkins. Softback £12.99 – OUR PRICE £9.99
SURVIVORS OF A KIND: Memoirs of the Western Front by Brian Bond. This collection of essays explores the tremendous effect that war experience had on the writers' lives and how they came to terms with it after 1918. As well as such famous literary figures as Robert Graves and Siegfried Sassoon, it includes historically significant writers such as Lord Reith, Anthony Eden and Harold Macmillan. Military figures included are Brigadier General F. P. Crozier and airmen Cecil Lewis and Billy Bishop. Hardback. 216 pp. £25 - OUR PRICE £20.99
BONNER VC, The biography of Gus Bonner: VC and Master Mariner by Sue Satterthwaite. Newly published biography of Gus Bonner. During his Great War service Bonner was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for action on the Q-ship Pargust and the Victoria Cross for action on Dunraven, following which he was given the opportunity to captain his own Q-ship. Sue Satterthwaite’s biography is based on amazing collection of items relating to Gus Bonner’s life which have been carefully preserved by his family, resulting in the life story of this brave man being told through personal letters, documents, press reports and photographs. Factual information is interwoven with extracts from letters to provide a fascinating account of both his private and professional life, whilst more than seventy images and documents help to paint a vivid picture of an extraordinary man. Signed by the author. Hardback A4 format 140 pp with 88 illustrations. PUBLISHED PRICE £19.99 OUR PRICE £18.49
DOUGLAS HAIG AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR by J P Harris. A definitive new life of the British Army’s controversial Commander-in-Chief during the First World War. Paul Harris decisively answers the contested issue of whether Haig's tactics cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of British soldiers during the First World War or were essential to the Allied victory. From December 1915 until the armistice of November 1918, Sir Douglas Haig was commander-in-chief of the largest army his country had ever put into the field. He has been portrayed as both an incompetent 'butcher and bungler' and a clear-sighted, imperturbable 'architect of victory'. However, in this magisterial new account, J. P. Harris dispels such stereotypes. Hardback. 650 pp. £25 - OUR PRICE £19.99
“THANK GOD I AM TRYING TO DO MY LITTLE BIT” by Ken Wayman. The title of this book derives from a pencil-written letter of Private Jim Elwell, 7th Suffolks; It was but one of fifty-three letters, field service postcards and greetings cards from Jim that are preserved for posterity and which afford an insight into the life of an erstwhile civilian family-man who was called up in June 1916. Jim took part in the Battle of Arleux on 28th April, when he was posted as first, ‘slightly wounded’ and eventually, ‘wounded and missing in action’. The book is packed throughout with original photos, letters, postcards and other official documents that illustrate Jim Elwell’s life and the impact that he had on those who touched upon his existence both in the army and in his pre-war civilian days. 98 pp. 88 photographs & 3 maps. Softback. A4 format. Published price £11.95 - OUR PRICE £10.49
DEAR HAL, YOUR PUD – compiled and edited by Theo Stibbons. The story of a young Norfolk soldier, Raymond Randall, nicknamed Pudlo, told through his letters home to his brother Harold (Hal). Raymond originally enlisted in the 8th Norfolks but after three weeks was transferred to the 10th Essex. Throughout his training, his journey to the Front and his time in the line and a long stay in hospital after being injured in the Battle of the Somme he maintains correspondence with home. The book makes use of the 10th Essex war diary to help illustrate the diary. 116 pp. Illustrated. Softback. A4 format. Published price £12.95 - OUR PRICE £10.99
GRANDAD'S WAR - The First World War Diary of Horace Reginald Stanley by Juliet and Heather Brodie. The young Horace Stanley had joined the Cambridgeshire Regiment before the First World War. By the time his unit arrived on the battlefield, he was a sergeant in B Company, 6 platoon. Invalided out of the Cambridgeshire’s at the end of 1915 after service in Ypres he joined the Army Ordnance Corps and returned to the front. He then served on the Somme, Ypres again and finally St Quentin and Vimy in 1918. He went to war with his military equipment but also with a sharp mind, a notebook and most remarkable of all, a camera amongst his kit. 80 pp. Illustrated. Softback. A4 format. Published price £11.95 - OUR PRICE £10.49
LAWRENCE ATTWELL’S LETTERS FROM THE FRONT Ed. W. A. Attwell. Attwell (Prince of Wales’s Own, Civil Service Rifles) survived over four years on the Western Front. Extraordinary series of letters to his family graphically recounts what life was like for the ordinary infantry soldier on active duty. Hardback. £19.99 – OUR PRICE £16.95.
STANLEY SPENCER’S GREAT WAR DIARY 1915 – 1918 by Stanley Spencer MC. The autyor enlisted with the Royal Fusiliers as a private in 1915 and was commissioned in 1917 and thereafter served with the West Yorkshire Regiment until demobilised in 1919. He was awarded the Military Cross for his role in a particularly successful trench raid on 1 August 1918. He writes of his experiences in a frank and graphic way. Hardback. 158 pp. £19.99 - OUR PRICE £16.99
UNDER FIRE IN THE DARDANELLES - the Great War Diaries and photographs of Major Edward Cadogan edited by Camilla Cecil & Kira Charatan. Until the age of 34, the Hon. Edward Cadogan led a privileged life as an aristocrat in Edwardian London. Volunteering for service as soon as was declared, he exchanged his life of extreme luxury for one of extreme discomfort. His diary and photographs cover his service in Gallipoli, Egypt, North Africa and Palestine. Hardback. 158 pp. £19.99 - OUR PRICE £16.99
FAMOUS – Vic Piuk and Richard Van Emden. Famous tells the Great War stories of twenty of Britain's most respected, best known and even notorious celebrities. They include politicians, actors, writers, an explorer, a sculptor and even a murderer. The generation that grew up in the late 19th Century enlisted enthusiastically in the defence of the country. Many would become household names such as Basil Rathbone, the definitive Sherlock Holmes, AA Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh, and Arnold Ridley who found fame and public affection as the genial Godfrey, in Dad's Army. Illustrated with photos and maps. Hardback. Published price £25 – OUR PRICE £19.99
THE GREATER GAME by Clive Harris & Julian Whippy. The story of fourteen professional sportsmen who gave their lives in the Great War. Their intriguing yet tragic stories are drawn from the ranks of professional footballers, international rugby stars, Wimbledon champions, Olympic gold medallists, cricketing heroes, golfing professionals, a member of the Ice Hockey Hall of Fame and a Tour de France winner of the countries fighting for the Allied cause. Hardback. Published price £19.99. OUR PRICE £16.99
LETTERS OF AGAR ADAMSON Served on Western Front as an officer with Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry 1915-1919. Fought at Mount Sorrel and on the Somme. Commanded Regiment at Vimy Ridge and Passchendaele. Softback. 368 pages. £13.50 - OUR PRICE £10.95
SUDDENLY WE DIDNT WANT TO DIE by Elton E. Mackin. Elton Mackin joined the US Marine Corp in early 1918 and was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment on the second day of the Battle of Belleau Wood, 7 June 1918. Mackin was awarded the US Army Distinguished Service Cross, the Navy Cross, and two Army Silver Star citations for bravery between 3rd and 5th October 1918 at Mont-Blanc. Hardback book, 262 pages - OUR PRICE £7.99
GENERAL JACK’S DIARY Edited by John Terraine. Unique account of the war from start to finish by an Infantry Officer, Brig. Gen. J. L. Jack, D.S.O. of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles). Welcome and affordable reprint of this classic. Softback. 320 pp. £6.99 – OUR PRICE £5.95
EMPSONS` WAR C.C. Empson. Collection of letters sent by 3 brothers 1910-1921. One brother, Jack, was killed while serving with the RFC in May, 1914 while Arthur, a regular soldier, served throughout the war in France and Flanders with the RFA. He gained the Belgian Croix de Guerre and MC. A third brother, also RA, went to Mesopotamia after service in Peshawar. Hardback. 142 pp. £12.50 - OUR PRICE £4.99
THIS FOUL THING CALLED WAR - The Life Of Brigadier-General R.J. Kentish, CMG, DSO (1876- 1956) Basil Kentish. Served in South Africa with 1st Bn. Royal Irish Fusiliers and in 1914 was awarded one of the first DSOs of the Great War. Took commanded of 1st East Lancashire in May, 1915, serving on the Somme, then having returned to 1st RIF was appointed to 3rd Army School. Later commanded 166th Bde, 55th Division. Hardback. 157pp £12.95 - OUR PRICE £2.99
LETTERS FROM THE FRONT - The Great War Correspondence of Lieutenant Brian Lawrence, 1916-17 Ian Fletcher (ed). Saw action with 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards on the Somme. Hardback. 128 pages. £15.95 - OUR PRICE £4.99
HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN YET? - the First World War memoirs of C. P. Blacker MC, MA, MD, FRCP MRCS Dr. John Blacker. Story of an infantry officer on the Western Front, (4th Bn. Coldstream Guards) awarded the MC. Ends with a moving description of the liberation of French towns which had been under German occupation for four years. Hardback. £25.00 - OUR PRICE £19.99
LETTERS FROM THE TRENCHES Cyril Morrell (Ed. K. Carter.) Moving collection of letters tracing the experiences of a young Black Country soldier in the E. Yorkshire Regt. Sadly he was killed in action and the correspondence concludes with letters from his comrades and from the War Office explaining how he died. Edited by his niece. Softback. 71pp. £7.95 – OUR PRICE £6.95
NOT THEIRS THE SHAME WHO FIGHT Edited selections from the Great War diaries, poems and letters of Pte. R. C. Potter, 21st Bn., AIF. Enlisted in 1916 and saw action at Bullecourt, Ypres, German Advance, etc. Softback. 210 pp. OUR PRICE £9.45
THE LITTLE FIELD MARSHAL A life of Sir John French Richard Holmes. Rich portrait of a man who was at the heart of some of the most important military events of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Softback. 427 pp. £8.99 – OUR PRICE £6.99
BURGOYNE DIARIES Diaries written by Gerald Achilles Burgoyne while serving in trenches just south of Ypres with 2nd Royal Irish Rifles, November, 1914 - May, 1915. He was wounded and sent back to England after the attack on Hill 60. Hardback. 249 pp. £10.95 - OUR PRICE £4.99
DOUGLAS HAIG: the Educated Soldier John Terraine. A welcome reprint of this important biography of Haig. A biography, but also a record of the Western Front seen through the eyes of those at the highest level of command. Softback. 508 pp. £12.99 – OUR PRICE £10.99
OLD SOLDIER SAHIB Pte. Frank Richards DCM MM (Annotated by H. J. Krijnen & D. E. Langley.) Although not describing the Great War, this account of Frank Richards's pre-war regular army service in India makes wonderful reading. In many ways, a "prequel" to Old Soldiers Never Die and produced by the same editors in a similar, extensively-annotated and illustrated edition which includes 56 pages of photos and maps. Approx 360 pp. Hardback. OUR PRICE £21.99
COPSE 125 Ernst Jünger. The other memoir from author of The Storm of Steel. Hardback. 264 pp 17.95 - OUR PRICE £7.99
BETWEEN THE LINES - Letters And Diaries From Elsie Inglis’s Russian Unit. Audrey Fawcett Cahill. Tells the story of a Scottish Women’s Hospital unit in Russia that served throughout two offensives and three retreats and witnessed some of the upheavals of the 1917 revolution. Softback. 382 pp. £17.00 - OUR PRICE £4.95
MILITARY CORRESPONDENCE OF FIELD MARSHAL SIR HENRY WILSON 1918-1922 Keith Jeffery (ed). Drawn from some 3,000 letters held by the Imperial War Museum. Army Records Society publication. Hardback. 438 pp. £20.00 - OUR PRICE £7.99
FIELD MARSHAL EARL HAIG Philip Warner. Presents Haig as a paradoxical figure – taciturn, often inarticulate, but shrewd and ambitious. The portrait that emerges is of a flawed but courageous individual who almost certainly achieved as much as anyone could have done under the circumstances. Softback. 296 pp. £6.99 – OUR PRICE £3.99
THE GREAT WAR DIARIES OF BRIGADIER GENERAL ALEXANDER JOHNSTON 1914-1917 Edwin Astill. Entering France in 1914 as Signals Officer for 7 Infantry Brigade, Alexander Johnston became Brigade Major, Commanding Officer 10th Battalion Cheshire Regiment and finally Officer Commanding 126 Infantry Brigade. He was always close to the front line, yet his signals and staff duties gave him an insight into the workings of higher command. Was at Mons, Le Cateau, La Bassee, the Somme,Messines. Hardback. £19.99 OUR PRICE £13.95
BEST O’LUCK Alexander McLintock, DCM. First published in 1917 under the title - How A Fighting Kentuckian Won The Thanks Of Britain’s King, this book records the experiences of an American serving with the 87th Grenadier Guards of Canada. Fought on the Western Front until wounded on the Somme in November, 1916. McClintock escorted Canon Scott (see The Great War As I Saw It) into No Man`s Land to look for his missing son. Softback. 240 pages. £9.95 - OUR PRICE £6.95
FROM MONS TO MESSINES AND BEYOND – The Great War Experiences of Sgt. Charles Arnold Edited and introduced by S. Royle. Excellent little book covering the author’s service with the East Surreys and subsequently the Border Regiment. Author served in Ireland, on the Western Front (Mons and Le Cateau, Somme, Messines) and eventually in Egypt. Softback 63 pp. £7.95 – OUR PRICE £6.95
SILHOUETTES OF THE GREAT WAR. Memoir of Harold Becker, a corporal with the 75th Canadian Infantry Battalion. Western Front. Includes 30 photographs and illustrations taken from Harold Becker’s personal album. Softback. 300 pages. £13.95 - OUR PRICE £10.95
THE JOURNAL OF PRIVATE FRASER Ed. Dr. R. H. Roy. Donald Fraser was in many ways a typical soldier of the Great War. Like thousands of others he enthusiastically enlisted to support his King and Country in the great European war. Fraser joined the 31st (Calgary) Battalion in 1914. His journey from those jubilant days in Calgary led him to the great battlefields of the First World War. . His own war came to a sudden end in the slime of Passchendaele in November 1917. Softback. £13.95 – OUR PRICE £11.95
LAST MAN STANDING - the memoirs of a Seaforth Highlander during the Great War edited by R. van Emden. Norman Collins (who lived to 100) joined the Seaforth Highlanders in 51st Highland Division while under age. Fought at Beaumont-Hamel, Arras and Passchendaele. He had an unusually detailed collection of letters, documents, illustrations and photographs which the author has drawn on extensively. Hardback. £19.95 - OUR PRICE £15.99.
DIE HARD, ABY! By David Lister. Examines in depth the case of a young Jewish boy (Abraham Beverstein Middlesex Regiment) who was wounded, hospitalised and on (possibly premature) release did not return to his battalion immediately, resulting in his trial and execution for desertion. Hardback. £19.99 - OUR PRICE 15.99
MY BOY JACK? The Search for Kipling’s Only Son by Tonie & Valmai Holt. John Kipling, the son of Rudyard, was reported missing at Loos on 27th September, 1915. This book covers John’s short life and how his father searched for his son’s final resting-place. Softback. 236 pp. £12.95 – OUR PRICE £9.99
ARCHITECT OF VICTORY – DOUGLAS HAIG by Walter Reid. Biography of Douglas Haig, without presenting him as a saint, what emerges is a portrait of a man who assumed awesome responsibilities and discharged them without flinching. Illustrated hardback, 555 pp. Published price £25 OUR PRICE £9.99.
The Great War by Field Marshal von Hindenburg edited by Charles Messenger. Von Hindenburg retired from the army in 1911, but returned to service at the outbreak of World War I. He was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the German armies in the East, where he achieved a number of significant victories, most notably at the Battle of the Masurian Lakes. The Great War gives unparalleled insight into German military thinking during World War I, and offers the rare perspective of one of Germany's most senior military figures. This is the first edition of von Hindenburg's memoirs in more than fifty years. Brand new hardback copy, 236 pages. Published price £19.99 – OUR PRICE £6.99
PLUMER - THE SOLDIER'S GENERAL by G. Powell. Well-researched biography of the rather neglected hero of Messines. Paperback £9.95 – OUR PRICE £7.99
SAILOR IN THE AIR: The Memoirs of the World's First Carrier Pilot by Richard Bell Davies V.C. Illustrated softback, 246 pages, published price £9.99 - OUR PRICE £7.99
PRIVATE 12768 – Memoirs of a Tommy by John Jackson. Jackson served on the western front from 1915 until the war's end, he was present at Loos in 1917, on the Somme in 1916, in Flanders in 1917; he was on the receiving end of the German offensive in April 1918, and he took part in the breaking of the Hindenburg Line at the end of September 1918. Softback copy, 262 pages, published price £9.99 - OUR PRICE £3.99
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