My Boy Jack?: The Search for Kipling's Only Son - Softcover

Holt, Tonie; Holt, Valamai

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1844157040 ISBN 13: 9781844157044

Publisher: Pen and Sword Military, 2008

Synopsis

Republished to coincide with the new ITV film, My Boy Jack? starring Daniel Radcliffe, this is the full account of the tragic life of John 'Jack' Kipling. On 27th September 1915 John Kipling, the only son of Britain's best loved poet, disappeared during the Battle of Loos. The body lay undiscovered for 77 years. Then, in a most unusual move, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) re-marked the grave of an unknown Lieutenant of the Irish Guards, as that of John Kipling. There is considerable evidence that John's grave has been wrongly identified and for the first time in this book, the authors name the soldier they believe is buried in 'John's grave'. This is the first biography of John's short life, analysing the devastating effect it had on his famous father's work.

About this title

From the Author:

Rudyard Kipling lost his son in the battle of Loos in September 1915 and spent the rest of his life looking for his body. In July 1992 the Commonwealth War Graves Commission claimed to have found it buried in St Mary's ADS Cemetery near Loos.We doubted the argument used to identify the body and began to research the facts surrounding the boy's death and the Commissions argument. What started as pure research turned into a biography of John Kipling (the 'Jack' in the poem - it was written for him) and this book is part detective story and part the life of a previously under-rated young man who died in his first battle at the age of 18.We also give our views about the reliability of the Commisson's 'identification' - we would be interested to hear yours.

About the Author:

Major and Mrs Holt founded the first organisation to offer battlefield tours to the general public in the late 1970s. Since the 1990s they have been writing their series of guide books, incorporating all that they have learned from their experiences conducting thousands of people around battlefields. This series, designed to serve as companions for travellers, whether sitting at home or physically visiting the battlefields, includes detailed travel directions, military history, fascinating anecdotes and tourist information. The Holts share the writing of their books equally and conduct all their own research, spending many weeks on the ground as they prepare each new book or update previously published titles.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1844157040
• ISBN 13: 9781844157044
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256