Pen Sword Books Ltd South Yorkshire (Over 5,800 results)

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Carve Her Name With Pride is the inspiring story of the half-French Violette Szabo who was born in Paris Iin 1921 to an English motor-car dealer, and a French Mother. She met and married Etienne Szabo, a Captain in the French Foreign Legion in 1940. Shortly after the birth of her daughter, Tania, her husband died at El Alamein. She became a FANY (First Aid Nursing Yeomanry) and was recruited into the SOE and underwent secret agent training. Her first trip to France was completed successfully even though she was arrested and then released by the French Police. On June 7th, 1944, Szabo was parachuted into Limoges. Her task was to co-ordinate the work of the French Resistance in the area in the first days after D-Day. She was captured by the SS 'Das Reich' Panzer Division and handed over to the Gestapo in Paris for interrogation. From Paris, Violette Szabo was sent to Ravensbruck concentration camp where she was executed in January 1945. She was only 23 and for her courage was posthumously awarded The George Cross and the Croix de Guerre. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. 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. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Airway to the East 1918-1920, has been written and compiled using photographs and a diary, discovered by Clive Semple, in his father's attic after his death in 1971. Once he retired in 1996, he set to work researching the background to his father's collection. The diary and two of the albums were the basis of Clive's first book, Diary of a Night Bomber Pilot in WW1 which was published in 2008.The third album and, most importantly the scrap book, provided the starting point for research into a sorry tale of RAF mismanagement which is revealed in this book. The Balfour Declaration in 1917, promised the Jews a homeland in Palestine. This contradicted a previous promise which Britain had made to the Arabs guaranteeing them independence if they helped drive the Turks out of Palestine and Syria. The Turks were duly driven out. When the Arabs discovered that they had been swindled they revolted and the British Army was unable to contain the unrest. It was decided to reinforce the Army with a fleet of bombers and fifty-one set off from England and France to fly to Cairo in the summer of 1919. Seventeen crashed or were otherwise destroyed en route and eight airmen were killed. The story got into the newspapers and Parliament demanded a Court of Enquiry. The evidence of mismanagement looked so bad, that before the enquiry began, Hugh Trenchard, Chief of the Air Staff, decided to hold it behind closed doors at the Air Ministry. The enquiries findings were suppressed by the Secretary of State for Air, Winston Churchill and the newspapers never followed up the story. Fortunately the enquiry proceedings were filed away at the Air Ministry and it was a newspaper cutting which Clive found in his father's scrap book dealing with the row in Parliament, that led him to search through the Air Ministry files and uncover this account.Most histories of the RAF are written by retired senior RAF officers who have all avoided including this event in their written works. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The Fw190s supremacy over the Spitfire V is a classic legend from the Second World War, heralding one of the darkest times for Fighter Command and the RAF. _A Tale of Ten Spitfires_ brings this legend to life by examining the individual combat histories of ten Spitfire VCs, the first of which is the Shuttleworth Collection's well known Spitfire AR501, followed by the next nine on the production line, AR502 to AR510. This link to a 'living' airframe, whose first flight after a lengthy restoration is imminent, provides an ideal hook for the enthusiast and also members of the wider public with a more general interest in this classic British icon. Through first hand accounts, combat reports, unit diaries and more, the book provides a unique looking glass into the period, told via the experiences of the Spitfire pilots themselves, tracing their fates and those of the ten machines that they flew. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. In 1984 the first edition of the British Army Guide was published and in September 2015 the 13th edition will be on sale. This invaluable information resource which deals with all aspects of British Army organisation, recruitment and training has been extremely popular with service personnel, the defence industry, military libraries and other groups who are interested in the British Army worldwide. Copies can be seen on desks throughout the UK Ministry of Defence and it would be fair to say that almost every foreign defence attache in London has a copy in his briefcase. Chapters include a Defence Overview; Army Organisation; International Commitments; Armour, Infantry, Artillery, Army Aviation, Engineers, Communications and Combat Service Support; Units of the Army; Recruiting and Training; Reserve Forces plus a final Miscellaneous Chapter which deals with a number of items essential to understanding How the British Army functions on a daily basis. Lavishly illustrated throughout there is no comparable publication available on the market. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Indisputably the most effective general of the Wars of the Roses, Edward IV died in his bed, undefeated in battle. Yet Edward has not achieved the martial reputation of other warrior kings such as Henry V - perhaps because he fought his battles against his own people. It has also been suggested that he lacked the personal discipline expected of a truly greatcommander. But as David Santiuste shows in this perceptive and highly readable new study, Edward was a formidable military leader whose strengths and subtlety have not been fully recognized.On the battlefield he was an audacious soldier, fighting like a lion to defend his rights, although he also possessed a cool head that allowed him to withdraw when the odds were against him. His court was a centre of chivalry, but he did not seek military glory for its own sake. For Edward, warfare was always a means to an end - indeed he often preferred to forgive his enemies rather than destroy them. And yet, in 1461 and 1471, he waged two brutal and relentless campaigns, crushing all the opposition in his path.David Santiuste's reassessment of Edward's military role, and of the Wars of the Roses in which he played such a vital part, gives a fascinating insight into Edward the man and into the politics and the fighting. Based on contemporary sources and the latest scholarly research, Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses brings to life an extraordinary period of English history. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This invaluable information resource which deals with all aspects of British Army organisation, recruitment and training has been extremely popular with service personnel, the defence industry, military libraries and other groups who are interested in the British Army worldwide. Copies can be seen on desks throughout the UK Ministry of Defence and it would be fair to say that almost every foreign defence attache in London has a copy in his briefcase.Chapters include a Defence Overview; Army Organisation; International Commitments; Armour, Infantry, Artillery, Army Aviation, Engineers, Communications and Combat Service Support; Units of the Army; Recruiting and Training; Reserve Forces plus a final Miscellaneous Chapter which deals with a number of items essential to understanding How the British Army functions on a daily basis. rnrnLavishly illustrated throughout there is no comparable publication available on the market. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The Battle of Mons takes its place in the history of the British army beside Corunna and Dunkirk. Initially, all three were defeats, saved from disaster by the courage of the soldiers and the skill of some of the commanders, and paving the way to great feats of arms and final success. In the context of the whole of the WW1, Mons was a small scale affair; comparatively short in duration, and resulting in casualties that were light indeed by the standard of later battles. But, from the British viewpoint, its importance was crucial, partly because it was the first time for close on a hundred years that a British Army had been engaged in warfare on the continent of Europe, and partly because that army passed straight from the dejection of defeat to the exhilaration of the Battle of the Marne - one of the decisive battles of the War. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Peenemunde: windswept corner of the Third Reich and birthplace of the space age. Otto Fischer, a severely wounded Luftwaffe officer and former criminal investigator, is summoned to solve a seemingly incomprehensible case: the murder of a leading rocket engineer during a devastating air-raid. With only days until the SS assume control of the production of a remarkable new weapon, Fischer must find a motive and perpetrator from among several thousand scientists, technicians, soldiers and forced labourers. As he struggles to get the measure of a secretive, brilliant world in which imagination moves far beyond the limits of technology, what at first appears to be a solitary crime draws him into a labyrinth of conspiracy, betrayal and treason. McDermott brings skills previously honed whilst producing well-researched history books to the discipline of writing fiction, creating work that is both historically accurate and evocative as well as stylish in a literary sense. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The offensive on the Somme took place between July and November 1916 and is perhaps the most iconic battle of the Great War. It was there that Kitchener s famous Pals Battalions were first sent into action en masse and it was a battlefield where many of the dreams and aspirations of a nation, hopeful of victory, were agonizingly dashed. Because of its legendary status, the Somme has been the subject of many books, and many more will come out next year. However, nothing has ever been published on the Battle in which the soldiers own photographs have been used to illustrate both the campaign s extraordinary comradeship and its carnage.". The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Despatches in this volume include those relating to the sinking of the German battleship Graf Spee in the Battle of the River Plate in 1939, the loss of the battleships HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse in the Far East, the sinking of the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst in 1943, the attack on Tirpitz by midget submarines, the contribution by British Pacific Fleet to the assault on Okinawa in 1945 (which included four Royal Navy battleships), and the sinking of Bismarck in 1941. This unique collection of original documents will prove to be an invaluable resource for historians, students and all those interested in what was one of the most significant periods in British military history. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Passchendaele is the next volume in the highly-regarded series of books from the best-selling First World War historian Richard van Emden. Once again, using the winning formula of diaries and memoirs, and above all original photographs taken on illegally-held cameras by the soldiers themselves, Richard tells the story of 1917, of life both in and out of the line culminating in perhaps the most dreaded battle of them all, the Battle of Passchendaele. His pervious book, The Somme, has now sold nearly 20,000 copies in hardback and softback, proving that the public appetite is undiminished for new, original stories illustrated with over 150 rarely or never-before-seen battlefield images. The author has an outstanding collection of over 5,000 privately-taken and overwhelmingly unpublished photographs, revealing the war as it was seen by the men involved, an existence that was sometimes exhilarating, too often terrifying, and occasionally even fun.Richard van Emden interviewed 270 veterans of the Great War, has written extensively about the soldiers' lives, and has worked on many television documentaries, always concentrating on the human aspects of war, its challenge and its cost to the millions of men involved. This book will be published in June 2017, in time for the 100th anniversary of the epic Battle of Passchendaele which began on 31st July 1917 Richard van Emden s books sold over 650,000 books and have appeared in The Times bestseller chart on a number of occasions. He lives in West London and regularly appears on television, mostly recently as BBC1 s historian for the national commemorations of the Somme Battle. He has appeared on over forty television documentaries and has written nineteen books on the First World War. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. From SAS To Blood Diamond Wars is the story of an outstanding warrior, even by SAS standards.On the point of being demobbed from the SAS, Fred Marafono was recruited by David Stirling for his private security company. After Stirling's death, Fred found himself in the midst of Sierra Leone's Blood Diamond wars, and formed an unbreakable bonding with the country's champion of democracy, Chief Hinga Norman, whose leadership and tragic death are integral to the story.Fred was recruited by Simon Mann for the finest of all private military companies in Africa, Executive Outcomes. Fewer than two hundred of them defeated the rebels in their strongholds. Through political weakness, Executive Outcomes were made to leave the country, and chaos ensued. Committed men like Hinga Norman and British High Commissioner Peter Penfold saw that, in the absence of military commitment from the west, only highly professional former soldiers could spearhead the fight to restore democracy. Three of these veterans kept a vital air bridge open. Fred's final action was supporting the SAS in their brilliant hostage release, Operation Barras.Peter Penfold sums it all up in the book's foreword, writing of the, 'confidence, trust and admiration I have for this remarkable man. '. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. By the laws of statistics John Wyatt should not be here today to tell his story. He firmly believes that someone somewhere was looking after him during those four years. Examine the odds stacked against him and his readers will understand why he hold this view. During the conflict in Malaya and Singapore his regiment lost two thirds of its men. More than three hundred patients and staff in the Alexandra Military Hospital were slaughtered by the Japanese - he was one of the few survivors still alive today. Twenty six percent of British soldiers slaving on the Burma Railway died. More than fifty men out of around six hundred died aboard the Asaka Maru and the Hakasan Maru. Many more did not manage to survive the harshest Japanese winter of 1944/45, the coldest in Japan since record began. John's experiences make for the most compelling and graphic reading. The courage, endurance and resilience of men like him never ceases to amaze. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. …

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. After the dust of World War II had settled, the military position of the UK was far from straightforward. It was of course allied to the USA and part of NATO, but it was at odds with the former in maintaining an Empire and the two nations also had competing oil interests in the Middle East. The UK's engagement in war after 1945 was thus a strange mixture ranging from homeland security through insular actions within the colonies or protectorates to preserve empire - to playing a major role in confronting the USSR. The types of active involvement of the RAF, Fleet Air Arm and Army Air Corps between 1945 and 1995 include the following, with examples.Maintaining Local Stability - Greece, Netherlands East Indies. Maintaining Empire - Malaya, Kenya. Defending Empire - Borneo. Defending Interests - Suez, Kuwait. Homeland Security - Northern Ireland, air defence. Confrontation - Berlin Airlift, Korea. Covert Action - Albania, strategic reconnaissance. Humanitarian and Peacekeeping- Jordan, Cyprus. Development of Deterrent - Bombs, bombers and missiles. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This is much more than just another book to add to the thousands on The Great War. It sets out to fill a gap. Written for the layman by a layman (who is also an articulate and experienced battlefield guide) it summarises the key events and contributions of key individuals, some well, others unknown but with a story to tell. To get a true picture of this monumental event in history, it is necessary to grasp the fundamentals, be they military, political, social or simply human. The slaughters at Verdun, Somme and Passchendaele are no more than statistics without the stories of those that fought, drowned and died there. It is designed to capture the imagination and feed the mind of those ever increasing number of people who seek a better understanding of The Great War. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. For most British people the weekend of 27/28 October 1962 could so very easily have been their last weekend on earth. Yet, astonishingly, the fact that Britain's nuclear deterrent forces were set to such an unprecedented level of readiness was kept secret from the public. Thor nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles stood on a round-the-clock wartime state of alert ready to be fired; these were the 'other' missiles of the Cuban Missile Crisis, which made Britain, in effect, America's launch pad. During the height of the crisis both RAF Bomber Command and the US Strategic Air Command were poised at the highest states of readiness. Both were ordered to a level of war readiness unparalleled throughout the whole of the forty years of Cold War. There is evidence to suggest that, had the US needed to launch an air strike against Russian missiles in Cuba, President Kennedy might have been willing to absorb a Soviet nuclear assault on a NATO ally without retaliation, if it would have avoided escalation to World War Three.It is sobering to those who lived through that period that the British Ambassador to Cuba commented: 'If it was a nuclear war we were headed for, Cuba was perhaps a better place to be than Britain! '. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. 'I am just going outside and may be some time.' With these words, on 17 March 1912, Captain Oates walked out to his death in an Antarctic blizzard and won a place for himself in history as 'a very gallant gentleman'. His reputation for courage and endurance as one of the members of Scott's doomed expedition to the South Pole is as powerful today as it was almost a century ago. Yet, as Sue Limb and Patrick Cordingley reveal in this new edition of their classic biography of the man, there is much more to Captain Oates's life than his final famous act of self-sacrifice. Their work is, as Sir Ranulph Fiennes noted, a 'fascinating character study of a quintessential British hero'. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Few soldiers on the Western Front had heard of the Australian Electrical and Mechanical Mining and Boring Company, even after it had been renamed the 'Alphabet Company' by an AIF wag. Yet many knew the work of this tiny unit which numbered fewer than 300 at full strength. Despite its small size, the Alphabet Company's influence was enormous and spanned the entire British sector of the Western Front, from the North Sea to the Somme. This is the story of the 'Alphabeticals' who, led by Major Victor Morse, DSO, operated and maintained pumps, generators, ventilation fans, drilling equipment and other ingenious devices in extreme circumstances. Given the horrendous conditions in which the troops lived and fought, this equipment was desperately needed, as were the men who operated it in the same, often nightmarish setting. This is the first account of the dynamic little unit that was the Alphabet Company, a unit that has been neglected by history for a century. It is the story of the men, their machinery and the extraordinary grit they displayed in performing some of the most difficult tasks in a war noted for the horrific conditions in which it was waged. They do not deserve to be forgotten. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. What was life in the Red Army like for the ordinary soldier during the Great Patriotic War, the fight between the Soviet Union and Germany on the Eastern Front? How far is the common perception of Red Army heroism and sacrifice borne out by historical reality? And what was the daily experience of the individual soldier caught up in this immense and ruthless conflict? The 160 contemporary photographs from the Russian archives that have been selected for this book give a striking insight into all sides of wartime service for the Soviet soldier. The whole range of military experience is portrayed here, from recruitment and the rigours of training to transport, marching and the ordeal of combat. Artem Drabkin is the creator of the website I Remember which is devoted to recording the oral history of the soldiers and airmen who fought on the Eastern Front. His archive of memoirs and eyewitness accounts is a valuable source for researchers who are studying the Soviet side of the fighting, and it is a fascinating record of the experience of warfare. Among the many publications derived from his work are Tank Rider, Red Road From Stalingrad, T-34 in Action, Red Partisan, Escape From Auschwitz, Barbarossa and the Retreat to Moscow: Recollections of Soviet Fighter Pilots on the Eastern Front, Bomber Pilot on the Eastern Front and Guns Against the Reich. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This is the first part of a planned four-volume series focusing on a hitherto largely neglected aspect of the Great War on the Western Front - the war underground. The subject has fascinated visitors to the battlefields from the very beginning of battlefield pilgrimages in the years immediately after the Armistice. This volume looks mainly at the central Artois, the environs of the whole line of the Vimy Ridge to the River Scarpe and Arras. The narrative draws on French and German archival material and personal descriptions. The text is illustrated with numerous diagrams and maps, in particular from the British and German records, and there is an exhaustive guide to the Grange Subway. Other sites open to the public are also explained and put into context. Endorsements 'The Underground War is that rare combination of a deeply researched and very detailed book that is also very well-written and engages both historian and layman alike. It is enlived by many first-hand accounts from the soldiers and tunnellers and excellent photographs and maps which vividly bring to life that grim, yet invisible subterranean war.Robinson and Cave look not only at the technical nature of the tunnelling and mining, but also the existing topography and they include a fascinating section on touring the relevant battlefield, that enables visitors to find what still remains, and visit sites open to the public. If you have any interest at all in the First World War, then this book comes highly recommended.' Martin Pegler 'This first book in the series details the extensive mining operation along Vimy Ridge to Arras. The authors explain the background to the mining operations and they provide comprehensive maps of the network of runnels that covered this stretch of the front. Helpfully, the authors, Phillip and Nigel, have included a number of tours of accessible sites associated with the underground war.' Britain at War. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The Victorian era produced many famous writers and poets, including Dickens, Thackeray, H.G. Wells and Tennyson. Magazines like The Strand launched famous creations such as Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, whose cliff-hanger stories were told in part-works to add to the excitement.The poetry was epic, Tennyson's Morte d'Arthur and The Lady of Shalott tapped into the Pre-Raphaelite style so popular in the art of the day. Russell James has explored the role of the Victorian writer and their genres, from Dickens' desire to correct social wrongs and expose poverty to H.G. Wells' desire to escape the modern world. The responsibility of the Victorian poet is also revealed from romantic declaration and escapism to heroism and historical commemorations - would modern generations know about the Charge of the Light Brigade if Tennyson hadn't immortalised it? Together with A-Zs of writers and poets, this is a must-read book for everyone who loves good writing and wants to discover more.Author of eleven novels and the recent Great British Fictional Detectives and Great British Fictional Detectives. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. A great upheaval in tank construction took place in the 1970s, as new combat techniques, helicopters, weaponry and new types of ammunition reduced the value of a conventional combat battalion. Nevertheless, complete new developments are rare and in this book, Alexander L deke looks at the most important developments that have taken place since 1970. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. …

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The story of the inspiration for, establishment and evolution of the National Memorial Arboretum is a fascinating one. Sited at Alrewas, Staffordshire, the Arboretum has become the Nation's all year round focus for remembering and paying tribute to all who have served their country in both peace and war not only in the armed forces and merchant navy but in the emergency services as well.Planting began in 1997 and was supported by hundreds of organisations both serving and retired. Among the early memorials was a life-size wooded polar bear, for 49th Division, a grove of Irish trees for the Royal Irish Regiment, an Avenue of Chestnuts for the Police and a Chapel of Peace and Forgiveness to mark the coming of the Millennium. Britain's war-widows had a rose-garden planted for them while the Far East Prisoners of War managed to fund a small museum to stand alongside a length of railway track brought back from the notorious Burma Railway. In October 2007 HM the Queen confirmed the importance of the site when she opened the Armed Forces Memorial to commemorate all service personnel lost on active service since the end of the Second World War; this is especially poignant given the on-going conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The importance of the National Memorial Arboretum is well demonstrated by the growing number of stands and the steady increase in visitor numbers. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This is the incredible history of the dive bomber told from both official records and eyewitness accounts. It tears away the many myths and misrepresentations that surrounded this type of warplane and presents a truly original and detailed history, from the first true combat dive bombing by an RAF pilot in 1917 to the last stirring wartime actions. Interviews with the pilots who flew the combat missions in dive bombing aircraft of all the combatant nations give unique first-hand eyewitness viewpoints on many of the major actions and methods employed. From a detailed description of what it was like to fly the very first dive-bomber missions into Poland on 1st September, 1939; through equally enthralling accounts of British attacks on German warships during the Norwegian campaign; Stuka missions against the French and British forces in May and June, 1940, and on throughout the war. Some well known aircraft types include the Curtiss Helldiver, Aichi D3A1, Blackburn Skua and the infamous Junkers Ju 87 'Stuka'. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Death Before Glory! is a highly readable, thoroughly researched and comprehensive study of the British army's campaigns in the West Indies during the Napoleonic period and of the extraordinary experiences of the soldiers who served there. Rich in sugar, cotton, coffee and slaves, the region was a key to British prosperity and it was perhaps even more important to her greatest enemy - France. Yet, until now, the history of this vital theatre of the Napoleonic Wars has been seriously neglected. Not only does Martin Howard describe, in graphic detail, the entirety of the British campaigns in the region between 1793 and 1815, he also focuses on the human experience of the men - the climate and living conditions, the rations and diet, military discipline and training, the treatment of the wounded and the impact of disease. Martin Howard's thoroughgoing and original work is the essential account of this fascinating but often overlooked aspect of the history of the British army and the Napoleonic Wars. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. …

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Twenty-seven Irish newspapers for the period covering the Great War have been trawled through to deliver the amazing stories of those years which changed the world for ever. These are the accounts of local men at the front; of torpedoed ships; drunken wives; final letters and requests from the trenches. Also eye-witness accounts of the slaughter as it was happening; battle reports from officers serving in Irish regiments; quirky snippets; chaplains' sympathetic letters; P.o.W reports of conditions and war poetry. Here are the tales of the Leinster's, Munster's, Connaught's and Dublin Fusiliers serving in the Ulster Division, 10th and 16th Irish Divisions. We read of medical breakthroughs, paranormal occurrences and miraculous escapes from death. After the Irish Rebellion of April, 1916, these type of articles and casualty lists dwindled to very few as Irish hearts became divided. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. How the experience of war impacted on the town, from the initial enthusiasm for sorting out the German kaiser in time for Christmas 1914, to the gradual realization of the enormity of human sacrifice the families of Manchester were committed to as the war stretched out over the next four years. A record of the growing disillusion of the people, their tragedies and hardships and a determination to see it through. Manchester was more profoundly involved in the Great War than any provincial city. Manchester men volunteered in greater numbers than any others; its women, hardened to the rigours of factory life, flooded into munitions and engineering workshops and toiled long hours while contending with cruel shortages. Children's lives were disrupted as schools became hospitals and the city developed into a major centre for treating the wounded. A great port, an industrial powerhouse, the region's commercial and distribution centre, Manchester overcame hunger and deprivation to became the engine that drove an exhausted and impoverished nation to an unlikely victory. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Brian Mercer is one of the most outstanding post-war RAF fighter pilots and in this eminently readable autobiography he recaptures life as it was in the days of transition from flying piston-powered aircraft to jet power. His flying and leadership skills resulted in a long association with what was then considered as the finest aerobatic display team in the world - Treble One Squardron's 'Black Arrows'. Flying the elegant black Hawker Hunters in large formation displays was no easy task and the author explains in great detail how their legendary precision was achieved, revealing many exciting incidents en route. When Treble One's Hunters were replaced with the supersonic Lightining fighter, it soon became clear that these superfast aircraft were not suited to close-up display flying. Brian was then asked to form a new RAF display team and continue with Hunters. This was to become the No. 92 Squadron's Blue Diamonds', who inherited the star role. Faced with the fact that future promotion within the RAF would move him from cockpit to desk, Brian elected to join then then fledgling airline, Cathay Pacific. His story continues with many exciting incidents flying from the company's home base at Kai Tak in Hong Kong. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…

Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The Great War will always be synonymous with trench warfare and the mass slaughter inflicted by machine guns on the helpless but gallant infantry. There is a good reason for this view as the machine guns took a terrible toll, and the infantry's experiences continue to fascinate and appal people today. But one aspect of the fighting that gets insufficient attention is the artillery. Histories of the major battles often reduce the role of the big guns to a few paragraphs, and this has created a seriously distorted impression of the reality of the fighting. A better balance needs to be struck, and that is the intention of John Hutton's new book on the gunners of 1914. He tells the story of the war as the gunners themselves saw it, focusing on the first few months of warfare which were fundamental to the conduct of the campaign. The gunners may not have always shared the trench experiences of the infantry in the front line, but they were in the thick of the action, and success or failure depended on them. The personal testimonies of those who served with and supported the guns provide a vital insight into the colossal tragedy and drama of the war from the artilleryman's point of view. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged.…