Chivalry & Command: 500 Years Of Horse Guards (SCARCE FIRST EDITION , FIRST PRINTING SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, BRIAN HARWOOD)

Harwood, Brian

ISBN 10: 1846031095 / ISBN 13: 9781846031090

Published by Osprey, Botley, Oxford, 2006

About this Item

NrF. First Edition, First Printing. PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED AND SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, BRIAN HARWOOD, on title-page. Inscription reads, 'To ----/With compliments and best wishes/Brian Harwood'. Profusely illustrated with photographs, line-drawings and maps. A well-researched and authoritative history of Whitehall Palace and Horse Guards.With Appendices and Index. A near fine copy of a SCARCE first edition, first printing SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, BRIAN HARWOOD.

Seller Inventory # 18770

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Chivalry & Command: 500 Years Of Horse Guards (SCARCE FIRST EDITION , FIRST PRINTING SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, BRIAN HARWOOD)
• Publisher: Osprey, Botley, Oxford
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1846031095
• ISBN 13: 9781846031090
• Binding: Oblong Paperback
• Edition: First Edition, First Printing.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Signed: Presentation Copy Inscribed And Signed
• Seller catalogs:
  • History
  • Military

About this title

Synopsis

Thousands of tourists visit Whitehall each year and gaze at the Horse Guards sentries, but the full history of the building and the cavalrymen who guard it is not widely known. The Horse Guards site has been used for martial activity continuously since the mid-16th century, and this is the first book to tell its long and fascinating story. Where the sentries now stand, knights competed to become Champion at the Tilt from the time of Henry VIII. The special annual tournaments held for Elizabeth I's birthday are the direct predecessor of today's Queen's Birthday Parade, the Trooping of the Colour, held in the same arena. During the Civil War, the site was occupied by the guards of the Parliament and Palace, and guards continued to be stationed there to protect the palace long after the Restoration, overseeing the comings and goings of many monarchs and their families and courtiers. By the time New Horse Guards was built in the 1750s, it had become the first War Office, overseeing the nation's conflicts around the world. Horse Guards has continued to fulfil this military role to the present day.

Throughout this beautifully illustrated book, the history of the place is interwoven with intriguing insights into the history of Britain and her kings and queens up to the present royal family, and also the development of the British Army seen in the context of its most senior regiments.

About the Author

Brian Harwood served in the Life Guards regiment of the Household Cavalry from 1953 to 1968. Four of those years were spent with the Household Cavalry Records Office in Horse Guards, answering queries from the public with material from the archives. He realised that there was very little information about the history of the building, and set out to research the full story. Forty years on, he has amassed a large quantity of material, and his account of the Horse Guards has attracted many complimentary reviews. He has also written several local history books published by Alan Sutton. The author lives in East Sussex.