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Life of General George Monck: For King and Cromwell
By Peter Reese. 2008
General George Monck is famous for the key role he played in the restoration of the monarchy in 1660. His…
actions changed the course of British history, but his statesmanship in the dangerous time between the death of Cromwell and the bloodless return of Charles II distracts attention from his extraordinary career as a soldier and general, admiral, governor and administrator. During the confused, often bloody era of the English Civil Wars and the Protectorate he was one of the great survivors. Peter Reese, in this perceptive new study, follows Monck through his long, varied career, from his impoverished upbringing in the West Country and his military apprenticeship on the Continent, to his experience as a commander on both sides during the civil wars. He distinguished himself on the battlefields of Ireland and Scotland, and as a general-at-sea for both Cromwell and Charles II. His shrewdness and firmness of character, his skill as a leader, his high popularity with his troops and his occasional ruthlessness gained for him a formidable reputation. On Cromwell's death he was one of the few men in England with the power, personal authority and political skill to secure the restoration of Charles II and to bring to an end twenty years of conflict.Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia were all German allies in the Second World War, unlike the other countries of Europe…
which had either been forcibly occupied by the Nazis or remained neutral. SOE Missions mounted within their borders were thus doubly hazardous for they were conducted in enemy-populated territory, heavily policed by military forces and gendarmerie. Furthermore all these states had well developed and experienced security services, usually supplemented by Gestapo and Abwehr units. A further complication to the activities of SOE in these countries was that they had all been effectively conceded by Western Allies to Russia; not surprisingly therefore, operations in the Soviet sphere of influence were to prove diabolically difficult.This is a story about the courage of individuals in the face of overwhelming odds. Hunger, ill-health, exhaustion, cold and treachery all combined to make life for those members of SOE who parachuted into these Fascist outposts of Fortress Europe as insufferable as it was dangerous. For weeks on end, the SOE missions moved continually at night, chased by enemy troops, betrayed by local villagers, awaiting air drops that never came and listening out for orders that were rarely specific. Thus the picture that emerges of SOE activities in these countries is one of heroic proportions, with courage, dedication and daring displayed by every mission.Although nearly all SOE personnel were either killed or captured, the impact of their clandestine operations served as a persistent irritant, continuously undermining Germanys strategic and political assumptions about the loyalty of her allies.Tank Commander: The Memoirs of Bill Close
By Bill Close. 2013
Bill Close had a remarkable war. In campaign after campaign, from the defense of Calais in 1940 to the defeat…
of Germany in 1945, he served as a tank commander in the Royal Tank Regiment - and he survived. His tanks were hit eleven times by enemy shellfire and he bailed out. He was wounded three times. He finished the war as one of the most experienced and resourceful of British tank commanders, and in later life, he set down his wartime experiences in graphic detail. His book is not only an extraordinary memoir - it is also a compelling account of the exploits of the Royal Tank Regiment throughout the conflict. As a record of the day-to-day experience of the tank crew of seventy years ago - of the conditions they faced and the battles they fought it has rarely been equaled.The Kaisers Reluctant Conscript
By Dominik Richert. 2012
As a conscript from Alsace, Dominik Richert realised from the outset of the First World War that his family would…
be at or near the front line. While he saw no alternative to performing his duty, he was a reluctant soldier who was willing to stand up to authority and to avoid risks - in order to survive. This thoughtful memoir of the conflict gives a lively picture of major events from the rare perspective of an ordinary German soldier.In 1914 Richert was involved in fighting on the French border and was then moved to northern France where he was in combat with Indian troops. In 1915 he was sent to the East and took part in the Battle for Mount Zwinin in the Carpathians and the subsequent invasion of the western parts of the Ukraine and of eastern Poland. In 1917 he took part in the capture of Riga before returning to the Western Front in 1918, where he saw German tanks in action at the battle of Villers-Brettoneux.No longer believing in the war, he subsequently crossed no-mans land and surrendered to the French, becoming a deserteur Alsacienne. The book ends with his return home early in 1919.This superb memoir gives a fascinating insight into the War as experienced by the Germans, and into the development of the authors attitude to it. Yes, Richert fights to survive, but he feels little respect for, or allegiance, to his own army or the society which sent him to war.The Sword of the Republic: A Biography of Marcus Claudius Marcellus
By Jeremiah McCall. 2012
Marcellus military exploits were largely unmatched by any other aristocrat of Roman Middle Republic. As a young soldier in the…
First Punic War, he won a reputation for his skill in single combat. In his first consulship, he earned a triumph for defeating a Gallic tribe, no small feat in and of itself, and also slew the Gallic chieftain Britomartus in single combat. Consequently, he earned the spolia opima, an honor, according to Roman antiquarians, which had only been earned twice before, once by Romulus himself. He went on to defeat the hitherto-invincible Hannibal in a small battle around the central Italian city of Nola, and subsequently led an army to subdue and plunder the powerful city of Syracuse in an epic 2 year siege (despite the ingenious defensive measures of the inventor Archimedes). Yet, despite his undeniable success as a warrior and commander, Marcellus met with considerable political opposition at Rome.Marcellus career not only makes exciting reading, but gives an excellent vantage point from which to view the military and political struggles of the period and the role of military successes in the aristocratic culture of the Roman Republic. His biography will be an important addition to existing works on Roman military history.The Diary And Letters Of A World War 1 Fighter Pilot
By Christopher M. Burgess. 2008
This is a first-hand account of the authors grandfather, Guy Mainwaring Knocker and his experiences as a pilot in the…
R.F.C. in the First World War written as a series of letters and diary entries. He wrote letters virtually every day to his family, while he trained in England and was in service in France, and often illustrated them with little sketches. Guy was a gifted artist, particularly pencil and Pen & ink, and also an excellent photographer. He flew with No 65 (Fighter) Squadron that was formed in June, 1916 as a fighter squadron, and flew to France in March 1917 in time to play a prominent part in the air operations during the Battles of Arras. In June 1917, the squadron moved to Calais for special patrol work in the Dover Straits area, to intercept enemy aircraft raiding England.Royal Navy and the Peruvian-Chilean War 1879–1881: Rudolf de Lisle's Diaries and Watercolors
By Gerard De Lisle. 2007
This beautifully presented book captures the spirit of a little known war where the Royal Navy played a peripheral but…
crucial role. The power of the British Empire was at its height, thanks to the reach of the Royal Navy and officers from that service who often found themselves far from home and in positions of power way beyond their rank.Marlborough's Shadow: The Life of The 1st Earl Cadogan
By J. N. Watson. 2003
Several writers have remarked that Marlborough could have never achieved his great military success during the War of the Spanish…
Succession without the support, industry and ingenuity of his Chief of Staff, Quartermaster General and Chief of Intelligence, General William Cadogan, who became the 1st Earl of Cadogan, and who, in 1722, succeeded Marlborough as Commander-in Chief of the British Army. Apart from the other considerations Marlborough, then in his 50's, was relatively frail and prone to fevers and headaches, whereas Cadogan, the better educated officer, was still in his early 30's and very fit. This, the story of a most able young general, is a must for all those interested in military history, particularly that relating to the early 18th century. However, Cadogan was a more complex -and more interesting -personality than his career as a soldier indicates. He possessed the charm, the wisdom, the powers of persuasion and the linguistic ability to make an outstanding diplomat. He proved, indeed, to be the brightest roving ambassador of the reign of George I. And yet, despite all his positive attributes he was not a man political or of financial integrity.Sunset in the East: A War Memoir of Burma and Java, 1943–46
By John Hudson. 2002
It is generally recognized that the war in Burma against the Japanese was as fierce as any. The Battle of…
Kohima was the turning point of this extraordinary campaign and personal accounts of the fighting there are greatly sought after. The author was in the thick of the action and his record is indeed a graphic and moving one. Thereafter he was sent down to Malaya, but when the War ended, he found himself in Indonesia under the most bizarre circumstances. A bitter war of national independence from the Dutch colonial power was underway and it became necessary to employ the defeated Japanese troops to keep a semblance of order. This little known turn of events makes for the most fascinating reading and adds a new dimension to what would in any case be a first class memoir.Six Faces of Courage
By Michael Foot. 1969
Professor Michael Foot is indisputably the greatest authority on the activities of SOE in Europe during WW2. In Six Faces…
of Courage he selects six of the bravest of the brave agents and describes their backgrounds, activities and characters. Truly inspiring reading complemented by an updated introduction that sets the scene superbly. This excellent and successful book gives the reader a real insight to what it meant to be a SOE agent in Nazi-occupied Europe.Winged Warriors: Memoirs of a Canberra and Tornado Pilot
By Thomas McDonald. 1988
Paul McDonald is a former RAF fast-jet pilot whose flying career spanned 34 years. He is not a typical senior…
RAF officer having been brought up on a council estate in a bleak northern industrial town. He became a pilot by accident and struggled to gain his wings. He spent 14 years on operational tours overseas including 2 tours at the height of the Cold War on a Tornado tactical nuclear squadron in Germany, only 15 minutes from responding to an anticipated Soviet onslaught. Earlier he served on a low-level photo reconnaissance squadron on NATO's vulnerable southern flank. He was decorated for gallantry in 1980 and later served in Kuwait as the Senior RAF Adviser, including Operation Desert Fox, the air war against Iraq in 1998.Memoirs of Ernst Röhm
By Ernst Röhm. 2012
Ernst Rhm was one of the key architects behind the rise of the Nazi Party. From 1919 until 1923, following…
the defeat of Germany in the First World War, Rhm served in the Freikorps and then NSDAP the Nazi Party. He served as the partys patron, promoter and watchdog, and helped found the SA, the thuggish workforce behind Nazi political activity leading up to 1933. It has been stated that the rise to power of both Hitler and the Nazi Party would not have happened without Rhms organizational skill, authority and influence. He took part in the Beer hall putsch in 1923, but was sufficiently disillusioned by 1925 with the prospects for Nazism that he stood for the Reichtag instead. Rhm wrote and published his memoirs in 1928 entitled A Traitors Story the year he both resumed working for the Nazis and left to serve in the Bolivian army for two years. Rhm proved to be an eloquent writer and he was candid about his experiences and his relationship with the Fhrer. He wrote, Hitler and were linked by ties of sincere friendship. Little did Rhm know where that friendship would end.The Great War: Field Marshal Von Hindenburg
By Charles Messenger. 2013
Revered as the epitome of German militarism and moral decency, Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg was one of the most…
popular and dominant figures of the Great War and of 20th - century Germany. Alongside Erich Ludendorff he secured a crucial victory overRendezvous with Death: Artists & Writers in the Thick of It, 1914–1918
By Tony Geraghty. 2017
This book sheds new light on the colorful personalities including Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke, Alan Seeger, Ivor Gurney, Edward Thomas,…
Isaac Rosenberg, Ralph Vaughan Williams and George Butterworth, all major figures among England's creative artists during the First World War.Thanks to the authors research and knowledge, the book is a very English story about the tragically short spring of English artistic creativity between 1910 and 1920; the greatest such renaissance since Shakespeare and Purcell in the 17th century. It focuses on these exceptional poets, composers and artists' experiences in the front line and what resulted from these.A short personal Preface records that the authors father, Sergeant Major Anthony Geraghty (later anglicized as Garrity) survived one year and 271 days on the front line with the British Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders including the Somme, in which he served alongside the composer Butterworth in 13th Battalion, Durham Light Infantry.George Woodberry was commissioned into the 18th Light Dragoons (Hussars) as a cornet on 16 Jan 1812, and joined Wellingtons…
army as a lieutenant, seeing action in the key battles of 1813 and 14 Moralles, Vittoria, Nivelle, Nive, Orthes, Croix dOrade and the final battle of the war at Toulouse. He was wounded at Mendionde in a clash with French cavalry as Wellington advanced into France. He also served in the 1815 campaign, being at Waterloo and the march to Paris.What is most remarkable is that Woodberry found time to record events at length in his journal almost every single day. This enables the reader to trace accurately the movements of the 18th Hussars and Wellingtons army in general with precision. It also provides an insight into life on campaign in Spain, France and Belgium with the British Army of the early nineteenth centuryHis lively, detailed and entertaining account of his time in Wellingtons army is matched by the unusual story of the history of his journal. It was published once before, in 1898, but in French by a Paris-based publisher. The original journal, in two leather-bound volumes, has since been lost, but the French edition has now been translated back into English by renowned Napoleonic historian Gareth Glover and is published in the UK for the first time.A Scots Grey at Waterloo: The Remarkable Story of Sergeant William Clarke
By Gareth Glover. 2017
William Clarke of Prestonpans, Scotland, joined the 2nd Royal North British Dragoons, the Scots Greys, in 1803. Clarke had risen…
to the rank of sergeant by the time the regiment was ordered to Belgium on the news that Napoleon had escaped from Elba. Forming part of what became known as the Union Brigade, the Scots Greys played a key role in Napoleons defeat at Waterloo.The John Rylands Library, Manchester, recently acquired William Clarkes 600-page, handwritten memoir describing his enlistment and military career, the highlight of which was the Waterloo campaign, which he describes in unusual detail in the vernacular of the day, presented and annotated by the renowned historian Garth Glover.Thanks to this rare discovery, the reader can follow the movements of the Scots Greys at every stage of the action throughout the three days from Quatre-Bras to that climatic encounter on the Mont St Jean. Clarke naturally portrays the charge of the Union Brigade in dramatic and heroic terms, but he claims that the man who led the charge, Major General William Ponsonby, was killed by a musket ball and not cut down by French cavalry, as is usually stated, for recklessly charging too far.After the battle, Clarke was part of the Burial Party. He then graphically describes the sad scene as he does the trail of the defeated French army as the pursuing Prussians cut a merciless path on their way to Paris.A Scots Grey at Waterloo provides the reader with an exceptionally in-depth account of the actions of the cavalry at Waterloo that will mark this memoir out as one of the most significant to have been published in the last 200 years.The Extinguished Flame: Olympians Killed in The Great War
By Nigel McCrery. 2016
In August 2016 the world will be spellbound by the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro as 10,500 athletes from…
206 countries compete in 306 events. Tracing their origins back to the Greeks in 776 BC, the history of the Olympics is a glorious one but it has had its darker moments.During the First World War no fewer than 135 Olympians perished. Many had won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. They came not just from the UK, Germany, France, USA but from all over the globe.Wyndham Halswelle, killed in action on 31 March 1915, won a Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in both field and track events. The Frenchman Leon Flameng, the fastest cyclist ever, died on 2 January 1917, having won Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in the 1896 Olympics. The German Fritz Bartholomae, killed in action 12 September 1915, won a Bronze in the rowing eights during the 1912 Olympics. The list of these heroes goes on and on. Each Olympian, who made the supreme sacrifice, is honoured in this magnificent book by a summary of their life, sporting achievement and manner of their death.Shot Down: The Secret Diary of One POW's Long March to Freedom
By Alex Kerr. 2016
Alex Kerr's Wellington, a twin-engine bomber, was shot down over Germany in 1941. At first hospitalized with hopes of repatriation,…
he unexpectedly found himself a prisoner in a German POW camp. Throughout those trying four years he was held captive, Alex kept a secret diary. This book reproduces his diary entries in a fascinating account of all aspects of life in a wartime prison.He describes being part of the infamous Long March during which he and his comrades were strafed by Allied aircraft; 60 POWs were killed and 100 wounded. Alex escaped the march with a mate, passing through the front lines between the British and German forces to commandeer a German mayors car and drive back to Brussels to take the next aircraft to freedom.Alexs charm and optimistic outlook will buoy the reader throughout, and the camaraderie between he and his captive comrades is always entertaining. This is an authentic Second World War adventure from being shot out of the sky, to incarceration and the ultimate triumph of escape and the end of the war.We Stormed the Reichstag
By Tony Le Tissier. 2016
In 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet Union Vassili Subbotin was caught up as an ordinary soldier in the Red…
Armys great retreat. In 1945, during the final days of the war, as a war correspondent, he went into Berlin with the troops who fought the ferocious final battles in the streets and sealed Germanys defeat. Later he recorded in vivid impressionistic detail the climax of the last act of the campaign and of the entire war in the east the storming of the Reichstag which came to symbolize of the Soviet victory over the Nazis. His firsthand experience of that final operation and his insight into the small band of ordinary soldiers who played a part in it is graphically conveyed in this memoir. In his description of the confusion and violence of the street fighting around the Reichstag and the vicious hand-to-hand floor-by-floor struggle to capture the huge shattered building, the personalities of the soldiers are revealed, as are their fears and determination. Vassili Subbotin served as a conscript in the Red Army during the Second World War, first as an infantryman during the Soviet retreat after the German invasion in 1941, then as a divisional war correspondent during the Red Armys long advance towards Germany. He was present throughout the final battle for Berlin and observed the capture of the Reichstag at first hand. After the war he wrote this evocative memoir recording his experiences and those of the soldiers who took part, and in later life he was reunited with those who survived the fighting.Patricians and Emperors: The Last Rulers of the Western Roman Empire
By Ian Hughes. 2015
Patricians and Emperors offers concise comparative biographies of the individuals who wielded power in the final decades of the Western…
Roman Empire, from the assassination of Aetius in 454 to the death of Julius Nepos in 480. The book is divided into four parts. The first sets the background to the period, including brief histories of Stilicho (395-408) and Aetius (425-454), explaining the nature of the empire and the reasons for its decline. The second details the lives of Ricimer (455-472) and his great rival Marcellinus (455-468) by focusing on the stories of the numerous emperors that Ricimer raised and deposed. The third deals with the Patricians Gundobad (472-3) and Orestes (475-6), as well as explaining how the barbarian general Odoacer came to power in 476. The final part outlines and analyses the Fall of the West and the rise of barbarian kingdoms in France, Spain and Italy.This is a very welcome book to anyone seeking to make sense of this chaotic, but crucial period.