Anthony Fletcher Drawing on the correspondence of British soldiers on the Western Front, this book offers a vivid account of the physical and emotional experiences of seventeen British soldiers whose letters survive. Drawn from different regiments, social backgrounds and areas of England and Scotland, they include twelve officers and five ordinary ‘Tommies’. The book explores the training, journey to France, fear, shellshock and life in the trenches as well as the leisure, love and home leave the soldiers dreamed of. Fletcher discusses the psychological responses of 17- and 18-year-old men facing appalling realities and considers the particular pressures of those who survived their fallen comrades. While acknowledging the horror and futility the soldiers of the Great War experienced, the author shows another side to the story, focusing new attention on the loyal comradeship, robust humour and strong morale that uplifted the men at the Front and created a powerful bond among them.
2012 304pp. PB ISBN 978-0-300-18274-3 £10.99*
new
2013 288pp. HB ISBN 978-0-300-19062-5 £18.99*
new
Available January 2014 400pp. 20 b/w illus. + 2 maps HB ISBN 978-0-300-17235-5 £18.99*
new
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Available October 2013 368pp. 20 b/w illus. HB ISBN 978-0-300-13449-0 £20.00*
10:22
Monty’s Men
Surge
Investment in Blood
Losing Small Wars
The British Army and the Liberation of Europe John Buckley
My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War Peter R. Mansoor
The True Cost of Britain’s Afghan War Frank Ledwidge
British Military Failure in Iraq and Afghanistan Frank Ledwidge
In this follow-up to his much-praised book Losing Small Wars, Frank Ledwidge argues that Britain has paid a heavy cost – both financially and in human terms – for its involvement in the Afghanistan war. Ledwidge calculates the high price paid by British soldiers and their families, taxpayers in the United Kingdom and, most importantly, Afghan citizens, highlighting the thousands of deaths and injuries, the enormous amount of money spent bolstering a corrupt Afghan government, and the longterm damage done to the British military’s international reputation. In this hard-hitting exposé, based on interviews, rigorous on-the-ground research and official information obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, Ledwidge demonstrates the folly of Britain’s extended participation in an unwinnable war. He provides a powerful, eye-opening, and often heartbreaking account of military adventurism gone horribly wrong. ‘A masterpiece in miniature.’ – Sherard Cowper-Coles, New Statesman
‘A savage indictment of the military leadership that got British soldiers into one impossible situation after another in Iraq and Afghanistan.’ – Rodric Braithwaite, Financial Times ‘[A] superb ground-breaking book … Mr Ledwidge is judicious, sceptical, intelligent and highly informed.’ – Patrick Cockburn, The Independent on Sunday ‘Intelligent, well-informed and thought-provoking … A very important book.’ – Adrian Weale, Literary Review
Historian John Buckley offers a radical reappraisal of Great Britain’s fighting forces during World War Two, challenging the common belief that the British Army was no match for the forces of Hitler’s Germany. Following Britain’s military commanders and troops across the battlefields of Europe, from D-Day to VE-Day, from the Normandy beaches to Arnhem and the Rhine, and, ultimately, to the Baltic, Buckley’s provocative history demonstrates that the British Army was more than a match for the vaunted Nazi war machine. This fascinating revisionist study of the campaign to liberate Northern Europe in the war’s final years features a large cast of colourful unknowns and grand historical personages alike, including Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery and the prime minister, Sir Winston Churchill. By integrating detailed military history with personal accounts, it evokes the vivid reality of men at war while putting longheld misconceptions finally to rest.
The first full account of the 2007-8 troop surge in Iraq, told by a member of General Petraeus’s innermost circle, reveals how the strategy was devised and implemented, who supported the effort and who didn’t, and how the surge changed Iraqi history. 2013 612pp. 179 colour + 362 b/w illus. HB ISBN 978-0-300-17738-1 £60.00*
Life, Death and Growing Up on the Western Front
5/7/13
War/Photography Images of Armed Conflict MFH and Its Aftermath Anne Wilkes Tucker and Will Michels, with Natalie Zelt ‘One of the most remarkable histories of … modern war – and its human impact ever to be published.’ – Marina Vaizey, The Tablet
World War & Military History
new
Available September 2013 336pp. 16 pp. b/w illus. HB ISBN 978-0-300-19553-8 £20.00*
History Catalogue 2013:Layout 1
Related Reading: Punching Below Our Weight How Interservice Rivalry has Damaged the British Armed Forces ebook short Frank Ledwidge In this lively e-book, by turns amusing and concerning, Frank Ledwidge looks at the problem of rivalry between the top ranks of the Army, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force. 2012 ebook £0.99
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