First glance at the title might encourage the reader to think this might be a story of everyday political folk, but it is in fact a carefully researched study of a much neglected area of British history. It produces a fascinating view of historical scams and holds the reader’s attention to the end.
This book is thought provoking and will reward the reader’s time.
This new book provides a very valuable view of the military environment and provides information that should be part of the intelligence map that is needed to guide the future relationship between NATO and the Afghan people. The author is one of the small band of soldiers who have the capability to become snipers and Afghanistan has always been the battlefield for snipers. Snipers are a rare breed who earn the respect of enemy and comrade. It is a dangerous and arduous task that requires the development of considerable skill and determination. It also requires discipline and great patience.
As it was, the Korean War became a nasty battle of attrition, often in dreadful weather conditions and always with the threat that the Koreans and their Chinese allies would simply flood troops into battle and accept appalling casualty rates to swamp the UN troops.
The author was a junior Gunner officer at the time and experienced the conditions. This has enabled him to paint a vivid picture of the battle, his allies, the enemy, the conditions and terrain as first hand observations. From this perspective alone, this would have been a memorable and engaging account of a war that is almost unknown today. What lifts it onto a higher plane and makes it an outstanding account, is that the author rose to senior rank, served as an intelligence officer and was a qualified Chinese interpreter. This has allowed him to combine the young officer’s experience of battle with the strategic and theatre tactics that come with the senior officer’s perspective and view of the wider stage.
The author has put the Battle of Agincourt into perspective against other important, if less well known, battles and engagements, providing also a greater depth to his presentation of the war than other authors have. The reader will come away from this book with a new understanding of how the armies fought and why the fortunes of war fell as they did. The author has given deserved honour to Henry V’s captains who have frequently been overlooked in other histories and details the parts played for France by Bertrand du Gueschlin and Joan of Arc.
The great achievement of the author is to present his careful research and compelling arguments in a manner that is both satisfying to the historian, without reducing the attraction to the layman. There are few illustrations, but the text conveys the drama and paints the pictures in an excellent piece of work.
The author has conducted an original investigation and provides a stimulating review of the battles that shaped the civil war and carried Parliament to ultimate victory. He has taken each major battle in turn, looking critically at contemporary accounts and established narratives of historians. In the process, he questions some established wisdom, providing a new perspective to the battles as he mounts compelling arguments to support his study.
Sparta was a small city state. Only one part of its history has been heavily covered by historians, who have neglected the periods to either side of the Peloponnesian War. The result is that Sparta is not set in perspective against its history. What historians have done is take a decision on what they think is interesting or important against a wider canvas. This new study corrects previous defects in coverage and the result is a very readable book that looks at to period 412-371 BC to give a true perspective of Sparta, addressing questions previously ignored.
A revolutionary project to construct an orbiting solar power station throws a feisty and fashionable venture capitalist headlong into a complex and dangerous web of intrigue in this exciting new technological thriller.
“We can harness the sun in space, where the station can be in sunlight almost twenty-four hours a day, and we can beam that energy to earth. We can do it. We have the know-how. We just need to have the determination.”
Project Odyssey for Lynda Chervil (published by CreateSpace, RRP £12.99, ebook RRP £9.33) will be available from 3rd November
Two double acts!
by BigJules
As long as there have been stories there have been pairings of characters – Holmes and Watson, Winnie the Pooh and Piglet, Wooster and Jeeves – the list goes on and on. In both my two new books – Pasha, the latest in the Kydd series and The Silk Tree, a standalone historical set in the time of Emperor Justinian, I have double acts.
IWM Publishes The First World War A–Z
Published in Hardback
£9.99
ISBN 978-1-904897-85-9
From Artillery to Zeppelins, from Churchill to Versailles, The First World War A–Z provides an extensive yet bite-sized overview of the First World War. For both experts and beginners, The First World War A–Z is a quirky pocket-sized guide.
The alphabetic entries cover not only some of the key personalities, battles and tactics, but also more unusual facts about songs, slang and superstitions, which all had a part to play during the First World War. Written by staff at IWM (Imperial War Museums) and inspired by the stories and first-hand accounts found within the museum’s world-class collections, The First World War A–Z is an indispensable guide.
The Silk Tree: Fact v Fiction
by BigJules
My standalone historical fiction The Silk Tree is somewhat of a departure from my seafaring tales but has been a hugely enjoyable project, not the least being the research. As in all historical fiction there is a certain leeway for an author but I firmly believe you have to thoroughly do your homework first and establish what facts are known. Then the historical fiction writer’s creative challenge is to craft a page-turning story, filling in the gaps between what is known to be fact, to offer a plausible and entertaining tale.