With Winston Churchill at the Front – Winston in the Trenches 1916 by Andrew Dewar Gibb.

Following his resignation from the Government after the disastrous Gallipoli campaign, Winston Churchill’s political career stalled. Never one to give in, Churchill was determined to continue fighting the enemy.

He was already a Major in the Territorial Reserve and he was offered promotion to Lieutenant Colonel and with it command of a battalion on the Western Front. On 5 January 1916, Churchill took up his new post with the 6th (Service) Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. The battalion’s adjutant was Captain Andrew Dewar Gibb who formed a close relationship with Churchill that lasted far beyond their few weeks together in the war.

Dewar Gibb subsequently wrote an account of his and Churchill’s time together in the trenches. Packed with amusing anecdotes and fascinating detail, Gibb’s story shows an entirely different side to Churchill’s character from the forceful public figure normally presented to the world.

Churchill proved to be a caring and compassionate commander and utterly fearless. Despised on his arrival, by the time he departed he was adored by his men.

Supplemented with many of Churchill’s letters, the observations of other officers and additional narrative this is the most unusual and absorbing account of this part of Churchill’s life that has ever been told.

Only 99p: Safeguarding The Nation – The Story of the Modern Royal Navy by John Roberts, with a foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales.

This new history of the Royal Navy, published to coincide with the Golden Jubilee of the White Ensign Association, is a full and exciting account of all the many campaigns, operations and deployments conducted around the world from the Cold War and the Cod Wars to the Falklands War and the Gulf Wars. It has been written and compiled from privileged access to secret and confidential Admiralty Plans and Commanding Officers’ reports and contains a wealth of previously unpublished material.

The story of how the Royal Navy has adapted to meet the many new challenges of the modern world and how it has carried out its vital roles from manning the nation’s strategic nuclear deterrent to guarding the vital offshore oil and gas facilities as well as protecting Britain’s worldwide interests is a truly fascinating one, while the development of ships, submarines, aircraft, weapons, tactics and strategies as well as the changes in personnel and life at sea are brought to life by contributions from people who served over the period.

Profusely illustrated throughout with many previously unpublished photographs and paintings, this beautifully-produced volume is a magnificent golden jubilee tribute to the Royal Navy.