<div><B>A &ldquo;fascinating&rdquo; look at hardship, heroism, and civilian life in England during the Great War (<I>World War One Illustrated</I>).</B><BR />  <BR /> The truth about the sacrifice and suffering among British civilians during World War I is rarely discussed. In this book, people who were there speak about experiences and events that have remained buried for decades.<BR />  <BR /> Their testimony shows the same candor and courage we have become accustomed to hearing from military veterans of this war. Those interviewed include a survivor of a Zeppelin raid in 1915; a Welsh munitions worker recruited as a girl; and a woman rescued from a bombed school after five days. There are also accounts of rural famine, bereavement, and the effects on families back home&mdash;and even the story of a woman who planned to kill her family to save them further suffering.</div>

All Quiet on the Home Front

<div><I>Famous<I> tells the Great War stories of twenty of Britain's most respected, best known and even notorious celebrities. They include politicians, actors, writers, an explorer, a sculptor and even a murderer. The generation that grew up in the late 19th Century enlisted enthusiastically in the defense of the country. Many would become household names such as Basil Rathbone, the definitive Sherlock Holmes, AA Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh, and John Laurie and Arnold Ridley who found fame and public affection as the dour Scotsman Fraser, and the gentle and genial Godfrey, in Dad's Army. From politicians such as Harold Macmillan and Winston Churchill to writers includsing JB Priestley, and JRR Tolkein, from sculptors like Henry Moore, to composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, their fame and influence continue even into the 21st Century.  The authors Richard van Emden and Vic Piuk have discovered the exact locations where these celebrities saw action. They tell the story of how JRR Tolkein led his men over the top on the Somme, where CS Lewis was wounded and invalided home, and how Basil Rathbone won the Military Cross for a trench raid (while dressed as a tree). Each story will be examined in detail with pictures taken of the very spot where the actions took place. There are maps of the area that will guide enterprising readers to walk in the footsteps of their heroes.</div>

Famous, 1914–1918

<div>In the later 2nd century BC, after a period of rapid expansion and conquest, the Roman Republic found itself in crisis. In North Africa her armies were already bogged down in a long difficult guerrilla war in a harsh environment when invasion by a coalition of Germanic tribes, the Cimbri, Teutones and Ambrones, threatened Italy and Rome itself, inflicting painful defeats on Roman forces in pitched battle Gaius Marius was the man of the hour. The first war he brought to an end through tactical brilliance, bringing the Numidian King Jugurtha back in chains. Before his ship even returned to Italy, the senate elected Marius to lead the war against the northern invaders. Reorganizing and reinvigorating the demoralized Roman legions, he led them to two remarkable victories in the space of months, crushing the Teutones and Ambrones at Aquiae Sextae and the Cimbri at Vercellae. The Roman army emerged from this period of crisis a much leaner and more professional force and the author examines the extent to which the 'Marian Reforms' were responsible for this and the extent to which they can be attributed to Marius himself.</div>

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Britain's Last Tommies

<div><B>A first-hand account of World War I by a nineteen-year-old Englishman who led a platoon into the carnage of the Battle of the Somme.</B><BR /><BR /> While researching his excellent earlier book: <I>Veterans of World War I</I>, author Richard Van Emden encountered a fascinating personality of that long-ago conflict. After witnessing German naval attacks on British civilians, Norman Collins enlisted in the Seaforth Highlanders of the 51st Highland Division, even though he was under age. Collins fought at the battles of Beaumont Hamel, Arras, and Passchendaele, and was wounded several times. Collins lived to be 100 and had an unusually detailed collection of letters, documents, illustrations and photographs. Richard Van Emden has written a moving biography of a unique personality at war, and his long life after the dramatic events of his youth.<BR /><BR /><B>&ldquo;This is a harrowing tale of battle, loss and the horrors of war.&rdquo; &mdash;Scotland Magazine</B><BR /><BR /><B>&ldquo;His collection of letters, photographs and the record of interviews as an old man are a treasure trove of information on Western Front fighting.&rdquo; &mdash;British Army Review/Soldier Magazine</B><BR /><BR /><B>&ldquo;Enthralling memoir. These letters form the freshest part of this book, full of detail about kit and food that obsessed soldiers but which do not find a place in the history books.&rdquo; &mdash;Who Do You Think You Are?</B><BR /><BR /><B>&ldquo;This is one of the last great first-person memoirs of the Great War. Extraordinary diary, letter collection and photos.&rdquo; &mdash;Scottish Legion News</B></div>

Last Man Standing

<div>This publication, SOMME  THE BATTLE 100 YEARS ON, has been published by Pen &amp; Sword Books Ltd, with the purpose of creating an awareness and an interest in theSomme battles of 1916. For nearly thirty years, Pen &amp; Sword Books Ltd has published numerous titles covering various Pals battalions formed for the Big Push. They have also been fore-runners in setting up the Battleground Series guides, which are packed with then and now illustrations, using battle maps from the time and road maps of the sites today. They are all specifically designed to take the tourer safely through these now historic sites. Many more books have been written and published by Pen &amp; Sword on the other battles of the First World War. Only a small portion relating to 1 July 1916 has been taken from each book appearing in this publication. Much more information can been gleaned from reading about the events of the Somme battles and the awful aftermath of the day through reading the books mentioned at the end of each extract.These publications would not have been possible without the skill and dedication of our authors who have painstakingly researched and written about the subjects that bring to light these historic events.</div>

Somme: Great War 100 Years

<div>Passchendaele is the next volume in the highly regarded series of books from the best-selling First World War historian Richard van Emden. Once again, using the winning formula of diaries and memoirs, and above all original photographs taken on illegally held cameras by the soldiers themselves, Richard tells the story of 1917, of life both in and out of the line culminating in perhaps the most dreaded battle of them all, the Battle of Passchendaele. His pervious book, The Somme, has now sold nearly 20,000 copies in hardback and softback, proving that the public appetite is undiminished for new, original stories illustrated with over 150 rarely or never-before-seen battlefield images. The author has an outstanding collection of over 5,000 privately taken and overwhelmingly unpublished photographs, revealing the war as it was seen by the men involved, an existence that was sometimes exhilarating, too often terrifying, and occasionally even fun. Richard van Emden interviewed 270 veterans of the Great War, has written extensively about the soldiers' lives, and has worked on many television documentaries, always concentrating on the human aspects of war, its challenge and its cost to the millions of men involved. This book will be published in June 2017, in time for the 100th anniversary of the epic Battle of Passchendaele which began on 31st July 1917 Richard van Emdens books sold over 650,000 books and have appeared in The Times bestseller chart on a number of occasions. He lives in West London and regularly appears on television, mostly recently as BBC1s historian for the national commemorations of the Somme Battle. He has appeared on over forty television documentaries and has written nineteen books on the First World War.</div>

The Road to Passchendaele

<div>The offensive on the Somme took place between July and November 1916 and is perhaps the most iconic battle of the Great War. It was there that Kitcheners famous Pals Battalions were first sent into action en masse and it was a battlefield where many of the dreams and aspirations of a nation, hopeful of victory, were agonizingly dashed. Because of its legendary status, the Somme has been the subject of many books, and many more will come out next year. However, nothing has ever been published on the Battle in which the soldiers own photographs have been used to illustrate both the campaigns extraordinary comradeship and its carnage.</div>

The Somme

<div>This is a short book based on the letters written between 1915 and 1916 by an officer serving with the 1/4th Gordon Highlanders. Second Lieutenant Down wrote regularly to his girlfriend/fiance throughout his time in France, letters which were published in 1917 after he was wounded and discharged from the army. Cecil Down is a superb writer, but more than that he has a natural wit that translates easily to the page, making this one of the most enjoyable books I have read on the war.I have chosen this book because it is so different from anything else I have read. He captures life in France with great accuracy while remaining steadfastly upbeat and humorous. Nevertheless, there are moments when he is serious, and that makes his words poignant and attention-grabbing.Norman went to France in February 1915, serving continuously until July 1916. He died on 14 March 1984 aged 91</div>

Temporary Heroes

<div>Captain Albert Mure, a company commander in the 5th Battalion The Royal Scots, spent forty-three days in Gallipoli - far longer than many men who fought there would survive. In those few weeks, this brave, stoical officer was reduced from a fit, determined leader of men to a physical and mental wreck. In simple and honest language, Mure conveys the drama of the first landings, knowing that very shortly afterwards he and his men would be ashore and experiencing the same fate; his sympathy for those under his command is clear. Although suffering from shell shock, when the time came for him to leave the peninsular, he nevertheless felt like a deserter, remarking that, 'you can carry a no-longer-fit soldier's body out of the firing-line, but not his soul.' Originally published in 1919, Mure's story of his experiences at Gallipoli is full of a rawness and immediacy that I believe makes it worthy of a place amongst the many Great War memoirs.</div>

This Bloody Place

<div>Using the veterans own words and photographs, the book brings to life a mixture of their excitement of embarkation for France, their unbound optimism and courage, the agony of the trenches, and numbing fear of going over the top.  The fight for survival, the long ordeal of those who were wounded and the ever present grief caused by appalling loss and waste of life make for compelling reading.The veterans give us first hand accounts of stark honesty, as they describe in many cases more freely than ever before about experiences which have lived with them for over 80 years.</div>

Veterans

<div>Benjamin Clouting was just sixteen years old when he embarked with the British Expeditionary Force for France in August 1914. The youngest man in the 4th Dragoon Guards, he took part in the BEF's celebrated first action at Casteau on August 22nd, and, two days later, had his horse shot from under him during the famous cavalry charge of the 4th Dragoon Guards and the 9th Lancers at Audregnies. Ben served on the Western front during every major engagement of the war except Loos, was wounded twice, and in 1919 went with the Army of Occupation to Cologne. The son of a stable groom, Ben was brought up in the beautiful Sussex countryside near Lewes and from his earliest years was, as he often said himself, "crazy to be a soldier". He worked briefly as a stable boy before joining up in 1913; his training was barely completed when war broke out. The Regiment, knowing Ben to be under age, tried to stop him embarking for France, but he flatly refused to be left behind. During the next four years, he served under officers immortalized in Great War history, including Major Tom Bridges, Captain Hornby, and Lieutenant-Colonel Adrien Carton de Wiart VC.Teenage Tommy is a detailed account of a trooper's life at the front, vividly recalling, for example, the privations suffered during the retreat from Mons. and later, the desperate fighting to hold back the German onslaught at 2nd Ypres. But this is more than just a memoir about trench warfare. Ben's lively sense of humor and healthy disrespect for petty restrictions make this an entertaining as well as a moving story of life at the front.</div>

Teenage Tommy

<div>Drawing on the memories of the last surviving prisoners of the 1914–1918 war, this book tells the dramatic story of life as a POW in Germany.  Stories include the shock of capture on the Western Front, to the grind of daily life in imprisonment in Germany.  Veterans recall work in salt mines, punishments, and escape attempts, as well as the torture of starvation and the relief at their eventual release.  Vivid stories are told using over 200 photographs and illustrations, almost all never published before.</div>

Prisoners of the Kaiser

<div><B>The story of one British mother&rsquo;s desperate search for her son&rsquo;s remains after he was killed in action during World War I.</B><BR />  <BR /> In May, 1918, Angela and Leopold Mond received a knock on the front door. It was the postman delivering the letter every family in the United Kingdom dreaded: the notification of a loved one&rsquo;s battlefield death&mdash;in their case their eldest child, their son, Lieutenant Francis Mond.<BR />  <BR /> The Royal Flying Corps pilot, along with his Observer, Lieutenant Edgar Martyn, had been shot down over no man&rsquo;s land in France, both killed instantly. Yet there was one comfort: both bodies had been recovered. There would, at the very least, be a grave to visit after the war.<BR />  <BR /> However, no news followed. Angela Mond wrote to the Imperial War Graves Commission asking for further details, but no one knew where the bodies were buried. There was an initial trail, but from that last sighting both men had simply disappeared.<BR />  <BR /> So begins the story detailed in <I>Missing</I>. Angela, a wealthy, well-connected 48-year-old mother of five and a socialite from London&rsquo;s West End, embarked on an exhaustive quest to find her son that took her to the battlefields and cemeteries of France and into correspondence with hundreds of French civilians and British and German servicemen. She even bought the ground on which her son&rsquo;s plane had crashed and erected a private memorial to Francis, a memorial that survives to this day.<BR />  <BR /> During the Great War, more than 750,000 servicemen and women had been killed. Half of them had no known grave, leaving many families desperate for solace. This is just one of those heartbreaking stories.</div>

Missing

<div>After the outbreak of the Great War, boys as young as twelve were caught up in a national wave of patriotism and, in huge numbers, volunteered to serve their country. The press, recruiting offices and the Government all contributed to the enlistment of hundreds of thousands of under-age soldiers in both Britain and the Empire. On joining up, these lads falsified their ages, often aided by parents who believed their sons’ obvious youth would make overseas service unlikely.  These boys frequently enlisted together, training for a year or more in the same battalions before they were sent abroad. Others joined up but were soon sent to units already fighting overseas and short of men: these lads might undergo as little as eight weeks’ training.  Boys served in the bloodiest battles of the war, fighting at Ypres, the Somme and on Gallipoli. Many broke down under the strain and were returned home once parents supplied birth certificates proving their youth. Other lads fought on bravely and were even awarded medals for gallantry: Jack Pouchot won the Distinguished Conduct Medal aged just fifteen. Others became highly efficient officers, such as Acting Captain Philip Lister and Second Lieutenant Reginald Battersby, both of whom were commissioned at fifteen and fought in France.  In this, the final update of his ground-breaking book, Richard van Emden reveals new hitherto unknown stories and adds many more unseen images. He also proves that far more boys enlisted in the British Army under-age than originally estimated, providing compelling evidence that as many as 400,000 served.</div>

Richard van Emden
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Books By Richard van Emden (13 Books)