A two-generation saga of the Manners family, Resolution shares the history of John Masters, Marquis of Granby, who famously led a cavalry charge during the Seven Years' War and his two sons - Charles, who was involved in Whig politics and reconciling with American rebels during their War for Independence, and Robert, who embarked on a naval career and became the post-captain of the Resolution as he commanded a major line-of-battle ship in the largest British fleet ever to operate so far from home waters up to that date. Admire the achievements of the brothers, from Charles balancing the debates of the influence of British 'king and Parliament' in America, but also the seeming increase in 'Royal authority' in Britain at the expense of British people's own 'life, liberty and property', to Robert's improvement of the armed, 74-gun Resolution under his command which he wrote about, claiming it 'to be the fastest sailer of any line battle ship or frigate in the West Indies.' Discover how John Masters, Marquis of Granby, became a hero after the Seven Years War because he was, unusually for the time, generous and concerned for his men, giving him the titles of 'mob's hero' and 'father of the army' and inspiring works such as 'The British Hero', which was written by Richard Rolt and set to music by William Boyce. Learn how Granby was passionate about fox hunting at Belvoir Castle and breeding racehorses at the family sitting Chevely Park in Cambridgeshire, and find out how he struggled in the political sphere as he would 'tremble like a woman' whenever he was about to public speak - despite holding an elected seat in the House of Commons. The lives of the two brothers are eloquently interwoven, whether writing about Charles' hesitation at ending the war with American rebels so promptly as it would blight his younger brother's chances at a rapid promotion, discussing how Charles' inheritance of land and title meant he could help young Robert accrue funds to live ashore in London and allow the brothers to grow closer, or reflecting on Charles' decision to stay at Cheveley Park to canvass on behalf of Robert's electoral prospects while he was at sea after 1780. Vivid images range from landscapes of an English man-of-war entering Portsmouth Harbour by Dominic Serres, 'A view of Belvoir Castle from the South West with Belvoir Hunt in Full Cry' by Thomas Badeslade in 1730, and 'The Battle of the Saintes', 12 April 1782 by Lieutenant William Elliott RN, to portraits including John Manners in the uniform of the Royal Horse Guards (the blues) by Sir Joshua Reynolds, a pastel commissioned by Granby of Charles aged eighteen by Hugh Douglas Hamilton in 1771, and Robert aged fourteen in midshipman's uniform by Hamilton completed in 1772 when Robert decided to join the Royal Navy. Family tree and glossary, maps, black and white and colour images, pagemarker, 482pp.

From the Prologue: 'These men were, as Shakespeare had put it, 'but warriors for the working day'. Much can be learned from them: not least we learn the awfulness of war. They never questioned the rightness of what they were doing. Some of them were unfortunate in their backgrounds. They might have resented what they were being asked to do. All of them, certainly, were asked to do more than any man should be. But British soldiers, unlike the armies of their allies, never broke collectively: there were no mutinies.' This is the story of 72 men from one village who fought and died in the Great War. They were awarded very few medals, and their military careers were unremarkable, except in the respect that they, like countless other civilians, answered their country's call in its time of need. The war was not won by the professional soldiers of the original British Expeditionary Force, superlatively professional as it was, because by the end of 1915 it no longer existed, its place first taken by volunteers and then by conscripts. The book traces the lives of these sons of Bridge of Weir, not just as soldiers, sailors and airmen, but as members of a small community which felt their loss intensely. At the same time it is also the story of the politicians and generals who planned the war and how it played out over four horrific years. The men from Bridge of Weir fought on the Western Front, Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Salonika, the Italian Front and East Africa, in the Mercantile Marine, the RAF, and Canadian and ANZAC Forces as well as the British Army and Royal Navy. With the larger picture, the stories of the 72 men, the third intention of the book is to tell the story of the war, why it was fought, how it was fought and why it was fought in that way. A unique and poignant picture of the First World War. 259pp, paperback. Archive photos, two maps and a diagram of army structure and strength and the order in which the men died by name, rank, regiment, date of death, age and place.

Sub-titled 'The Epic Story of the Second World War, 1938-1941', this sweeping ground-breaking epic combines military with social history, the world-historically significant story of Britain at war. In looking closely at the military and political dimensions of the conflict's first crucial years, Alan Allport tackles questions such as: could the war have been avoided? Could it have been lost? Were the strategic decisions the right ones? How well did the British organise and fight? How well did the British live up to their own values? What difference did the war make in the end to the fate of the nation? He also looks intimately at the changes in wartime society and culture and draws on a large cast of characters from the leading statesmen and military commanders who made the decisions, to the ordinary men, women and children who carried them out and lived through their consequences, to present a comprehensible and compelling single history of 46 million people. What he tries to explain is how a country that got so many things catastrophically wrong in the early years of the conflict managed not just to hold out against Hitler, but in the second anniversary of the war's outbreak in September 1941, to have apparently halted the rout and even perhaps to be constructing a plausible theory of victory. It ends on a note of cautious hope. With maps including the battlefield of May to June 1940, the Battle of Britain, major Luftwaffe night attacks, the North Atlantic, the Eastern Mediterranean and the Imperial Crisis spring 1941 and Bomber Command targets September 1939 to December 1941. The British-born historian's book has been published in the USA, 590 roughcut pages which are highly desirable in the US. 2021 Alfred A. Knopf New York.

Sub-titled 'The Untold Story of the Jews Who Escaped The Nazis and Returned with the US Army To Fight Hitler'. After Hitler came to power, some desperate Jewish families were able to send their sons out of Nazi-occupied Europe to America. When the United States entered World War II, these young men returned as U.S. soldiers to fight for their adopted homeland and for the families they had left behind. They did so knowing full well what the Nazis would do to them if they were captured. Known as the Ritchie Boys, they became one of the U.S. Army's greatest secret weapons, for they possessed a unique mastery of the German language, culture, and psychology, all of which they used as members of elite intelligence teams assigned to every major combat unit in Europe. They interrogated German prisoners of war and collected key tactical intelligence on enemy strength, troop and armoured movements, and defensive positions that saved American lives and helped the Allies win the war. These young men had the greatest motivation to fight Hitler's anti-Semitic regime. The Pentagon came up with a top-secret plan to harness their expertise by training them in the art of prisoner interrogation and so off they were sent, back into the belly of the beast, Jews returning to Nazi Germany to occupy the very front lines of battlefields across Europe. Many of them re-entered Europe on D-Day. Reminder mark, 429 page illustrated, paperback.

A companion to Into The Abyss Volume one (code 92672), this second volume begins with the Battle of Verdun, the longest battle of the Great War, and one of the most terrible ever fought. By the beginning of 1916 the French had already suffered two million casualties; Russia was crippled; Von Falkenhayn now believed 'The forces of France will bleed to death', through the unimaginable horrors of the Somme, the entry of the US into the war, and the 'Final throw of the dice', the spring 1918 Kaiserslacht, G. J. Meyer marshals the evidence brilliantly to show why the General was wrong. Much of the agony is in the detail - after the Armistice, while the victors debated the new world order, perhaps a ¼ million German civilians, many of them children, died of starvation and disease under a pointless naval blockade. 'This is an outstanding survey of a cataclysm that still casts a shadow over world affairs.' Global in scope and researched to the last possible dot, Meyer's sketches of the British Cabinet, the Russian Empire, the ageing Austro-Hungarian Empire are lifelike and plausible. He offers interesting and controversial insights into the motivations of many of the key participants in a masterful narrative history that eloquently conveys the sense of a civilisation engaged in massive self-destruction. 400 page large paperback, illus.

First published under the title 'A World Undone' following a list of maps, chronology, major characters, part one begins June 28th 1914 and chapters cover a background to the Serbs, the Habsburgs, the Hohenzollerns, the Romanovs, the Ottoman Turks. Part two August-December 1914 Racing to Deadlock looks at the background of Paris, London, the Junkers, the French Commanders and the British Commanders and ends with Flanders Field. Part three looks at the background to the Machinery of Death, the War at Sea, Troglodytes at Ypres, an infinite appetite for shells at Gallipoli, and genocide as the ground shifts and finally Gallipoli again and Poland. Large paperback facsimile reprint of the 2006 original, 390pp, illus. A companion to Volume Two Fate of Nations code 92661.

The Home Guard Training Manual (1942). How would you clear a stoppage on a Bren Gun while in action? What is the most effective way to clear a wood of enemy forces? How best could you counter a landing by enemy airborne forces in your area? What measure can you take to help ensure accurate rifle fire at night? What qualities should you look for when selecting a patrol commander? Just a few of the practical questions posed - and answered - in the selection of publications included. A number of manuals and training pamphlets were privately published during World War II to supplement the slim official Home Guard manual produced by the War Office. Covering everything from patrolling, night fighting, drill and small-arms proficiency to the legal powers of the Home Guard, these manuals were welcomed by the men of local Home Guard units keen to do everything possible to prepare for possible invasion - when they would be the first line of defence. This pocket manual has been reprinted multiple times due to demand. This facsimile includes all the original maps and detailed diagrams and chapters cover organisation, arms drill, field exercises, rifles and rifle shooting, small arms, hand grenades, and night fighting - for those willing to lay down their lives to foil the dastardly Hun. 160 pages.

During the Blitz, the very familiar sinuous shape of the Thames under moonlight directed waves of bombers to valuable targets like warehouses, industries, power stations, offices, docks and the associated housing. From 1940 to 1945, the German Airforce (the Luftwaffe) inflicted 101 daylight and 253 night-time air raids on London causing more than 80,000 fatalities or serious injuries and extensive devastation. In all that mayhem caused by high explosives, incendiaries, parachute mines, rockets and fire storms, the city was also faced with the very real possibility of major flooding whenever bombing seriously breached the river wall and its defences. This superbly researched and illustrated book describes the vital role and unsung achievements of the London County Council Emergency Repair Team, ably led by Chief Engineer Thomas Peirson Frank. Three rapid response units were formed and in the event undertook repairs to over 100 breaches of the flood defences. We also learn of the fate of London's docks and bridges, and of the ships, boats and barges lost in the estuary and tideway and the fieldwork of the Thames Discovery Programme, the community-based archaeological team working on the foreshore. The book catalogues incidents dealt with by each of the four regional T-F depots, located on the Isle of Dogs, in Southwark, Battersea and Greenwich, the work of the Auxiliary Fire Service (AFS) later the National Fire Service. Some 80 years on the book pays tribute to the non-combatants who kept the major port running and saved London. 208pp, very well illustrated with hundreds of archive and modern images.

Sub-titled 'The Last Heroines of Britain's Greatest Generation', and with a foreword by Baroness Betty Boothroyd, the book tells the stories of 10 of the last surviving female members of Britain's greatest generation. Whether flying Spitfires to the front line, code breaking at Bletchley Park, plotting the Battle of the Atlantic, or working with Churchill, each of these women made crucial contributions to the conflict overseas, and helped to buttress the home front. Centenarian Christian Lamb, who served as a plotter in the Battle of the Atlantic, agrees that amid the horror and tragedy of the conflict, there were positive outcomes for her sex. Women were spared a great deal of burden she explains, and there was a certain amount of freedom to be had. Catherine Drummond, now aged 99, had volunteered as a wireless operator. Some of the ten women came from backgrounds of grinding poverty, while others enjoyed gilded childhoods before joining the war effort. Joy Hunter, now aged 95, had served as a secretary in Winston Churchill in the subterranean Cabinet War Rooms beneath Whitehall. 102-year-old Jaye Edwards had an airfield in Yorkshire as the base from which she worked as a pilot delivering Spitfires to the front line. The range of military roles that women were permitted to perform expanded as the war dragged on. And the war was in some ways a great level between classes as women of all social backgrounds were drafted in to help. The book opens with a story of Margaret Turner born 18th of May 1923, who, at the age of 16 when the war broke out, volunteered as a nurse in the Voluntary Aid Detachment and witnessed a lot in just the first 12 months. With a reporter's eye for detail, Lucy Fisher artfully weaves together interviews and wartime diaries and letters in a vivid oral history. 318 pages in paperback with 16 pages of colour and archive photographs of the women as youngsters and at the age they were interviewed.

It is almost forgotten that it was an Andalusian inventor, physician and engineer who was the first person to undertake experiments in flying with any degree of success back in the 9th century AD. Nigh on a thousand years later, the Arab World's critical strategic location made it almost inevitable that these regions would be drawn into the imperial rivalries of the leading European powers, while the Ottoman Empire struggled to maintain its existing position in the area. This in turn meant that the first bombs to be dropped by military aircraft fell on Arab soil and as Arab countries slowly achieved their independence, they too wanted to have air forces. In 1948 the first such Arab air forces were thrown into battle in an ill-fated attempt to keep Palestine as a primarily Arab country. Chapters cover all of the colonial nations - Britain, France, Spain and the Ottoman Empire and the fledgeling Italians who had fought and taken control of Libya in 1912; he French invent aerial policing (1909-1914) and the Spaniards over the Rif (1909-1914) plus the First World War in Arab lands. There are aircraft used in war, airships and armoured cars and the chapter on Spain covers their part in combat with the local tribes during the period as they were neutral in the First World War. A concise expert text, colour illustrations and maps plus black and white photographs and high quality colour artworks providing fresh accounts of both well known and more esoteric aspects of the conflict in this part of the world since 1945. 88 large pages, 20.3 x 29.5cm.