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In Flanders Fields: Scottish Poetry and Prose of the First World War
by Trevor RoyleThis anthology is the first ever acknowledgement of Scotland's unique contribution to the literature of the First World War. Here are gathered together well-known writers like John Buchan, Eric Linklater, Hugh MacDiarmid and Compton Mackenzie, as well as poets like Joseph Lee and Roderick Watson Kerr, who found their true voices fighting in a war to end wars. There is also a substantial contribution from women writers in the work of Violet Jacob, Naomi Mitchison and Mary Symon.
In Flanders Flooded Fields: Before Ypres There Was Yser
by Paul Van PulIn October 1914 four armies were converging on Dunkirk. While France was preparing to defend its main Channel port, the Germans were determined to take it while the British were busy using it. Caught in the middle was the Belgian Army. Belgium was almost totally overrun, safe for a small strip of land near the Pas-de-Calais.This is the story of what happened between Antwerp and Dunkirk that fateful month and how the King of the Belgians safeguarded the independence of his small nation from its all-powerful neighbours.Contains 25 custom-made maps, several drawings and 138 seldom seen photographs.
In For a Penny, In For a Pound: The Adventures and Misadventures of a Wireless Operator in Bomber Command
by Howard HewerThe gripping story of the twentieth century's greatest struggle in the modest voice of a Canadian teenager in the RAF.In 1940, nineteen-year-old Howard Hewer dreamed of being the next Billy Bishop, of piloting Spitfires or Hurricanes over Europe. His dream was shattered when he was selected instead for a career as a wireless operator in Bomber Command.But he got all the adventure he signed on for. Hewer and his crews of 218 and 148 Squadrons flew important night operations over Germany and North Africa, dropping their deadly payloads and dodging enemy flak.And he was not always much safer on the ground. He survived the Blitz in London, a U-boat attack in the South Atlantic, a fire-fight with Italian troops near el-Alamien, as well as chaste love affairs, fistfights, and beers with Boer rebels.Self-deprecating, bittersweet, and alive to both the horrors of war and the friendships and courage of the men and women who fight it, In for a Penny, In for a Pound is the unforgettable story of a young Canadian's experience of history's greatest war.From the Trade Paperback edition.
In Formation: One Woman's Rise Through the Ranks of the U.S. Air Force
by Cheryl Dietrich"In 1979 I was a Presbyterian minister, a hospital chaplain, and a pacifist. In 1980, I left the church and joined the Air Force. The day I showed up at the recruiter's office, I was twenty-eight, under-exercised, a wimp, and extraordinarily ignorant of the military. I intended it to be a stopgap measure while I figured out what to do next, but I never got bored. ” When Cheryl Dietrich joined the US Air Force, she began a transformation from overweight introvert and military neophyte into one of the key personnel redesigning the structure of the Air Force within the Pentagon. In this stirring and revelatory memoir, Cheryl--one of only a hundred female officers of colonel rank or higher--explains what it takes to stay the course, overcome male domination issues, break the glass ceiling more than once, and deal with the political issues facing the Pentagon. In Formation also covers subjects specific to military life: what it is like to be a squadron commander; to lead a NATO division, mobility exercises, and wartime exercises in gas mask and chem gear; and to deploy with NATO to war-torn Croatia; the book also describes a fatal air show disaster. It covers the basic experiences of relationships in the military. From the mundane to the heroic, this is a story about finding within oneself the kernels of courage that define the warrior--female or male.
In Furious Skies: Flying with Hitler's Luftwaffe in the Second World War
by Tim HeathWhen a proud Adolf Hitler revealed his new Luftwaffe to the world in March 1935, it was the largest, most modern military air arm the world had seen. Equipped with the latest monoplane fighter and bomber aircraft manned by well-trained and motivated crews, it soon became evident that the Luftwaffe also possessed a high degree of technical superiority over Germany’s future enemies. Yet within just nine years the once-mightiest air force in the world had reached total collapse, destroyed in part by the very people responsible for creating it. By 1944, the Luftwaffe, wearied by aerial battles on multiple fronts combined with tactical mismanagement from the highest levels of command, were unable to match their enemies in both production and manpower. By this time the Luftwaffe was fighting for its survival, and for the survival of Germany itself, above the burning cities of the Third Reich, facing odds sometimes as high as ten-to-one in the air. Told through the eyes of the fighter and bomber crews themselves, this book explores previously unpublished first-hand accounts of the rise and fall of one of the most formidable air forces in twentieth-century military history. It paints a haunting picture of the excitement, fear, romance intertwined with the brutality, futility and wastefulness that is war.
In Gallant Company (Richard Bolitho Novels #3)
by Alexander KentAs the American Revolution rages on the mainland, the British Navy prepares for action at sea. Against a growing fleet of American and French privateers, the navy must maintain its blockade of Washington's vital military supplies. Caught up in the turmoil, junior officer Richard Bolitho finds himself having to make momentous decisions in the heat of battle--decisions that could affect the lives of many men and, perhaps, even the fate of nations.
In Good Company: The First World War Letters and Diaries of The Hon. William Fraser–Gordon Highlanders
by William FraserIn Good Company is a graphic account by the Hon. William Fraser, Gordon Highlanders, of his service in the First World War. Several times wounded, he went to Flanders in 1914 with the 2nd Battalion and commanded successively a platoon, a company, a Territorial battalion and a Regular battalion, ending the war as a lieutenant-colonel of twenty-eight, having survived the battles of First, Second and Third Ypres, Arras, Cambrai and the final triumphs of 1918. Frasers letters and diaries from the front, which compose this absorbing book, were edited by his son, General Sir David Fraser, soldier, biographer, historian, novelist. They provide a vivid, often highly critical and virtually unbroken account of those extraordinary days, seen through the eyes of a young Highland office. In Good Company gives a remarkable insight into some of the most terrible and challenging years of the Armys life.
In Haig's Shadow: The Letters of Brigadier-General Hugo De Pree and Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig
by Gary SheffieldThis collection of correspondence and newly discovered family papers is &“a good read for anyone interested in WWI, or the British Army&” (The NYMAS Review). Hugo De Pree was the nephew of the better-known Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. However, De Pree had a distinguished military career in his own right. He served in the Boer War. He was sent to the Western Front, as Chief of Staff of IV Corps, and played a key part in planning the Battle of Cambrai in 1917. In 1918 De Pree was appointed to command 189 Brigade in 63rd (Royal Naval) Division. His part in the March Retreat showed that he was not a chateau general. In August 1918, he took the morally courageous decision to cancel his Brigade&’s attack, fearing heavy losses for little gain. He was sacked, but after appealing was appointed to command a brigade of 38th (Welsh) Division, which he commanded with distinction in the last weeks of the war. Afterward, De Pree rose to Major-General and was the Commandant at RMA Woolwich. His son, John, was killed in 1942 when attempting to escape from a POW camp in Germany, a story told in this book by one of the leading academics in the field, which combines De Pree and Haig family papers with incisive commentary to give a multi-faceted insight into both an important but obscure senior officer of the First World War, and his hugely famous uncle.
In Haig's Shadow: The Letters of Brigadier-General Hugo De Pree and Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig
by Gary SheffieldThis collection of correspondence and newly discovered family papers is &“a good read for anyone interested in WWI, or the British Army&” (The NYMAS Review). Hugo De Pree was the nephew of the better-known Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig. However, De Pree had a distinguished military career in his own right. He served in the Boer War. He was sent to the Western Front, as Chief of Staff of IV Corps, and played a key part in planning the Battle of Cambrai in 1917. In 1918 De Pree was appointed to command 189 Brigade in 63rd (Royal Naval) Division. His part in the March Retreat showed that he was not a chateau general. In August 1918, he took the morally courageous decision to cancel his Brigade&’s attack, fearing heavy losses for little gain. He was sacked, but after appealing was appointed to command a brigade of 38th (Welsh) Division, which he commanded with distinction in the last weeks of the war. Afterward, De Pree rose to Major-General and was the Commandant at RMA Woolwich. His son, John, was killed in 1942 when attempting to escape from a POW camp in Germany, a story told in this book by one of the leading academics in the field, which combines De Pree and Haig family papers with incisive commentary to give a multi-faceted insight into both an important but obscure senior officer of the First World War, and his hugely famous uncle.
In Harm's Way: Jfk, World War Ii, And The Heroic Rescue Of Pt-109 (Scholastic Inc Reference Non-fiction Ser.)
by Iain MartinIn September 1941, young Jack Kennedy was appointed an Ensign in the U.S. Naval Reserve. After completing training and eager to serve, he volunteered for combat duty in the Pacific and was appointed commander of PT 109. On August 2, 1943, Kennedy's PT 109 and two others were on a night mission to ambush an enemy supply convoy when they were surprised by a massive Japanese destroyer. The unsuspecting Americans had only seconds to react as the Japanese captain turned his ship to ram directly into Kennedy's. PT 109 was cut in half by the collision, killing two of Kennedy's 12 crewmen and wounding several others in the explosion. In Harm's Way tells the gripping story of what happened next as JFK fought to save his surviving crew members who found themselves adrift in enemy waters. Photographs round out the exciting narrative in the first book to cover this adventurous tale for young readers.
In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors
by Doug StantonOn the night of July 30, 1945, the Navy cruiser USS Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese sub, sending 900 men into the Pacific. What happened next was a nightmarish battle for survival.
In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Story of Its Survivors (True Rescue Series)
by Doug Stanton Michael J. TougiasA young readers edition of Doug Stanton and Michael J. Tougias' New York Times bestseller In Harm’s Way—a riveting World War II account of the greatest maritime disaster in US naval history."A masterful account of one of history's most poignant and tragic secrets." —#1 New York Times-bestelling author Lee ChildOn July 30, 1945, the U.S.S. Indianapolis was torpedoed in the South Pacific by a Japanese submarine. An estimated 300 men were killed upon impact; close to 900 sailors were cast into the Pacific Ocean, where they remained undetected by the navy for nearly four days and nights. Battered by a savage sea, they struggled to stay alive, fighting off sharks, hypothermia, and hallucinations. By the time rescue arrived, all but 316 men had died. The captain's subsequent court-martial left many questions unanswered: How did the navy fail to realize the Indianapolis was missing? And how did these 316 men manage to survive against all odds?New York Times bestselling author Michael J. Tougias adapts his histories of real life stories for young readers in his True Rescue Series, capturing the heroism and humanity of people on life-saving missions during maritime disasters.More Thrilling True Rescue Books:The Finest Hours (Young Readers Edition)A Storm Too Soon (Young Readers Edition)Into the Blizzard (Young Readers Edition)Attacked at Sea (Young Readers Edition)Rescue on the Bounty (Young Readers Edition)
In Her Majesty's Name
by Fabien Lascombe Craig CartmellIt is 1895 and the world is in turmoil. In the decades to come, historians will reflect upon the cause of this state of affairs and many will point squarely at Charles Babbage. The perfection of first his Difference Engine, and then his Analytical Engine, gave the new scientific establishment in the Great Powers the tool they had so long needed in order to make a dramatic leap forward. The ability to make huge and repeatable sets of complex calculations revolutionized the world.Within twenty years came the 'invention' of Cavorite, the perfection of miniaturized steam engines, electric light and motors, Radium Bricks, Arc weapons, Hydrogen and Helium Dirigibles, Road Trains, Calculating Artillery Engines, Sea and Land Dreadnoughts - the list is almost endless. Nothing is impossible when the wealth of a Great Power is coupled to the unlimited imagination of educated men of science and their engineers.The one thing that all these marvellous advances have not brought is peace. Every Great Power has been jostling its neighbours for resources and more importantly, the latest technology. None can afford to stand still and allow its neighbours to advance their science and engineering unmolested. If they do, they risk being overwhelmed as the French were in 1861 by the Prussians' mobile Calculating Artillery Engines, or as the Union was the year after that, with their ports put to the flame and successfully blockaded by the Confederacy's Armoured Sea Dreadnoughts.Some nations have also been tapping into older, more sinister powers, in order to produce an unholy combination of the mystical and the mechanical, such as the Prussian Todt-truppen.Although there have been relatively few open conflicts between the Great Powers, a state of undeclared and secret war exists between them all. This is where the Adventuring Companies come in. These are the deniable clandestine agents of the Great Powers (and of other globe-spanning organizations). They act in the shadows pitting their skills, their wits and the latest technologies against each other, to obtain the latest scientific formula, artefact or other vital component.Small groups of highly skilled and specialized operatives are brought together for each mission under the command of a trusted 'Captain'. In Great Britain they work out of the Explorers' Club in London. In Prussia their patron is the highly secretive Thule Society. In the USA they are mostly sponsored by the Secret Service. There are similar organizations in each of the Great Powers. They each have the choice of their nation's latest arms, armour and other equipment with which to perform their missions.
In His Protective Custody (The Doctors Pulaski #6)
by Marie Ferrarella"You can go back to being the city's dark knight."Dr. Aleksandra Pulaski tells officer Zane Calloway exactly what she thinks when he shows up in her E.R. with a bullet wound. But Zane isn't leaving her E.R. too fast. A former domestic violence case went bad, and now Alyx's life is in danger. With Zane her only hope....Zane reluctantly signs up to be Alyx's bodyguard. Trouble is, he could get used to having the infuriating beauty around-permanently. But can he keep her safe from a bitter man's revenge long enough for her to penetrate his steely heart?
In Hitler's Shadow: An Israeli's Amazing Journey Inside Germany's Neo-Nazi Movement
by Nick Taylor Yaron SvoraySvoray to be a sympathetic American and not realizing he was Jewish, introduced him to the semisecret world of German neo-Nazism. In a short time, Svoray contacted the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles and, with the center's backing, returned to Germany under the name of "Ron Furey," the American representative of a fictitious right-wing organization. So began a remarkable and shocking series of encounters between Svoray and members of Germany's neo-Nazi underground. Putting himself at great personal risk and constantly fearing that his identity would be discovered, Svoray met-and documented with hidden cameras and recording devices-a terrifying array of believers both young and old whose reach, he was shocked to find out, extends throughout Germany and beyond. He came across brutal young skinheads; paramilitary training camps that have sent neo-Nazi fighters to support Croatian soldiers in the former Yugoslavia; a network of committed neo-Nazis who are using their money and connections to establish political organizations; and politicians of the far right who cloak their connections to the movement in nationalist rhetoric. In Hitler's Shadow is a sobering report on the real threat that is posed by Germany's neo-Nazi movement, and a startling portrayal of the dangerous personalities behind it, told by a man of immense courage who has penetrated its heart of darkness. YARON SVORAY has been a paratrooper in the Israeli Defense Force and a detective in Israel's Central Police Command, and is currently an investigative journalist. He lives in Israel. NICK TAYLOR is the author of four previous works of nonfiction: Bass Wars, Sins of the Father, Ordinary Miraclesand A Necessary End. He lives in New York.
In Hitler's Shadow: Post-War Germany & the Girls of the BDM
by Tim HeathFrom the author of Hitler&’s Girls comes the revealing true story of the aftermath of WWII—told by the Third Reich&’s fallen &“Angels of Death&” themselves. In the wake of Germany&’s unconditional surrender in May 1945 and Japan&’s subsequent surrender later that July, the Allied press proclaimed across the world &“Victory! War is Over!&” The truth for many Germans, particularly the teenage girls of the former Bund Deutscher Mädel, was that a new war was just beginning. They were members of the League of German Girls—ten to eighteen-years old—who had been indoctrinated and trained as armed &“she-devils&” of the Third Reich. Drawing on eyewitness accounts, diary entries, and rare interviews with nearly forty members of the BDM, historian Tim Heath reveals the post-war hopes, horrors, and confusion through the eyes of the female wing of Hitler Youth. He recounts their struggle to rebuild their lives destroyed by years of war, and how a country, and these young women, came to terms with the terrible war crimes they were party to. Through these &“interesting and sometimes horrifying accounts of how these women fared in the dying days of the Reich and in post-war Germany,&” In Hitler&’s Shadow sheds light on on one of the darkest times of the twentieth century (Historical Novel Society).
In Love and War: Nursing Heroes
by Liz ByrskiIn the aftermath of the Battle of Britain, airmen filled a small town where pioneering plastic surgeon Archibald McIndoe established revolutionary surgical and therapeutic treatments. For the child Liz Byrski, growing up in East Grinstead, the burnt faces of these airmen filled her nightmares. In her late 60s, Liz returned to make peace with her memories and to speak not only with the survivors—known as the Guinea Pig Club—but with the nurses who played a vital and unorthodox role in their treatment, sometimes at a significant personal cost.
In Memoriam: A novel
by Alice WinnGMA BUZZ PICK • INTERNATIONAL BEST SELLER AND AWARD WINNER • A haunting, virtuosic debut novel about two young men who fall in love during World War I • &“Will live in your mind long after you&’ve closed the final pages.&” —Maggie O&’Farrell, best-selling author of Hamnet and The Marriage PortraitA Best Book of the Year: The New Yorker, The Washington Post, NPR &“In Memoriam is the story of a great tragedy, but it is also a moving portrait of young love, and there is often a lightness to the book.&”—The New York TimesIt&’s 1914, and World War I is ceaselessly churning through thousands of young men on both sides of the fight. The violence of the front feels far away to Henry Gaunt, Sidney Ellwood and the rest of their classmates, safely ensconced in their idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. News of the heroic deaths of their friends only makes the war more exciting.Gaunt, half German, is busy fighting his own private battle--an all-consuming infatuation with his best friend, the glamorous, charming Ellwood--without a clue that Ellwood is pining for him in return. When Gaunt's family asks him to enlist to forestall the anti-German sentiment they face, Gaunt does so immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings for Ellwood. To Gaunt's horror, Ellwood rushes to join him at the front, and the rest of their classmates soon follow. Now death surrounds them in all its grim reality, often inches away, and no one knows who will be next.An epic tale of both the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip, In Memoriam is a breathtaking debut.
In Mortal Combat: Korea, 1950–1953
by John TolandA history of the Korean War with soldier&’s-eye views from both sides, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Rising Sun and Infamy. Pulitzer Prize–winning author John Toland reports on the Korean War in a revolutionary way in this thoroughly researched and riveting book. Toland pored over military archives and was the first person to gain access to previously undisclosed Chinese records, which allowed him to investigate Chairman Mao&’s direct involvement in the conflict. Toland supplements his captivating history with in-depth interviews with more than two hundred American soldiers, as well as North Korean, South Korean, and Chinese combatants, plus dozens of poignant photographs, bringing those who fought to vivid life and honoring the memory of those lost. In Mortal Combat is comprehensive in it discussion of events deemed controversial, such as American brutality against Korean civilians and allegations of American use of biological warfare. Toland tells the dramatic account of the Korean War from start to finish, from the appalling experience of its POWs to Mao&’s prediction of MacArthur&’s Inchon invasion. Toland&’s account of the &“forgotten war&” is a must-read for any history aficionado.
In My Father's Footsteps: With the 53rd Welsh Division from Normandy to Hamburg
by Gwilym DaviesIn 1944-45, Capt. G.H. Davies served with the hard-fighting 53rd Welsh Division. He was an artillery officer in command of a battery of 25-pdr field guns and saw action from Normandy to the final surrender of Nazi Germany. Capt. Davies was present at the Normandy battles, the fierce fighting for s'Hertogenbosch and the Battle of Arnhem.During the course of the war, Capt. Davies kept a diary and also snatched a few photographs on his treasured camera. When the opportunity arose Capt. Davies liberated a camera from a fallen SS officer and, after the war, had the film developed. The film contained graphic images of the war from the German side of the line.Seventy years on from the events, the wartime diary, the photographs of the guns and the photographs taken by the dead SS officer were the inspiration for the son of Capt. Davies, television producer and writer Gwilym Davies, to undertake an emotional return to the battlefields, which his father had described in his diary.The result of that pilgrimage is an important new book which builds upon the wartime diary and the photographs to produce a powerful record of one man's war service with the guns of the 53rd Welsh Division. The book also contrasts the experience of Capt. Davies with those of the Germans on the other side of the line. Gwilym Davies is himself an accomplished photographer and his photographs of the 70th anniversary celebrations and the memorials provide a poignant counterpoint to the events of 1944.
In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer
by Irene Gut Opdyke Jennifer ArmstrongIrene Gut was just seventeen in 1939, when the Germans and the Russians divided and devoured her native Poland. In an instant her life would be transformed--distilled to flight, capture, escape, and hiding. After being rounded up outside of church one Sunday, Irene was put to work for the German Army. Her blond hair, her blue eyes, her youth--these bought her the relatively safe job of kitchen helper and waitress in an officer's dining room. But behind this Aryan mask, Irene began to wage her own war. She picked up snatches of conversation along with the Nazi's dirty dishes and passed the information to Jews in the ghetto. She raided the German Warenhaus for food and blankets. She smuggled Jews from the work camp into the forest. And , when she was made the housekeeper for a Nazi Major, she managed to hide twelve people in the basement of his home and to keep them safe there until the Germans' defeat. Irene Gut Opdyke has received many honors for her actions: Israel's Medal of Honor, recognition from the Vatican, a permanent place in the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. But this memoir, masterfully written by Jennifer Armstrong, strips away the laudatory titles--Holocaust Rescuer, Righteous Gentile--and reveals the woman herself. Just a girl, really. A girl who saw evil around her and chose to defy it. A girl who proves that the actions of one good person can make a difference; that the will to protect is every bit as powerful as the will to destroy. Ms. Opdyke began to share her story only recently--after hearing the holocaust denounced as a hoax, or propaganda. She now travels the country, speaking about her experiences. Her favorite audience is young people--people who are now the same age she was when the war began. These are the people who are now the same age she was when the war began. These are the people Irene most hopes to empower with the message that each of us can, and must, decide for ourselves what is good and what is evil, and behave accordingly.
In My Mother's House: A Novel
by Margaret McMullanIn My Mother's House is a beautiful, haunting, and elegantly crafted novel about a daughter's obsession to understand her mother's staunch commitment to silence about their family's experiences during World War II Vienna--and how they were able to escape.Told in alternating voices (Elizabeth and her mother Jenny), the story is remarkable for its fullness and rich details: the pieces of family silver the grandmother mails to the family, piece by piece, over the years; Jenny's war-time memories of her uncle's viola d'amore lessons; the fragrant smell of the wood floors at the Hofzeile, the family's longstanding yellow home in Vienna.As Elizabeth begins to fill the gaps of Jenny's troubled memory, she stumbles upon a family secret that ultimately reveals how it is that we inherit the things we do, from one generation to the next.In My Mother's House is a poignant look at a family struggling to regain what took them generations to build and at what cost. It's an emotional, expertly told novel that proves that Margaret McMullan will soon join the ranks of writers such as Anita Shreve and Carol Shields.
In My Wildest Dreams
by Leslie ThomasFrom Barnardo boy to original virgin soldier; from apprentice journalist in London's Fleet Street to famous novelist...At times funny, at times sad, but always honest and utterly compulsive, Leslie Thomas's story is straight out of fiction. As an orphan, he picked his way through the rubble of post-war Britain and was sent on national service to the Far East. Later he became a Fleet Street reporter, with hilarious experiences to relate, and then became the bestselling author of The Virgin Soldiers - the novel that, although scandalous in its day, is now recognised as a classic of its kind. He is also the creator of Dangerous Davies: The Last Detective, which has been adapted into a popular television series. In 2005, Leslie Thomas was awarded an OBE for services to literature.With a new introduction for this edition, this is an amazing story, and Leslie Thomas's magic touch brings it crackling to life with warmth, wit and humour.
In Napoleon's Shadow: The Memoirs of Louis-Joseph Marchand, Valet and Friend of the Emperor, 1811–1821
by Louis-Joseph MarchandIn 1811, twelve young men were chosen among the families in the Emperors personal service to serve as ushers in his apartments. My mother, attached to the household of the King of Rome as first nurse to the prince, requested this favour for me from the grand chamberlain, the Count de Montesquiou, and it was granted.Louis-Joseph Marchands intimate memoir of his time as Napoleons valet is the last of the significant Napoleonic manuscripts to be translated into English and a unique and precious insight into the last days of Napoleons Imperial project.Serving alongside the Emperor from the apex of his reign and through his eventual demise, Marchand depicts, in remarkable detail, the Russian campaign, the campaigns of Germany and France, Napoleons exile to Elba and subsequent escape, his defeat at Waterloo.Friend and confidante to the leader, Marchand was beside him at the Tuileries during the Hundred Days, and he was present to hear Napoleons last words, France my son the army on the island of St Helena.This sincere and authentic testimony from a man with nothing to hide, nothing to apologise for is both a meticulous historical record and a fresh personal perspective on Napoleon.In this work, Tulard remarks in his preface, the Emperor speaks freely. Listen..Marchand presents the somewhat familiar history of the Emperor's decline as completely new territory through conversations, fond stories and personal encounters'.'Marchand's memoirs, republished in English for the first time in two decades, represent a truly irreplaceable contribution to Napoleonic scholarship. Beyond the Emperor as commander and conqueror, Marchand, from his privileged vantage point, illuminates Napoleon the man in rich and absorbing detail.' - John H Gill
In Nelson's Wake: The Navy and the Napoleonic Wars
by James DaveyHoratio Nelson's celebrated victory over the French at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 presented Britain with an unprecedented command of the seas. Yet the Royal Navy's role in the struggle against Napoleonic France was far from over. This groundbreaking book asserts that, contrary to the accepted notion that the Battle of Trafalgar essentially completed the Navy's task, the war at sea actually intensified over the next decade, ceasing only with Napoleon's final surrender. In this dramatic account of naval contributions between 1803 and 1815, James Davey offers original and exciting insights into the Napoleonic wars and Britain's maritime history. Encompassing Trafalgar, the Peninsular War, the War of 1812, the final campaign against Napoleon, and many lesser known but likewise crucial moments, the book sheds light on the experiences of individuals high and low, from admiral and captain to sailor and cabin boy. The cast of characters also includes others from across Britain--dockyard workers, politicians, civilians--who made fundamental contributions to the war effort, and in so doing, both saved the nation and shaped Britain's history.