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BOOK REVIEWS

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Britain's Airborne Forces of WWII: Uniforms and Equipment

The Second World War saw huge advancements in military tactics and technology occurring at an unprecedented pace. One such development was the employment of forces able to deploy at short notice by parachute across the globe, ... few have attracted more attention than Britain s famed Parachute Regiment.
The Long Range Desert Group in the Aegean

Shortly after the invasion of Sicily and to distract German attention from the Italian campaign, Churchill ordered the occupation of the Dodecanese Islands in the Aegean. The Long Range Desert Group, retraining in Lebanon, were now part of Raiding Forces, Middle East, along with the Special Boat Service and No 30 Commando.
Commando

John Durnford-Slater raised and trained the first Commando unit in 1940, became an outstanding leader of special operations and witnessed some of the most daring exploits of World War II. Commando is his remarkable story.
A visitor’s guide: The Battles of Arras: South

The First World War battlefields to the south of Arras - including Battery Valley and Observation Ridge, Telegraph Hill, Monchy-le-Preux, Wancourt, and Bullecourt - are among the most famous and most visited sites on the Western Front, rivalled only by those around Ypres and the Somme
Cameras at War

Books about war and the pictures that came out of conflict usually concentrate on the picture content. But behind every picture there is a camera - and that's what this book is about. Profusely illustrated throughout with pictures of the cameras, rather than the pictures they took, it looks at 100 years of conflict from the Crimean War to the Korean War
Wilson's War

Field-Marshal Sir Henry Wilson is an archetypal ‘love him or hate him’ character. An agile mind, a sharp, witty and sometimes wicked tongue, and the author of diaries full of the kind of coruscating remarks that a modern tabloid newspaper editor only dreams of.
Gallipoli Diary 1915

Alec Riley, a signaller with the British Army’s 42nd Division, reached Cape Helles on 6 May 1915. ‘We landed,’ he wrote, ‘in an enemy’s country, without his permission, and the event was entirely without romance.’
The Gallipoli Evacuation

The expedition to wrest the Narrows from the Turks had failed, and Constantinople remained an impossible dream. Now in December 1915, some 135,000 men, nearly 400 guns and 15,000 horses were collectively trapped in the bridgeheads at Anzac, Suvla and Helles.
Gallipoli: the Egerton Diaries and Papers

As Commander of 52nd Division, Granville Egerton kept a detailed long daily diary of the events, conditions and personalities at Gallipoli between June and September, 1915. He is highly critical of the decisions and tactics of the campaign as well as of his C-in-C Sir Ian Hamilton and Corps Commander Aylmer Hunter-Weston. ‘Ian Hamilton can’t help himself from being a liar’.
Hertfordshire Soldiers of The Great War

In Hertfordshire Soldiers of The Great War the authors explore a series of individual case studies of Hertfordshire men who served in various theatres during the First World War, all of which had been uncovered as part of the Herts At War community project. This unique collection of largely unknown accounts includes stories from the Western Front, Gallipoli, Salonika, Mesopotamia, East Africa, Egypt and even Russia in the fight against the Bolsheviks in 1919.
The Battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal 1940

Known in some accounts as the Battle of Wijtschaete, the confrontation along the Ypres-Comines Canal in 1940 is still hardly remembered in this country and, apart from the battle honours displayed proudly on the colours of the regiments who took part – many no longer in existence, very little has been written about the four days which probably saved the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from almost complete destruction.
The Third Reich in 100 Objects – A Material History of Nazi Germany

Hitler's Third Reich is still the focus of numerous articles, books and films: no regime of the twentieth century has prompted such interest or such a body of literature. This is an accessible, compelling, sometimes shocking and often revelatory guide to the Third Reich that has been collated and presented by one of the world's leading historians of Nazi Germany.
The Home Front 1939–1945 in 100 Objects

A lifesaving gas mask. A ration book, essential for the supply of food. A shelter stove that kept a family warm whilst they huddled in their Anderson shelter. A leaflet dropped by the Luftwaffe that was designed to intimidate Britain's populace during the threat of invasion. A civilian identity card over-stamped with the swastika eagle from the occupied Channel Islands.
Dunkirk Evacuation Operation Dynamo

The ‘miracle’ of Dunkirk is one of the most inspiring stories of all time. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) had been all but surrounded, and, with the French armies collapsing on all sides, it appeared that Britain was about to suffer the heaviest defeat in its history
Death of a Division: Eight Days in March 1918 and the Untold Story of the 66th Division

The war had dragged on towards its fourth year. There seemed little prospect of any immediate end to the ceaseless slaughter. Field Marshal Haig saw the war as a continual battle of attrition until the Germans were finally battered into submission. In Germany the economic blockade that had been imposed upon it, enforced by the Royal Navy, was slowly strangling the country. The Kaiser and his generals knew that the longer the war dragged on the greater was the prospect of an Allied victory.
A Guide to Hitler's Munich

Munich, the capital of Bavaria, is one of Europe´s most enchanting cities with its criss-cross of narrow cobbled streets or wide sunlight boulevards. But it is also a city that hides a dark past. I wonder how many visitors on their business trips, city breaks or maybe attending the legendary Octoberfest know Munich was the location for the ascent of Nazism, the Third Reich and Adolf Hitler.
The King's Men

Neil Storey's book is a welcome edition to the story of the 4th and 5th Battalions of the Norfolk Regiment, the two Territorial battalions that went overseas during the Great War. Of these the 1/5th Battalion is probably the most well-known due to their tragic exploits on 12 August 1915 at Suvla Bay
Victory At Gallipoli 1915

The German contribution in a famous Turkish victory at Gallipoli has been overshadowed by the Mustafa Kemal legend. The commanding presence of German General Liman von Sanders in the operations is well known. But relatively little is known about the background of German military intervention in Ottoman affairs.
Cameras, Combat and Courage

What was it like to be a military combat photographer in the most photographed war in history — the Vietnam War? “Cameras, Combat, and Courage”, a companion volume to "Shooting Vietnam", takes you there as you read the firsthand accounts and view the hundreds of photographs by men who lived the war through the lens of a camera. They documented everything from the horror of combat to the people and culture of a land they suddenly found themselves immersed in.
The Fall of Berlin

On 20 April, Hitler’s 56th birthday, Soviet artillery began a massive bombardment of the doomed city. The Fuhrer ordered every soldier, Hitlerjugend and Volksstrum to fight to the death. The house-to-house fighting that followed was brutal and savage with heavy casualties for both military and civilians.
Royal Flying Corps Kitbag: Aircrew Uniforms and Equipment from the War Over the Western Front in WWI

As the Great War raged, the developments in military aviation were profound, not only in terms of aerial warfare but, as this book reveals, the uniforms and equipment the aircrew used. All the objects that a RFC pilot or airman was issued with for sorties over the Western Front during the First World War are explored in this book in high-definition colour photographs, detailing everything from the differing flying clothing to insignia.
Missing - The Need For Closure After The Great War

How long would you look for a missing son, even if you knew he was dead? How long could you justify such a search? Two years? Five years? A lifetime? Angela’ s son, Francis Mond, a Royal Air Force pilot, had been shot down and killed, but where was his body?
Shooting Vietnam

What was it like to be a military combat photographer in the most photographed war in history — the Vietnam War? “Shooting Vietnam” takes you there as you read the firsthand accounts and view the hundreds of photographs by men who lived the war through the lens of a camera.
Cornerstones

A chance encounter with a bundle of small dusty envelopes neatly wrapped up in string set Katherine Swinfen Eady on a journey of discovery about her Great Grandfather, Harold Mynors Farmar. As a regular soldier with the Lancashire Fusiliers Mynors began his army career in the traditional infantry format of a fighting square facing up to the Dervishes in the desert of the Sudan.
Relunctant Partner

No campaign in the Great War has been the subject of such intense and prolonged attention and controversy as the one in the Dardanelles. The general perception is that it was an operation involving troops from Britain and the Empire. The role of the French is barely mentioned if at all. As junior partners the French contribution does not compare to that of the British, but it was nevertheless significant.
The Anglo-Boer War in 100 Objects

The Anglo-Boer War in 100 Objects brings the victories and the tragedies – and the full extent of the human drama behind this war – to life through 100 iconic artefacts, from a Mafeking siege note helps to the boots of a Boer soldier who died at Spion Kop. The text is interspersed with striking historical images - more than 200 additional objects have been included to help tell the story of a conflict that left an indelible mark on the South African landscape.
Lemnos & Gallipoli Revealed: A Pictorial History of the Anzacs in the Aegean 1915-16

This book, beautifully produced in a lavish larger format design, tells the important story of the Aegean Island of Lemnos' role in the Gallipoli campaign. A well-researched and fascinating study, the book includes chapters that include Lemnos before the Gallipoli landings, the way it was transformed into a base, the medical aspects, Sarpi Rest Camp, evacuation and the final departure after Gallipoli, except for those that remain buried in one of the island's CWGC cemeteries.
The Dieppe Raid

Winston Churchill was under pressure. The Soviets felt that they were fighting the Germans by themselves. Stalin demanded that Britain should open a second front to draw German forces away from the east. Though the advice Churchill received from his staff was that an invasion of France would not be possible for at least another year, the British Prime Minister knew he had to do something to help the Russians.
Dear Em: Major Geoffrey McLaughlin's Letters to His Family, 1914-1917

This unique collection of letters charts the narrative of the Great War, seen through the eyes of a young Sydney man as he writes regularly to his mother from the camps and battlefields.
Two Midshipmen at Gallipoli

This book combines the letters and memoirs of two of the eight young midshipmen who led the assault on W Beach on 25 April 1915. Weaving between them are the writings of Admiral Wemyss, the man in charge of the naval side of the landings and in whose flagship both young men served.
Major & Mrs Holt's Definitive Battlefield Guide to the D-Day Normandy Landing Beaches

Already the best-selling English-language guide to the area, universally known as THE BIBLE, this is the 75th anniversary, completely revised, up-to-date, much expanded edition of the DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE D-DAY NORMANDY LANDING BEACHES.
Hitler's Paratroopers in Normandy

In June 1944, Allied forces fighting desperately to establish a foothold in Normandy and then breakout of the confining bocage found themselves opposed by a bewildering array of formations of the German Wehrmacht. Among them were the newly formed German II Parachute Corps. This gripping new account examines the exploits of Germanys II Parachute Corps and its commander, Eugen Meindl from the Allied invasion on 6 June to the end of August 1944.
With Winston Churchill at the Front

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.
The Killing of the Iron Twelve

Why did the Germans brutally and illegally execute a group of British soldiers who had been trapped behind the lines during the retreat to the Marne in 1914? Hedley Malloch, in this gripping and meticulously researched account, vividly describes the fate the soldiers on the run, and of the French civilians who sheltered them. A dramatic and tragic story of escape, betrayals and punishment that also gives a fascinating insight into the soldiers life stories and the mind-set of the German army on the Western Front.
Two Sides of the Same Bad Penny? Gallipoli and the Western Front: A Comparison

In 1915, Great Britain and her Empire found itself engaged at Gallipoli and on the Western Front. Lacking the wherewithal to conduct both campaigns effectively, the year was one of theatre-wide learning and experiential exchange that continued to the armistice.
Three Anzacs from Malta

Three friends... Big dreams... One war that shook their world... The story of three young men who, in their early twenties, leave behind all they hold dear to pursue their dreams for a bigger and brighter future in a faraway land. Educated, charming, and adventurous, they soon settle in their adoptive home, securing steady jobs, forging new friendships, and finding love. But their carefree days end abruptly when the sombre clouds of a global war darken their world.
Nobody of Any Importance

“I feel one can say with some conviction that no man should willingly leave his home to fight, wound, maim or kill other men about whom he knows little and whom he certainly does not hate. When all men refuse to commit such follies the foundations of a true civilisation will have only just started to be laid.” - Sam Sutcliffe, circa 1974
MI5: British Security Service Operations, 1909-1945

MI5 is arguably the most secret and misunderstood of all the British government departments. Its enigmatic title – much more than its proper name, the Security Service – stands in the public mind for the dark world of the secret services in general. In reality it has a very specific brief: counter-intelligence. Its object is to combat espionage and subversion directed against the UK.