A young British soldier who went to war on two wheels
When the Great War broke out, the author of this book decided to leave his university studies and join the struggle. What attracted him immediately was the potential to combine his military service with his love of motorcycles and so it was that he found himself one of a select group of motorcycle despatch riders within the 5th Division of the 'Contemptible Little Army' that went to France and Belgium to halt the overwhelming numerical superiority of the advancing German Army. This book, an account of his experiences in the early months of the war, tells the story of a conflict of fluid manoeuvre and dogged retreat. Together with congested roads filled with military traffic and refugees, the ever present threat of artillery barrage and changing front lines the author had to constantly be aware of the presence of the deadly Uhlans-mounted German Lancers-who were always ready to pitch horseflesh against horsepower.

An intimate portrait of war
There are books which report the experience of war and then there are a few that enable the reader to step into another's life to share war, both in the mind and the flesh. Red Dust is such a book. Written by a trooper of the Australian Light Horse on campaign in the Middle East during the Great War against the Ottoman Turkish empire it tells of 'mateship, ' hard campaigning and brutal conflict-often hand to hand and described in relentless detail. It also allows the reader to share the thoughts of this ordinary man-a man of his time and his country-as he struggles to rationalise the horror and futility of war, his feelings on the loss of comrades, the embryonic sense of otherness from the Imperial motherland and the loss of youth. The action takes place principally in the Jordon Valley in Palestine-a grinding stalemate of a phase in what was often one of fluid manoeuvre. Here the troops experienced fiercely hot days, freezing nights, scorpions and spiders and the ever present threat of the tenacious and respected enemy. Red Dust is a rare book in every sense and will be sure to reward all those interested in the First World War and fine writing.

The quantity of journalism produced during World War I was unlike anything the then-budding mass media had ever seen. Correspondents at the front were dispatching voluminous reports on a daily basis, and though much of it was subject to censorship, it all eventually became available. It remains the most extraordinary firsthand look at the war that we have. Published immediately after the cessation of hostilities and compiled from those original journalistic sources-American, British, French, German, and others-this is an astonishing contemporary perspective on the Great War. This replica of the first 1919 edition includes all the original maps, photos, and illustrations, lending an even greater immediacy to readers a century later. Volume I covers June through October 1914, from the causes of the war-including how the local matter of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria grew into a global conflagration and the various declarations of war among the world powers-through the early battles on the Western Front. American journalist and historian FRANCIS WHITING HALSEY (1851-1919) was literary editor of The New York Times from 1892 through 1896. He wrote and lectured extensively on history; his works include, as editor, the two-volume Great Epochs in American History Described by Famous Writers, From Columbus to Roosevelt (1912), and, as writer, the 10-volume Seeing Europe with Famous Authors (1914).

The quantity of journalism produced during World War I was unlike anything the then-budding mass media had ever seen. Correspondents at the front were dispatching voluminous reports on a daily basis, and though much of it was subject to censorship, it all eventually became available. It remains the most extraordinary firsthand look at the war that we have. Published immediately after the cessation of hostilities and compiled from those original journalistic sources-American, British, French, German, and others-this is an astonishing contemporary perspective on the Great War. This replica of the first 1919 edition includes all the original maps, photos, and illustrations, lending an even greater immediacy to readers a century later. Volume II covers August 1914 through July 1915 on the Western Front, from the German advance on Paris to the first use of aeroplanes and zeppelins. American journalist and historian FRANCIS WHITING HALSEY (1851-1919) was literary editor of The New York Times from 1892 through 1896. He wrote and lectured extensively on history; his works include, as editor, the two-volume Great Epochs in American History Described by Famous Writers, From Columbus to Roosevelt (1912), and, as writer, the 10-volume Seeing Europe with Famous Authors (1914).

The first two books in an excellent trilogy of the Great War in the Middle East
W. T Massey was the foremost accredited journalist reporting on behalf of the London newspapers covering the Great War in the Middle East as it was fought against the Ottoman Turkish Empire, its German ally and the tribes of the region who threw in their lot with them. He possessed a deeply held conviction that this theatre of operations was far more important than those who only concerned themselves with the conflict in Europe believed. He was particularly aware of the hardships suffered by British and Colonial troops serving in difficult climates and over unrelenting terrain and he became, through his long association with the entire campaign, a champion of those who fought in it. This volume in the two book Leonaur edition-which covers the complete conflict from the war in the Western Desert against the Senussi to the actions at Aleppo and beyond-begins appropriately with the first book, 'The Desert Campaigns' and follows with the campaign that culminated in Allenby's historic walk into Jerusalem in 'How Jerusalem was Won.' Part history, part first hand account this is a valuable history imbued with the insight of one who was there.

An 'Old Contemptible' recounts the campaign of 1914
At the outbreak of the First World War, units of the British regular army-the B. E. F-were despatched to the continent to assist the French in an attempt to stem the tide of the advancing Imperial German Army as it marched inexorably towards Paris. The enemy viewed the 'Tommies' as 'that contemptible little army.' In that way peculiar to the British the insult became a byword for courage and honour as the highly trained and motivated soldiers in khaki demonstrated just what a contemptible little army could do. However, this was a war of attrition and despite the 'contemptibles' magnificent performance the 'grey horde' could not initially be halted. What followed was the memorable retreat from Mons. The author of this book was a subaltern officer serving in one of the county regiments of the B. E. F and chose as his title for this book the proudly worn designation 'Contemptible.' Although the book was written under a pseudonym it is widely believed that the writer was Arnold Gyde who served with the South Staffordshire Regiment and was one of the first British soldiers to set foot on the continent. Although the account of this vital aspect of the opening months of the conflict is presented in a 'factional' style it is clearly based on the author's first hand experiences.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.

World War I was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 1914 to 1918. Contemporaneously known as the Great War or "the war to end all wars", it led to the mobilisation of more than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, making it one of the largest wars in history. This series of Eight volumes provides year by year analysis of the war that resulted in the death of more than 17 million deaths worldwide.

"Lean men, brown men, men from overseas,
Men from all the outer world; shy and ill at ease
" There were Canadian Mounties, American cowboys, Arctic explorers, adventurers, rogues, big game hunters and sportsmen. There were famous men like Cherry Kearton, the naturalist and explorer and the grand old man of Africa-Frederick Selous himself. All these men had come together under the Union Flag to do battle against colonial Imperial Germany in East Africa. They came under the command of Driscoll of Driscoll's Scouts who performed with renown during the Boer War. These were the men of the 25th Royal Fusiliers-The Legion of Frontiersmen-and their battlegrounds were to be the great plains of Africa rich in wildlife and elemental danger. This is their story through the years of the Great War told by one of their own officers in vivid detail. It is a story of campaigns and hardship which would be equal to the best of them and lay many a 'lean, brown man' in a shallow grave in the red earth before it was concluded.

Two first accounts by early aviators
This special Leonaur 'good value' edition contains two accounts of the early days of powered flight. The first book, written just before the outbreak of the First World War, describes in depth the training of French military pilots up to the point where they are qualified. It contains much of historical interest and the process is explained, in considerable detail, from the trainee pilot's viewpoint as he grappled to master his machine. His numerous errors and how the aircraft performed as they were made are elaborated. The author came into contact with several types of aircraft and he describes the characteristics, performance and mechanics of each. So this book provides essential insights into the practicalities of being a fighter pilot in the imminent conflict. The second work is by a British pilot who was fully engaged in the air war over France. He was shot down and captured by the 'Bosch, ' he escaped and was again captured, and he underwent many other adventures before finally returning to his homeland. Accounts of pilots and aviation from the pioneer days of flying are comparatively few in number and these two short first hand narratives, essential reading for students of the subject, would have been unlikely to see republication as individual books.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.

The Shelf2Life WWI Memoirs Collection is an engaging set of pre-1923 materials that describe life during the Great War through memoirs, letters and diaries. Poignant personal narratives from soldiers, doctors and nurses on the front lines to munitions workers and land girls on the home front, offer invaluable insight into the sacrifices men and women made for their country. Photographs and illustrations intensify stories of struggle and survival from the trenches, hospitals, prison camps and battlefields. The WWI Memoirs Collection captures the pride and fear of the war as experienced by combatants and non-combatants alike and provides historians, researchers and students extensive perspective on individual emotional responses to the war.

Primary documents from the World War I era bring to life the causes, events and consequences of those tumultuous and violent years. Varied perspectives provide a valuable overview of the many and often complicated reactions by Americans to Pre-war European politics, Archduke Ferdinand's assassination, the sinking of the Lusitania by a German submarine, the major battles fought, and of the eventual and controversial entry into the war by the United States, among others. Will be a valued resource for researchers seeking to tap into contemporary attitudes toward events long gone.

The war for the British life-line of the English Channel
Throughout history the English Channel has both preserved Britain and been its most vulnerable border. This short span of sea was dominated by the Royal Navy for over 150 years before the outbreak of the Great War. A new war-the first major conflict of the technological age-brought new dangers and challenges. A constant traffic of men and materials crossed the Channel to serve and supply the armies locked in a death struggle on the continent and this vital artery had to remain open and effective at all times to ensure victory and survival. Enemy submarines, surface flotillas and batteries of artillery remained dangerously close at hand, and well defended ports and harbours provided a continual threat to allied traffic and forces. This is the story of a fierce naval war fought in a narrow sea-way by one who experienced it. It is a story of naval battles and daring raids, of the bombing arm of the emergent air force and of the submarine service at its most daring. Above all it is a riveting story of human courage and endurance that will fascinate every student of the First World War.

The Great War in the Middle East as seen by a British artilleryman
Antony Bluett, a serving member of the Honourable Artillery Company, has given us a vital account of the Great War as it was fought in the Egyptian Desert, across the Sinai peninsula into Palestine, the capture of Jerusalem and on to victory in Lebanon and Syria. He tells his story as he saw the war from with his battery of guns-which played its part in this untypical theatre of fluid manoeuvring that brought about the fall of the declining Turkish Ottoman Empire. His was not simply a war of artillery duels and the ever present danger of bombs from enemy aircraft. The very environment was an enemy, fluctuating between searing daytime heat and freezing cold nights on difficult terrain. We are introduced to the difficulties of handling horses, guns and wagons in a war far different to that of the Western Front. The entire campaign is entertainingly recounted including lively accounts of the activities of the Welsh, Scottish and London infantry regiments, the colonial light horsemen and Cameliers together with the long suffering Egyptian labourers who carved camps, fortifications and roads out of the most inhospitable landscape.

When the Germans invaded her small Belgian village in 1914, Marthe Cnockaert's home was burned and her family separated. After getting a job at a German hospital, and winning the Iron Cross for her service to the Reich, she was approached by a neighbor and invited to become an intelligence agent for the British. Not without trepidation, Cnockaert embarked on a career as a spy, providing information and engaging in sabotage before her capture and imprisonment in 1916. After the war, she was paid and decorated by a grateful British government for her service. Cnockaert's is only one of the surprising and gripping stories that comprise Female Intelligence. This is the first history of the female spies who served Britain during World War I, focusing on both the powerful cultural images of these women and the realities, challenges, and contradictions of intelligence service. Between the founding of modern British intelligence organizations in 1909 and the demobilization of 1919, more than 6,000 women served the British government in either civil or military occupations as members of the intelligence community. These women performed a variety of services, and they represented an astonishing diversity of nationality, age, and class. From Aphra Behn, who spied for the British government in the seventeenth century, to the most well known example, Mata Hari, female spies have a long history, existing in juxtaposition to the folkloric notion of women as chatty, gossipy, and indiscreet. Using personal accounts, letters, official documents and newspaper reports, Female Intelligence interrogates different, and apparently contradictory, constructions of gender in the competing spheres of espionage activity.