Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

Perhaps one of the most memorable sights in the Second World War was the arrival in Scapa Flow of the Home Fleet after the successful sinking of Scharnhorst in the last week of 1943. Harry Semark was one of the few civilians privileged to witness it. This and other of his eye witness accounts, remembered with such clarity down the years, add value to the record of what was a monumentous six years in the history of not only these isles but most of the world. This book describes with complete accuracy and in a most unassuming way, the real story of the varied service that one man, like thousands of others, gave ungrudgingly largely unnoticed and unrewarded, to keep the Naval War machine, ready to fight and win. Harry Semark makes light of the hardships the world often worked in, in biting weather on large guns with practically no assistance, being expected to analyse and make good faults as requested by the Gunnery Officer (this was World War II practice). It is to his credit that he invariably found a way to achieve the aim, be it converting a fishing drifter for its self-protection to modifying a battleship's 15" guns to allow it to engage and destroy the enemy. A technical expert, he makes gunfitting come alive, this obvious zest for knowledge and life ensures that the cameos he paints are always vital and fascinating.

Foreword by Dan Snow. Ten holders of the Victoria Cross, the highest British military honour - for 'valour in the face of the enemy' - are associated with the Borough of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, UK. They include the very first VC to be awarded (in the Crimea, 1856).

Blacker's Boys tells the First World War history of the 9th (Service) Battalion, Princess Victoria's (Royal Irish Fusiliers) (County Armagh), one of thirteen infantry battalions raised in Ireland for 36th (Ulster) Division. It begins with the political context of the long-running Home Rule crisis and the formation of the Ulster Volunteer Force in 1912. It describes the raising of the Battalion in September 1914 from the men of the Ulster Volunteers of Counties Armagh, Cavan and Monaghan, their training, their move to France and early experiences in the trenches. There are detailed accounts of the actions of the Battalion in the Battles of the Somme, Third Ypres and Cambrai, during the German offensive in 1918 and in the Advance to Victory. The main text is supported by detailed appendices that commemorate those who served and include a Roll of Honour of those who died; the awards and decorations earned; biographical summaries of more than 250 officers and details of over 3,400 men who served in its ranks, and an examination of its excellent discipline record. They explain how this Battalion transitioned from comprising only Protestant volunteers from Ulster to one that was a mix of Protestant and Roman Catholic Irishmen, Englishmen from Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and London, regular soldiers, war-time volunteers and conscripts. The text is supported by full colour maps and many unique photographs.

The authentic description of a glider pilot's experience at the Battle of Arnhem in 1944, from the take-off to his escape. A graphic, detailed, and most absorbing account.

The story of this tragic loss, New Zealand's worst military disaster, has not been told fully - until now In the annals of military history, the World War I battle of Passchendaele is recorded as New Zealand's worst military disaster. In just a few short hours on a miserable Belgian morning over 1000 New Zealand soldiers were killed and a further 2000 wounded in an attack on the Germanfront line. In Massacre at Passchendaele, Glyn Harper brings this ill-fated battle to life. The background to the situation facing the Allies in October 1917 is outlined, and the first assault on Passchendaele is described. This near-perfect military operation brought the New Zealand soldiers much acclaim; however, the second attack, on 12 October 1917, was anything but successful. The rationale of the strategists, the concern of some officers and the desperation of the fighting man are all recorded here. Judicious use of diary extracts and recorded interviews transport the reader to the centre of this harrowing event. An appendix lists the names and details of the New Zealand soldiers killed at Passchendaele, a tribute to their sacrifice. The military disaster of Passchendaele was a pivotal event in New Zealand's history, and a key influence on our attitudes to war in the following decades. This book will help ensure that it remains an untold story no longer.

The years of National Service cover almost two decades from 1945 to 1963. During that time 2.5 million young men were compelled to do their time in National Service with 6,000 being called up every fortnight. Some went willingly while others were reluctant. A few were downright bloody-minded as they saw little difference between their call up and the press gangs of Britain's distant past. At first public opinion was behind the idea of peacetime conscription or national service as they call it. It was clear in the immediate post war political landscape that Britain had considerable obligations and only a limited number of men still in service. Overnight the national servicemen had to learn a new language. !Fatigues!, 'Blanco', 'spit n polish', 'rifle oil', 'pull throughs' and the dreaded 'bull' and 'jankers'. Once they had been shaved from the scalp and kitted out all within a few hours of arrival, the rookie National Servicemen all looked identical even if back in the barrack room every man was still an individual. The arena for the breaking in of these young men was the parade ground. In squads they learnt how to obey orders instinctively and to react to a single word of command by coping with a torrent of abuse from the drill Instructors. After basic training the raw recruits would be turned into soldiers, sailors and airmen and they would be posted to join regiments at home or abroad. Nearly 400 national servicemen would die for their country in war zones like Korea and Malaya. Others took part in atomic tests on Christmas Island or were even used as human guinea pigs for germ warfare tests. There are tragic stories also of young men who simply couldn't cope with military life and the pain of separation from their families. For some suicide was the only way out.

'From School to Landing Craft' describes the period 1939 to 1947 for one man, age 17 at the outbreak of war, from two perspectives. First, there is a factual account of his time in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR). Secondly, there is an account based on extracts of letters between him, his family and friends. These letters illuminate his transition from a comfortable middle class upbringing in the London suburbs and at boarding school to the deprivations and uncertainties of war. They provide a first hand account, sometimes filtered by the naval censor, of family and friends dealing with life-threatening circumstances. The expectations and fears of anxious parents stand juxtaposed with mundane 'everyday life' at home and in contrast to the resilient adaptability of youth.

Tracing the interwoven traditions of modern welfare states in Europe over five centuries, Thomas McStay Adams explores social welfare from Portugal, France, and Italy to Britain, Belgium and Germany. He shows that the provision of assistance to those in need has faced recognizably similar challenges from the 16th century through to the present: how to allocate aid equitably (and with dignity); how to give support without undermining autonomy (and motivation); and how to balance private and public spheres of action and responsibility. Across two authoritative volumes, Adams reveals how social welfare administrators, critics, and improvers have engaged in a constant exchange of models and experience locally and across Europe. The narrative begins with the founding of the Casa da Misericordia of Lisbon in 1498, a model replicated throughout Portugal and its empire, and ends with the relaunch of a social agenda for the European Union at the meeting of the Council of Europe in Lisbon in 2000. Volume 1, which focuses on the period from 1500 to 1700, discusses the concepts of 'welfare' and 'tradition'. It looks at how 16th-century humanists joined with merchants and lawyers to renew traditional charity in distinctly modern forms, and how the discipline of religious reform affected the exercise of political authority and the promotion of economic productivity. Volume 2 examines 18th-century bienfaisance which secularized a Christian humanist notion of beneficence, producing new and sharply contested assertions of social citizenship. It goes on to consider how national struggles to establish comprehensive welfare states since the second half of the 19th century built on the power of the vote as politicians, pushed by activists and advised by experts, appealed to a growing class of industrial workers. Lastly, it looks at how 20th-century welfare states addressed aspirations for social citizenship while the institutional framework for European economic cooperation came to fruition

It was the first war we could not win. At no other time since World War II have two superpowers met in battle. Now Max Hastings, preeminent military historian takes us back to the bloody bitter struggle to restore South Korean independence after the Communist invasion of June 1950. Using personal accounts from interviews with more than 200 vets -- including the Chinese -- Hastings follows real officers and soldiers through the battles. He brilliantly captures the Cold War crisis at home -- the strategies and politics of Truman, Acheson, Marshall, MacArthur, Ridgway, and Bradley -- and shows what we should have learned in the war that was the prelude to Vietnam.

In August 1941 Winston Churchill (1874-1965) and President Roosevelt (1882-1945) met secretly on HMS Prince of Wales, moored just off the coast of Newfoundland. H. V. Morton and Howard Spring (author of Fame is the Spur) were invited to accompany the Prime Minister and his entourage, a trip, which was not without its hazards. Only a handful of people knew Churchill had left Britain and in America the press merely reported that Roosevelt was enjoying a few days' away from Washington, fishing. The Prince of Wales set off from Scrabster on 4th August 1941 and reached her destination at Newfoundland on 9th August 1941. A routine was quickly established on board and the crew soon became used to the Prime Minister's timetable and requirements, especially his regular film nights. Together with the Prime Minister's bodyguard, Thompson, a number of key personnel accompanied Churchill on this mission, including Lord Beaverbrook who joined the ship by flying to Newfoundland's Placentia Bay. The Atlantic Treaty, whilst not achieving all that Churchill had hoped for, was a key document in the development of the war and post-war strategy.Churchill had hoped that at the resolution of the meeting America would join the war during the summer of 1941 but this was not to be. America did finally join the war in December 1941 following the Japanese attack on the US base at Pearl Harbour. H. V. Morton's account was not released for publication until 1943 and subsequently numerous documents have been made available at the National Archives. Atlantic Meeting is a unique account of the events leading up to Churchill's discussions with Roosevelt and a fascinating account of the practicalities - and occasionally humour - involved in such a perilous journey.