The consummate soldier of Wellington's Peninsular Army
Guernsey born John Gaspard Le Marchant was an intellectual born before his time. He had a gift for languages, was a competent musician and a talented water colourist. Nevertheless, he chose a career as a soldier and cavalryman, perhaps unusually, since cavalry officers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries were not noted for their intellect. In common with many officers who were associated with the Duke of Wellington in the battles against Napoleon's First Empire, Le Marchant first saw action against the French Revolutionary armies in the Low Countries. The campaign was a debacle, but it caused Le Marchant to consider the formation, drill, equipment and tactical methods employed by the British army in the field, and resulted in his authorship of a number of important treatises on these subjects. These works were particularly well received by the Duke of York and this led to royal patronage and the adoption of several Le Marchant's ideas. His greatest achievement was certainly the creation of the Royal Military College, and his vision of a training school for military officers gave rise not only to Sandhurst, but also West Point and a number of other institutions created on his model internationally. His promotion to major-general excluded him from academic life and he was given command of a brigade of heavy cavalry in the Peninsular War, where he was, predictably, as effective in the field as he was in all his endeavours. Le Marchant fell, sabre in hand among enemy ranks, at the Battle of Salamanca having instituted a brilliant manoeuvre of cavalry which almost certainly sealed what is recognised as one of Wellington's greatest victories. This biography of by Le Marchant's son is accompanied in this special Leonaur edition by a short biography of Le Marchant's military career by historian, John William Cole.
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.

Seventy years after the establishment of Rhodesia by the European settlers, a little girl was born to an activist. Her father fought to establish a one man, one vote system. He was arrested and imprisoned for ten years. The girl was ecstatic to have her father back until she realized that he had become a stranger to her. My Father before Me is a vivid journey through Catherine Kanhema-Blinston's early life. It chronicles her life in the midst of poverty, war, and prison camps. Her happiest moments during her childhood were the fun, light-hearted times she shared with her big family and the bonds she formed with her siblings during her outdoor adventures. These pleasant memories create a sharp contrast to the instability faced by a young girl growing up as a political activist's daughter.

Australia's most eminent judge was regarded as the greatest exponent of the common law of his generation anywhere in the world. Through his private diaries, the author gives the text a strong sense of momentum, interiority and continuing drama. He focuses on the most interesting cases and involves the reader closely regarding his trips and wartime.

Emma Goldman is one of the most celebrated activists and philosophers of the early 20th century, admired and reviled for her anarchist ideas and vociferous support of free speech and personal liberation. A polarizing figure in life, Emma Goldman was among the first advocates of birth control for women. From 1900 to 1920 she was in and out of jail in the United States on charges of illegally promoting contraception, inciting riots in favor of her social and economic causes, and discouraging potential recruits to avoid the draft for World War I. Although Goldman initially supported the Bolshevik Revolution, the resulting Soviet Union's repressiveness caused an abrupt reversal in her opinion. Goldman's narrative is thorough yet compelling; her childhood in Russia, her emigration to the USA as a teenager, and her attraction to anarchist and social causes is told.

In 1940 a first-year student at Oxford gave up his legal studies to serve his country in its time of need. He served with valour and distinction, receiving the Distinguished Service Cross for developing and then delivering battlewinning tactics that protected the flanks of the D-Day landings. But Guy Hudson also saw things that cannot be unseen, and experienced the horrors of war that become tattooed on one's soul. This is the story of a brave and patriotic sailor who helped sink the German battleship Bismarck, drove his Motor Torpedo Boat into enemy harbours right under the muzzles of Axis guns, and then pioneered radar control procedures for the small torpedo and gun boats that careered across pitch-dark maritime battlefields to guard the Allied landings in northern France. It is also the story of a man who turned to alcohol to control the darker memories created by war, and whose life and business collapsed due to the demon of drink, before he was rescued by his second wife. His legacy now lives on at the University of Oxford through the Guy Hudson Memorial Trust - this biography is his tribute.

The Revolutionary War is filled with stories of bravery, but many of its heroes have remained unknown. Major Philip Ulmer, captain of the gunboat "Spitfire," is one of those heroes. He first enlisted as a sergeant in the Massachusetts militia in 1775 and rose through the ranks through his exemplary leadership, courage and devotion to duty. He was involved in almost every major event in the North, including the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Siege of Boston, the Battle of Lake Champlain, the Penobscot Expedition and the battles at Trenton, Princeton and Saratoga. He served under the command of many well-known generals, including Washington, Lafayette, Arnold, Gates and Knox. After the war, Ulmer forged a business partnership with Knox in Lincolnville, Maine, and was an original founder of that town. He answered the call of duty again during the War of 1812 as an intelligence officer with the local militia defending Penobscot Bay. Discover this remarkable history of a long-overshadowed American hero.