Ken Matthews was working at the CEGB's Marchwood Engineering Laboratories near Southampton when, in 1977, a group of his colleagues, who were keen brass band enthusiasts, started "having a blow" during their lunchtime break. He went along and was soon given an instrument and taught the rudiments of playing. It was not long before this group decided to form a brass band and so Marchwood Brass performed its first engagement later that year. A sponsorship deal from Vodafone led to a name change in 1989 and the band is now well established as the New Forest Brass Band. Ken has been a playing member of this band ever since it started and, as he has access to a substantial amount of archive information, he has been able to write this account which traces the band's history from its inception to the present day. Along the way, the band has won many cups and performed in numerous concerts and other events. Ken has remembered incidents, both humorous and more serious, which have made his book a personal memoir rather than a chronological historical treatise.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis and review of the major events and the leading actors of the Gulf War. Copies of key documents and essential factual information build up a picture of the realities of war in the Middle East but the material is set in a strong theoretical framework. This allows the author to see the conflict within the context of the international system and to relate it to the changes of the post-cold-war world. Matthews looks at the shifts in international order which dictated the nature of the international response to the war, but also at the new conditions created by the war itself. What scope is there for Arab socialism after the fall of European socialism? Has the conflict made Israel stronger or weaker? Can the UN be entrusted with the post of global peace-keeper?

This book provides a comprehensive analysis and review of the major events and the leading actors of the Gulf War. Copies of key documents and essential factual information build up a picture of the realities of war in the Middle East but the material is set in a strong theoretical framework. This allows the author to see the conflict within the context of the international system and to relate it to the changes of the post-cold-war world.

Matthews looks at the shifts in international order which dictated the nature of the international response to the war, but also at the new conditions created by the war itself. What scope is there for Arab socialism after the fall of European socialism? Has the conflict made Israel stronger or weaker? Can the UN be entrusted with the post of global peace-keeper?