Book
Review By Michael D Booker (July 2004)
THE
CIVIL WAR IN YORKSHIRE
(Fairfax Versus Newcastle)
Author: David Cooke
Publisher:
Pen & Sword Military
Pen & Sword Books Limited
47 Church Street ,
Barnsley
South Yorkshire S70 2AS
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
ISBN:
1-84415 076 3
First
Published in 2004
UK Price: £12.99
The
modern day shopper going about their every business, or
the motorist passing through the modern day market towns
and cosmopolitan cities of Yorkshire, will seldom spare
a second thought about the past history of the area, as
fewer buildings dating past the beginning of the last century
are now evident.
During
the short period between 1642 and 1644, the armies of the
parliamentary Lord Fairfax challenged the royalist Earl
of Newcastle and fought for control of Yorkshire –
the key to the overall control of the North. Actions ranged
from small skirmishes and rear guard actions, to large scale,
bloody battles, such as the one at Marston Moor, where forty
thousand men from five armies fought one of the most decisive
battles in English history.
In
this most excellent book, David Cooke, details the background
behind each action and has included many eye witness accounts
of the various engagements, together with superbly detailed
antique maps and modern day photographs to set the overall
scene. He has also produced several easy to follow tours
in this volume and I feel sure that the reader’s future
shopping trips or drives in the area will never be the same
again!
Anyone
with a general interest in Yorkshire or The Civil War will
enjoy this book – it represents good value at £12.99.
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Book
Review By Michael D Booker (July 2004)
VILLERS
BOCAGE
Author: George Forty
Publisher:
SUTTON PUBLISHING LIMITED
PHOENIX MILL
THRUPP
STROUD
GLOUCESTERSHIRE GL5 2BU
www.suttonpublishing.co.uk
ISBN:
0-7509- 3012 - 8
Published:
2004
UK
Price: £14.99
Villers
Bocage is one of the latest titles from Sutton Publishing’s
excellent Battle Zone Normandy series of books. Published
to coincide with the 60th anniversary of D-Day, this series
consists of 14 fascinating volumes, covering all the major
and minor engagements in June 1944, that went together to
create, what is now known as the Battle of Normandy.
Having
covered the build up to D-Day together with the airborne
and amphibious landings in the first 6 volumes of the series,
the next five volumes (which include this publication) follow
on, to cover the crucial battles that followed, as Allied
forces broke out from the beaches and advanced further inland
.
Each
volume in this exciting series features a fully detailed
section covering the history behind the action and includes
many superb maps and brilliant photographs (some now published
for the first time!), together with several useful itineraries
for those wishing to visit the battlefields themselves.
For
readers who are considering further research and require
more detailed information on the engagement itself and the
units which fought in the action, each volume also includes
a comprehensive order of battle for both allied and German
forces and a list of books, together with sources of useful
information and many other valuable contacts.
At
£14.99, I honestly believe each volume represents excellent
value for money and will be invaluable for the researcher,
battlefield guide and tourist alike.
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Book
Review By Michael D Booker (July 2004)
D-DAY
BY THOSE WHO WERE THERE
Author: Peter Liddle
Publisher:
Pen and Sword Military
Pen & Sword Books Limited
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire S70 2AS
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
ISBN:
1 84415 07 9 8
First
Published: 2004
UK Price: £19.99
Better
known to many as D-Day, the 6th June 1944 is perhaps one
of the most important days in world history, as it is considered
by many to have been the start, of the end, of the Second
World War! The landing of over 150,000 troops and their
equipment on that dull June day, acted as a springboard
for the allied advance into Europe and the liberation of
several countries and thousands of their citizens from Nazi
occupation.
For
many veterans alive today, the events at that period are
still as strong in their minds now, as they were 60 years
ago, however as the years pass, their memories fade and
sadly, fewer survivors remain to tell the tales of what
really happened on the lead up to D-Day, during the invasion
itself and the subsequent “moping up” battles.
This
truly fascinating book is fully illustrated with many excellent
previously unpublished photographs, it is packed to the hilt
with detailed, factual and graphic accounts of events as they
happened and are told by those who were actually there at
the time! Sadly, many of these brave men and women are no
longer alive today, however their gripping tales of what they
witnessed then, have been recorded in this splendid volume
for everyone to read today (over half a century later) and
in the future.
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Book
Review By Michael D Booker (July 2004)
MAJOR
& MRS HOLT'S
CONCISE ILLUSTRATED BATTLEFIELD GUIDE
THE WESTERN FRONT (NORTH)
Author:
Toni & Valmai Holt
Publisher:
Pen & Sword Military
Pen & Sword Books Limited
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire S70 2AS
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
ISBN:
1-85052 933 6
First
Published in 2004
UK
Price: £14.99
Battlefield
touring has increased beyond all expectations in the quarter
of a century since Toni and Valmai Holt operated their first
ever guided tour to the trenches and historical sites of
France and Flanders in June 1977. Much of the growth in
interest over the years can be attributed to the publication
of the now famous Major and Mrs Holt's Battlefield Guides
- the best selling, exceptionally detailed and superbly
illustrated books, that anyone studying, or touring the
battlefields, should not be without!
Each
splendid volume includes a great deal of fascinating information,
where historical fact is coupled with informed opinion .
Full colour photographs, excellent maps and diagrams together
with details of war cemeteries and memorials and useful
tourist information (how to get there, where to stay and
places to eat etc.) is included. With the easy to follow
battlefield tour itineraries also featured, the reader is
guided around the battlefields, through the countryside
as well as villages, towns and cities, that are linked with
battles and major actions of either the Great or Second
World Wars.
This
latest publication and its companion volume "The Western
Front - South", are valuable additions to the existing
titles in the series, which includes Ypres, The Somme, Gallipoli,
Normandy Landings and Operation Market Garden. Much up to
date information has been added, especially up dated maps
together with information on recent developments, where
new sites of historical significance have been found.
For
the family history researcher, battlefield tourist, military
historian, battlefield guide, student of military history
or armchair enthusiast, this book is a must and at £14.99
represents excellent value for money!
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Book
Review By Michael D Booker (July 2004)
Without
Tradition
2 Para 1941-1945
Author: Robert Peatling
Publisher:
Pen And Sword Military
Pen & Sword Books Limited
47 Church Street
Barnsley
South Yorkshire S70 2AS
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
ISBN:
1 84415 111 5
First
Published in 1994
Reprinted 2004
UK Price: £12.99
The
superb book tells the remarkable story, of the 2nd Battalion
the Parachute Regiment, which was formed in September 1941,
when men from various units of the British Army volunteered
for parachute duties. The attraction of an extra 2 shillings
a day (.10p in today’s money) attracted hundreds of
potential recruits for this new Regiment, however as experience
was to prove, only one man in three actually possessed the
necessary mental attitude and physical fitness to complete
the demanding training and earn the right to wear the coveted
maroon beret and distinguishing qualified parachutist wings.
Within
the first three years of its formation, 2 Para had already
taken part in five daring airborne operations behind enemy
lines and as a result, earned five out of the eleven Battle
Honours emblazoned on the Regiment’s Standard, along
with many honours, decorations and awards, which included
one officer of the Battalion being awarded a posthumous
Victoria Cross for his supreme courage, leadership and devotion
to duty during the now legendary battle for Arnhem!
The author has successfully produced a brilliant volume, that
is Packed full of fascinating facts and information relating
to the daring actions of the brave men of this, one of the
most elite units of the British Army. Eyewitness accounts
of veterans have been included, along with excerpts from the
Battalion War Diaries too. The comprehensive appendix includes
a list of officers who served with the battalion throughout
the war, along with a detailed roll of honour and an honours
and awards list and therefore this publication will be invaluable
to the military historian, battlefield guide and researcher
alike.
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Book
Review By M D Booker (February 2004)
DISCOVERING
ENGLISH COUNTY REGIMENTS
Author:
Ian F W Beckett
Publisher:
Shire Publications Ltd
Cromwell House
Princess Risborough
Buckinghamshire
HP27 9AA
www.shirebooks.co.uk
ISBN:
0 7478 0506 7
First
Published in 1970
New edition published in 2003
UK
Price: £9.99
Having
purchased this book when it was first published in 1970,
I am delighted to see this new, updated and much enlarged
edition, as the original version proved to be an excellent
investment as it has been an invaluable source of reference
for the past thirty three years!
I
firmly believe this superb and excellent value for money,
pocket size volume will appeal and be beneficial to family
and local history researchers together with students of
military matters alike, as it provides a most useful potted
history and guide to England's former county infantry Regiments.
Broken
down on a county by county basis, individual Regiment's
battle honours, customs and uniform differences, as well
as details of their Victoria Cross awards, Regimental memorials,
museums and mottoes are all included. Especially useful
for the researcher are be the sections covering the "
Regiments of Foot" numbering system, together with
post 1881 designations, early amalgamations and details
of modern day titles resulting from the "Options for
change" policy.
Many
fascinating black and white, as well as colour photographs,
together with reproductions of superb paintings are now featured
in this latest edition, sadly however, this seems to have
been at the expense of the loss of the excellent illustrations
of Regimental badges that appeared in my cherished first edition!
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