Pen & Sword Books

Vivid private journals of an 18th-century novelist capture luxury, scandal, London society gossip, politics, theatre, servants, and finances.Stored away and forgotten for 200 years, the private journals of Elizabeth Hervey (1749–1820) vividly describe her life and times. Her teenage years were spent in luxury at Fonthill Splendens, home of her stepfather, Alderman William Beckford. She married a handsome army officer who turned out to be a gambler, and with him fled abroad to escape his creditors. Soon widowed and with two small children, she returned to England, and after a brief affair with a political radical poet, settled in London. Intelligent, independent and well-educated, Herveybecame associated with Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill set and the Bluestockings. Every day she wrote her journal, vividly describing theatre visits, family dramas, servants, friends, society gossip, politics, her visits to country houses and lengthy tours at home and abroad. As a novelist she was first published in 1788, launching a career that, while earning her a living, put strain on her relationship with her half-brother, William Beckford, author of the classic gothic novel Vathek and builder of the infamous Fonthill Abbey. Theirs was a complex relationship, marred by literary rivalry, and after a quarrel in 1798 they never met again.Over the years Hervey’s social network widened to include Lord Byron, Richard and Maria Cosway, the Duchess of Devonshire, Eva Garrick, Lady Hamilton and Sarah Siddons. Yet just as vivid in her journals are her accounts of her household servants, her relationship with her sons, her problems with ill health (and drastic remedies) and her financial ups and downs. As a lively and entertaining window into late Georgian society, there are few sources to rival Elizabeth Hervey’s journals.

Karl Knoblauch’s wartime diaries illuminate the forging of a soldier’s resolve from youth to frontline officer amid the pressures of a world at war.A well-written and rewarding memoir that provides keen insight into the mindset of a patriotic young man willing to make sacrifices for his country.' — Robert ForczykIn this masterful two-volume account, Prussian solider and officer Karl Knoblauch draws on his wartime diaries to detail his fascinating military career during the Second World War. In this first volume, he recounts the years leading up to the outbreak of the war through to 1944. In 1938, just before the outbreak of war, a 17-year-old Karl Knoblauch volunteered for military service and began his career as an infantryman before joining the air force as aircrew. Later, Knoblauch was seriously wounded in a Russian fighter attack over Wjazma and had to leave his squadron. After recuperating, he returned to the frontline as an officer in the ‘Hermann Göring’ Division, where this first volume comes to a close.Knoblauch describes his experiences in sober and stark detail, creating a gripping and comprehensive first-hand account of his time fighting for the Wehrmacht. Supplemented by several photographs and appendices, this is a must-read for any military history enthusiast.

After a hair-raising First World War career in the Royal Naval Air Service, Alan Campbell Orde immediately began to make his mark on the fledgling world of British civil aviation. He was one of the first commercial airline pilots after the war, later diversifying as an instructor in China and as chief test pilot for Armstrong Whitworth. In 1937 he became operations manager of the original British Airways, which was rapidly emerging as the ‘second force’ to Imperial Airways. Here he utilised the latest American airliners and organised Chamberlain’s famous Munich flights.During the Second World War, after the two airlines merged into BOAC, Campbell Orde, as operations director, was central to organizing the airline’s invaluable assistance to the RAF with schemes such as the North Atlantic Ferry Service, which supplied British troops in North Africa and opened links to Russia.After the war, Campbell Orde became BOAC’s operations development director, resisting government pressure to have the airline rebuild its fleet using British aircraft. Driven by an ambition to make BOAC a world leader in civil aviation, he steered it towards the acquisition of more advanced and more efficient US and Canadian airliners.Alan Campbell Orde: Pioneer Aviator, Test Pilot and Airline Chief is the story of a remarkable career in aviation and man whose impact on British civil aviation can still be felt today.

This vivid biography traces the Eurovision Song Contest from its 1956 launch through major turning points, broadcasting growth, and political influence.Seventy years after its debut, the Eurovision Song Contest finally receives a full, detailed biography. In Eurovision: The Story of Europe’s Greatest Show, bestselling author Nathan Morley traces the contest’s development from its 1956 launch to the global spectacle watched by hundreds of millions today.The book follows Eurovision through its major turning points: the growth of live broadcasting, the introduction of new technologies, the influence of shifting European politics, and the performances and personalities that helped define its character. Morley offers a clear, engaging account of how the contest expanded, adapted, and occasionally faltered on its way to becoming one of Europe’s most recognisable cultural institutions.The narrative is supported by exclusive interviews with performers, presenters, and composers who helped shape the contest, including Dana Rosemary Scallon, Nikki French, Lenny Kuhr, Isabelle Aubret, Lordi, Sandra Kim, John Allison, Tony Hatch, Martin Lee, Brian Kennedy, Mark Wynter, Kimberley Rew, Kit Rolfe, Michèle Monro, Claes Göran Hederström, Ronnie Tober, Regina Kogoj, Olaf Kjell Wathne Garh, Milly Scott, David Jacobs, Teddy Johnson, Stavros Sideras, Greetje Kauffeld, Jan Leeming, and Neil Sedaka, amongst others.Packed with rare photographs and first hand accounts, this is a vivid, accessible history of Eurovision — its origins, its challenges, and its enduring appeal.

Scotland’s male witches and wizards, from legendary scholars to persecuted healers, reveal a twisted history.The story of Scotland's male witches and wizards always promised to be a convulted one, and the tale indeed turns out to be a strange tree with many twisted branches. The nation has several venerable magical figures who compete in stature with the legendary Merlin. Michael Scot, Thomas of Erceldoune and Coinneach Odhar were, respectively scholar, poet and seer, but they still command enormous presence in the national imagination. The forgotten men who got caught up in the national witch hunts were as unfortunate as the far greater number if women persecuted. Among those prosecuted were healers like Andro Man, who practiced his skills for decades before being examined. For every sincere practitioner or innocent, there were many more frauds and distorted characters caught up in the supernatural net. Major Weir left a dark stain on Edinburgh for a century after his death and Gregor Willox Macgregor is still remembered in the north with a mixture of doubtful contempt and fear.

Comprehensive chronicle of Paul Weller’s career from The Jam and The Style Council to solo success.Before a solo career that has earned him twenty-two Top 10 albums, including six #1’s, Paul Weller was the frontman for The Jam and The Style Council. In the Jam, Weller, still a teenager at the time of their debut In The City, led a highly influential trio that bridged punk and new wave and earned four #1 singles and one #1 album in their short tenure (1977–1982). At the height of their success, Weller broke up the band, opting for a different direction with The Style Council, which veered away from guitar-driven songs in favor of a jazz, soul, and pop sound. From 1983 to 1989, the band scored seven Top 10 singles and one #1 album in the UK. Long before he was known as “The Modfather,” Weller was a “spokesperson for a generation.” Perhaps this book serves as an overdue introduction for those unfamiliar with Weller, particularly in America. It chronicles Weller’s catalogue from The Jam’s debut through The Style Council’s last, rejected house album Modernism: A New Decade, including rarities, B-sides, and covers. It combines research with artist interviews done especially for this project, as well as occasional author anecdotes.

This narrative recounts the struggle for women’s right to vote through lesser-known activists, tracing political issues, sacrifices, and militant escalation.The Forgotten Heroes of the Suffrage Movement investigates the struggle for women’s right to vote through the eyes of some of the lesser-known activists. It delves into the themes, events and political issues that formed the bases of the movement and seeks to highlight the sacrifices made in the process of winning female enfranchisement. It begins with a look at the early campaigners and organizations that led the way at a time when the concept of women voting was seen as nothing more than a quaint idea. The book charts how for some, progress was deemed too slow which led to the introduction and gradual increase in militant tactics, culminating in arson attacks and a bombing campaign.Forgotten Heroes also takes a fascinating deep dive into the myriad of different identities that made up the women of the suffrage movement. They came from all walks of life, supported different political parties, had various sexual preferences and some even came from other races. Despite this diversity, in a period spanning a little under one hundred years, women banded together and fought a political war. They gave up their time, money, freedom, health and even their lives for an objective that today is taken for granted as a basic human right, the entitlement for women in the UK to vote on the same terms as men.

Wogan’s exhilarating life unfolds across continents, revealing a fearless, improvisational diplomat, poet, and soldier shaping Jacobite endurance in exile.Sir Charles Wogan was an Irish knight-baronet of the exiled monarch of the Three Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland, King James Stuart III. His intrepid life story (c1683–1754) is told here through his own words, based on his copious correspondence with the Stuart court in exile now housed among the Stuart Papers at Kew in London. Spanning the territory of seven European Great Powers during the Eighteenth Century, his story will take you from the plains of Kildare to the fearsome cells of Newgate Gaol, from silver Silesian plains to icy Pyrenees peaks, from Vienna to Rome, and from the Maghreb to Madrid. He consorted with popes and princesses, kings, ministers and cardinals. A military officer, poet, diplomat and courtier, he is most famously remembered for organising the rescue in 1719 of Princess Maria Clementina Sobieska from her confinement in Innsbruck, helped by his companions from Dillon’s Regiment then serving in France. Pope Clement XI made him a Senator of Rome: the highest civil distinction awarded by the papacy. Through his letters to James III, we glimpse life in contemporary Spain as he settled himself in exile there, awaiting the opportunity to restore James to the Three Kingdoms. His letters offer fascinating details on his marriage and his children; swirling rumours of international intrigue and diplomacy; cunning ministers; fiscal affairs in Spain during the period; secret Masonic orders; a unique window on conditions Ireland in the eighteenth century; Jacobite strategy for a restoration; and how the twin pillars of Catholicism and Jacobite ideology sustained the Irish exiles in Europe during the period.

Wyndham Ward’s aviation journey spans frontline Cold War tests to Red Arrows mastery, revealing relentless drive and transformative flight.Wyndham Ward grew up with a determination to fly whatever the odds. Starting out as boy mechanic in the RAF, he progressed to being a ‘Junior Joe’ fighter pilot in the iconic Hawker Hunter, despite making almost every mistake possible during air combat training. The Cold War threat loomed large, and Ward was transferred to operating high-speed low-level Buccaneers—a dangerous job—flying with the RAF and Fleet Air Arm on board HMS Ark Royal, where he eventually mastered hair-raising catapult launches and the art of shaky recoveries. Following active duty, Ward received an unexpected posting to the Red Arrows aerobatic team in a significant year—1979—when the Gnat was replaced by the Hawk.This is the story of a lifetime in aviation, from eager youngster to strike formation leader, with an insider’s view into squadron life, the camaraderie of the mess, the howlers committed during training and the tensions of frontline duty during the Cold War. It reveals the inner workings of the Red Arrows during a year of exceptional pressure when, with new jets and a redesigned display, the nation expected something truly groundbreaking. Through it all, and onwards into an extraordinary career in civil aviation, Ward’s boyish enthusiasm never faded; this book is, above all, a testament to the joys of flying.

Learn how an elusive writer’s spiritual life shaped Mary Poppins, from Australia to Kyoto Zen.Mary Poppins is a publishing phenomenon of eight books written across 55 years, translated into 20 languages, including Swahili. The 1964 Disney film starring Julie Andrews remains one of the most popular children’s movies of all time. Yet the author did not want it to be known whether she was ‘man, woman or kangaroo’. The elusive PL Travers was, in fact, born in outback Australia in the penultimate year of the 19th century. She became a pioneering journalist in Russia, wrote propaganda for the war effort in New York, lived on a Navajo Indian reservation and was only the second Western woman to study Zen in Kyoto. Deeply spiritual, as one of the inner sanctum of the mystic GI Gurdjieff, she wanted to communicate through Mary Poppins more than carpet bags and parrot umbrellas.With new source material taken from interviews with PL Travers’ family and friends, this biography shares a new perspective on this extraordinary and complex author.

“… an insightful, revisionist look at Italian military history from unification during the 1860s through the Second World War.” — The NYMAS ReviewItaly experienced two anti-insurgent operations, two conventional wars against European powers, a civil war, and two colonial campaigns during its first fifty years as a nation. These encounters forced versatility. Italy entered World War One as a young nation with a fledgling industry and limited raw materials. Nevertheless, it progressed along the tactical learning curve of modern industrial warfare like other belligerents. The country’s strategic aspirations in World War Two, like those of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan, exceeded its war-making capabilities.The Italian Way of War synthesizes previous scholarship with original research to provide a balanced narrative and assessment of Italian military history from 1866 to 1943.

Eighteenth-century Britain’s forgery and coining crimes explored through vivid historical criminal stories.From the flamboyant preacher accused of forgery to the fourteen year old burned at the stake for coining, the eighteenth century was rife with financial crime. This book outlines the stories of men and women accused and convicted of coining and forgery at a time when the death penalty was used for over 200 crimes and society was unforgiving.When the British government decided to produce low value paper currency in 1797 to pay for the war with France they had overlooked the consequences of a population unfamiliar with banknotes. From 1797 to 1812 over 300 people went to the gallows. This book tells the story of some of these people. The schoolmaster pressed into the Royal Navy who turned forger on discharge. The exciseman who found himself out of pocket when whisky production was regulated and forged money to pay his bills. A coining gang holed up on a farm in Birmingham who ran a successful monetary enterprise until the law caught up with them. Finally, there’s the architect who was transported to Australia for forgery whose face ended up on a (legal) banknote. All these characters and more give an insight into the crime of forgery in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.When Rachael Rowe discovered a forger in the family, her research took her on a journey to find out more about the crime and why people in the eighteenth century were intent on breaking the law. Using original records, the book highlights the scope of the crime and shows how national and global events combined to fuel an increase in forgeries with devastating effects for the criminals and their dependants.

A compelling biography of Wallis Simpson, the American at the heart of royal scandal and enduring love.A thorough and illuminating biography of the infamous Wallis Simpson, who was one American half of the biggest scandals to hit royalty and the greatest love affair known for centuries.This book will be a holistic portrayal of the real Wallis Simpson, the woman behind the myth. Richly elaborative, the book is infused with anecdotes and stylish photographs of a bygone era.A ‘real,’ honest view of the woman, straight to the point and reflecting aspects of her complex and mysterious character, drawing on research from members of the fashionable London circle, as well as the Baltimore society where she was born and raised. The book will approach from a peripatetic view — from her inner circle of society’s hottest crowds in London with the question of ‘Was she? Was she not?' embroiled in sinister pro-Nazi plots, to the shores of former ‘Peking’, trotting through the streets on a rickshaw.Delve into a dramatic and fascinating piece of history that took place in an upheaval of societal and economic unrest. Discover a woman who was practical and resourceful, yet went to more parties than she cares to remember. The enigmatic and multi-faceted persona that led many to believe that there was more than meets the eye.

A detailed analysis of The Who’s sixty-year career, examining every song, influence, and recording insight.The Who is one of the most energetic and influential bands in rock history. Beginning as a mod band in London’s Shepherd’s Bush, they were shaped in character and style by the Pop Art movement of the Swinging Sixties. They pioneered the rock opera genre with Tommy (1969) and Quadrophenia (1973) before becoming a key influence for the punk revolution of the 1970s, establishing an energy and attitude that has resonated ever since.During a career spanning sixty years, The Who have released nearly 300 tracks, most during the period of their classic lineup (1964–1978) with lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townsend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. On the one hand their songs are about sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, while on the other they reach much deeper, holding society to account on contemporary subjects, and in one example, the 1972 song ‘Relay’, imagining a futuristic network that has been credited as a prophesy of the internet.The Who: Song By Song is a forensic examination of every song in the band’s totemic discography, including different versions and background facts. Find out what inspired the songs, how they developed, and what happened during the recording sessions of one of the greatest rock bands of all time.

“The various battles, including Pavia, receive nice overviews and examinations of the consequences… The dynastic struggles of the early 1500s can be difficult to follow, but this book does a good job of providing an overview.” — Historical Miniatures Gaming SocietyThe Battle of Pavia took place in northern Italy on 24 February 1525. Its outcome profoundly affected the course of European international relations for the rest of the sixteenth century. King Francis I of France led his forces at the battle and was captured amidst the greatest slaughter of French nobles in war since Agincourt. This book examines the early reigns of Francis, of his great rival Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, and a number of their contemporaries. It shows why warfare was such an important aspect of kingship in the period, and how it interacted with diplomacy.The book then looks at how Francis's siege of the city of Pavia turned into an open battle, why the king of France fought in person, and the main events of the encounter. It reviews Francis’s time as a prisoner in Spain and traces the complexity of international relations that provoked yet more war in the following decades, which drew in kingdoms as varied as Scotland, Tunisia, Hungary, and the Ottoman Empire. The book shows why the Battle of Pavia was one of the most important military encounters in the history of the European Renaissance.

Jeremy Bamber enters the White House Farm case as a focal point in a long, contentious fight over truth and guilt.In the early hours of 7 August 1985, 24-year-old Jeremy Bamber claims to have received a chilling phone call from his father.‘Your sister’s gone berserk, and she’s got a gun’When the line went dead, Jeremy called the police.What was eventually discovered inside White House Farm shocked the nation; Nevill and June Bamber, their daughter Sheila, and her twin six-year-old sons, Daniel and Nicholas had all been shot dead with a rifle, and at first sight everything pointed towards Sheila having been the perpetrator of a murder-suicide. Within weeks though, the case took a dramatic turn and in 1986 Jeremy Bamber was convicted of murdering his family and sentenced to life in prison without any chance of release.Despite several failed attempts at appeal, decades on his dedicated team of campaigners continues to work tirelessly to clear his name. But is the evidence they claim to have uncovered cast-iron proof of his innocence, or merely a misinterpretation of the evidence proving his guilt?This compelling book revisits the original investigation, trial, and the sometimes outlandish theories that have kept the case in the public eye since 1985. Jeremy Bamber — Murder and Turmoil at White House Farm examines not just the crime but the complex and ongoing fight surrounding it.

Box of Lions reveals how ordinary admin soldiers held a professional invading force during the Imphal clash, shaping WWII's turning moment.Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Japanese army’s ‘March toward Delhi’ during the Second World War, Box of Lions explores the little-known but extraordinary clash on the Imphal Plain. When Japanese forces targeted a critical British supply depot — codenamed Lion Box — rich in food and military resources they expected little resistance. Instead, they encountered an unlikely and determined defence.Composed not of hardened infantry but of drivers, administrators, sappers and storemen, these so-called ‘admin soldiers’ from Britain, India, Nepal and Africa were suddenly thrust into frontline combat. Over the course of three days of bitter fighting, they held off a professional invading force, buying time for the Allies to evacuate vital stores and shaking the confidence of the Japanese troops.Written by the son of a veteran who fought on the frontline, this gripping account draws on thirty years of research, first-hand interviews — including with Japanese survivors — and multiple journeys to the battlefield itself. Rich in oral history and raw with emotion, Box of Lions brings to life the courage, fear and resilience of ordinary men caught in extraordinary circumstances.

“I appreciated Houlihan 's deep dive into the genre and his insightful thesis and recommend Vietnam on the Big Screen for anyone who loves movies in general and Vietnam War movies in particular.” — The VVA VeteranAmerica, it is said, deals with its trauma through the medium of Hollywood, and few experiences have been more traumatic than its involvement in the Vietnam War. As the last US helicopters fled the American Embassy compound during the fall of Saigon, they left behind a country devastated by twenty years of death and destruction. They were heading back to a country that was damaged in a different way. The America that ended its involvement in Vietnam in 1975 was defeated, humiliated, divided and scarred. It was a bewildering transformation for a nation that considered itself to be on the right side of history. Only a generation earlier, Americans were united in celebrating the bravery of the GIs and Marines who stormed the beaches of Iwo Jima and Normandy. Now they were confronted with an uglier face of war: pointless sacrifice, disillusioned and mutinous soldiers, massacres of innocent civilians and the shooting of unarmed student protestors. For a long time America found it impossible to process the experience, until Hollywood led the way.The movie industry had started out treating Vietnam like an extension of the Second World War. The gung-ho John Wayne action film The Green Berets (made with the full support of the Pentagon) had a simplistic “we’re the good guys” message. However, as American casualties mounted in Vietnam, social unrest erupted and the war’s aims looked ever murkier, the movie studios backed off. After The Green Berets in 1968 no major films were made about the conflict until the controversial and groundbreaking The Deer Hunter a decade later. The subject was deemed too hot to handle, although some brave filmmakers tackled it in roundabout ways (‘Soldier Blue’ was a re-telling of the My Lai massacre, set in the Old West).Eventually, The Deer Hunter ripped off the sticking plaster and let daylight into the American experience in Vietnam. Its depiction of US soldiers as victims, not heroes, caused fights in movie theatres and led to questions in Congress. But it paved the way for the greatest run of war movies ever made. Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket and many more rewrote the grammar of combat films and helped a wounded nation come to terms with an unloved war.This is the story of how those films got made, how they were received at the time and how they shaped the American experience of Vietnam. The names behind them are legends in the movie industry, from directors like Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick and Michael Cimino to actors including John Wayne, Sylvester Stallone, Tom Cruise, Robert de Niro and Meryl Streep.

“… a well-sourced and highly-detailed account.” — Asian Review of BooksSingapore 1942. This is the story of Captain Mohan Singh, 14 Punjab Regiment, the first commander of the Indian National Army (INA) supported by Japan to expel the British from India. Of the soldiers who found it a great attraction or an impossible dilemma. Of the great risk Singh took in breaking with the Japanese when he realised they were not sticking to their promises. Of Subhash Chandra Bose’s tryst with destiny when he was then called to take over the mantle. Of the thousands of INA men who died of sickness & starvation in Burma. Of those who fought bravely when they got a chance. Of how though the INA was a Paper Tiger in battle, it was a Propaganda Lion after the war and hastened independence.It is the story of Lieutenant MM Pillai’s daring escape from Singapore. Of Warrant Officer John Baptist Crasta, one of 17,000 Indian POWs sent to hard labour camps in the Pacific, of whom over 10,000 died. Of the war crimes trials held by the Australians for Japanese atrocities against these POWs where Subedar Chint Singh was a key witness. Finally, it is the story of wives waiting for 5 years with little news of their soldier husband.How the INA was started 18 months before Bose reached and what happened to Indian soldiers when Mohan Singh disbanded the first INA, is a lesser known chapter of Indian and World War II history that deserves more telling. Hazarika’s narrative using their largely unpublished words & interviews with family members, is a gripping story of loyalty, of daring escapes and double crosses, and adversity in captivity. He appeals for more commemoration of these soldiers.

The Pankhurst family’s suffrage mission reshaped British history through persistent courage, personal sacrifice, and transformative political action.With their founding of the suffragette movement and passionate pursuit of votes for women, Emmeline Pankhurst and her three daughters—Christabel, Sylvia and Adela—forever altered the course of British history.This book offers a compelling exploration of their pivotal role in the women’s suffrage movement while uncovering the personal stories behind these trailblazing women. What motivated this post-Victorian middle-class family to risk everything—their reputations, their livelihoods, even their very lives—for the cause of female suffrage?Through an intimate examination of their relationships with one another, as well as with those who inspired and challenged them, this book reveals the love, resentments and ruthlessness that stirred these four women into action.Emmeline and her daughters were far from alone in the fight for suffrage, and the contributions of many of the exceptional women and men who supported them are highlighted here.Nevertheless, it is the Pankhurst’s extraordinary journey that lies at the heart of this story. Above all, this is a look into one remarkable family whose struggles and sacrifices ultimately left a lasting mark on history.