War and Militaria 33


70293 KID WHO CLIMBED EVEREST by Bear Grylls


Handsome, articulate, courageous, here is the incredible true story from the host of television’s Man vs Wild. Bear Grylls was once a critically injured Special Forces soldier who endured eight months of gruelling therapy for a broken back, when in 1996 his parachute failed to open over the African desert. He raised the money on his own, spent 70 days on the dangerous south east face, and became the youngest Briton (aged only 23) to scale Everest. This is his first book which gives us a new perspective on his motivations, the people he is lucky to call friends like the mountain Sherpas, fellow climbers and his dear family. ‘I was eight years old when my father gave me a mesmerising picture of Mount Everest. From that moment onwards I was captivated.’ With pithy quotes and colour photos. 287pp in paperback. $16.95 NOW £5


69570 HISTORIC MAPS AND VIEWS OF ROME by George Sinclair


Ready for framing on a standard 11" x 14" frame are 24 coloured historic maps and views of Rome, its


environs and the Vatican dating from the 15th century to the present. This beautiful collection contains a map of the Roman Empire, a view of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome from 1575, a view of the Bath of Diocletian engraved in 1721, a lithograph from the 1950s depicting the principal monuments of Rome, a view of St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican, and stunning views of various sites and landmarks like the Coliseum, the Piazza Navona and the Spanish Steps. Each map’s original printing information is provided. Softback. £12.95 NOW £4


69865 TEACUP IN A STORM: An Explorer’s Guide to Life by Mick Conefrey


A witty, entertaining and utterly unique look at the great explorers, their tales of heroism and how they overcame great odds in the most inhospitable environments. Taking as its structure the stages of a typical expedition, from planning to setting out, survival to getting home, the book is packed with anecdotes from explorers such as Shackleton, Scott, Livingstone and Stanley. With bizarre and quirky lessons and examples such as rationing underwear and facing down elephants. 240pp, line illus. £9.99 NOW £2.50


70294 LOST CONTINENT by Bill Bryson Subtitled Travels in Small-Town America by the bestselling author, his is an unsparing and hilarious account of his rediscovery of America and his search for a perfect small town. Funny, biting, outrageous, paradoxically touching, it is a melancholy memoir in form of snide travelogue. ‘Picture W. C. Fields on a driving tour of 38 American states, and you have some sense of [this book].’ Intelligent, witty and sensitive to the absurd, we could not resist importing this. 314pp in paperback.


£14.95 NOW £5 70296 MAMMOTH BOOK OF TRAVEL IN


DANGEROUS PLACES edited by John Keay First-hand accounts of exploration by David Livingstone, James Cook, Meriwether Lewis, Ernest Shackleton, Roald Amundsen, Sir Edmund Hillary, Hiram Bingham’s discovery of the magnificent Inca city of Machu Picchu and Wilfred Thesiger’s crossing of Arabia’s forbidding Empty Quarter with Bedouin companions. Here is the romance and danger of the great explorers’ daring expeditions which captured the public imagination and the world’s headlines to an extraordinary degree. Journalists vied for their stories and publishers rushed their first-hand accounts into print for a wide and voracious readership. 487pp in paperback with illustrations and woodcuts. £7.99 NOW £4


69779 MEMORIES OF TIMES PAST: Paris by Solange Hando, Florence Besson, Colin Inman et al


The book is based on 75 paintings by Mortimer Menpes (1856-1938) who was a studio assistant to James McNeill Whistler, whose style he much admired and emulated. Inspired by the pioneering 1909 colour book ‘Paris’, offering a new way of looking at sights and social history, every painting from the original book has been reproduced and enlarged for these pages, placed in a contemporary context with related images from period maps and


postcards, newspapers to railway tickets, archival maps and advertisements bringing the era to life. Here are views of late 1800s and early 1900s Parisian life showcasing the Tuileries gardens, the path along the Seine and Nôtre Dame Cathedral. 178pp, 10" x 9½”. $24.95 NOW £5


69781 MEMORIES OF TIMES PAST: Rome by Richard Bosworth and Colin Inman


Experience La Dolce Vita in an elegant volume inspired by the quaint travelogues of the late 1800s and by the pioneering 1905 colour book ‘Rome’. Every painting from Alberto Pisa’s original book, all 70 paintings, have been reproduced and enlarged. Combining art, social history and scrapbook souvenirs, period maps, postcards, newspapers and railway tickets, coins and delightful artworks, there is a knowlegable commentary by modern authors who know and love Rome. Here are the steps of the Dominican Nun’s church of St. Domenico and Sisto, the Chapel at St. Benedict’s Subiaco, girls selling birds, rustic dwellings, at the foot of the Spanish Steps, a seahorse fountain, holy stairs, columns, basilicas, the Arch Titus and the Coliseum at sunset. An elegant volume, 10" x 9½”, 176pp with hundreds of colour illus.


$24.95 NOW £4 WAR AND MILITARIA


I have never understood this liking for war. It panders to instincts already well catered for within the scope of any respectable domestic establishment.


- Alan Bennett


70810 LANCASTER: The Biography by Tony Iveson and Brian Milton


The full story of one of the most iconic aircraft of the second world war written by a distinguished Lancaster pilot and featuring newly researched first-hand accounts from the aircrews who flew them, the ground crews who maintained them and even the German fighter pilots who tried to shoot them down.


Squadron Leader Tony Iveson DFC joined 617 Squadron The Dambusters in 1944 and flew three sorties against the German battleship Tirpitz in Norway. Lancasters dropped Barnes Wallis’s ‘Bouncing Bombs’ on Germany’s Ruhr Valley Dam to earn the Dambusters’ name. This is a proud story of the finest heavy bomber of any nation and a man who went on to complete over 2,000 hours on them. 256pp in paperback. 16 pages of colour and b/w photos. £7.99 NOW £3.50


70476 IAN FLEMING’S COMMANDOS: The Story of


30 Assault Unit in WWII by Nicholas Rankin


Rankin here relates the true story of the unit that Lieutenant-Commander Ian Fleming RNVR created in 1942, when he was assistant to Admiral John Godfrey, the Director of Naval Intelligence and model for 007 James Bond’s fictional boss, “M”. Fleming’s proposal was simple and


brilliant - to set up a unit of looters, men who went in alongside front-line troops with the specific remit of stealing enemy intelligence. Known as 30 Assault Unit, they took part in landings in North Africa, Sicily and Normandy and the liberation of Paris, but their crowning glory came in 1945 when they seized the entire archive of the German Navy from Tambach Castle, over 300 tons of documents. Fleming himself flew out to bring the loot back to Britain, where it was combed for evidence to be used at Nuremberg. Gripping and thoroughly enjoyable, Rankin’s book puts 30AU’s fascinating story in its strategic and intelligence context, and analyses the influence that his WWII service had upon Ian Fleming’s literary career. 16 b/w photos, maps and a fascinating “Aftermath” section at the end, which draws direct links between the books and actual events. 413pp. £20 NOW £8


70734 KNIGHTS IN SHINING ARMOR: Myth and


Reality 1450-1650 by Ida Sinkevic


A rare US exhibition catalogue in hardback which explores the


popularity of arms and armour in the daily life of Renaissance and Baroque. The technical and aesthetic features of armour reached their highest point and adorned gentlemen not only in battles and ceremonies, but also in daily promenades. Armouries and arsenals achieved their apogee and moreover arms and armour were frequently represented in works of art. This exhibition looks at contemporaneous paintings, prints, textiles and metalwork that display arms. It focuses on four themes: nobility and authority, religious imagery, performance of war: battles, soldiers and tournaments and finally at myth, story and allegory. The first full page colour plate is Joan of Arc by Peter Paul Rubens, glowing in rich reds and shiny black armour as she kneels in prayer. The Armourer’s Shop 1640-45 shows a heap of helmets, breastplates, axes and other weapons in a very lifelike scene. Tintoretto’s Tancred Baptising Clorinda 1586-1600 is a graphic depiction of death with angels and a white dove in the sky. Gorgeous woodcut engravings, colour woodcuts, colour photographs. Large 84 page hardback. £29.95 NOW £6


70561 THE TRAFALGAR ROLL: The Ships and the Officers


by Colonel Robert Holden Mackenzie and Colin White Originally published in 1913, this book was intended to record and honour the men who fought at Trafalgar in the same way that earlier publications had done for the soldiers at Blenheim and Waterloo. Over 1,250 officers, from Admiral Lord Nelson to midshipmen,


surgeons, clerks, boatswains and carpenters, are listed, together with a detailed chronicle of their careers. In addition, there is a brief service history of each of the 34 ships, from the great 104 gun H.M.S. Victory herself through the 74 gun H.M.S. Thunderer and the 36gun frigates, down to the gallant little H.M.S. Pickle, schooner. At the time of its first publication, this volume was a remarkable labour of research. It is now an invaluable reference work for anyone with a serious interest in Nelson’s navy, bringing to life the names of those who strode the decks at Trafalgar. 336 pages with b/w illustrations of medals. £27.50 NOW £8.50


70535 CUSTER AND THE LITTLE BIGHORN: The Man,


The Mystery, The Myth by Jim Donovan


Based on the latest groundbreaking research and analysis of the most fiercely debated battle in the history of America, here is the first major illustrated book to examine the life of George Armstrong Custer,


including his famed U.S. Seventh Cavalry attack on an Bibliophile Books Unit 5 Datapoint, 6 South Crescent, London E16 4TL TEL: 020 74 74 24 74


encampment of Lakota and Cheyenne Indians. The battle is over but, even now, 125 years later, Custer’s Last Stand still fascinates and horrifies us, continuing to stir controversy and spark vigorous debate. By the close of the day, the Battle of the Little Bighorn was over and Custer was dead, along with more than 200 of his men. It was a shocking, unexpected defeat for the dashing one-time Boy General, and a magnificent victory for Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Red Horse and their warriors. But, despite the fact that pictographs fashioned by Red Horse were later to depict the battleground as a glorious victory, with the Seventh Cavalry fleeing or dead, it was to become a tragic last gasp for the Indians’ way of life. The author also examines Custer’s life in full, from his childhood and days at West Point Military Academy, through his glorious Civil War achievements to his death at the Little Bighorn. A thrilling 224 pages 28.5cm x 22.5cm very lavishly illustrated in colour, b/w and sepia/ white with photos, paintings and drawings, maps and author’s note.


$29.95 NOW £10 70811 HURRICANE: The Last


Witness by Brian Milton Eighteen of the surviving pilots who flew the Hurricane during World War Two tell what it was like to fly and fight in this iconic aircraft, not only over the White Cliffs of Dover, but also during the Battle of France, the defence of Malta, the intense heat of the North African desert, in the freezing temperatures of the Arctic wastes and in the suffocating humidity of the Far East. It was the


RAF’s first monoplane fighter, entering service before the Spitfire, and was responsible for destroying more enemy aircraft during the battle than any other type. Bob Stanford Tuck, a celebrated ace who flew Spitfires, was not at first impressed by the Hurricane. Around 60% of claimed ‘kills’ fell to the guns of Hurricane pilots and the only Victoria Cross awarded to a member of Fighter Command during the war went to Flight Lieutenant Eric Nicolson of 249 Squadron. Badly wounded in a dogfight, he attempted to leave his blazing Hurricane but spotted a Messerschmitt ahead. He returned to the cockpit, engaged the enemy and shot it down successfully. This and other stories of the Hurricane pilots form the basis of Brian Milton’s book. 256 pages, 32 photographs. £18.99 NOW £6.50


46212 THIRD REICH AT WAR by Michael Veranov


Reprint of a Time Life book, previously published as ‘The Mammoth Book of the Third Reich at War’. From the rise of the Nazi party in the 1930s, through the war years to the final reckoning in a shattered Berlin in 1945, here are detailed accounts of key land battles and campaigns. Includes Barbarossa and Stalingrad, North Africa, the Allied invasion of Europe in 1944, the final drive to Berlin and the subsequent fall of the Third Reich. Here is also the history of the Luftwaffe, its men and machines, war in the air from the Battle of Britain through to the V1 and V2 rockets, war at sea and the devastating effectiveness of the U-Boat fleet and fascinating portraits of the Third Reich’s leaders, generals and men of influence. With special coverage of weapons, fighting tactics and deployment of élite troops. 624 page paperback. £9.99 NOW £2.50


68418 WAR IN THE CRIMEA - An Illustrated


History by Ian Fletcher and Natalia Ishchenko In addition to the work of pioneering photographer Robert Fenton, this book prints many studies by the celebrated war artist William Simpson, sketches made for the Illustrated London News and also highly dramatic studies by Russian artists such as Kokorin or Makovsky. Prior to 1854, trouble had been brewing for some time over Russia’s attempts to secure access to the Mediterranean, but it was a dispute over ownership of the Holy Places of Jerusalem that finally sparked the declaration of war. Facing the might of the Russians were two Allied armies: the British, with little recent combat experience, and the seasoned French troops, many of whose regiments had seen active service in North Africa. It was misunderstandings between the commanders which led to the war’s most famous episode, the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaklava. The author describes the manoeuvres, deployment and numbers of troops in great detail. Old photos and prints. 288pp. £30 NOW £8.50


70790 COLD WAR EXPERIENCE by Norman Friedman


The Cold War was fought out on a world stage, and modern space, military and computer technologies, not to mention NATO and the EU, were all developed as a response to the Soviet threat. This impressive book aims to recreate the Cold War experience as vividly as possible with succinct accounts of the major incidents backed up by archive photos and facsimile documents. Behind the “iron curtain” men chosen and removed by Moscow guarded their countries with a brutal system of barbed wire and watchtowers. The first serious crisis was Stalin’s blockade of Berlin, which the Allies countered with the Berlin airlift. The Korean War was a direct military response to the fear of Communism, revealing that the Soviet MIG-15 fighter was as good as anything the U.S. could put in the skies, and the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War illustrate the further escalation of the perceived threat. The Atom Bomb, the Hungarian Uprising, China’s Cultural


Revolution and the spy wars were followed by the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. 10 years later the Soviet coup in Afghanistan was intended to pre-empt western involvement, but the Polish Solidarity movement followed by Gorbachev’s glasnost finally opened the way for the reunification of Germany in 1989. The story is brilliantly told with four wallets of document facsimiles. 60pp, fully illustrated in colour.


£19.99 NOW £6.50 e-mail: orders@bibliophilebooks.com


64920 BRITAIN AT WAR: Classic, Rare and Unseen by Maureen Hill


More than 800 painstakingly restored photographs from the archives of the Daily Mail have been packed into this heavyweight hardback. Devastating bombing raids on major cities, the call for increased food production and the need to protect both landscape and property changed landscapes and cityscapes throughout Britain. Here is tireless and selfless individual and community contributions to the war effort, a testament to the spirit of the people in what was Britain’s darkest and finest hour. Covers the Declaration of War, The Blitz, Defending the Home Front, Uniformed Services, Women at Work, Working for the War Effort, Growing up at War, Business as Usual and The Road to Victory as the chapter headings. Be stunned by the image of a completely destroyed London trolley- bus, the second great fire of London on 29th December 1940, the books rescued from the massive 25,000 volume collection at the Guildhall Library, (much of which was lost), St. Paul’s, untouched amid the ruins, Plymouth, a prime target, industrial cities like Sheffield, entertaining the troops, heavy work for women, children reunited with their parents and some fun relaxing in the sun. 800 exceptional quality sepia and black and white photos in this top read. 352pp measuring 9" x 11½”.


£24.99 NOW £12 69074 JOHN TALBOT AND THE WAR IN


FRANCE 1427-1453 by A. J. Pollard John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, was the last of the celebrated English commanders of the Hundred Years’ War. This perceptive account reconstructs the long career of an extraordinary soldier, and offers a fascinating insight into warfare in the late medieval period. Talbot was the last representative of generations of brave, brutal warriors whose appetite for glory and personal gain had sustained English policy in France since the time of Edward III. His defeat and death at the Battle of Castillon on 17th July 1453 marked the end of the wars. It was also the final act in a heroic but savage tradition. 166 paperback pages. £10.99 NOW £4


70141 SHOT IN THE TOWER by Leonard Sellers


The Tower of London is famous for dramatic scenes of execution: Anne Boleyn, Sir Walter Raleigh and other famous historical characters met their end there, but not everyone knows that during World War I the Tower saw the execution by firing squad of 11 people convicted of being German spies. This is their story, and not only is it a fascinating


and disturbing insight into the lives of those who passed on information but it also describes the beginnings of the British intelligence services. In 1908 Captain Vernon Kell was approached to initiate a counter-espionage service, initially known as M.O.5. When war was declared in 1914, “K” left his home in Weybridge to camp out in his secret London office. A big coup followed when a hairdresser on the Caledonian Road named Ernst was discovered to be acting as a letter-box for German agents. Among the spies convicted were the Peruvian Ludovico Zender and the couple George Breeckow and his mistress Lizzie Wertheim, who was not executed although she was probably more of a professional than her partner. 212pp, paperback, photos. £12.99 NOW £6


69080 NAPOLEON’S INVASION OF RUSSIA by Theodore Ayrault Dodge


When Napoleon crossed the Niemen River in July 1812 with the biggest army Europe had ever seen, few predicted that the campaign would end in defeat. However, of the 500,000 soldiers who entered Russia, barely 20,000 returned. This book examines the enterprise in great detail and sheds light on exactly why the invasion failed. All the failures are studied, both those made by Napoleon and by his generals, and an explanation is given of where the programme went wrong and how it resulted in one of the worst defeats in military history. For every serious student of the Napoleonic era, this book provides a clear and concise strategic review. 286 pages illus and maps. £19.99 NOW £6.50


69325 CHINESE MARTIAL CODE: Bilingual Edition by A. L. Sadler


Three classic works - The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Precepts of War by Sima Rangju and Wu Zi on the Art of War - these books have been studied by those seeking timeless tools for victory in their endeavours for thousands of years. They are the classic writings on strategy by China’s military masters, considered the foremost guides to success on the battlefield and in today’s boardrooms. This edition of A. L. Sadler’s classic work contains a new foreword and includes the original Chinese language version of the texts, making this book a treasure for Chinese history and military scholars. A clear, easy to follow translation. 190pp. £16.50 NOW £3


70272 NORTHUMBERLAND STRONGHOLDS by Ed Geldard


From the time of Edward I until the union of England and Scotland, the northern border of Northumberland was in a constant state of warfare. Castles could protect townsfolk and support garrisons, but outlying farms and villages also needed protection from the Border Reivers and their constant incursions in search of sheep, valuables and revenge. The fortified farms, houses and towers that pepper this rugged landscape bear witness to a ‘violent normality’ in the lives of generations of Northumbrians. As a result, there are more castles, bastles and pele towers there than in any other county. Here is a beautiful photographic survey of 75 strongholds, ranging from the impressive castles at Bamburgh, Alnwick and Dunstanburgh to battlemented


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