United Kingdom Books

One of twelve vessels built as a weapons platform for the Royal Navy to besiege costal towns. The vessels carried two huge mortars, and, as Tomahawk cruise missiles are used today, the bomb vessel was used in the fleet for specific purpose. As it typical with this series, it depicts a famous ship, and in this, Goodwin is lavish in his history (he is really surpassed by no one in regards to British naval history apart from LAVERY). Excellent photos of a model from the National Maritime Museum and line drawing details that are really wonderful and very comprehensive. All the frames and beam are depicted, planking, masts, rigging and sail usage. This is a wooden ship, scratch modeller's, dream.

In keeping with the tradition of excellence that the Anatomy of the Ship series has set, this title shines as brightly as it's shipmates. The research is obviously top-rate, covering the development and life of the ship in question. Of particular use to modelers, for whom the series was origionally intended, the illustrations and line drawings cover every aspect of the ship. Included are a full set of draughts, rigging and sail plans, deck arrangement, and virtually every other detail in the ship. This enables the construction of a masterpiece, if that's what you're looking to do, otherwise it makes for a very interesting look into the history and construction of an unique naval vessel.

If you're a naval history buff, a modeler, or a lover of ships in general, this book should definitely be on your 'must-own' list

This is a very good analysis of what was, and possibly still is, a violent, self-perpetuating feud. Both sides of the Border were guilty, and victims. And both sides were happy to increase the level of brutality for each round of attack/response. Great reading with lessons for today.

Excellent book that does an outstanding effort detailing the historical 1296-1568 period of the Scottish / English border, complimenting the book The Steel Bonnets by Fraser G. MacDonald.

A fine resource on the savage and versatile warriors that fought a ferocious, three-hundred year war on the Anglo-Scottish borders. Here the traditional Celtic way of war, cattle raids, terrorism, and daring chases and escapes, were still practiced until the 18th Century. This was no war for the freedom of Scotland, however. To put it bluntly (and a bit cynically) this is the story of a bunch of gangster-type families, variously of Highlander, Lowlander, or English origin, who were engaged in a never-ending cycle of murder, rape, theft, and blackmail.

For all their savagery, the Border Reivers have to be admired for their skill and hardiness. The Reiver was simply a professional armed thief, trained in the use of spear, sword, and pistol, and a very accomplished rider. He might be a knight, peasant, or escaped convict, just as he may be of Gaelic or English heritage. In the 17th Century these men were considered the finest light cavalry in the world, and the stories of their bloody battles, daring raids, and heroic rescues of their comrades have become the stuff of legend.

As is always the case, Mr. McBride's artwork alone would make this book worth every cent. The facial expressions of many of his subjects stand out in particular in this title; note the powerful expressions of wild glee and savage hate in Plate 'B', depicting the hard-fought Battle of Flodden in 1513.

Also of special note in the text and plates alike are some of the best depictions of pre-18th Century Scottish Highlanders I have found. These men, of course, did not fit in well with the Scottish stereotype, wearing English-style tights and helmets in place of the kilts and tartan plaids and jackets. In other ways, they are shown matching the 'Braveheart' stereotype rather well with a rugged appearance, long hair, and a huge claymore.

Another warrior of note that is well-depicted in this book is the Irish kern, the servant and fellow-warrior of the noble gallowglasses. The kerns, with their bizarre hairdos and vicious-looking halberds, were a source of fear and revulsion amongst the contemporary Englishmen.

Overall, this book is a great introduction to the wars and feuds on the Anglo-Scottish borders from the late 13th Century to the mid 17th Century. It is well-written and richly endowed with colorful and accurate artwork, and is a must for an enthusiast of late medieval Scottish or English warfare.

I convene a Scottish Clan Tent at various Highland Games, and this is always prominantly displayed on my table.
It gives a quick, but thorough history on the Scottish Border Reivers for those of use who don't have time to read the Steel Bonnets. The illustrations alone are worth the price of the book.

During the time of slaughter in the trenches of World War I, all participating countries reached out to the older and younder to provide the manpower they needed. This book started out as part of the oral history being compiled by historian Van Emden. He found that the people still alive to interview were getting younger and younger at the time they served. Many were fifteen or sixteen when they were on the front line, some were as young as thirteen. Perhaps a quarter of a million men were underage when they served in the Army.

This was a time when birth certificates, indeed any identity papers at all were not needed to enlist. It continues the tradition of earlier wars, Waterloo, the American Civil War where the recruiting people were so desparate for men that they took any they could find. And it reminds one of the pictures of Hitler and the young soldiers he met during the end of World War II.

These young soldiers did not do badly. Many received awards for heroic deads. Some became officers. When captured by the Germans, the 'Boy Soldiers' were segregated and sent to school.

This book presents a side to World War I that hasn't been seen before.

Boy Soldiers of the Great War is how history ought to be written. It's a riveting, deeply moving account of the tens of thousands of boys and young men who not only served their country, but, as van Emden shows, quite probably saved it.

van Emden has done his homework and it shows on every page. While other oral histories simply collect and present first-person accounts, van Emden has discovered many previously untold stories, then puts them in social, political, personal and historical context.

Once started, the book won't be put down. Once finished, it won't be forgotten.

In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, in the heyday of rail travel, hundreds of branch lines all over Britain provided a service for communities that weren't located on a main line. During the twentieth century, most of these lines closed as road transport took traffic away. A few branch lines have survived against the trends. Some have been re-opened, usually by preservation societies staffed by volunteers.

This book takes a look at a selection of branch lines - survivors, preserved lines and closed lines. It is lavishly illustrated with great photographs of lines from when they were open as well as clues to the existence of former lines - embankments, cuttings, fencing and other features that give clues to what used to be.

There are also various special features on aspects of life on a branch line. I particularly like the feature on camping coaches, one of which I stayed in during the early sixties. These coaches first appeared in the thirties but disappeared during the war years. They reappeared after the war and were a feature of many branch lines serving tourist destinations until many of them were closed in the sixties. Camping coaches finally became an extinct species in 1971, as those that survived Beeching couldn't survive changing holiday fashions.

The selection of branch lines has no obvious pattern although lines that have been preserved have a better chance of being in the book than those that haven't. There were some lines whose inclusion I was particularly pleased to see. One is the Calne - Chippenham line. It closed in 1964 and I remember walking with others along part of its track bed a year or so after it closed. Others are the Fort William - Mallaig line and the Middlesbrough - Whitby line, both of which I have used and which still survives, though the threat of closure remains.

Some lines have been preserved for posterity but there were others that might have been preserved. Of these, the Westerham line to the south of London had plenty of support but the track bed was wanted as part of a new road scheme - much of it has now become part of the M25.

While this book is by no means a comprehensive guide to Britain's branch lines, it provides a fascinating insight into their heyday and their legacy.

In the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, in the heyday of rail travel, hundreds of branch lines all over Britain provided a service for communities that weren't located on a main line. During the twentieth century, most of these lines closed as road transport took traffic away. A few branch lines have survived against the trends. Some have been re-opened, usually by preservation societies staffed by volunteers.

This book takes a look at a selection of branch lines - survivors, preserved lines and closed lines. It is lavishly illustrated with great photographs of lines from when they were open as well as clues to the existence of former lines - embankments, cuttings, fencing and other features that give clues to what used to be.

There are also various special features on aspects of life on a branch line. I particularly like the feature on camping coaches, one of which I stayed in during the early sixties. These coaches first appeared in the thirties but disappeared during the war years. They reappeared after the war and were a feature of many branch lines serving tourist destinations until many of them were closed in the sixties. Camping coaches finally became an extinct species in 1971, as those that survived Beeching couldn't survive changing holiday fashions.

The selection of branch lines has no obvious pattern although lines that have been preserved have a better chance of being in the book than those that haven't. There were some lines whose inclusion I was particularly pleased to see. One is the Calne - Chippenham line. It closed in 1964 and I remember walking with others along part of its track bed a year or so after it closed. Others are the Fort William - Mallaig line and the Middlesbrough - Whitby line, both of which I have used and which still survives, though the threat of closure remains.

Some lines have been preserved for posterity but there were others that might have been preserved. Of these, the Westerham line to the south of London had plenty of support but the track bed was wanted as part of a new road scheme - much of it has now become part of the M25.

While this book is by no means a comprehensive guide to Britain's branch lines, it provides a fascinating insight into their heyday and their legacy.

Just a note to recommend this and other Vendler lecture series books: "Poets Thinking", "Coming of Age as a Poet", and "Invisible Listeners" to anyone who wants to understand what poetry, now virtually dead in general regard, can be, where the value lies. Each one of these books explores a theme in the works of three or four poets, generally of different eras. Of the four books, I liked "Poets Thinking" the best. And I thought "Invisible Listeners" the most interesting topic: one that could be much more exhaustively pursued.
This particular series is about major changes in style. The cases are not parallel and none of these poets does much to illuminate the style or insights of any of the others. But each one is a person who wishes to confront life freshly and add that experience to the general experience through poetry, which is quite uncommon.

In The Breaking of Style: Hopkins, Heaney, Graham, Helen Vendler theoretically outlines the ways in which contemporary writing styles remain true to traditional literary form, while at the same time morph to fit "a new sense of life" pressing "unbidden upon the poet" (1). Focusing on the "material body" of the poetry of Gerard Manley Hopkins, Seamus Heaney, and Jorie Graham, Vendler pushes these works against predecessors such as Wordsworth, Keats, Lowell, and Donne to demonstrate, through formal and stylistic critique, the way in which "breaking" standard literary tradition reflects epistemological changes in the writers themselves, which are brought into existence by societal forces external to the poets and manifested by gradation in the poetry produced: "The micro-levels of stylistic change...need to be attended to quite as much as the macro-levels...such micro-levels of change from poem to poem reflect changes of feeling, changes of aesthetic perception, or changes of moral stance in the poet" (4). What emerge in the poetic lines of Hopkins, Heaney, and Graham are amalgamations of styles old and new; "espousals as well as rejections in the invention of the new stylistic body" (3). When analyzing the works of Hopkins, Heaney, and Graham, Vendler distinguishes each author's literary modification by the way in which (s)he manipulates metrical stresses, epistemological settings, and linear units, then illustrates the "perceptual, aesthetic and moral implications" that are demonstrated by their respective violations of standard, Modernistic literary conventions. Divided into three basic critical sections, The Breaking of Style discusses the principles surrounding the literary innovations of Hopkins's use of sprung rhythm, Heaney's manipulation of readerly phenomenological perception, and the societal implications surrounding the bricolage of human experience that is captured in the "cinematic freeze-frame" of Graham's later work (80). Using terminology reminiscent of postmodern critical theory, Vendler demonstrates that the stanzaic mimesis produced by the sensually assaultive affects of Gerard Manley Hopkins's use of the spondaic crush is designed to elicit an epistemologically reflective "psychic shock" in his readers: "When the mind becomes one gigantic cacophony of groans, in eight-beat sprung rhythm lines prolonging themselves into one undifferentiated monosyllabic vocal disharmony, we have come to the last agony of the stylistic body of poetry" (40). Hopkins's poetic innovation, Vendler states, reflects this phenomenon with "mimetic accuracy." When discussing Renaissance mnemonic theory in relation to established literary form, Vendler attributes Seamus Heaney's narrative arrogation to omniscience as being distinctly influenced by the literary styles of the Wordsworthian speaker, changed to reflect subjectivity through and in the sensual phenomenological setting. No more is the speaker the deliverer of allegorical reflection, but rather the speaker becomes a vehicle of "clairvoyant perception" through Heaney's employment of adjectival and adverbial innovation (42). This "reanimation" of the past in Heaney's poetry serves to create a new found ontological zone or "third realm, neither one of pure memory actively revised nor one of present distanced actuality, but rather one of the past remembered as prophesy" (48). Likewise, Vendler demonstrates Jorie Graham's liberties taken with poetic line length as a means to lay bare the traditions of Modernism by foregrounding, for example, the setting of a work, or that which was traditionally viewed as literary back-drop. This creation of a separate ontological zone through asymptotic gesture on the part of Graham serves to redefine the aim of verse as an "earthly, terrain-oriented lateral search" (78). The Keatisian "fine excess" present in the poetry of Graham now serves as a way, Vendler demonstrates, to illustrate Graham's "Dream of the Unified Field"; to represent "the luxurious spread of experienced being, preanalytic and precontingent" (84). Written in a narrative prose style rich in alliterative crafting and stylistic construction, Helen Vendler's The Breaking of Style: Hopkins, Heaney, Graham offers an alternative and well-supported insight into the makings of the postmodern ideological perspective. By demonstrating the similarities and differences of the works of Hopkins, Heaney, and Graham in relation to their contemporaries and predecessors, Vendler delineates without the hindrance of elevated postmodern literary jargon the ways in which these authors transform canonized literary form into a more pliable arena designed to reflect their ever-changing sociological realities. Through the literary innovations of writers such as Hopkins, Heaney and Graham, as well as semi-tacit adherence to the inspirations behind such formalistic construction, Vendler states convincingly, "the style of our own inner kinesthetic motions has...been broken and remade" (95).

I found this to be an excellent book. It is pleasantly written and has good maps and diagrams which relate to the text. I envy Pryor his lifestyle. I think this is a good introduction to both history and archeology. It is an overview of the subject as it pertains to Britain. It invites the reader to delve more deeply into particular areas of the profession. The subjects of history and archeology are so wide that the serious student must specialise. It would be a good text for a first year university student in either discipline. I will probably seek out more works by Pryor.

Buried deep in this fine work is Francis Pryor's pondering of the question, how much of a 'revolution' was the Industrial one? The question indicates the theme of this book, which stresses continuity. Change was present, but often under very controlled circumstances. For Pryor, an archaeologist-writer who offers his ideas with wit and conviviality, the theme is "continuity" over "revolution". It's easy to highlight changes in a social scene, but as a man dedicated to hard evidence, the background is more important. Here, in the last of a string of books on what his science has found in Britain, continuity is the dominant theme.

Pryor launched his concept with "Britain BC", carried it through with post-Roman times in "Britain AD" and now arrives at the Christian-dominated Middle Ages. The change in religion had little impact on the daily transactions throughout Britain, with the likely shift of taxes from manor to chapel. The time-frame for this book begins about 650 CE and ends with the death of Henry VIII in 1547 CE. Nearly a millennium of time, with plenty of opportunity for "revolutions" - yet no major shifts in daily existence are in evidence. Henry's sequestration of the monasteries produced little in the way of disruption for village or town folk. As Pryor notes in the beginning, the book is about "hedges and fields, waterfronts and trade" rather than about the antics of monarchs or aristocrats. The Black Death had much more impact on society than any of the royals. Apart from the mortality, the economic shifts resulting from this plague were of far longer-lasting significance.

Even before the plague struck, agriculture and manufacturing led to early "free trade" agreements, even reaching across the Channel. Pryor finds such arrangements indicative of wider awareness and interaction than most "classical" histories have granted. Moreover, it's not treaties and other documents that he uses to make these points, but archaeological finds that provide hard evidence of what was transpiring in Britain in the Middle Ages. The Viking and Norse incursions carried a good many people into Britain, but after the initial raids, they came to stay and settled in nicely, thank you. If anything, the Norse' sea-faring skills more likely expanded existing trade arrangements, than disrupted commerce.

Pryor's chapters on urban life are the highlights of this work. After the Norse had become part of British society, population growth became a significant part of the social scene. Numbers rose to a height just before the Black Death that were not attained again until the 16th Century. The author selects various towns, describing their social and economic reactions to the plague and its aftermath. Drawing on his own observations and that of many other workers of recent generations he depicts a scene of nearly continuous development. York, in particular receives detailed attention for a span of nearly five centuries. York has provided a rich archaeological trove for the period - a rising trade community with a reach to distant places.

Reading Pryor is an unending delight, with nothing hidden in arcane academic discourse. He's open about what the evidence says and where uncertainties remain. Only the mildest interest in the past will bring rewards from this book. Readers are encouraged to enter this realm in full confidence that research is sound and the presentation fully accessible. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]

This is a highly impressive work. Every individual item discussed is keyed to an individual text and is often accompanied by multi-views and enlargements. In many cases, there is documentation, many of which are letters from manufacturers and government procurement agencies. There is very little referencing to previous works. This is not an omnium-gatherum nor a synthesis of existing works. It is a new beginning.
The only thing remotely as detailed or as useful is Robert Baeurlein's thorough work "Allied Fighting Knives" which is mainly about fighting knives and gives short schrift to working blades, plus most of it is about U.S. patterns and includes much more textual descriptions plus many first hand accounts.
This work divides many types of blades and edged tools up by the major Commonwealth nations wherein they were produced, beginning in the 1880s and continuing up till the present decade.
The major countries and nations covered are Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and India. The amount of items covered lessens the further one gets from Britain, but that is understandable. Everything including commercial knives sold to officers and explorers is covered.
There is no coverage of items produced in other Far Eastern areas for Empire and Commonwealth Forces nor anything produced in Africa, thus omitting those formerly white-ruled countries of the former Rhodesia (now Zimbablwe) and South Africa, though both are known to have local cutlery industries.
This may have been due to the lack of contacts consequent to the former political situation of sanctions, whixh precluded both commercial and social contact between Britain and those lands. Or perhapa they just did not make anything there for their forces.
As in any work of this monumentality, it is not perfect. No matter how long one works, there will always be something omitted. It is the nature of the endeavour. The author has added a chapter of last minute discoveries in his attempt to be as encyclopedic as possible. I learned much from this book and I will refer to it again in my own writings.
But, a few minor quibbles. The author fails to distinguish between the use of the two synonyms--matchet and machete. The latter being the original Spanish term and used in North America also, and the former, the official British term. Both are pronounced identically except for the e on the end--the t being silent. Because of his use of the American spelling throughout, he missed the significance of the derivation of the term for a famoous short bladed fighting instrument of WW II, the smatchet, usually pronounced to rhyme with hatchet, but again the t is silent. Smatchet is a contraction of small + matchet just as Bren is a contraction.
He also fails to recognize the tool-weapon issued to native troops of northern Burma by its true name of dah and lumps it in with machetes. He has found a few more patterns of dahs than I have. Of course, these crudely finished implements are so badly marked that moat are unreadable. And he may have included some similar tools made in southern China for local use. These are much better finished than British or Indian issued patterns.
And finally he missed a rather unusual and strange machete made in Australia in WW II. But, with those few exceptions, one with any interest in this material should buy this book. I will just give it an A not an A+. You can throw away that old copy of Stephens now.

Very good review of all military knives of the British empire 1800-today.
Cover F-S Fighting knives in a good way.
Plenty of pictures.
It is something you must buy!

"With more than 400 spectacular colour photographs, this lavish volume provides one of the clearest pictures ever of Art Deco"

BRITISH ART DECO CERAMICS (with Price Guide) by Colin Mawston is a major new reference work on the Pottery produced during the 1920/30s, by British designers. Published by Schiffers in luxurious format, It is a hardback Book with 178 pages and over 400 colour photographs. The Book features the work of Clarice Cliff ( with over 150 photos), Susie Cooper, Shelley, Myott, Sadler, Crown Devon, Carlton Ware, Burleigh Ware, and many other lesser known Potteries. Included are Chapters on "The contribution of British Art Deco", "Introduction to Art Deco", and "Collecting Art Deco Ceramics". The Book will serve as an Introduction to the subject for the new collector and act as a valuable reference for the more seasoned collector. As well as a vast array of photographic examples, it covers the practical side of collecting including where to buy, how to buy and how to identify British Art Deco Ceramics. Dynamic and beautiful Art Deco ceramics blazing with eye-catching, bold--even confrontational--hand-painted designs on innovative vessel forms, produced by some of the most influential potteries in Britain during the 1920s and 1930s, are featured here in the many colour photographs. Spectacular dinnerwares, vases, jugs, face masks, coffee and tea sets appear in abundance. A thorough text provides brief histories of the makers, explanations of the origins and development of the Art Deco style, and valuable tips for today's enthusiastic collectors. Values for the wares displayed are given. This reference will be enjoyed by both art and ceramics enthusiasts the world over.

To win the battle, but lose the war is an apt cliche for the Americans regarding the Battle of New Orleans and the War of 1812. Despite the title, this book is about more than the Battle of New Orleans and spends significant time discussing the causes of the War of 1812, the major battles of the war and the peace negotiations. (In fact, Reilly doesn't begin to address the Battle of New Orleans until page 171 in a book of 371 pages of text.) The book does several things well. It assesses dispassionately the role of military and political leadership in crucial events and battles of the War. The essential role of generalship and statesmanship in these affairs is one of the sub-themes of the work. Reilly demonstrates well the crucial relationship between the events and strategies of the War of 1812 and the Napoleonic Wars of Europe. Unlike many military histories, this book demonstrates why particular tactics were or were not sensible. Finally, it debunks legends and sometimes conventional wisdom about the war and battle with the use of the contemporary papers, diaries and court-martial records.

This is indeed the superior history of the Battle of New Orleans and is especially valuable for the analysis of the
political stakes. In short, the British had every intention of adding this city to their collection of overseas naval bases (which
eventually included Gibraltar, Capetown, Hong Kong and a failed
attempt at Toulon) and had worded the peace treaty to permit this, had they succeeded in its capture. The modern claim that the battle was meaningless because it took place in the month after the signing of the treaty, is not correct.