1932 Abraham, Tom: The Cage: An Englishman in Vietnam
2002 Bantam Press, London.
1st edition hardback. The book leans ever so slightly and there is a small nick at the bottom of the rear end- paper which looks like it may have occured at the time of binding, otherwise the book is fine in condition. The dustwrapper too is fine and unclipped. An Englishman in Vietnam is an unusual war memior in that, as the title says, the soldier is a Briton, fighting for the U.S. in Vietnam. He fought with great valour, and became a highly decorated soldier with a chestful of medals including the Silver Star. His nightmare started when he was captured and tortured to his limits. He escaped, struggling to survive like an animal until his escape from the country. His trauma was internalised and only surfaced decades later after a trivial
548. Auspex,: Victory from the Air
Published by Geoffrey Bles, 1941
Hardback 1st edition. Tears to front of un-clipped d/w but no loss. Generally very good. Red cloth with black & gilt to spine very good+. 238pp A contemporary look at Military Aviation and its roles as seen in the early part of WWII. Published after the fall of Crete and the Battle of Britain but prior to the Japanese entry into WWII.
549. Banks, Air Commodore F.R. (Rod): I Kept No Diary
Published by Airlife Publications, 1978
1st edition. A fine book and unclipped d/w. There is a slight fault in the paper on two or three pages but does not affect the text. Quite a scarce book in any condition. 60 years with diesels, automobile and aero engines.
89. Barry, Sebastian: A Long Long Way
Published by Faber & Faber, London. 2005.
1st edition, 4th printing hardback in fine, as new condition.The book has no previous owner names or inscriptions. The dust wrapper has not been price clipped and still retains the original £14.99 price.A remarkable book about Irish boys serving in the trenches for the British Army in World War I. The book was originally published as a paperback by Faber but its great reception and subsequent short-listing for the Man Booker Prize for 2005 caused the publisher to reissue it in this hardcover edition.One of the best books of its kind about the horrors of war on the Western Front.
550. Bartlett DSC, Squadron Leader C.P.O.: In The Teeth of the Wind
Published by Leo Cooper, 1994
Hardback. New revised edition. Fine in like d/w. Memoir of a naval pilot on the western front 1916-1918. Illustrated with b+w photos.
551. Bauer, Josef Martin: As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me
Published by Andre Deutsch, 1957
UK hardback 1st edition in a rare unclipped d/w. The jacket is worn with tears and tape repairs but loss is minimal. Translated by Lawrence Wilson. Originally published in 1955, this must be one of the most dramatic adventures of our time. Clemens Forell, a German lieutenant, was sentenced to 25 years of forced labour in a Siberian lead mine after the Second World War. Rebelling against the brutality of the camp, Forell staged a daring escape, enduring an 8000-mile journey across the trackless wastes of Siberia, in some of the most treacherous and inhospitable conditions on earth. Bauer's writing brilliantly evokes Forell's desperation in the prison camp, and his struggle for survival and terror of recapture as he makes his way towards the Persian frontier and freedom.
2105. Baynes, John: The History of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles): Vol IV The Close of Empire 1948-1968
Published by Cassell, London, 1971
Hardback 1st edition. The book has very slight signs of wear at the top and toe of the spine otherwise fine. Green cloth covered boards with silver gilt titles at the spine and regimental badge at the upper. There are no previous owner names. The unclipped dust wrapper is a little rubbed and chipped at the edges and tips but generally very good and not faded. This, the fourth volume of a history of a Regiment which marched with Marlborough to the Danube, with Havelock to Lucknow, which fought at Neuve Chapelle and Ypres, with the Chindits in Burma, in Sicily, Italy, and Northwest Europe, is mainly the story of the 1st Battalion, although it deals comprehensively with the affairs of the Territorial Battalion and the affiliated cadet units in Glasgow and Lanarkshire.
552. Beaverbrook, William Maxwell Aitken (Lord): Men and Power 1917-1918
Published by Hutchinson, 1956
Hardback 1st edition. Nr fine in a very good unclipped d/w with only slight edgewear and a couple of small closed tears. Small original distributers label pasted to title page. These memoirs of Lord Beaverbrook combine historic importance with intense human interest. Here are the highlights of history presented by one who was at the centre of affairs when history was made. With black and white illustrations.
553. Becker, Hans: Devil on My Shoulder
Published by Jarrolds, 1955
Hardback 1st edition. Very good in a very good unclipped d/w. True but almost unbelievable account of a German sergeant's experiences on the eastern front and captivity in p.o.w. camps in Siberia. Quite a hair-raiser.
5. Bluth, B.J.: Marching with Sharpe.
Published by Harper Collins, London. 2001.
1st edition hardback. Both book and dust wrapper are in fine/as new condition. No previous owner names or other marks and the jacket is not price clipped. Contains a foreword by Bernard Cornwell. What it was like to fight in Wellington's army.
554. Bower, Tom: Klaus Barbie: Butcher of Lyons
Published by Michael Joseph Ltd, London. 1984
1st edition hardback. Both book and unclipped dustwrapper are in near fine condition. There are no previous owner names or marks. 8vo; pp. 255; 16 pages of plates, notes on sources, bibliography, index; A comprehensive biography of Klaus Barbie through the WW II years, his escape to Bolivia, up to his arrest and trial for war crimes many years later.
421. Brooks, Stephen (Editor): Montgomery and the Eighth Army
Published by The Army Records Society, Bodley Head, London 1991
This 1st Edition hardback is in very good condition, the dustwrapper is not price clipped and there are no previous owner names or marks.For Montgomery, the year and a half spent as Commander of the Eighth Army from August 1942 to December 1943 was in many respects the most interesting period of his long career. It is certainly the richest in terms of the historical evidence flowing from his own pen. This volume is the definative published source of Montgomery's diaries, letters and other papers at this time, and contains all the significant documents with full explanatory notes.
307. Butler, Josephine: Cyanide In My Shoe
Published by This England Books, 1991
1st edition hardback book-s in near fine condition, it has no previous owner names or inscriptions. The dustwrapper has been price clipped and is in very good+ condition with general shelfwear. The true story of 'Jay Bee' - the only woman in Churchill's Secret Circle.
325. Churchill, Peter: Duel of Wits
Published by Hodder & Stoughton, London, 1953
1st edition hardback in very good condition.The book has an inscription on the front end paper. Pages are clean and bright only slightest of browning to pages edges. The dust wrapper ( good condition) has not been price clipped and still retains the original 12/6 net price. The author's account of his second, third and fourth missions into south-east wartime France as a resistance organiser, of the arming of the first Maquis force and of the dangers shared with Odette until their capture together in April 1943.
187. Connor, Ken: Ghost Force: The secret history of the SAS
Published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London. 1998.
1st edition hardback in very good condition. There are no previous owner names or inscriptions and the dust wrapper is not clipped and retains the original £20.00 price at the front flap.The SAS is the single most famous fighting unit in the world today. This is the first history of the unit to be written by a member of the regiment.
556. Cooksley, Peter G.: Skystrike
Published by Robert Hale, London. 1980
1st edition hardback in fine condition. There are no previous owner names or other marks. The dust wrapper is not price clipped. A history of the evolution of the military aeroplane.
803. Coombs, Charles: Survival in the Sky
Published by Robert Hale, London, 1957
1st edition hardback in very good+ condition in a similar dust wrapper which has only slight wear at the top edge. Unclipped and illustrated by Biro. What happens to a man when he becomes weightless in the vacuums created by sharp turns and dives in jet planes flying at more than twice the speed of sound?
557. Drummond, John D.: But For These Men
Published by W. H. Allen, 1962
Hardback 1st edition. Near fine book in a good+ d/w. There is a previous owner name on the front endpaper. The d/w is unclipped but has some areas of loss, mainly to the back panel and spine. Eleven Norwegian men trained by the British special operations Executive who parachuted into their own homeland and despite many hardships attacked the Norsk-hydro to stop the transfer of Heavy water to Germany for atomic bomb development.
558. Edwards, Kenneth: Seven Sailors
Published by Collins, 1945
Hardback 1st edition. Very good in very good unclipped wrapper. A study of some of our most distinguished commanders in the war at sea. 255pp, illustrations. Seven outstanding Naval officers of WWII. Includes Ramsay, Agnew, Fraser, Murray, Sherbrooke VC, Syfret and Troubridge.
559. Eldridge, Nigel: The Colonel's Son
Published by Peter Davies, 1962
Hardback 1st edition. Very good unclipped d/w has colour faded spine panel and slight edge wear. The book is fine. An autobiographical account of life with the 35/36 lancers in India in the 1920's for an eight year old boy.
561. Ford, Roger: The Grim Reaper
Published by Sidgwick & Jackson, 1996
Hardback 1st edition. Slight mark to front panel of d/w otherwise fine condition. A dramatic narrative of machine guns since the 19th century, with detailed observations of their influence on warfare and continuing role as a force-multiplier with today's elite units. Machine guns, past, present and future from the point of view of users and targets who survived.
562. Ford, Sarah: One Up: A Woman in Action with the SAS
Published by Harper Collins, 1997
Hardback 1st, both book and jacket in fine condition. What makes a woman join the most secretive and dangerous unit of Special Forces? What keeps her there? How does she cope with the rigorous physical and psychological training, including 'simulated terrorist interrogations', the often deadly missions, the relentless pressures of a macho world, and the sex? One Up (the military term for someone traveling solo on a surveillance mission) is the electrifying first-person account of an exceptional young woman's experiences of action and adventure - the first book ever written by a female member of an SAS unit.
565. Freeman, Roger A.: B-17 Fortress at War
Published by Ian Allan, London. 1977
1st edition hardback in very good condition. There is a previous seller's red ink price at the front end paper otherwise very good. The board corners slightly bumped. The dust wrapper is not price clipped. Presents the aircraft as it was seen by those operating & maintaining it, exploring its combat attributes & deficiencies and showing why it became legend. Includes early employment by the RAF (and why this failed). Also disclosed are its clandestine operations with the Luftwaffe together with its last major combat use in the Middle East conflicts of the late 1940s & 50s, There is also a detailed study of the original crews & aircraft of a typical B-17 squadron & their eventual fates.
Published by Hodder & Stoughton, London. 1946
Hardback, UK 1st edition in very good condition. Red cloth boards with black titles to spine and upper. There are no previous owner names or inscriptions. The dust wrapper is a little rubbed along the top edge with some small tears creases and chips lost but generally very good and not price clipped. Gun Buster was the pseudonymous author of a series of novels about the British exploits in World War II. His works have been attributed to John Charles Austin and his son, Captain Richard Campion Austin. Victory Salvo, the final Gun Buster book is a collection of stories set in the North African desert and in Malaya.
573. Guttridge, Leonard & J. D. Smith: The Commodores: The Drama of a Navy under Sail
Published by Peter Davies, 1970
1st uk hardback edition. Very good book and unclipped dustwrapper. Jacket is slightly rubbed at the edges with a couple of small closed tears. The narration traces the life of the American Navy in sail and it gives a vivid account of the sea fighting, the clashes with the Barbary Pirates, the battles between American, French and British vessels, and the bitter war of 1812 against Britain at sea.
566. Habesch, David: The Army's Navy: British Military Vessels and Their History Since Henry VIII
Published by Chatham Publishing, London. 2001
1st edition hardback in fine condition. There are no previous owner names or marks. The dustwrapper if also fine and not price clipped. Beginning with the artillery transport barges operated by Henry VIII's Board of Ordnance in the 16th century, for the past 500 years the British Army has been responsible for a large and varied fleet of ships, but a fleet whose history has been overshadowed by that of the Royal Navy. This book gives a complete history of the ships and other maritime forces operated by the Army, including the Submarine Mining Service of the late 19th century, where the Royal Engineers defended harbours with mines and torpedoes, through the First and Second World Wars, and into the post-war period, when the Army's Navy had the perilous job of disposing of thousands of tons of unstable surplus ammunition by dumping it at sea.
389. Hackett, General Sir John: I Was A Stranger
Published By Chatto & Windus, London, 1978
Hardback book, 4th Impression, in near fine condition. There are no previous owner names or inscriptions, the dustwrapper is also in near fine condition.Gen. Hackett, Commander of the 4th Parachute Brigade, parachuted into Arnhem in mid-September 1944 with about 1,000 men. When the 1st Airborne Division was evacuated, a little over a 100 made it out. On 26 Sep., the day before the evacuation, he was wounded in the stomach and thigh by shrapnel and stayed behind. Hackett was captured and put in a German hospital. ~The Dutch underground smuggled General Hackett out of a German-held hospital the first day he could put his feet on the floor. His long convalescence was spent with the de Nooij family, where young and old cared for him as if he had been one of their own. It was a desperately dangerous situation for all of them, as the Germans tightened their hold on Holland after Arnhem. Hackett could watch the Germans marching from behind the lace curtains at his window. After several abortive attempts to get out of Holland, he journeyed down a complex escape route, which included 12 miles by canoe along the stormy River Waal in dead of night. His account gives an extraordinary picture of the courage and determination of the family and their friends, of the village and the people of Holland.~ For his part in Operation Market-Garden, Gen. Hackett was awarded a bar to the DSO he had won earlier in North Africa.
568. Hamilton, Tim: Identification: Friend or Foe: Story of Aircraft Recognition
Published by HMSO, 1994
Paperback 1st edition. No d/w as issued. Book is in fine condition.140pp. Gloss laminated pictorial card covers, illustrated with black and white photographs and colour plates. The development of aircraft recognition and the distinction between enemy and friendly forces from 1914-1946.
569. Higham, Robin: Air Power: A Concise History
Published by Military Book Society, 1972
Hardback 1st edition. Very good in like d/w. Stamped previous owner name to half title page. Small closed tear to rear hinge of d/w. Examines the development of military aviation over the last sixty years. Illustrated with b+w photos, diagrams and maps.
2098. Holsgrove, Jack with Hugh Graham: Dambusters Away
Published by Freelance Library, Chichester. 1998
1st edition UK hardback in near fine condition. Flat signed in pencil on the title page by the author. The book has been bumped at the bottom corners otherwise fine. The dust wrapper is also near fine having only very slight surface marking. Not clipped but no price is present. Illustrated with 17 Black & White Photographs of Holsgrove, RAF personnel, Dam Damage. Scarce and currently controversial book highlights the secret role of RAF aircraft engineer Holsgrove in the Dambusters raid by 617 Squadron flying Lancaster bombers. Recounts his pivotal part in the raids by solving technical problems with the bouncing bombs release systems. As a 21-year-old he risked his life by planting the fuse in each bomb as the Lancaster bombers waited for the signal to head off to Germany from RAF Scampton. His role was of total secrecy and was unheard of at the time for security purposes. Paper Addendum page pasted into the reverse of book clarifies details of Engineering Company Rose Brothers and their work on the secret release system mechanism.
80. Hough, Richard: The Fighter
Published by Michael Joseph, London. 1963.
1st edition hardback in near fine condition. There is a scratch at the dust wrapper spine which has cut through the paper but without loss. There is also a tiny nick at the bottom rear edge otherwise the jacket is fine and unclipped. The book is unmarked and probably unread. Authors first novel based on his own experiences in the RAF during WWII.
570. Howarth, David: The Shetland Bus
Published by Nelson, 1953
Hardback 1st in this edition. The d/w is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, but present & unclipped, poor but now protected. Book is a little marked with slightly bumped corners, generally very good, contents fine. The story of the special Norwegian naval unit based on Shetland.
571. Howe, Ellic: The Black Game
Published by Michael Joseph, 1982
1st edition hardback, both book and jacket in very good condition. British subversive operations against the Germans during the Second World War.