Historical facts and comment.
Bletchley Park is remembered as a land of male intellectuals who were supported by a staff of women in menial roles, with figures such as Alan Turing, William Tutte and John Tiltman taking centre stage. These are the men who worked on the fearsome Enigma and Lorenz ciphering systems – the men who helped sway the … Read more
The Second World War was a seminal event in world history. The story of its battles and key events is a familiar one, but The Second World War in 100 Objects offers a unique perspective on this global phenomenon by tracing its history through its objects, such as iconic items like the British Spitfire, the … Read more
The Doctrine of the British Army is a comprehensive study of British military thought between 1900 and 1918. The work seeks to explain how Field Service Regulations defined appropriate tactics, for every Western Front battle, under French and under Haig; and how it dictated the evolution of fighting units, and support formations, throughout the war. … Read more
In Love and War is the gripping account of one man’s, Captain Donald ‘Drew’ Bethell (Harper House 1934-39), war. Aged nineteen he was wounded on the beaches of Dunkirk, captured in North Africa, escaped from his PoW camp, walked 500 miles to rejoin his regiment and fought in Italy until the end of the war. Then, … Read more
British Consul and antiquities-collector Thomas Sandwith’s account of his two months travelling in Egypt provides a valuable new primary source on a dynamic period in Egyptian history. His account of newly discovered sites and meetings with Egyptologists provide a new perspective on the burgeoning ”golden age” of Egyptology. His astute descriptions of his journey from … Read more
Austria is a small country with a glorious history but a troubled past. It sits at the crossroads of central Europe: the furthest the Ottomans reached in the seventeenth century, a Cold War back-channel between east and west, an EU member with its neutrality now challenged by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In The Shortest History of Austria, Nicholas T. Parsons … Read more
The Sleep Room: A Very British Medical Scandal is a chilling exposé of psychiatrist Dr William Sargant’s experimental treatment of women in the 1960’s and 70’s at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. Author Jon Stock tells the stories of these women using their personal testimonies as well as Sargant’s papers held at the Wellcome Collection and … Read more
Julius Euting’s Diary of a Journey through Inner Arabia, 1883–1884. First English edition, translated by Christopher Metcalf and edited by William Facey (f 66) and Michael Macdonald. Epigraphist, artist, keen hiker, nature-lover and traveller, the German scholar Julius Euting (1839–1913) was one of the great Semitists of his time. Born in Stuttgart, he moved to … Read more
Theirs the Strife tells the story of a series of bitter actions fought 75 years ago between the British and the Germans during the closing days of the North-West Europe campaign; a time when the war’s result was no longer in doubt and, for the Allies, the race nearly won. The many short but intense engagements … Read more
Devon Dead and Buried: Graves and Memorials of the Notable and Notorious is a book about mortals and memorials. In the 700 or more religious buildings and burial sites in Devon a cross section of society lies, including aristocrats and artists, paupers and politicians, merchants and missionaries, sailors and suicides. Their often-neglected stories are told in … Read more