All too many historians have dismissed FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, first Baron Raglan, as at best, an indifferent and, at worst, an incompetent on the basis of his association with the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade.Yet as this long overdue biography of a pivotal military figure of the 19th Century reveals Raglans achievements over fifty years should not be judged on so narrow a basis. True, as Commander of the Expeditionary Force to the Crimea, he must take his share of responsibi...

"Looks at the pioneering designer, Sydney Camm and examines his legacy, which was the design of two of our most iconic fighter planes . . . Brilliant!" — Books Monthly"This Man Saved Britain" ran a headline in the News Chronicle on 18 February 1941, in a reference to the role of Sydney Camm, designer of the Hawker Hurricane, during the Battle of Britain. Similarly, the Minister of Economic Warfare, Lord Selborne, advised Winston Churchill ...

On 16 May 1943, 617 Squadron's first mission saw 19 Avro Lancasters deploy bouncing bombs to breach the Möhne and Eder dams, inflicting significant damage on Nazi Germany's industrial Ruhr region. On the evening of 16 May 1943, nineteen Avro Lancasters took off from RAF Scampton to undertake 617 Squadron's first offensive attack since its formation a few weeks earlier. Loaded with Barnes Wallis' newly designed bouncing bombs, the Bomber Command crews set course for their targets – the vita...

In 1917, David Lloyd George declared that airmen were 'the cavalry of the clouds … the knighthood of this war …' This romantic image was fostered post-war by writers of adventure stories and the stunts of Hollywood filmmakers, and yet it was far from the harsh reality of life of an airman. From their baptism of fire in 1914 carrying out reconnaissance and experiencing the first dogfights, to the breakthrough in 1918 which claimed heavy casualties,...

'A FASCINATING READ' DR MARIE CASSIDYWHEN A VIOLENT INCIDENT LED YOUNG MISFIT GARDA JOHN SWEETMAN INTO THE GARDA TECHNICAL BUREAU WITH INCRIMINATING EVIDENCE, HE FOUND HIS TRUE CALLING.He spent the next 25 years as a detective garda working on the frontline of crime scene investigations - as both a fingerprint expert and, in later years, a forensic handwriting and document expert. His tenac...

This bitter war between Russia and Turkey, aided by Britain and France, was the setting for the stuff of legends.Now in e-guide format, this book details the gallant yet suicidal Charge of the Light Brigade: in the words of Tennyson, 'Into the Valley of Death rode the Six Hundred'. It relates the reports made by the first real war correspondent, William Russell of the London Times - reports which served only to highlight the army's problems - and memoriali...

The bitter war between Russia and Turkey, aided by Britain and France, was the setting for the stuff of legends. This book details the gallant yet suicidal Charge of the Light Brigade, now immortalized in film; in the words of Tennyson, 'Into the Valley of Death rode the Six Hundred.' It relates the reports made by the first real war correspondent, William Russell of the London Times--reports that served only to highlight the army's problems. It also memorializes the heroic deeds of Floren...

First published in 1999, this book explores how, from the stone bridges of neoclassicism which soar out of wild woods to span pastoral valleys to the post-1750 engineer’s bridge with its links to the more industrial landscape, the bridge was a popular feature in painting throughout the period 1700-1920. Why did so many artists choose to portray bridges? In this lavishly illustrated and intriguing book, John Sweetman seeks to answer this question. He traces the history of the bridge in pain...

Balaclava 1854examines in detail the crucial battle of Balaclava during The Crimean War.The port of Balaclava was crucial in maintaining the supply lines for the Allied siege of Sevastapol. The Russian attack in October 1854 therefore posed a major threat to the survival of the Allied cause.This book includes: the attack on the redoubts; the action of 'the thin red line' in which an assortment of about 700 British troops, some invalids, were abando...

When a violent incident in his stationed town led John Sweetman into the Garda Technical Bureau with incriminating evidence, the course of his life changed dramatically. As a young garda struggling with personal demons, he went from being on verge of leaving the force to finding his true calling.John spent the next 25 years as a detective garda working on the frontline of crime scene investigations - as both a fingerprint expert and, in later years, a forensic handwriting and docum...

'Breaking Point is raw, compelling, and ground-breaking; Coffey puts the life of working mothers under a microscope. To say I loved it is an understatement, I expect it will be a huge success.' Liz Nugent'A gripping, compulsive pageturner about what we expect from women, especially mothers. It's going to be a massive hit.' Marian Keyes'Both page-turner and gripping courtroom drama, this has much to say about the expectation...

From the acclaimed military historian, a history of the outbreak of World War I: the dramatic stretch from the breakdown of diplomacy to the battles—the Marne, Ypres, Tannenberg—that marked the frenzied first year before the war bogged down in the trenches.In Catastrophe 1914, Max Hastings gives us a conflict different from the familiar one of barbed wire, mud and futility. He traces the path to war, making clear why Germany and Austria-Hungary were primarily to blame, and...