Tag Archives: books

Book focuses on Sikh soldiers’ role in the First World War

Posted on February 6, 2020 by DH

A London-based IT manager has written a book detailing the experiences of Sikh soldiers during the First World War. Sukwinder Singh Bassi researched hundreds of letters written by and to Sikh troops, before publishing around 700 extracts under the title … Continue reading →

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War Horse exhibition opens at Parsonage Farm, Devon

Posted on April 30, 2014 by DH

A First World War exhibition has opened at the farm in Devon that provided the inspiration for Michael Morpurgo’s book War Horse. Parsonage Farm and the surrounding area of Iddesleigh are the setting for the opening scenes of the book. … Continue reading →

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A draft of reinforcements arrives at Ypres

Posted on January 15, 2014 by DH

Norman Gladden recalls how a new draft of men arrived at the 11th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers near Ypres in 1917. The battalion had suffered considerable casualties at the Battle of Messines on 7 June 1917. The nature of the new … Continue reading →

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Prophetic note to John Buchan’s Greenmantle

Posted on October 20, 2013 by DH

This afternoon’s torrential downpour in London saw me safely ensconced in my library. With its leather armchair, wood panelling and green shaded lamp, it does look slightly as though it could have been the setting for a scene from a … Continue reading →

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Daily Beast reviews The Sleepwalkers

Posted on May 22, 2013 by DH

World War I saw ‘European civilization shattered like a glittering chandelier fallen on a marble floor’, says Michael Bishop in his Daily Beast review of Christopher Clark’s The Sleepwalkers. The reviewer adds that Clark, like many a historian before him, is … Continue reading →

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Hidden dangers of war

Posted on December 15, 2012 by DH

‘In the shallow ditch outside that Le Touret farm, among the black mud now nearly dry, were to be seen a variety of old grenades brown with rust, tumbled in with tin cans and broken harness. ‘I looked at them … Continue reading →

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