Welcome to our book review site go-pdf.online!
You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
A Time of Tyrants
In this book acclaimed military historian Trevor Royle examines Scotland's role in the Second World War from a wide range of perspectives. Throughout the conflict the country's geographical position gave it great strategic importance for importing war matériel and reinforcements, for conducting naval and aerial operations against the enemy and for training regular and specialist SOE and commando forces. Scotland also became a social melting pot with the arrival of Polish and numerous European refugees, whose presence added to the communal mix and assisted post-war reconstruction. The role played by women was also essential to the war effort: for the first time they were conscripted and work...
Civil War
One late summer's day in 1642 two rival armies faced each other across the rolling Warwickshire countryside at Edgehill. There, Royalists faithful to King Charles I engaged in a battle with the supporters of the Parliament. Ahead lay even more desperate battles like Marston Moor and Naseby. The fighting was also to rage through Scotland and Ireland, notably at the siege of Drogheda and the decisive battle of Dunbar. Few periods in English history are more significant than that to which acclaimed author Trevor Royle turns his attention in CIVIL WAR. From his shrewd analyses of the characters who played their parts in the wars to his brilliantly concise descriptions of battles, Trevor Royle has produced a vivid and dramatic narrative of those turbulent years. His book also reveals how the new ideas and dispensations that followed from the wars - Cromwell's Protectorate, the Restoration of Charles II and the 'Glorious Revolution' of 1689 - made it possible for England, Ireland and Scotland to progress towards their own more distant future as democratic societies.
The Black Watch
The Black Watch was formed at Aberfeldy in Perthshire in the early eighteenth century as an independent security force, or 'watch', to guard the approaches to the lawless areas of the Scottish Highlands. Instantly recognisable due to the famous red hackle cap badge and the traditional dark blue and green government tartan kilt from which it got its name, The Black Watch was renowned as one of the great fighting regiments of the British Army and served with distinction in all major conflicts from the War of Austrian Succession onwards. In a highly controversial move, the regiment served under the operational control of the US Army during the counter-insurgency war in Iraq in December 2004. The Black Watch prided itself on being a 'family regiment', with sons following fathers into its ranks, and this new concise history reflects the strong sense of identity which was created over the centuries. In 2006, as part of a radical review of the country's defence policy, The Black Watch was amalgamated into the new Royal Regiment of Scotland. This new account of the famous regiment is therefore a timely memorial to its long and distinguished history.
Culloden
The Battle of Culloden has gone down in history as the last major battle fought on British soil: a vicious confrontation between Scottish forces supporting the Stuart claim to the throne and the English Royal Army. But this wasn't just a conflict between the Scots and the English, the battle was also part of a much larger campaign to protect the British Isles from the growing threat of a French invasion. In Trevor Royle's vivid and evocative narrative, we are drawn into the ranks, on both sides, alongside doomed Jacobites fighting fellow Scots dressed in the red coats of the Duke of Cumberland's Royal Army. And we meet the Duke himself, a skilled warrior who would gain notoriety due to the r...
The Flowers of the Forest
On the brink of the First World War, Scotland was regarded throughout the British Isles as 'the workshop of the Empire'. Not only were Clyde-built ships known the world over, Scotland produced half of Britain's total production of railway equipment, and the cotton and jute industries flourished in Paisley and Dundee. In addition, Scots were a hugely important source of manpower for the colonies. Yet after the war, Scotland became an industrial and financial backwater. Emigration increased as morale slumped in the face of economic stagnation and decline. The country had paid a disproportionately high price in casualties, a result of huge numbers of volunteers and the use of Scottish battalion...
Isn't All This Bloody?
As in the rest of Britain, the outbreak of hostilities in 1914 was met in Scotland with excitement and relief. In the field of literature too, the initial response was positive. Kailyard fiction and the Celtic Twilight were left behind as artless verses, patriotic articles and short stories flooded into print. But as the war progressed things changed and a more complex picture emerged - the patriotism and braggadocio was counterpointed by writers who saw the futility and horror of war. In this book, acclaimed military historian Trevor Royle introduces a huge range of literary material - including poetry, prose, fiction, non-fiction, letters and articles - by Scottish writers. The result is a fascinating picture which shows how war affected not only those who fought at the front, but also those at home, and how it led to profound changes - not least in the forging of the Scottish literary Renaissance and the rise of nationalism. Writers include; John Buchan, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Douglas Haig, Ian Hay, Harry Lauder, Hugh MacDiarmaid, Naomi Mitchison, Neil Munro, John Reith, Saki (H.H. Munro)
Facing the Bear
The author of Culloden explores Scotland’s history during the Cold War. Between the end of the Second World War and the collapse of Communism, confrontation with the Soviet Union was an everyday reality. As part of NATO’s response, Scotland played a key role in the alliance’s forward maritime defense strategy, aimed at containing the Soviet threat from naval and air forces. During this period, 10 percent of the UK’s naval and air forces were based in Scotland, and there was a substantial U.S. presence, as well as top secret satellite and command stations. In Facing the Bear, Trevor Royle paints a fascinating portrait of this extraordinary period, examining not just the wider military...
Crimea: The Great Crimean War, 1854-1856
The war was a watershed in world history and pointed the way to what mass warfare would be like in the twentieth century.
National Service
More than 2 million men were conscripted to serve in Britain's armed forces during the period of National Service, which began after World War II and was phased out by 1963. Aged just 18, these individuals, many of whom had never left their hometowns before, were put in uniform to serve their nation and taken to some of the furthest reaches of Britain's crumbling empire. It was an experience that left a profound mark on the post-war generations. Using first-hand accounts and official documents, these remarkable times are described in this detailed, entertaining, and hugely informative account of the National Service years.
Britain's Lost Regiments
The history of the British Army is really the story of its regiments and the men who served in them. From the very beginning they formed the backbone of a singular institution that is itself a reflection of the way the people of Britain view themselves and their collective past. Beginning with the Glorious "revolution" of 1660 and the return to the throne of King Charles II, it was a time when Cromwell's Commonwealth and his military institutions were not popular. But the new king had to be protected and the country had to be defended. Through a process of slow growth and frequent tardiness an army eventually came into being and from the outset it was based solidly on a regimental system whi...
