New Releases by RICHARD HOLMES

Napoleon was the colossus of his age. He rose to become one of Revolutionary France''s most successful generals, before being crowned emperor in December 1804. This book tells the story of the Napoleonic Wars, bringing 30 items of facsimile memorabilia, which have been researched from museum collections around the world.

“This is the room from which I will direct the war,” Churchill declared upon seeing the dank storage basement in an improbably central location near the Houses of Parliament. The chambers would become his base of operations during the heaviest enemy bombardment of London. In Churchill’s Bunker, distinguished Churchill biographer Richard Holmes provides the first comprehensive history of the Cabinet War Rooms, from which Churchill managed to turn a seemingly inevitable defeat at the hands of the Nazis into a victory for the free world. Here was the Map Room that charted the advances and retreats of armies, the locations of warships, and the often painful progress of the convoys that kept the nation supplied with munitions. Here the planners worked on future operations and the intelligence staff pondered the enemy’s next moves. And remarkably, all of this highly charged work was known only to those who needed to know. Drawing on a wealth of original material, including new firsthand accounts of the people who lived and worked there, Holmes reveals how and why the bunker and its war machine developed, how life was conducted in a realm where “only the clock told whether it was night or day and . . . an electric bell gave warning of an air-raid,” and how Churchill interacted with his staff in very close quarters. A unique exploration of the calculus of secrecy during the Second World War, Churchill’s Bunker provides an intimate portrait of Churchill and his closest advisors in one of the most fascinating and underexplored venues of twentieth-century history.

Written by one of Britain s best known and most respected military historians, "The D-Day Experience"graphically captures the planning and execution of the Allied invasion, which ultimately led to victory. More than 30 facsimile items of rare memorabilia thrust readers right into the heart of history: they ll have the unique opportunity to relive this momentous event by holding and examining facsimiles of rarely or never-seen maps, diaries, letters, secret memos and reports, posters and logbooks. Many of these have, up until now, remained filed or exhibited only behind glass in the Imperial War Museum and other collections worldwide."Memorabilia highlights include: "U.S. Airborne secret maps showing drop zone from parachutist''s eye viewOmaha Beach Intelligence message book with minute-by-minute reportsGerman radio signal log at 4:15 am on D-Day which reads " Thousands of ships tracked. They re coming. "The Wednesday, June 7, 1944, edition of Stars and StripesGold Beach Infantryman''s handwritten diary from June 4June 17, 1944, describing landings, the move inland, and battlefield promotion.Propaganda leaflets dropped on Allied troops by night-flying German pilotsJuno Beach Canadian infantryman''s letter written to his wife on the Channel crossing on the eve of D-Day. He survived D-Day but was killed later in Holland.And more "

When the Ulster Scots arrived in New Hampshire in 1719, there were no roads in Derry (then called Nutfield). Led by the Reverend James McGregor, the "Moses of the Scotch-Irish in America," the entire congregation of Aghadowey had trekked from their home county of Londonderry, Ireland, to start their lives anew, undeterred by British prejudice or Anglican intolerance. These hardy men and women were great walkers, and during the eighteenth century a warren of footpaths crisscrossed East Derry Hill. Richard Holmes retraces their footsteps, walking the road of Derry''s history from its rough-and-tumble politics and early educational institutions through its dramatic split from Londonderry Parish to the sprawling shoe factories of the Industrial Revolution. In this first history in decades, Holmes demonstrates that the hometown of Robert Frost and astronaut Alan Shepherd is also home to a hardworking, free-thinking, vibrant community.

En 1970 un equipo de televisión británica que preparaba una gran serie sobre la historia de la segunda guerra mundial grabó los testimonios de 273 personas que habían intervenido en el conflicto, desde políticos y militares como el almirante Dönitz, Anthony Eden, Averell Arriman, el general Von Manteuffel o Albert Speer, hasta el comandante japonés que planeó el ataque a Pearl Harbor, los aviadores británicos que bombardearon Alemania o los niños de las Juventudes Hitlerianas que lucharon en los últimos días de Berlín. Buena parte del contenido de estas entrevistas no se usó en la serie de televisión y este precioso material, tanto más valioso por el hecho de que muchos de los entrevistados han fallecido ya, permanecía almacenado en los archivos. Richard Holmes se ha valido de esta riquísima fuente de información para construir una historia oral de la segunda guerra mundial, que hay que considerar como definitiva, por cuanto nadie más podrá volver a reunir estos testimonios.

"Richard Holme''s exhilarating biography paints the portrait of the man, warts and all, who was as tenacious and brilliant on the battlefield as he was treacherous, greedy and passionate in his personal life, and who, in the end, became saviour of the Holy Roman Empire."--BOOK JACKET.

A handsomely illustrated photographic account, by the bestselling author of ''Tommy'' (2003), of the human experience of war as directly witnessed by British soldiers in the First World War.

The ultimate record of arms and armour through the ages – in a new compact edition An epic 4,000-year illustrated story of weaponry. From stone axes to heavy machine-guns, swords to sniper rifles, discover the innovative design, range, lethal function and brutal history of arms and armour, and meet the warriors who wielded them.Includes all the important arms through the ages, covering edged weapons, clubs, projectiles and firearms. From ancient Egyptian axes, through traditional bows and spears of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, to the machine-guns and missiles of modern infantry. Key weapons from every era are presented in sharp detail and the mechanisms that operate them are displayed and explained.Top fighting forces, from the Greek hoplite to the Navy Seal are profiled, revealing the weapons they have wielded and the tactics and fighting methods they’ve used.

The World at War is the definitive television work on the Second World War. It set out to tell the story of the war through the testimony of key participants - from civilians to ordinary soldiers, from statesmen to generals. First broadcast in 1973, the result was a unique and irreplaceable record since many of the eyewitnesses captured on film did not have long to live.The programme''s producers committed hundreds of interview-hours to tape in its creation, but only a fraction of that material made it to the final cut. For more than 30 years the interviews have never been allowed to be published - until now.Highly respected historian and bestselling author Richard Holmes has skilfully woven this valuable original material into a compelling narrative, creating a truly phenomenal oral history of the Second World War.

One of the most admired political leaders of all time, Winston Churchill remains an icon four decades after his death. Here, the eminent military historian Richard Holmes offers a remarkable reappraisal of Churchill by examining the early influences that shaped his character. Drawing on sources such as letters between the young Churchill and his parents, Holmes paints the most complete portrait to date of the man who stood up to Hitler and led his people to victory against all odds. From his aristocratic birth to a brilliant but flawed father and a famously beautiful mother, through his struggles at school and his adventures as a cavalry officer in India and the Sudan, Churchill''s extraordinary character is richly illuminated in this vivid biography.

This fascinating book tells the stories of the most dramatic, memorable, and important conflicts in world history, from Agincourt, Lepanto, and Trafalgar, to Gettysburg, Stalingrad, and the Somme. It begins with the battle of Megiddo fought by the ancient Egyptians and takes the reader through to the Second Gulf War of 2003. On the way it encompasses almost 300 battles from around the world - from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, to Europe and the Americas.

Our foremost military historian offers us a compelling and at times terrifying account of what it means to be a contemporary soldier, written in the words of the men and women of his regiment who are currently completing a dangerous and bloody six-month tour of duty. In this remarkable book, Richard Holmes draws on the testimonies of the 700 soldiers of the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment to capture in vivid detail the average soldier''s day-to-day experience of war. Embroiled in a conflict often too dangerous for reporters to cover, these soldiers - most of them young, many without any previous experience of warfare - have kept ongoing records of the drudgery, anxiety and horror involved in fighting a violent and increasingly unpopular war against a ruthless and resourceful enemy. All have risked their lives, and many have died. Others have been recognised and awarded for their courage, resourcefulness and gallantry - Private Johnson Beharry recently became the first man to be awarded the Victoria Cross in twenty-three years. With these intimate and revealing glimpses of life in the modern army, Richard Holmes paints a sweeping portrait of a new generation of soldiers - grunts, gallants and heroes - and the sacrifices their decision to fight for their country entails.

Premier consul puis empereur et nouveau César pour Stendhal, Napoléon marqua durablement de son empreinte l''histoire de la France et au-delà de toute l''Europe. Consolidant une partie des conquêtes de la Révolution, il se lança à 1''assaut de l''Europe et multiplia d''abord les campagne militaire victorieuses pour faire du continent un grand empire. En dépit de son échec militaire final, vaincu par une coalition d''Etats dont le Rovaume-Uni, il transforma profondément les structures sociales et idéologiques de l''Europe, au point d''être pour certains une figure incontournable dans la gestation de l''idée de l''Union européenne. Ecrit par l''un des historiens britanniques les plus réputés, cet ouvrage contient plus de 40 fac-similés de documents inédits d''époque: cartes, lettres, notes, rapports et bulletins militaires de la main même de l''Empereur, messages codés, proclamations... pour découvrir d''une manière nouvelle un homme et son époque. La lecture du rapport de Nelson sur le siège de Toulon, de la proclamation signée par Napoléon à son armée victorieuse après la victoire d''Austerlitz, des notes du duc de Wellington prises pendant la bataille de Waterloo, ou encore du rapport d''autopsie de ?Empereur, vous permettront de " revivre " cette extraordinaire période de l''histoire.

In 1719, sixteen families left Ireland for America and founded a community called Nutfield, which evolved into modern Derry. For centuries, Derry retained its small-town character, but the 1963 opening of Interstate 93 changed the town forever. Within a decade, its population doubled. Derry is now the states most populous town. This charming collection of over two hundred photographs presents Derry in its quieter years, when trolleys crisscrossed the town, most of the men worked in shoe factories, and traffic on Broadway stopped each morning as the Hood cows crossed to their pasture. For many older residents, these images will bring back a flood of memories. Newcomers will better understand the traditions that helped shape the town. Derry Revisited evokes a sense of expanded pride in the heritage of Derry.

Holmes shows the poet at every stage of his development, acting upon, and reacting to, people and events. Holmes lays great emphasis on the politics, philosophy and social activities of Shelley.

Sir John French is a figure who has always aroused controversy. unsurpassed. Despite being the most capable cavalry leader of his generation, posterity has judged him an unfeeling butcher, responsible for more deaths in the first two hours of the battle of Loos than all the casualties on both sides in the 1944 D-Day landings. But there was another side to French, which is only revealed in his private papers. scandalous: he courted dismissal after an affair with a fellow officer''s wife, and had a string of beautiful and well-connected mistresses. tormented by what he termed ''glory and her twin sister murder''. as he envisaged his room at GHQ filled with the ''silent army'' of the dead. In the writing of this book, the first and only comprehensive biography of the Field Marshal, Richard Holmes was granted unrestricted access to Sir John French''s private papers. of the most important military events of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

"Written by one of Britain''s best-known and respected military historians, The D-Day Experience contains over 30 facsimile items of rare D-Day memorabilia integrated into the pages of the book. The reader can relive this momentous period of history by holding and examining maps, diaries, letters, secret memos and reports, posters and logbooks, which up until now have remained filed or exhibited in the Imperial War Museum and other collections around the world."--Slipcase.

The British Army that fought in the Great War was the first largely literate and articulate army, producing not just the celebrated war poets but also the powerful writing of the ordinary soldier. Through these unique first-hand accounts - letters, diaries and memoirs - Holmes lets the soldiers speak for themselves, brilliantly interpreting their testimony to glimpse the truth of their lives. Charting the disintegration of the Western Front, from tidy hamlets and verdant forests to a landscape as ''bare as a man''s hand'', Tommy also looks at the development of the war, examining how advances in weaponry changed the role of the soldier on the ground, how trench warfare actually worked, and the evolving chain of command.

"Battlefields of the Second World War'' is what every Richard Holmes fan has been waiting for. In this fascinating and brilliantly articulated study of the Second World War, he clarifies the complexities of four of its campaigns- El Alamein, Monte Cassino, Operation Market Garden (of which Arnhem formed a crucial part)and the RAF''s bomber offensive against Germany. The book originates in his firm conviction that the sacrifices made by British service personnel are not properly understood. It uses eye-witness accounts to illuminate the horror, confusion and sheer enormity of war, and puts this in the context of the conflict''s broader strategy. ''The name Richard Holmes is to military history what Made in Britain once was to maufactured goods. There is no shoddiness in materials or labour; reliability is the hallmark, not flashiness, John Bull the proud emblem''. The Times''"

Based on the letters and diaries of the British soldiers who served as the backbone of the army from 1760 to 1860, this illuminating book is rich in the history of a fascinating era. of illustrations.

Richard Holmes, military historian and broadcaster, here tells the story of Britain''s greatest-ever soldier, the man who posed the most serious threat to Napoleon. Holmes charts the Duke of Wellington''s stellar military career from India to Europe, and in the process, rediscovers the reasons Queen Victoria called him the greatest man the 19th century had produced. Combining his historical analysis with a semi-biographical examination of Wellington, Holmes illustrates the rapid evolution in military and political thinking of the time.

With this collection of short and fascinating biographical pieces, the award-winning biographer of Coleridge and Shelley offers a fascinating glimpse into the mysterious art of biography. When researching, Richard Holmes has often become captivated by figures peripheral to his main subject, literary forays that he couldn’t resist. These tales–the forbidden love of John Stuart Mill, the bizarre novel of Oscar Wilde’s tragic grand-uncle, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s nightmarish yet cathartic final trip to Paris–are part of what comprises Sidetracks, a marvelously original that includes letters and travelogues, radio plays, essays, and minature biographies. This book is a rare literary feast and an exploration of the creative processes of one of our most preeminent biographers.

Dramatic, hard hitting, and intensely moving, this book is a unique visula testament to the many millions of men and women who lost their lives in the war, and a reminder to today''s younger generations.

Le conflit dévastateur qui, de 1939 à 1945, embrasa le monde a été abondamment photographié par des professionnels ou des amateurs. Ces documents sont d''authentiques témoignages sur l''atrocité des combats, les drames vécus par des millions de soldats et de civils, l''héroïsme et le sacrifice personnel de ces hommes et ces femmes qui ont vécu l''horreur de la guerre. Les photographies présentées dans ce livre ont été soigneusement sélectionnées pour donner une vue d''ensemble réaliste et claire du théâtre des opérations, année par année, front par front. Les synthèses sur les événements marquants de chaque période et les commentaires accompagnant les photographies offrent une lecture continue du déroulement des combats. A côté des images classiques, telles le retour du général Mac Arthur aux Philippines ou le défilé des troupes allemandes sur la place de la Concorde, à Paris, des clichés pris " sur le vif " apporte un autre éclairage sur l''histoire de la Seconde Guerre mondiale. La plupart des reporters sont anonymes, photographe rées alliées ou ennemies, soldats qui avaient emporté appareil sur le terrain. Certains sont cependant restés à la postérité, tels Cecil Beaton, Bill Brandt ou Robert Capa, lequel s''était déjà illustré par ses reportages sur la guerre civile espagnole. Photographies de guerre ou images de la vie quotidienne, nombre des documents présentés dans ce livre ont été rarement publiés, des dizaines d''entre eux sont inédits. Ils révèlent l''esprit d''une époque et retracent l''histoire d''un conflit précédent, mené sur tous les continents et sur tous les océans, un conflit qui marquera le monde entier, de génération en génération.

Captions and descriptions supplement photographs from the archives of London''s Imperial War Museum, showing various aspects of the war and its impact.

For hundreds of years battle has raged over the area of northern France and Belgium known as the fatal avenue. This book guides readers on a journey through the terrain as it is today, seeking to recreate on each walk the atmosphere of the battles through the stories of the men who fought them. Each chapter is illustrated with a map of the battlefield area, and several sketch maps showing troop movements and local points of interest.

One August morning in 1993, the military historian, Richard Holmes, nudged his heels into the flanks of his horse, Thatch, and set off with his four friends to follow the route taken by the British Expeditioary Force nearly 80 years previously, on its retreat from the German offensive at Mons. His ride took him from the Belgian border over the haunting battlefields of the First World War, across the plains and rivers of northern France, to the banks of the Marne, where in September 1914 the BEF played its part in General Joffre''s counter-attack against Von Moltke''s German armies.

The story of an unusual friendship between Samuel Johnson and the poet, playwright and convicted murderer Richard Savage.