Richard van Emden on The Great War - Why We Should Remember
Posted on Thursday 15th May 2014
Further Reading
Britain's Last Tommies
(Hardback)
ISBN: 9781844153152
by Richard van Emden
Only £19.99
On the centenary of the Great War, there are now no longer any veterans alive of the six million men who served on the Western Front. Although this means that the Great War as a living history is to all intents and purposes over, the twenty years Richard van Emden spent interviewing and carefully recording the memories of over 270 veterans, makes this extraordinary collection of stories even more poignant.
As well as stories told by the veterans themselves, Richard has also included his own memories…
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Further Reading
Last Man Standing
(Paperback - 208 pages)
ISBN: 9781848848658
by Richard van Emden
Only £10.00 RRP £12.99
It hardly seems credible today that a nineteenyear- old boy, just commissioned into the Seaforth Highlanders, could lead a platoon of men into the carnage of the Battle of the Somme. Or that, as the machine gun bullets whistled past and shells exploded, he could maintain his own morale to lead a platoon, keeping its discipline and cohesion, in spite of desperate losses. Norman Collins, the author of this superb memoir, was this remarkable man.
Using Norman's own words, Last Man Standing follows him from his childhood…
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Further Reading
Teenage Tommy
(Hardback - 192 pages)
ISBN: 9781783032877
by Richard van Emden
Only £19.99
Benjamin Clouting was just sixteen years old when he embarked with the British Expeditionary Force for France in August 1914. The youngest man in the 4th Dragoon Guards, he took part in the BEF's celebrated first action at Casteau on August 22nd, and, two days later, had his horse shot from under him during the famous cavalry charge of the 4th Dragoon Guards and the 9th Lancers at Audregnies. Ben served on the Western front during every major engagement of the war except Loos, was wounded twice, and in 1919…
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Further Reading
Famous
(Paperback - 352 pages)
ISBN: 9781848841970
by Richard van Emden
Only £10.99
Famous tells the Great War stories of twenty of Britain's most respected, best known and even notorious celebrities. They include politicians, actors, writers, an explorer, a sculptor and even a murderer. The generation that grew up in the late 19th Century enlisted enthusiastically in the defence of the country. Many would become household names such as Basil Rathbone, the definitive Sherlock Holmes, AA Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh, and Arnold Ridley who found fame and public affection as the dour Scotsman Fraser, and the gentle and genial Godfrey, in…
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Of further interest...

Britain's Last Tommies at Passchendaele
Tue 31st JulyFinal memories from soldiers of the 1914-1918 war in their own words. Extracted from Britain's Last Tommies by Richard van Emden, Read article...

Author talk: Richard Van Emden
Wed 6th AprilAs his latest work, The Somme, is released, we chatted to best-selling Great War author Richard Van Emden about his career, Harry Patch and the Somme centenary Read article...

The Neptune Monograph Project
Fri 27th JulyA Q&A with the creator of the Neptune Monograph Project. Read article...

100 Years On: Passchendaele in Colour
Fri 28th JulyJust over a year ago I published a blog of photos taken during the battle of the Somme in 1916. This week marks the centenary of another famous and bloody battle of the First World War, the Battle of Passchendaele, which began on 31st July 1917. Read article...