books monthly february 2023

The Pen & Sword books page...





Dale Debakcsy: A History of Women in Medicine and Medical Research

Published 3rd November 2022

In the nineteenth century, a small but dedicated group of European and American women rose to agitate for the inclusion of women in the medical profession. It is a historic tale that we have told and retold for decades, but it is far from where the story of women as physicians and healers begins. Stretching back into deepest antiquity, we possess accounts of women who were consulted by emperors and paupers alike for their medical expertise. They were surgeons, apothecaries, midwives, university lecturers, and medical researchers in correspondence with the most learned societies of their time. And then it all came crashing down. A History of Women in Medicine and Medical Research is the story of the women who participated in that early Golden Age, and of a medical establishment closing ranks against them so effectively that, by the early Victorian era, they not only were barred from practicing medicine, but from so much as stepping into a classroom where medical topics were being discussed. It is the story of that intrepid band of reformers and pioneers who built back the women's medical profession from the ashes and constructed a thriving new community of researchers and practitioners who within a century had retaken not only the ground that had been lost, but boldly advanced to levels of fame and achievement unimaginable to any previous era. Told through in-depth accounts of the lives of the pioneers and practitioners who built and rebuilt the women's medical movement, this title dives into the lives of not only legendary figures like Florence Nightingale, Gertrude Elion, Rosalyn Yalow, and Elizabeth Blackwell, but visits women the world over whose medical contributions broke down doors and advanced the cause of women's and world health, like the revolutionary medieval physician Trota of Salerno, the pioneering eighteenth century midwife and businesswoman Madame du Coudray, the microbiological research trailblazer Mary Putnam Jacobi, and the HIV researcher and world epidemic response coordinator Francoise Barre-Sinoussi. With over 140 stories spanning three millennia of global medicine, this book shines a light on the unknown heroes, towering discoveries, tragic missteps, and profound struggles that have accompanied the Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of the women's medical profession.

Excellent treatise on the history of female involvement in the treatment of illness and injury, of women who fought against the closed ranks of the medical profession who thought that women posed a threat to man's dominance in this field. Absolutely fascinating.



Nicholas Milton: The Role of Birds in World War One

Published 3rd November 2022

The British Expeditionary Force sent to France in the late summer of 1914 has been referred to as the ‘Best British Army Ever Sent to War’ as it was one of the most highly trained and disciplined forces in the world. It was also the ‘Best Birdwatching Army Ever Sent to War’ for among its ranks were hundreds of both amateur and professional ornithologists. When not fighting, many soldiers turned to birdwatching as a way of whiling away the long hours spent on guard duty or watching over ‘no man’s land’. The list of birds seen by them serving in all the theatres of war was truly impressive, ranging from the common like sparrows, skylarks and swallows to the exotic like golden orioles, hoopoes and bee-eaters.

It was not just at the battle front that birds found themselves in the firing line but also on the home front. For the Foreign Secretary, Edward Grey, who worked tirelessly to preserve peace but ended up convincing the House of Commons to go to war, birds were his hinterland. But as well as declaring war on Germany on 4 August 1914, the government also declared war on the humble house sparrow, farmers falsely accusing it of destroying Britain’s dwindling wheat and oat supplies. From the outset the slaughter was opposed by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds who eventually triumphed over the Board of Agriculture, becoming the powerful voice for conservation we know today.

When the guns finally fell silent on 11 November 1918 and the Great War came to an ignoble end, a generation of birdwatchers lay dead. Among them were scientists, researchers, lords, librarians, artists, authors, professors, poets, lawyers, surgeons and explorers, many young men with great promise. Had they lived, the science of ornithology and the hobby of birdwatching would have undoubtedly been much the richer. In commemoration of their sacrifice a selection of them is included in the Ornithological Roll of Honour at the back of this book.

I The true story of "Speckled Jim" of Blackadder fame, and the many birds used to send messages during the first world war. Added to which was the unique opportunity that p;resented itself for a whole new army of birdwatchers... Fascinating story.



Adrian Stewart: Hurricanes in Action Worldwide

Published 11th November 2022

The Hawker Hurricane was the RAF's most valuable fighter asset in the Second World War, yet even today is relatively under-appreciated by the general public. Yet from the early months of the war it was the single engine fighter most often encountered by the Luftwaffe and during the Battle of Britain it made 80% of the successful interdictions of enemy formations. As this superbly researched book written by a leading authority on the air war reveals, this was only the start of the Hurricane's war service. Its reliability and versatility ensured that variants saw action in more war theatres worldwide than any other fighter. Indeed, as the RAF's Official History recalls Everywhere the Ubiquitous Hurricane was to be seen'. This book follows the Hurri' to Russia, Malta, North Africa and as far afield as Burma, Sumatra and Java. Seaborne versions fought in the Battle of the Atlantic and defended the Mediterranean convoys. In the ground attack role Hurricane fighter bombers made countless sweeps over occupied Europe. Pilots' first-hand accounts supplement the text. Readers are left in no doubt as to the massive contribution that the Hurricane made to ultimate victory.

No Back in the mid-20th century, Airfix revolutionised the "toy" aeroplane industry with their range of aircraft kits. Two airplanes stood out from the crowded market that Airfix promoted, and they were the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane, both of which were made by giants of the industry, and whichlater became the mainstay of the nascent British Aerospace colossus that still dominates in global armaments production. For me, the Hurricane was just as important and beautiful as the Spitfire and yet it has been largely forgotten except by enthusiasts. Adrian Stewart's most excellent book remembers the Hurricane in all its glory.



Julia A Hickey: Medieval Royal Mistresses

Published 3rd November 2022

Marriage for Medieval kings was about politics, power and the provision of legitimate heirs. Mistresses were about love, lust and possession. It was a world that included kidnap, poison, murder, violation, public shaming and accusations of witchcraft. Ambition and quick wits as well as beauty were essential attributes for any royal mistress. Infamy, assassination and imprisonment awaited some royal mistresses who tumbled from favour whilst others disappeared into obscurity or respectable lives as married women and were quickly forgotten. Meet Nest of Wales, born in turbulent times, whose abduction started a war; Alice Perrers and Jane Shore labelled ‘whores’ and ‘wantons’; Katherine Swynford who turned the medieval world upside down with a royal happy-ever-after and Rosamund Clifford who left history and stepped into legend. Discover how serial royal womanisers married off their discarded mistresses to bind their allies close. Explore the semi-official roles of some mistresses; the illegitimate children who became kings; secret marriage ceremonies; Edith Forne Sigulfson and Lady Eleanor Talbot who sought atonement through religion as well as the aristocratic women who became the victims of royal lust. Most of the shameful women who shared the beds of medieval kings were silenced, besmirched or consigned to the footnotes of a patriarchal worldview but they negotiated paths between the private and public spheres of medieval court life - changing history as they went.

It is a fact that as recently as the beginning of the last century there were kings and princes around Europe and including here in Britain who favoured young ladies who were not part of their set. Julia's books is a colourful introduction to the women who influenced such kings and princes in the medieval period, and it makes a truly fascinating read.



Joanne Major: Kitty Fisher The First Female Celebrity

Published 11th November 2022

‘Lucy Locket lost her pocket, Kitty Fisher found it, not a penny was there in it, only ribbon round it.’ Generations of children have grown up knowing Kitty Fisher from the nursery rhyme, but who was she? Remembered as an eighteenth-century ‘celebrated’ courtesan and style icon, it is surprising to learn that Kitty’s career in the upper echelons of London’s sex industry was brief. For someone of her profession, Kitty had one great flaw: she fell in love too easily. Kitty Fisher managed her public relations and controlled her image with care. In a time when women’s choices were limited, she navigated her way to fame and fortune. Hers was a life filled equally with happiness and tragedy, one which left such an impact that the fascinating Kitty Fisher’s name still resonates today. She was the Georgian era’s most famous – and infamous – celebrity. This is more than just a biography of Kitty Fisher’s short, scandalous and action-packed life. It is also a social history of the period looking not just at Kitty but also the women who were her contemporaries, as well as the men who were drawn to their sides… and into their beds. In this meticulously researched, lively and enjoyable book we discover the real woman at the heart of Kitty Fisher’s enduring myth and legend.

Another treatise on royal courtesans, but this time focusing on one particulae woman, Kitty Fisher, who triumphed so much in the Geirgian era that she had a nursery rhyme created that commemorated her for all time.


Debbie Blake: Victorian Murderesses

Published 11th November 2022

The Victorian belief that women were the ‘weaker sex’ who were expected to devote themselves entirely to family life, made it almost inconceivable that they could ever be capable of committing murder. What drove a woman to murder her husband, lover or even her own child? Were they tragic, mad or just plain evil? Using various sources including court records, newspaper accounts and letters, this book explores some of the most notorious murder cases committed by seven women in nineteenth century Britain and America. It delves into each of the women’s lives, the circumstances that led to their crimes, their committal and trial and the various reasons why they resorted to murder: the fear of destitution led Mary Ann Brough to murder her own children; desperation to keep her job drove Sarah Drake to her crime. Money was the motive in the case of Mary Ann Cotton, who is believed to have poisoned as many as twenty-one people. Kate Bender lured her unsuspecting victims to their death in ‘The Slaughter Pen’ before stripping them of their valuables; Kate Webster’s temper got the better of her when she brutally murdered and decapitated her employer; nurse Jane Toppan admitted she derived sexual pleasure from watching her victims die slowly and Lizzie Borden was suspected of murdering her father and stepmother with an axe, so that she could live on the affluent area known as ‘the hill’ in Fall River, Massachusetts.

Author SThe grim faces of the Victorian women who committed a whole taft of heinous murders will surely draw you into Debbie's amazing case studies of true crime that shocked the world in that era. Brilliant!



Natalie Grueninger: The Final Year of Anne Boleyn

Published 11th November 2022

There are few women in English history more famous or controversial than Queen Anne Boleyn. She was the second wife of Henry VIII, mother of Elizabeth I and the first English queen to be publicly executed. Much of what we think we know about her is coloured by myth and legend, and does not stand up to close scrutiny. Reinvented by each new generation, Anne is buried beneath centuries of labels: homewrecker, seductress, opportunist, witch, romantic victim, Protestant martyr, feminist. In this vivid and engaging account of the triumphant and harrowing final year of Queen Anne Boleyn’s life, the author reveals a very human portrait of a brilliant, passionate and complex woman.

The last twelve months of Anne’s life contained both joy and heartbreak. This telling period bore witness to one of the longest and most politically significant progresses of Henry VIII’s reign, improved relations between the royal couple, and Anne’s longed-for pregnancy. With the dawning of the new year, the pendulum swung. In late January 1536, Anne received news that her husband had been thrown from his horse in his tiltyard at Greenwich. Just days later, tragedy struck. As the body of Anne’s predecessor, Katherine of Aragon, was being prepared for burial, Anne miscarried her son. The promise of a new beginning dashed, the months that followed were a rollercoaster of anguish and hope, marked by betrayal, brutality and rumour. What began with so much promise, ended in silent dignity, amid a whirlwind of scandal, on a scaffold at the Tower of London.

Through close examination of these intriguing events considered in their social and historical context, readers will gain a fresh perspective into the life and death of the woman behind the tantalising tale.

The author paints a portrait of Anne Boleyn's final year that is both fascinating and captivating, of a woman wronged by her husband and condemned to a death that was both undignified and tragic. You will see Anne in a new light after reading Natalie's brilliant history of one of the most famous women ever.



Tim Heath & Annamarie Vickers: Transforming Hitler's Germany

Published 11th November 2022

As the last flames of the Second World War flickered and died, Germany emerged into an apocalyptic wasteland, where the Hitler Youth generation would be cursed with the running sore of National Socialism. With the uncaged bear of the Soviet Union flexing its muscles and the escalating tensions between East and West providing some distraction from the funeral pyre of the Third Reich, those living in West Germany soon understood that they were the geological bulkhead, a component in the prevention of communism spreading throughout the infantile peace of post-Second World War Europe. Despite all the destruction and political tensions which surrounded them, the young men and women of Germany were keen to experience the world beyond their own precarious borders. In August 1945, Tia Schuster and Lisa Kraus were two fourteen-year-old Berliners, and - like many - they found themselves shoehorned into what was to be the second ‘new era’ of their young lives. The first had brought about only death and destruction, yet this second had a cold unfamiliarity about it. As the late 1940s gave way to the 1950s and ‘60s, a series of new decadent eras - of rock-n-roll, fashion, flower power and sexual revolution - was on the horizon, which posed a threat to the traditional German way of life championed by the Nazi regime and post-Second World War German government. With this heady mixture of new-found freedom, the youth of Germany unwittingly became a feature of everything that both fascism and communism despised. This unique work tells the story of the tentative steps taken by young men and women into the ‘afterlife of Nazi Germany’. Encompassing memoirs along the way, it presents a quirky portrayal of charm, humour, mischief and personal accomplishment along with a vitally important slice of (West) Germany’s social history, which has remained hidden from the literary world for decades. As Tia Schuster remarked: ‘The world suddenly became a very big piece of pie, we wouldn’t be happy with just taking a slice of this pie, no, we wanted the whole damn thing and we didn’t care if it made us sick or not!’

This is one of those amazing tales of a country on the verge of collapse but whose people wanted to be a part of the world emerging from the horrors of WWII. This is a story that has largely remained untold until now and the authors are to be congratulated on oncovering it and bringing it to our attention. Absolutely enthralling.



Dilip Sakar: Free French Spitfire Hero

Published 16th November 2022

Ren Mouchotte was born on 21 August 1914, at Saint Mande, Paris. He joined the Arm e de l'Air for his period of military service in 1934, obtaining his flying brevet. Though Mouchotte returned to civilian life, he was called up at the outbreak of war in 1939, becoming a Sergeant-Pilot instructor in North Africa. When France capitulated in June 1940, Mouchotte and fellow pilot Charles Guerin decided to make their way to the United Kingdom. Along with four other French pilots, Mouchotte made the short flight to Gibraltar on the morning of 30 June. From there he travelled on to Britain, being accepted into the RAF soon after their arrival. The Battle of Britain was already several weeks old when Mouchotte was posted to 245 Squadron, then based at Aldergrove, on 11 September 1940. A week later he transferred to 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron at Prestwick. Flying Hurricanes, it was with 615 Squadron that Mouchotte became a flight commander, shot down a Junkers Ju 88, and earned a Croix de Guerre. He moved to Turnhouse as Deputy A' Flight Commander with 340 (Free French) Squadron. He was promoted to captain in March 1942 and awarded the DFC. On 18 January 1943, Mouchotte returned to Turnhouse to form and command 341 Squadron, which transferred to Biggin Hill. On 15 May 1943, Mouchette and Squadron Leader E.F.J Charles shared the sector's 1000th victory. Two days later, Mouchotte destroyed a Me 109. Mouchotte failed to return from a bomber escort to the proposed V2 launch site at Eperlecques, near St. Omer, on 27 August 1943. He was reported Missing'. Later evidence emerged that his body had been washed up on the beach at Middelkerke, Belgium, on 3 September and that he was buried in the town's cemetery. Commandant Ren Gaston Octave Jean Mouchotte DFC, CdeG - one of The Few' of the Battle of Britain - became one of the most famous Free French pilots of the Second World War, during which he served alongside such notables as the legendary Group Captain Sailor' Malan and the Wing Commander Al Deere. It is Commandant Mouchotte's diaries, written between 1940 and 1943, that form the basis of this book. The diaries are introduced and contextualized by the renowned aviation historian Dilip Sarkar, who also forensically examines the story behind Biggin Hill's 1000th kill' and the circumstances of Ren 's last flight, adding new detail to both events. The TV presenter and newsreader Jan Leeming also reveals her journey into Mouchotte's courageous and inspirational story - one that began with leaving a letter in the Mouchotte Family Tomb in the famous P re Lachaise Cemetery in Paris; a meeting with Ren 's 101 year old Sister Jacqueline; the realisation that his Battle of Britain Medals had never been forwarded to his family - an omission which was happily rectified. Jacqueline lived long enough to receive the medals which, after her death were presented to the Mouchotte family by the British Ambassador Sir (Lord) Peter Ricketts at the Ambassador's Residence in Paris. Finally after many years of research and perseverance, Jan had a documentary about her Search for Ren Mouchotte broadcast in 2013 on BBC South East; BBC South and BBC North. Later that year she was invited to Gibraltar where the RAF HQ was renamed Mouchotte Buildings.

It Dilip Sakar's most recent book for Pen and Sword is a kind of biopic in words of the legendary French flying ace René Mouchotte.



Warships of the Soviet Fleet 1939-1945

Published 16th November 2022

Seventy-five years after the end of the Second World War the details of Soviet ships, their activities and fates remain an enigma to the West. In wartime such information was classified and after a brief period of glasnost (‘openness’) the Russian state has again restricted access to historical archives. Therefore, the value – and originality – of this work is difficult to exaggerate. It sees the first publication of reliable data on both the seagoing fleets and riverine flotillas of the Soviet Navy, listing over 6200 vessels from battleships to river gunboats, and mercantile conversions as well as purpose-built warships. Divided into three volumes, this first covers major surface warships down to MTBs and armoured gunboats, as well as submarines. For every class there is a design history analysing strategic, tactical and technical considerations, and individual ship detail includes construction yard, key building dates, commissioning, fleet designations, relocations and ultimate fate. Once a closely guarded secret, the wartime loss of every ship and boat (over 1000) is described. Furthermore, the confusion caused by frequent name changes is clarified by indexes that run to 16,000 items. By following the ships through both their wartime and earlier history, the book reveals many aspects of Russian history that remain highly sensitive: clandestine co-operation with Weimar Germany and fascist Italy, the NKVD-enforced closure of Soviet borders, the ‘Gulag Fleet’, the faked Metallist sinking that excused the military occupation of Estonia, and the ill-conceived pact with Nazi Germany. Restrictions recently imposed on historical publications in Russia mean this book could certainly not have been published there – as proven by the fact that most of the authors' Russian collaborators preferred not to disclose their identities. This is undoubtedly one of the most important naval reference works of recent years and will be welcomed by anyone with an interest in warships, the Soviet Navy or wider maritime aspects of the Second World War.

Ross Reyburn: Eyewitness at Dieppe

Published 21st September 2022

In August 1942, Allied forces mounted an attack on the German-held port of Dieppe; titled Operation Jubilee, it represented a rehearsal for invasion. The amphibious attack saw over 6,000 infantrymen, predominantly Canadian, put ashore, tasked with destroying German structures and gathering intelligence. The doomed raid was an abject failure, and became Canada's worst military disaster. Eyewitness at Dieppe is a long-overdue reissue of New Zealand-born writer Wallace Reyburn's dramatic account of the raid. He was with the first soldiers clambering ashore, and aboard the last ship returning to England after six hours of carnage. Awarded an OBE as the only war correspondent to witness the street fighting first-hand, Reyburn was fortunate not be numbered among Dieppe's dead, suffering just a minor wound inflicted by mortar shell fragments. His book, Rehearsal for Invasion was a wartime bestseller. Accompanied by freelance journalist Ross Reyburn's new foreword on his father's account, this new edition tells us more about Wallace's intriguing life and details the shortcomings of his father's book, dictated by wartime censorship corrected in the post-war years through a withering condemnation of raid's mastermind Lord Mountbatten.

An eyewitness account of the attack on Dieppe in August 1942. Such "witting testimony" accounts are worth so much more than official histories



Oliver Rathkolb: Baldr Von Schirach

Published 10th October 2022

Hitler made the eighteen-year-old Baldur von Schirach the offer he was hoping for, telling him the party needed young men like him. The young man snapped up Hitler’s invitation and enjoyed a rapid rise through the ranks of the National Socialist Party, marrying Henriette Hoffmann, the daughter of Hitler’s personal photographer Heinrich Hoffmann. In 1930 he was appointed “Reich” youth leader, and as Hitler’s loyal servant he harnessed the Hitler Youth for the ‘brown revolution’. He dreamt of a fascist Europe under German leadership and as Gauleiter of Vienna he had the city’s Jewish population deported to the death camps while enriching himself with looted Jewish art collections. But his independence of mind and artistic ideals led to tensions between Berlin and Vienna. In 1946, Baldur von Schirach stood trial at Nuremberg, where he offered a crafty defence, confessing his role in the rise of National Socialist ideology and attacking Adolf Hitler but denying involvement in the murder of Jews. As a result, he escaped execution and was sentenced to twenty years in prison for crimes against humanity. In the 1960s, he emerged from Spandau prison to great media attention, but he would later die in obscurity. In this critical biography, Oliver Rathkolb uses previously untapped archive material to examine a controversial figure who used his keen media savvy to paint a favourable picture of himself after the war. The book traces how this key figure in the National Socialist propaganda machine was shaped by the German political milieu – before going on to shape German youth.

A chilling look at one of the men who enabled Hitler to put into place the horrific policies of the Third Reich. Grim reading.