Turner Donovan Military Books - The world’s finest selection of rare and out-of-print books on British military history from 1800 to 1945
  Stock last updated on 01 June 2026
 
   

Latest Books The most recently added books   30 Books
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BROPHY (John) The Bitter End. 1st Ed., [iv]+252pp. VG in worn dw. NY: E.P. Dutton & Co. 1928  #70124
[HLMainPic] Brophy, who served four years as an under-age volunteer in the infantry during WW1, is known for his collaboration with Eric Partridge, "Songs and Slang of the British Soldier, 1914–1918," as editor of Great War anthologies & writer of WW2 Home Guard training material. This was his first novel and was based on personal experience: "The boy's idyllic adolescent romances, the terrific raw experience of the trenches and the hospital, the estrangement from his family which comes with the young soldier's forced maturity, are drawn with a subtle and sensitive understanding." - publisher's sleeve notes. Brophy was only 29 when the book was published. Orig. yellow cloth, titled in red, VG in worn dw with loss of portions of sp. & front panels.   £45
BREWER (Griffith, FRAeS) Ballooning & its Application to Kite-Balloons. A Course of Lectures on the Theory of Ballooning, Delivered Before Officers at the Royal Air Force Station, Roehampton, 1916. Obtained from Practice. 11th (Revised) Ed., orig. blue printed wraps., v+65pp., sketches & diagrams. Published by The Air League of the British Empire. January 1940  #70123
[HLMainPic] Science of ballooning, how to operate &c. Contemp. ink ownership inscrip. of F/Lt. Tom Barclay Orig. printed wraps., VG & remarkably elusive considering the number of editions.   £50
Security. Notes on Procedure. Revised Edition. General Headquarters 2nd Echelon Middle East Forces. (Issued under Authority of M.E. General Order No. 692 of 1944). Orig. blue printed wraps., [ii]+iii+107pp., several fldg. charts. AP&SS, MEF. July 1944  #70122
[HLMainPic] Notes relating to duties of the AG Branch, responsible for matters concerning discipline, welfare &c.. Includes personnel duties, disposal of casualties, promotions, record keeping, returns &c. Staples rusted o/w VG.   £35
ADAMS (Capt. R.E.C., MC, East Surrey Regt.) The Modern Crusaders. 1st Ed., viii+183pp., 16 photos., map. Routledge. 1920  #70121
[HLMainPic] Very nicely detailed account of the campaign in Egypt & Palestine 1917-18 by Brigade Major of 231st Infantry Bde. (made up of dismounted Yeomanry: 24th [Denbigh Yeo.] Bn. RWF; 25th [Montgomery Yeo. & Welsh Horse] Bn. RWF; 24th [Pembroke & Glamorgan Yeo.] Bn., Welsh Regt. & 10th [Shropshire & Cheshire Yeo.] Bn. KSLI, plus 210th MG Coy. & 231st Light Trench Mortar Battery). Includes Composition of 231st Inf. Bde., 74th Yeomanry Div., & much interesting detail on their operations at Gaza, capture of Jerusalem &c. "This clever & witty book was published out of the due season for works of its class & seems to have fallen on rather stony ground. It is one of the best matter-of-fact records of any British theatre of the late war. The author was Brigade Major of the 231st Brigade (of dismounted Yeomanry - magnificent troops) and his story is that of Lord Allenby's first offensive in Palestine. After the great German March offensive in France his division was transferred to the country, and his diary then comes to an end. The humours of war were very real but are poorly represented in literature, which makes Captain Adams's journal all the more valuable." - Falls (awarding a rare two star accolade). Orig. red cloth, gilt, neatly rebacked with orig. sp. laid down & VG thus.   £85
SILAS (Signaller Ellis) Crusading at ANZAC Anno Domini 1915. Pictured & Described by Signaller Ellis Silas, A Soldier Artist Serving with the Australian Forces. Forewords by General Sir Ian Hamilton, GCB, DSO, ADC & General Sir William Birdwood KCIE, CB, CIE, DSO. 1st Ed., orig. dec. wraps., [88]pp., oblong 4to (250x185mm)., photo. portrait of the artist, 40 drawings. The British-Australasian. 1916  #70119
[HLMainPic] Ellis Luciano Silas (1885-1972) was an English born artist & designer who studied under Sir Walter Sickert. He emigrated to Australia in 1907 & settled in Perth. In 1914 he joined the 16th Bn. AIF, landed at Gallipoli, 25th April, 1915 & evacuated with shell-shock after three weeks in the line. "In this book Silas gives the reader his personal odyssey, with the first eight illustrations describing the voyage out and street scenes in Cairo. Most of the illustrations record his experience at Gallipoli, from the landing on 25th April until his admission to hospital in Heliopolis... His series of drawings, worked up from sketches on the spot, was published the following year with accompanying comments. Many of the drawings show something of what it was like to be fighting in three of the most deadly places, then being evacuated on the transport 'Galeka', the decks of which were lined with wounded. Silas was able to walk, and was on duty for the whole voyage, assisting those who could not. He collapsed as soon as he was put aboard the hospital train from Alexandria to Cairo and in the care of Indian hospital orderlies." - with acknowledgements for this detail taken from Michael Treloar's eloquent note in his catalogue "From ANZAC to the Hindenburg Line - The Patrick Walters Collection." Orig. dec. wraps., printed in red & black, front cover somewhat chipped & worn with a little loss at extremities, neat amateur tape repair to sp., VG thus & rare (six copies on JISC/Library Hub).   £325
ANGLESEY (The Marquess of) A History of the British Cavalry 1816-1919. Vol. 6: 1914-1918, Mesopotamia. 1st Ed., xxii+198pp., 63 photos., sketches, 15 maps + ep map. VG in dw. Cooper. 1995  #70118
[HLMainPic] Standard history. VG in dw & scarce volume.   £65
Notes for Commanding Officers. Issued to Students at the Senior Officer's School, Aldershot, 1918. New Ed., revised & enlarged, xv+502pp., several fldg. maps & diagrams. Aldershot: G&P. 1918  #70117
[HLMainPic] Important & comprehensive collection of lectures & notes on trench warfare &c. for potential infantry COs, originally compiled by Brig.-Gen. R.J. Kentish, CMG, DSO, who had been the Commandant of the 3rd Army School at Flixecourt them, after a period of battalion command, founding Commandant of the Senior Officers' School at Aldershot, before leaving to take command of the 16th Inf. Brigade in France. Gen. Kentish pioneered the development of an Army School system both at home & overseas, & published (for private circulation) several other training manuals. "Notes for Commanding Officers..." went to at least five editions, so that each batch of students received a copy; each printing was longer than the last, the final one, offered here, issued in November 1918, running to 502pp. Stated in the Preface to be regarded as a 'Private' publication issued only to subscribers. Numbered 'off the press' by a numerator stamp on a preliminary leaf, this being Copy No. 37 of the final edition. Includes roll of instructional staff. Orig. olive cloth, blocked black, VG & scarce with contemp. ink ownership inscrip. of "A.C.L. Nicholson, Major, 7th Buffs" (Note, awarded MC & bar).   £120
Notes for Commanding Officers. Issued to Students at the Senior Officer's School, Aldershot, 1917. (5th Course). xx+440pp., several fldg. maps & diagrams. Aldershot: G&P. 1917  #70116
[HLMainPic] Important & comprehensive collection of lectures & notes on trench warfare &c. for potential infantry COs, compiled by Brig.-Gen. R.J. Kentish, CMG, DSO, who had been the Commandant of the 3rd Army School at Flixecourt them, after a period of battalion command, founding Commandant of the Senior Officers' School at Aldershot, before leaving to take command of the 16th Inf. Brigade in France. Gen. Kentish pioneered the development of an Army School system both at home & overseas, & published (for private circulation) several other training manuals. "Notes for Commanding Officers..." went to at least three editions, so that each batch of students received a copy; each printing was longer than the last, the final one, issued in November 1918, running to 502pp. Stated in the Preface to be regarded as 'Confidential' & a 'Private' publication issued only to subscribers, all editions are numbered 'off the press' by a numerator stamp on a preliminary leaf, this being Copy No. 1314. This edition includes a list of the instructional staff & the 200 or so students (mostly captains & majors) attending the course. Orig. khaki cloth, blocked black, VG.   £120
MONTGOMERY (FM Sir Bernard L.) 21st (British) Army Group in the Campaign in North-West Europe 1944-1945. Lecture to the Royal United Service Institution, London, October 1945. 1st Ed., 34pp., 2 lge. fldg. col. maps (Battle of Normandy & Seine to Baltic), orig. dec. wraps. Printed for distribution within 21 Army Group by P&SS, BAOR. 1945  #70114
[HLMainPic] The Army Commander's succinct account of all main events, from training to operations & the role of various arms inc. Armoured Corps, Artillery, Engineers, Airborne Forces &c. 3000 copies printed & a very nice example.   £15
WYLLY (Col. H.C., CB) The Green Howards in the Great War 1914-1919. 1st Ed., xvi+420pp., 4to, 14 plates, 17 maps. Richmond, Yorks., privately printed. 1926  #70112
[HLMainPic] The Yorkshire Regiment. Largely Western Front, also Gallipoli, Italy & 1st Bn. in 3rd Afghan War. Excellent, substantial & very scarce history. Orig. green cloth, neatly recacked with orig. sp. laid down, VG thus.   £65

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