Remembering Tommy

The British soldier of the Great War has been depicted in many books. Invariably, a pen picture paints him as stoic, joining the army in a wave of patriotic fervour, and destined to serve four years on the Western Front in some of the most costly battles in history. Yet often the picture is difficult to resolve for the reader. What was it like in the trenches? How did the soldier live, where did he sleep? What was it like to go over the top, and when he did, what did he carry with him? For many, the idea of trench life is hazy, and usually involves ‘drowning in mud’, in, as one writer put it, ‘the pitiless misery’ of Passchendaele. Recently, military historians have presented an alternative picture, a picture in which the hopelessness of the First World War is given new life and purpose. Remembering Tommy pays tribute to the real life British soldier of the Great War from the moment of joining up to their final homecoming. Using original artefacts in historic settings, the men and their words are brought to life. The uniforms they wore, the equipment they carried, the letters they wrote home, their personal possessions, mementos and photographs come together in a powerful tribute to the indomitable Tommy. Each one of these precious artefacts bears witness to the men who left them behind – allowing us to almost reach out and touch history.

• The first ever complete and authorised biography of Britain's first rock 'n' roller and all-round entertainment legend • Fully approved and endorsed by Sir Tommy Steele himself (the first time he has given approval for such a work to be completed) • A completely comprehensive and detailed study of Tommy's incomparable 65-year career • Handsomely illustrated with rare and archival photographs from Tommy Steele's archive • Foreword by Sir Tim Rice with direct contributions from Dame Judi Dench, Petula Clark, Elaine Paige, Paul Nicholas, Lesley Ann Warren and also from many of Tommy's theatrical co-stars In the summer of 1956, while on shore leave from the Merchant Navy, Thomas Hicks was spotted playing a new type of music in a coffee bar in London. Having never heard anything like this 'rock' performed in Britain, he became an overnight sensation―never returning to his ship. He changed his name to Tommy Steele and for 65 years he has been Britain's greatest showman. In a remarkable career spanning radio, records, Broadway and Hollywood, Tommy Steele started the rock revolution in the UK before moving to lighter, family entertainment and becoming a well-loved household name. He received an OBE for Services to Entertainment in 1979 and a knighthood for Services to Entertainment and Charity in 2020. He has conquered the West End, Hollywood and Broadway; holds records for the longest-running one-man-show in the London's West End and also the record for most appearances at the hallowed London Palladium. However, his remarkable career has never been detailed accurately and comprehensively―until now. Authorised by Sir Tommy Steele himself, A Life in the Spotlight offers readers a detailed insight into the career of an unrivalled entertainment legend, with countless facts, stories, details and anecdotes never before committed to print.

Cady Hoyte, like many other young lads of his generation, proudly joined the army in 1915 to fight for his King and Country. From the Warwickshire town of Nuneaton, he joined the Warwickshire Yeomanry as a gunner in the Machine Gun Corps and quickly found that army life made no concessions for an eager young 19 year old. Never having ridden a horse before, he develops a relationship with the horses, which made it all the harder when he had to say farewell and leave them behind to sail aboard the stricken ship, the Leasowe Castle, to fight in the trenches of France. Written with humour, Cady's diary gives a detailed account of the daily struggles and constant dangers of army life in the First World War without ever losing sight of his respect for human life.

A collection of columns originally written for the Sacramento Valley Mirror newspaper. Many concern the writer's memories of growing up in central California.

The First World War has left an almost indelible mark on history, with battles such as the Somme and Passchendaele becoming watchwords for suffering unsurpassed. The dreadful fighting on the Western Front, and elsewhere in the world, remains vivid in the public imagination. Over the years dozens of books have been published dealing with the soldier's experience, the military history and the weapons and vehicles of the war, but there has been little devoted to the objects associated with those hard years in the trenches. This book (new in paperback) redresses that balance. With hundreds of carefully captioned photographs of items that would have been part of the everyday life for the British Tommy; from recruiting posters, uniforms and entrenching equipment to games, postcards and pieces of 'trench art', this book brings to life the experience of the Great War soldier through the objects with which he would have been surrounded.

It was a war that shaped the modern world, fought on five continents, claiming the lives of ten million people. Two great nations met each other on the field of battle for the first time. But were they so very different? For the first time, and drawing widely on archive material in the form of original letters and diaries, Peter Doyle and Robin Schäfer bring together the two sides, 'Fritz' and 'Tommy', to examine cultural and military nuances that have until now been left untouched: their approaches to war, their lives at the front, their greatest fears and their hopes for the future. The soldiers on both sides went to war with high ideals; they experienced horror and misery, but also comradeship/Kameradschaft. And with increasing alienation from the people at home, they drew closer together, 'the Hun' transformed into 'good old Jerry' by the war's end. This unique collaboration is a refreshing yet touching examination of how little truly divided the men on either side of no-man'sland during the First World War.

The Ethics of Remembering and the Consequences of Forgetting brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines to address intersections of trauma, history, and memory. Methodologies include personal narrative, auto-ethnography, micro-history, psychosocial studies, critical theory, psychoanalysis, film/art criticism, and historical inquiry./span

Bomber Crew was self-published by the author, Jack E. Thompson, in 1989. This second edition has been re-published to acknowledge the 60th anniversary of VE-Day, to commemorate 2005 as the Year of the Veteran and to help celebrate the life of Jack E. Thompson (1923-2003). Some additional material including photographs, not available for the original version, have been added by the author's son, Stephen Thompson. Bomber Crew is the record of a tour of duty of the crew of the Lancaster bomber G-George of Bomber Command 12 Squadron based at RAF base Wickenby, Lincolnshire. This is a story of the bonds formed among seven men, five Canadian with the RCAF and two English with the RAF, bonds that lasted their lifetimes. This is the story of the happenstance and chaos of "crewing up", of endless "practice, practice, practice" sessions, and the excitement and terror of late-night bombing runs over occupied Europe and deep into Germany. The author and his crew would suggest that their tour was very ordinary and unremarkable. From data declassified post-war, they learned otherwise, that it was remarkable that these seven crew members survived the war and returned to civilian life. Only 40% of Bomber Command aircrew survived the war, and not all of those without physical or psychological injury.