This entertaining collection of military anecdotes, interlaced with unusual illustrations, brings together over 400 little-known snapshots of men and women at war. Drawing on an impressive range of sources from Plutarch to the present century, from medieval chronicles to the American Civil War, the book includes many famous characters - Wellington, Rommel, Napoleon, Frederick the Great - as well as a gallery of lesser-known individuals, from Basil the Bulgar Slayer to Soviet fighter ace Lily Litvak and the other General Lee. Ranging from David and Goliath to Prince Rupert's poodle, from the the officer who was not only obliged to provide the paymaster with a certificate that he was alive, but also had to get it back-dated to prove that he was alive the previous month, to the shy Allied airman forced to disguise himself as a prostitute to escape the Gestapo, the book takes in some three thousand years of the quirkier side of military history. This highly original collection provides a feast of insights, curiosities and entertainment drawn from the rich sidelines of military history.

Geoffrey Regan
Softcover Andre Deutsch 224pp 2002