The Poppy Lady The Story of Madame Anna Guérin and the Remembrance Poppy

The Poppy Lady The Story of Madame Anna Guérin and the Remembrance

Poppy written by Heather Anne Johnson and published by Pen & Sword

Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 288

Madame Anna Guérin is the fascinating personality behind the title ‘The Poppy Lady’.

Her idea of the ‘Inter-Allied Poppy Day’ gave work to women and children in the

devastated areas of France, in addition to offering support for First World War veterans.

Born in 1878, she was an early feminist, becoming financially independent. During the First World War, and the immediate years after the Armistice, many people knew of Madame Guérin’s reputation as a selfless fundraiser for French and American charities. Her speeches inspired many people to make generous donations.

Having had her name lost in the mists of time, this is the first biography of Madame E. Guérin. The book follows her extraordinary story as ‘The Poppy Lady’, a woman born before her time, but confined to anonymity for too long.

If I’m honest, being from an RAF family and in Scouting most of my life, I have attended Remembrance Day parades throughout my life. The one thing about this or the poppy is that I have heard at least about a dozen stories about the origin of the poppy and why we wear it. But I’m prepared to add this story or possible reason to the list, the book follows Madame Anna Guerin a french lady who toured much of America giving talks to people, and talking to important leaders. This was because she could see the devastation of the Great War and how it affected the places and all the people who had to fight in the war. Guerin was very successful in this and gathered many donations of wealth to help the cause. I agree with the claim in the book that modern generations have probably never hear of Madame Guerin, and there is a high chance that this is the original story of the Poppy origins, certainly one I will add to my list. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it very informative and a lot of research has gone into it. For one of the most important days of the year I would happily recommend this book.

The Blackout Murders - Homicide in WW2

The Blackout Murders - Homicide in WW2 written by Neil R. Storey and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback - Pages 224

Nostalgic recollections of wartime Britain often forget that when the blackout was

enforced at night in an attempt to foil Nazi bombers a crime wave, cloaked by the

inky black darkness, ensued on many of our streets. There were petty crimes,

robberies, sexual assaults and, as The Blackout Murders reveals, some horrific

murders took place on our home front during the Second World War. Some of

them still rank among the most shocking crimes in modern British history.

Some of the murders recounted within the pages of this book remain infamous, others are almost forgotten and some remain unsolved to this day. Several cases have new light shed on them from recently released archives and records uncovered by the author. Every case has been carefully selected for its reflection of wartime conditions and each one has a powerful, poignant and tragic story to tell.

Readers will gain insights into the darker narrative of our home front and learn about some of the men and women who strove to maintain law and order under the most challenging circumstances. Others innovated and developed ground-breaking forensic techniques to identify bodies, recognise if foul play had occurred and as a direct result brought murderers to justice who may otherwise have gone undetected and unpunished.

Anyone reading The Blackout Murders will never look at Britain's Home Front during the Second World War in the same way again.

The Blockout Murders looks at serious crimes that occurred during WW2 in Britain, in a bit of a nostalgic look at Britain during this period the book lifts the lid on crime and shows that death wasn’t only around on the battlefront. The book looks at 10 murders in a number of circumstances and places, and really very interesting. You can also tell that there has been a lot of research and writing put into this book and this shows through to produce an easy read. An excellent little book and certainly a good one to read for any fans of true crime. 

Killers, Kidnappers, Gangsters and Grasses

Killers, Kidnappers, Gangsters and Grasses - On the Frontline with the Metropolitan

Police written by DIck Kirby and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Hardback -

Pages 240

In his latest thrilling book, much-published crime author Dick Kirby draws on his fast

moving policing service, much of which was with Scotland Yard’s Serious Crime

Squad and the Flying Squad. As if that was not enough he brings in accounts of fellow

coppers during the final decades of the 20th century to add a fresh dimension.

It quickly becomes clear to the reader that Kirby and his colleagues practised their art in a markedly different style than that prevailing today. Corners were cut, regulations ignored and pettifogging rules trampled on in the wider public interest of bringing criminals to justice and preserving law and order. Above all the best senior detectives led fearlessly.

Kirby describes front-line policing where the public came first and the criminals a poor second. There are great stories of arrests, ambushes, fights and meeting informants in unlikely places.

Eyebrows may be raised at the book’s contents but many will feel that there is no place in the fight against serious crime for ‘woke-ness’ and political correctness and regret the passing of no-nonsense law enforcement.

This is the latest instalment of True Crime stories and thoughts from the remarkable Dick Kirby, a former serving police officer in the Scotland Yard Serious Crime Squad. I might be wrong but, I felt that this book was a bit more personal than his usual books, it is the same kind of book about gangs, villains and gangsters taking part in crimes he had been working on. But I felt like I was getting more opinions and thoughts from him, rather than an official line, which was nice to read. I enjoy Kirby books because you get the opinions of those on the front line, sometimes warts and all. Although things were done differently in those days, than they are in today’s policing. I would say most people would enjoy that mainly because it seemed people got things done and crimes solved, although we now know not all officers could be trusted. An easy to read book in a relaxed but written in an informed manner.

Factory Girls - The Working Lives of Women & Children

Factory Girls - The Working Lives of Women & Children written by Paul Chrystal

and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 272

Ever since there have been factories, women and children have, more often than not, worked in

those factories. What is perhaps less well known is that women also worked underground in coal

mines and overground scaling the inside of chimneys. Young children were also put to work in

factories and coalmines; they were deployed inside chimneys, often half-starved so that they

could shin up ever-narrower flues.

This book charts the unhappy but aspirational story of women and children at work through the Industrial Revolution to 1914. Without women, there would have been no pre-industrial cottage industries, without women the Industrial Revolution would not have been nearly as industrial and nowhere near as revolutionary.

Many women, and children, were obliged to take up work in the mills and factories – long hours, dangerous, often toxic conditions, monotony, bullying, abuse and miserly pay were the usual hallmarks of a day’s work – before they headed homeward to their other job: keeping home and family together.

This long overdue and much-needed book also covers the social reformers, the role of feminism and activism and the various Factory Acts and trade unionism.

We examine how women and children suffered chronic occupational diseases and disabling industrial injuries – life changing and life-shortening – and often a one-way ticket to the workhouse. The book concludes with a survey of the art, literature and music which formed the soundtrack for the factory girl and the climbing boys.

My word what a fantastic book about the history of women and children in the workplace really from the early civilisation times. Some of the conditions and standards in which both women and children had to work in were just crazy and disgusting, it beggars belief more weren’t killed on a regular basis. Especially children who were often forced into small, cramped and very dangerous positions often to eek out the minoucha of what was possible. I really enjoyed this book and I’ve learnt a lot as the author Paul Chrystal has written a very detailed and comprehensive account. I would say this book is fantastic and a must for anyone who wants to learn more about women or children in the workplace. I’m really looking forward to the second book in this pairing, and hope I get a chance to review it.

Spies Who Changed History

Spies Who Changed History written by Nigel West and published by Frontline

Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 256

Spies have made an extraordinary impact on the history of the 20th Century, but fourteen

in particular can be said to have been demonstrably important. As one might expect, few

are household names, and it is only with the benefit of recently declassified files that we

can now fully appreciate the nature of their contribution.

The criteria for selection have been the degree to which each can now be seen to have had a very definite influence on a specific course of events, either directly, by passing vital classified material, or indirectly, by organizing or managing a group of spies. Those selected were active in the First World War, the inter-war period, the Second World War, the Cold War and even the post-Cold War era.

These include Walther Dewé who formed a spy ring in German-occupied Belgium during the First World War. This train-watching network, known as ‘White Lady’, reported on German troop deployments and possible weaknesses in the German defences. Extending its operations into northern France, the ring provided 75 per cent of the information received by GHQ, British Expeditionary Force. By the time of the Armistice in 1918, Dewé’s group had a staggering 1,300 members.

Olga Gray, the 27-year-old daughter of a Daily Mail journalist, was employed as a secretary by the Communist Party of Great Britain. In 1931 she undertook a mission for MI5 to penetrate the organization and discover its secret channel of communication with Moscow. Gray learned that the Party’s cipher was based on Treasure Island and this breakthrough enabled the Party’s messages to be read by Whitehall cryptographers.

These, and other surprising stories, are revealed in this fascinating insight into a secret world inhabited by mysterious and shadowy characters, all of whom, though larger than life, really did exist.

This book Spies Who Changed History, basically tells the stories of 24 spies from around the world in each chapter, these range from the Great War up to the end of the Cold War. These are all well-written and go into good detail about the spying missions, the cause and the outcome. I quite enjoyed this book as the stories were more factual rather than the added-on fiction or adjectively based. So I think those who want more detail in their reading will enjoy this book. I have also read a couple of Nigel West books previously and his book is always of a detailed kind and are comprehensively informed. A good book for the spy lover.

IRA Terror on Britain’s Streets 1939–1940

IRA Terror on Britain’s Streets 1939–1940 written by Dick Kirby written by

Pen & Sword Books - £20 - Softcover - Pages 240

It is little known today that, in January 1939, the IRA launched a bombing campaign,

codenamed The S - or Sabotage - Plan on mainland England. With cynical self-

justification, they announced that it was not their intention to harm human life but in

just over a year, 265 explosive devices resulted in the deaths of seven innocent

people, with 117 injuries and widespread devastation. London, Birmingham,

Manchester, Liverpool and many other towns and cities were targeted.

On 25 August 1939, detectives in London defused three devices set to detonate that afternoon at 2.30 and arrested four terrorists. At the same time an identical bomb exploded in Coventry city centre killing five civilians and injuring 72, the highest body count of the campaign.

Numerous arrests were made nationwide but ill-trained personnel and additional national security resulting from the threat of Nazi invasion caused the campaign to falter and fade away in early 1940. The author, a former detective, is well qualified to write this book, having spent 18 months in Northern Ireland combatting terrorism, for which he was commended by the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Lord Imbert, for displaying ‘courage, dedication and detective ability’.

I think this is the second Dick Kirby book that I have reviewed, and I’ve had further confirmation that he is a really good writer, very informative, descriptive and actually quite often to the point. Dick Kirby. Kirby concentrates of real criminal cases mostly British but not exclusively, being a former policeman gives him a background and experience in what people want to know and how to tell that story. This book focuses in particular on the the IRA campaigns on the mainland but in the early days of the 30/40’s, and in a way it’s a kind of a book that looks at the early days of criminal behaviour by the IRA in Britian, where the UK police are having to work at a national level in order to defeat what we call today the terrorists. The book focuses on mainly the London trials but also a number of attacks in the north of England. This book is fascinating in that it looks closely at the early skills and tactics used by the police to detect and solve these kinds of crimes. Overall a thoroughly good book and very comprehensive, certainly a good book for anyone who love true crime.

A History of British Royal Jubilees

A History of British Royal Jubilees written by June Woolerton and

published by Pen & Sword Books - £15.99 - Softcover - Pages 224

As Queen Elizabeth II became the only British Monarch to rule for seventy years,

she marked the historic moment with a simple message, promising to continue

her life of service. But while her Jubilee day was quiet, it was merely the start of

a year-long celebration that would see millions around the world join the royal party.

Jubilees have become regular events in The Queen’s long reign but they are a relatively modern idea that only really took hold in the reign of King George III. Initially rejected by many as a frivolity, the first royal Jubilee became a huge success. It was a beguiling mix of pageantry, religious devotion and popular celebrations including street parties that have been copied in the Jubilees that followed.

Queen Victoria enjoyed two successful celebrations, including Britain's first Diamond Jubilee, which helped re-establish her popularity and consolidate the Monarchy. King George V turned to the joy of a Jubilee to re-invigorate his country as it recovered from the war and economic woes. In the reign of his granddaughter, Elizabeth II, Jubilees have been transformed into modern media events celebrated globally.

In A History of British Royal Jubilees, we trace the ever-evolving story of these popular celebrations, bringing each of them to life and looking at how they changed the image of royalty and the country itself. This is the story of how Jubilee celebrations have become vital to the success of Britain’s Royal Family and to its place at the heart of a nation.

I suppose with Elizabeth II being ever present in our lives we go from one jubilee celebration to the next, it’s not until you sit back and think, that you realise how long we have had Elizabeth II on the throne. I must admit I hadn’t thought about jubilee celebrations as being a modern event, I just assumed it had been going on for a while celebrating monarch’s milestones. This is an excellent book and talks about the celebration and its origins this year and previous ones dating back to the previous monarch and even Queen Victoria. My one little disappointment was that all the photos were black and white, I just expected them to be bright and colourful. But other than that, an interesting book and certainly one for the monarchists.

How Britain Shaped the Manufacturing World

How Britain Shaped the Manufacturing World written by

Phillip Hamlyn Williams published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback -

Pages 256

The peoples of the British Isles gave to the world the foundations on which modern

manufacturing economies are built. This is quite an assertion, but history shows

that, in the late eighteenth century, a remarkable combination of factors and

circumstances combined to give birth to Britain as the first manufacturing nation.

Further factors allowed it to remain top manufacturing dog well into the twentieth

century whilst other countries were busy playing catch up. Through two world

wars and the surrounding years, British manufacturing remained strong, albeit

whilst ceding the lead to the United States.

This book seeks to tell the remarkable story of British manufacturing, using the Great Exhibition of 1851 as a prism. Prince Albert and Sir Henry Cole had conceived an idea of bringing together exhibits from manufacturers across the world to show to its many millions of visitors the pre-eminence of the British. 1851 was not the start, but rather a pause for a bask in glory.

This book traces back from the exhibits in Hyde Park’s Crystal Palace to identify the factors that gave rise to this pre-eminence, then follows developments up until the Festival of Britain exactly one century later. Steam power and communication by electric telegraph, both British inventions, predated the Exhibition. After it came the sewing machine and bicycle, motor car and aeroplane, but also electrical power, radio and the chemical and pharmaceutical industries where Britain played a leading part.

What a really fascinating book that looks at the manufacturing world from the 1850’s through to the 1950’s. Piggybacking on the industrial revolution that saw Britain expand and grow greatly, saw the expansion of the manufacturing industries such as Coal, Metals, Textiles, Glass, Electrical and so on. It was really interesting and reading about some big companies and industries and how they started, some are now long gone but some are still around today. 

This book begins from the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace and continues for the next 100 years and covers the inter-war years too. There were some nice photographs to accompany the text which I probably would have liked to have seen more of. But overall, this has been an interesting read and I would recommend it to others if you enjoy this period of history.

Understanding the NHS

Understanding the NHS written by Andrew Stein and published by

White Owl Books - £14.99 - Softcover - Pages 240

The NHS is more than a good idea. It is beautiful. And it is you. The importance of the

NHS – and the public’s affection for it – cannot be overstated, as seen through the

COVID-19 pandemic. The author and his family of medics have lived and breathed the

NHS, from before 1948, its birth and its history to date.

But this book is for people who do not come from this medical background and do not have this life experience. Thus there are three target audiences. Firstly, it can contribute to A level study of the NHS, and career advice for 6th form students who are applying to university for a degree in healthcare. Secondly, it will educate health and social care professionals in training and in their early years. So they can start with the knowledge that the author had when he went to university in 1979. Thirdly, the book is for everyone else, who want to know how it all fits together, and in this way, improve their healthcare, and that of their family.

Right from the start, I have to say that the NHS is a staggeringly huge machine, the way it runs and keeps going, and advancing over the years to help the public, it is just phenomenal example of how a huge medical service should be run. Yes you can always try and improve some things and it will always need lots of money but in my opinion, the NHS is genius.

This book explains about how from the very beginning of the NHS how it's structured, the disciplines involved and how they have been adapted. The buildings, the staffing, the structure and the modernisation over the years, the way it has been funded, and how it needs to roll forward with each year etc. It’s a fascinating book and you can understand something this size has been left to numerous governments who have then tried to force their ideas up on it. All I can say is that the NHS is one of the most prominent things in life in this country and even the rest of the world admires what it does. So from someone who has had a stroke and problems with my right knee, I love the NHS and I loved reading this book, I would think those wanting to move into the care/nursing profession would get a lot out of this as I did.

The Moors Murderers

The Moors Murderers written by Chris Cook and published by Pen & Sword Books

- £25.00 - Hardback - Pages 304

Meticulously researched by C.G.C. Cook, The Moors Murderers gives readers a rare and fascinating look into the lives of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley – often referred to as the most evil couple in British history. After a torture and killing spree that lasted two years and left five innocent children dead, many aspects of their lives have been kept hidden from the public. Cook’s new release changes that – making unseen photographs, letters and accounts public for the first time. In the mid 1960s, the serenity of Saddleworth Moor was forever interrupted, even if people didn’t yet know it, as the area became a grave for the innocent child victims of Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.

The couple’s vile torture and killings have shaken up British history ever since, with the couple often considered two of the most evil people to have lived. However, the public still have many questions about who they were and how their dysfunctional relationship operated.

In this book, many artefacts become public for the first time, including photographs from Ian Brady’s ‘Tartan album’, police interviews and witness statements, which shed vital new light on Brady, Hindley and the dangerous cocktail their union became.

You would have to think that the vast majority of people have heard about Brady & Hindley and their sickening crimes, but I suppose the younger generation might not have heard of them and how their crimes affected a generation in the 60’s. Whilst this is a harrowing and upsetting story about two deranged individuals the story from a true crime perspective is fascinating. The book looks at the crimes from the very beginning, looking at these two growing up and their family background and then how they met up with each other. As experts will often say that you can predict what is to come from looking at someone’s character and upbringing and says how that individual will turn out. 

Although it is sickening to read about the crimes, torture and abuse which must have been terrifying for the victim. For the living, it’s also the way they buried their victims anonymously on the Saddleworth moors and then gave false hopes to victims' parents and relatives claiming to reveal where they were buried, but then never did. Denying parents’ the chance to bury their loved ones. The book is a really good book in that it is well written and balanced in its evidence and facts. A really good book that I would recommend especially for true crime fans or for people who have never heard of the case.

A History of Tri-ang and Lines Brothers Ltd

A History of Tri-ang and Lines Brothers Ltd written by Kenneth D. Brown and published by Pen & Sword Books - £20.00 - Hardback - Pages 160

The toy industry and its close relationship with children’s artefacts and equipment made a significant contribution to the light industries which came to increasing prominence in the British economy over the twentieth century as traditional heavy manufacturing declined. The demand for toys, both national and international, accelerated after the Great Exhibition of 1851 and two brothers, George and Joseph Lines, were among the most prominent of the manufacturers to emerge in the Victorian period. However, it was Lines Brothers Ltd., formally incorporated in 1919 by Joseph’s three sons, which very quickly established itself as the leading British toy company, overcoming the vicissitudes of depression and world war to become the world’s largest toy manufacturer by the 1950s. With operations in many parts of the world it was arguably the world’s first multi-national toy company, enjoying something of a golden age before collapsing spectacularly in the face of intensifying international competition and a changing economic climate.

This is the fascinating story of a family business whose iconic Tri-ang trademark was universally recognised and whose most famous products included model railways, Spot-on and Minic cars, soft toys, Pedigree prams, dolls’ houses, Scalextric, and Cindy dolls. It is a serious economic, business and industrial history, touching on important themes such as the interplay between government and business, the nature of entrepreneurship, the significance of company culture and organisation, and the changing nature of childhood. Above all, it is a story of strong personalities, familial tensions, and an underlying determination to bring delight to children.

I read this book because my own father used to be a huge collector of small cars and toys when he was younger, in fact, if I had a look in his loft he might still have a few floating about. So my interest was kind of a shared interest and a hope to see a number of pictures of toy cars and learn more about them. The book is very much a book about the history of a toy company like the title says, it was very much a case of good ideas prospering in a small business doing well to a certain point until other business activities, trends, and society would eventually see the slow spiral downwards to the business coming to an end. This was a nice story about a small business, I would say that this would be a fascinating book for people who knew the company when it was in its heyday or people who like to buy and collect small cars and toys. Whilst I found the book interesting just because I like reading about histories and timelines of companies for some strange reason, what I would have liked to have seen was more pictures of the toys and cars made by the company to see what people, like my Dad actually used to collect or play with.

Tank Craft 37: M60 Main Battle Tank

Tank Craft 37: M60 Main Battle Tank written by David Grummitt and published

by Pen & Sword Books - £16.99 - Softcover - Pages 64

The M60 was a second-generation American main battle tank, the last in the line of Patton tanks

that had first been developed at the end of World War. It entered operational service with the US

Army in 1960 and some 15,000 M60s were manufactured by Chrysler at the Detroit Tank Arsenal

Plant between then and when production ceased in 1983. It served with both the US Army and the

US Marine Corps and was the principal tank deployed in Europe in the ‘sixties, ‘seventies and

early ‘eighties, providing NATO’s main armoured force at the height of the Cold War. It became

one of the most widely used armoured fighting vehicles of the twentieth century, serving in the

armies of over 25 countries. It continued to serve alongside the M1 Abrams into the 1990s before

this venerable Cold War warrior was finally retired from active service with the US military in 1997.

This volume charts the development of the M60 from its origins in World War II to the Cold War. It focuses on its service with the US military and other NATO armies, examining its combat service in the First Gulf War and also with other armies in the Middle East. The book gives a full account of the wide range of kits and accessories available in all the popular scales and a modelling gallery features builds covering a range of M60s in service with various armed forces. Detailed colour profiles provide both reference and inspiration for modellers and military enthusiasts alike.

A fantastic book that really does sell and make the M60 Main Battle Tank look really good, and I really enjoyed this book, maybe it’s because this tank and book focus on the Cold War era of tanks, which just makes a nice change from WW2. It shows the main differences and the changes needed for tank warfare in the later period, as the Cold War was changing things. Yet again these are highly crafted books from Pen & Sword Books as usual with great text, photography and detail throughout the book. Certainly, a book that is going to appeal to all model makers who love tank warfare. Highly recommended.