Page 94 - All About History - Issue 72-18

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RECOMMENDS…

THE INDIAN EMPIRE THEY SHALL
AT WAR
NOT GROW OLD
Author George Morton-Jack Price £35 Publisher Little, Brown

Basing his research on material from archives across a dozen
countries and previously unpublished veteran interviews, the author
sets the scene by examining the hugely multicultural Indian Army The most realistic portrayal of the men who fought
as it was just prior to the outbreak of hostilities in 1914.
The majority of the book, of course, focuses on the Indian and died on the Western Front you’ll ever see
Army during World War I, and in particular the Middle East,
where it fought against the Ottoman Empire. Morton- Director Peter Jackson Certificate 15 Release date Out now
Jack’s use of little-known accounts from Indian Army
veterans, however, is what really brings the book he Great War was the training new recruits underwent, you’ll
to life, offering the reader a rare and unique more than the first glimpse something that’s brand new as you see
glimpse into the personal ordeals, hopes
and even joys experienced by the monumental global the front line in France in glorious Technicolor
Indian soldier at war. conflict of the 20th thanks to new technology.
T century – it was the Explaining the emotions you’ll feel is nigh on
first war to be captured in impossible. As you’re taken through life in the
moving images. trenches, the push over the top into no-man’s-
Black and white footage land and how they coped with disease and
of what we call poor quality death (including real archival images of dead
today has been shown in archive reels for bodies), you’ll hear the voices of the veterans of
decades, illustrating the horrors of battle and the British Army themselves. The storytelling
the lives of the soldiers on the front line. But is limited – you won’t hear about what else
that’s all changed now. went on in the war, or what specific battles
Probably best known for directing the the footage is from – but what it lacks in that
legendary Lord of the Rings series, Peter regard, it more than makes up for
Jackson has teamed up with the Imperial War in humanity. It’s time to see the
Museum to create a new epic – one that will soldiers of War War I as never
be remembered alongside the people it shows. before, and it’s time to really
Haunting,
Don’t be fooled by the opening of They Shall understand why they won’t Human,
Not Grow Old because after the monotone be forgotten and why they Poignant
KM
footage showing the lead up to the war and shall not grow old.

UNQUIET WOMEN

Breathing new life into the narratives
of ‘forgotten’ historical women

Author Max Adams Publisher Head of Zeus Price £20 Released Out now

fforts to rewrite women back into history of the life of her father Emperor Alexius
have exploded in recent years, with I of Constantinople. Each chapter is also
various works bringing to the fore the accompanied by one or more passages
rebels, the pioneers, the forgotten. Now examining wider tales of women’s experiences.
E Max Adams introduces us to his Unquiet The chapter Testaments – exploring early
Women, inspiring individuals who lived Medieval writing – includes sections on the
incredible lives between the last days of Rome women found with the Oseberg ship burial
and the Enlightenment, and yet are rarely discovered in Norway in 1903, and the cultural
remembered today. golden age of Al-Andalus, the heart of Islamic
His global cast has been assembled to show Spain (now Andalusia).
us that women of these times were not all These lives are skilfully placed by Adams to
either royals, nuns or otherwise invisible. present an engaging work demonstrating the
And their stories sparkle off the pages. diverse legacies of such women who in their
We learn of the formidable legacy of Alfred own way were able to subvert some part of
(Ælfred) the Great’s daughter Æthelflæd, the gender constraints of their time. Unquiet
‘Lady of the Mercians’; meet Mary Astell, the Women is a timely work which is beautifully
philosopher who went toe-to-toe with John designed and executed, embodying a charm
Locke; and discover how Anna Comnena and power of its own from the remarkable Evocative,
constructed the Alexiad, the epic retelling women within its pages. Accomplished,
Essential
BW

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