Books

Index
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

K

KHAKI AND RED - SOLDIERS OF THE QUEEN IN INDIA AND AFRICA
by Donald Featherstone
 Arms and Armour Press (1995) ISBN 1 85409 425 4
 An excellent, well illustrated general history of the British Army's campaigns on the North West Frontier of India and in Egypt and the Sudan.

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KHARTOUM 1885 - GENERAL GORDON'S LAST STAND
by Donald Featherstone
 Osprey (1993) ISBN 1 85532 301 X
 Part of the CAMPAIGN series (No. 23).

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KIM
by Rudyard Kipling
 Macmillan (1901) (republished by Penguin Classics) (1987) ISBN 014 11 8363 2
 Kipling's novel of 'The Great Game' is still as readable and relevant today as it was when it was first published over one hundred years ago. Anyone who reads this book will gain an understanding of what it was like to live and work in India during the latter part of Queen Victoria's reign as well the importance of 'The Great Game' to the British rulers of India.

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KING SOLOMON'S MINES
by H. Rider Haggard
 ? (1885) (republished by Penguin Popular Classics) (1994) ISBN 0 14 062123 7
? (1885) (republished by Oxford University Press) (1998) ISBN 0 19 283485 1
 Rider Haggard's story about the perilous journey undertaken into unknown and uncharted Africa by Allan Quartermain, Sir Henry Curtis, and Captain John Good is still as enthralling and exciting today as it was when it was written over one hundred years ago.

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KIPLING SAHIB - INDIA AND THE MAKING OF RUDYARD KIPLING
by Charles Allen
 Little, Brown (2007) ISBN 978 0 316 72655 9
 This biography of Kipling's early life - and most particularly his time in India - goes a long way to explain his attitudes and writing. Recommended reading for anyone who wishes to study Kipling's work in any detail.

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KIPLING'S SOLDIERS
Compiled by George and Christopher Newark and illustrated by Bryan Fosten
 The Pompadour Gallery (1993) ISBN 0 9519342 0 1
 This book contains a selection of some of Kipling's most famous 'military' poems, illustrated with some excellent paintings by Bryan Fosten. The poems included in the book are:

  • Tommy

  • Gunga Din

  • Mandalay

  • "Fuzzy Wuzzy"

  • Gentleman Rankers

  • The Young British Soldier

  • Belts

  • M.I.

  • Ubique

  • "The men that fought at Minden"

  • Sappers

  • "Snarleyow"

  • The Widow at Windsor

  • The Ballard of East and West

  • Troopin'

  • Cholera Camp

  • Danny Deever

  • Route Marchin'

  • The 'Eathen

  • "Follow me 'ome"

  • Screw Guns

  • "Soldier an' Sailor too"

  • The Irish Guards

  • Gethsemane

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KITCHENER - THE ROAD TO OMDURMAN
by John Pollock
 Constable and Company Ltd. (1998) ISBN 0 09 479140 6
 This is the first part of a planned two part biography and is based on contemporary manuscripts and printed sources. The book covers Kitchener's life from his birth until the end of the Second Boer War, and it portrays Kitchener in a more positive way than many earlier biographies, and shows him to have been a shy, deeply religious man.

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KÖNIGSBERG - A GERMAN EAST AFRICAN RAIDER
by Kevin Patience
 Zanzibar Publications (1997)
 This privately published book tells the story of SMS Königsberg from its launch until its destruction. It deals in some depth with the sinking of HMS Pegasus by the Königsberg in Zanzibar on 20th September 1914 as well as outlining  the fates of the guns removed from the Königsberg after she was sunk. The book makes use of contemporary photographs, many of which seem to have come from private sources.

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L

THE LAST CHARGE - THE 21st LANCERS AND THE BATTLE OF OMDURMAN - 2 SEPTEMBER 1898
by Terry Brighton
 The Crowood Press (1998) ISBN 1 86126 189 6
 This is the story of the 21st Lancers from the time of their transfer into the British Army in 1861 - they had previously been the 3rd Bengal European Light Cavalry - as the 21st Light Dragoons (almost immediately to be re-named 21st Hussars) until their famous charge at the Battle of Omdurman. The book contains numerous maps and photographs, and eight pages of coloured plates by Douglas N. Anderson.

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THE LAST CRUSADE - THE PALESTINE CAMPAIGN IN THE FIRST WORLD WAR
by Anthony Bruce
 John Murray (Publishers) Ltd. (2002) ISBN 0 7195 5432 2
 This book describes in detail the main events of one of the most important but least well known campaigns of the First World War. The Palestine campaign was a mixture of fast-moving advances by mounted troops and pitched battles between entrenched armies, and was fought in some of the harshest conditions faced by soldiers during that war.

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THE LATE VICTORIAN ARMY 1868 - 1902
by Edward Spiers
 Manchester University Press (1992) ISBN 0 7190 2659 8
 This book traces the development of the British Army during the latter part of the nineteenth century, and includes chapters on:

  • The Cardwell reforms

  • The War Office

  • The organisation of the army

  • Officers

  • The rank and file

  • Civil-military relations

  • The army in an age of imperialism

  • Military duties in the United Kingdom

  • Arms, tactics and training

  • Colonial campaigning

  • The Second Boer War: the ultimate test

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THE LONG ARM OF EMPIRE - NAVAL BRIGADES FROM THE CRIMEA TO THE BOXER REBELLION
by Richard Brooks
 Constable and Company Ltd. (1999) ISBN 0 09 478840 5
 The modern definitive history of the use of Naval Brigades during the Victorian period.

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M

MAJUBA 1881 - THE HILL OF DESTINY
by Ian Castle
 Osprey (1996) ISBN 1 85532 503 9
 Part of the CAMPAIGN series (No. 45).

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MARCHING TO THE DRUM - EYEWITNESS ACCOUNTS OF WAR FROM THE KABUL MASSACRE TO THE SIEGE OF MAFIKENG
edited by Ian Knight
 Book Club Associates (by arrangement with Greenhill Books) (2000)
 This book uses edited eye-witness accounts to give a flavour of what the ordinary soldier experienced during the wars of the Victorian era.

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MASSACRE AND RETRIBUTION - FORGOTTEN WARS OF THE 19TH CENTURY
by Ian Vernon
Sutton Publishing Ltd. (1998) ISBN 0 7509 1846 2
This book deals with the wars of the nineteenth century that do not usually feature in the general histories of the period. These include:

  • The First Kandy War (1803 - 5)
  • The Falklands (1833)
  • The Flafstaff War (1845 - 6)
  • The Jamaica Rebellion (1865)
  • The Arracan Expedition, Andaman Islands (1867)
  • The Magdala Campaign (1867 - 8)
  • The Modoc Indian War (1872 - 3)
  • The Riel Rebellion (1885)
  • The Ashanti War of the Golden Stool (1900)

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MEGIDDO 1918 - THE LAST GREAT CAVALRY VICTORY
by Bryan Perrett
 Osprey (1999) ISBN 1 85532 827 5
 Part of the CAMPAIGN series (No. 61).

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MILITARY BARRACKS
by Trevor May
 Shire Publications Ltd. (2002) ISBN 0 7478 0489 3
 This small, well illustrated book about the history of British military barracks contains two chapters of particular interest. These are entitled:

  • Victorian barracks

  • Life in nineteenth-century barracks

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MIMI AND TOUTOU GO FORTH - THE BIZARRE BATTLE OF LAKE TANGANYIKA
by Giles Foden
 Michael Joseph (2004) ISBN 0 718 14555 0
 This is a somewhat eccentric retelling of the story of the Royal Navy's bizarre expedition to seize control of Lake Tanganyika from the Germans during World War One. Whilst the book adds very little to story as told in the better known book by Philip Shankland (See: THE PHANTOM FLOTILLA), it does tell the story in a far more personal and interesting style that reflects the author's knowledge and understanding of Africa. Well worth reading.

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MR KIPLING'S ARMY
by Byron Farwell
 See: FOR QUEEN AND COUNTRY - A SOCIAL HISTORY OF THE VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN ARMY

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NARRATIVE OF THE FIELD OPERATIONS CONNECTED WITH THE ZULU WAR OF 1879
prepared in the Intelligence Branch of the Quartermaster-General's Department, Horse Guards, the War Office (by Captain J. S. Rothwell R.A.)
War Office (1881 & 1907) (republished by Green Hill Books) (1989) ISBN 1 85367 041 3
This facsimile of the original War Office publication contains a wealth of information about the Zulu War, including detailed maps of all the major battle sites.

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NAVAL CANNON
by John Munday
 Shire Publications Ltd. (1998) ISBN 0 85263 844 2
 A short history of the naval cannons. Of particular interest is the last chapter - Bigger guns and stouter ships - which deals with the early Victorian period.

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NAVAL GUNNERY - A DESCRIPTION AND HISTORY OF THE FIGHTING EQUIPMENT OF A MAN-OF-WAR
by Captain H. Garbett R.N.
S.R. Publishers Ltd. (1971) ISBN 0 85409 739 2
This is a reprint of a book originally published in 1897. The book starts with a brief history of naval gunnery up to the end of the Crimean War. It then deals with the introduction into service of the various Armstrong and Lanchester Rifled Breech Loading Guns of the 1860s, their failure and replacement by Rifled Muzzle Loading Guns, the reintroduction of the Rifled Breech Loading gun in 1879, and the development of Quick Firing Guns in the 1880s. It also covers topics such as the design of gun mountings, projectiles and fuzes, the change from gunpowder to cordite, the organisation of magazines, shell-rooms, and ammunition supply, and the fighting organisation (including the creation of Naval Brigades) of a modern battleship.

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NAVAL GUNS - 500 YEARS OF SHIP AND COASTAL ARTILLERY
by Hans Mehl
Chatham Publishing (2002) ISBN 1 86176 201 1
Originally published in German in 2001 by Verlag E S Mittler & Sohn GmbH. This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the development of naval gunnery from earliest times until the present day. It is well illustrated, with many photographs of extant weapons held in the collections of various museums throughout the world. Each photograph is also accompanied by a detailed caption. The book does, however, lack any tables or appendices containing technical data.

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NEVER TO BE TAKEN ALIVE - A BIOGRAPHY OF GENERAL GORDON
by Roy MacGregor-Hastie
Sidgwick & Jackson Limited (1985) ISBN 0 283 99184 4
Since the spectacular death of Charles George Gordon in Khartoum, he has variously been labelled a hero, a fool, a bigot, an ecumenicist, a philanthropist, and a bully. This biography shows that he was probably, at some time in his life, all these things. It also shows that these views of General Gordon are reflections of a very complex and paradoxical character. The biography examines Gordon's relationships with his family - in particular his father and his sister Augusta - and Romolo Gessi, who was Gordon's friend, supporter, and subordinate for over twenty five years. The latter appears to have been particularly influential in Gordon's life, and Gessi's death in the Sudan in 1881 - after Gordon's first period of service as Governor-General of the Sudan - may well have influenced his decision to return there in 1884.

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THE NORTH-EAST FRONTIER 1837 - 1901
by Ian Heath and Michael Perry
Osprey (1999) ISBN 1 85532 762 7
Part of the MEN-AT-ARMS series (No. 324).

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NORTH WEST FRONTIER
by Robert Wilkinson-Latham and Angus McBride
Osprey (1977) ISBN 0 85045 275 9
Part of the MEN-AT-ARMS series (No. 72).

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O

OMDURMAN 1898 - KITCHENER'S VICTORY IN THE SUDAN
by Donald Featherstone
Osprey (1993) ISBN 1 85532 368 0
Part of the CAMPAIGN series (No. 29).

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OTTOMAN INFANTRYMAN - 1914-18
by David Nicolle and Christa Hook
 Osprey (2010) ISBN 978 1 84603 506 7
 Part of the WARRIOR series (No. 145).

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THE OTTOMAN STEAM NAVY 1828 - 1923
by Bernd Langensiepen and Ahmet Güleryüz (translated and edited by James Cooper)
Conway Maritime Press (1995) ISBN 0 85177 610 8
Until the publication of this book, information about the Ottoman Navy during the nineteenth century was extremely patchy and often incorrect. This book is a tour-de-force, and is the result of a lifetime's research by its two authors. It is divided into three parts. The first part is an illustrated chronological history of the Ottoman Navy from 1828 - 1923; the second part has many detailed photographs of every class and type of ship that served in the Navy during the period covered; and the third part contains the technical details of each of the Ottoman Navy's ships. In addition there are numerous appendices that give information about the organisation and disposition of Ottoman Navy at various crucial times.

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© Robert George Cordery (2005)