Search results for ""Author John Sadler""

'An astonishingly complete account of this most significant battle in the Wars of the Roses. Impeccable research, clear, concise and fascinating maps, and a narrative that persuades you you're an onlooker at the very time these astounding events took place, this is as complete a history of an English medieval battle as I have ever read. Staggering.' Books Monthly 'Towton is a masterful account of a subject which had been much written about over the years - John Sadler sets his book apart from the rest by bringing his own background research and imagination into play...[He brings] a battle which took place over 500 years ago vividly back to life.' Suite101.com 'Mr Sadler has achieved what he set out to do and has produced a readable and understandable account of the battle of Towton and the events leading up to it, especially for those less familiar with the subject. However, the more knowledgeable can find plenty of positive new aspects as well, in particular the chapters covering the period 1400-1460 and the subsequent war in the North between 1461 to 1464.' Medieval Warfare

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In the 18th century in the town of Gorkha, just north of Kathmandu, ruler Prithvi Narayan fought campaigns against his neighbours and the British. During the fighting his warriors, renowned for their aggression and courage, gained the respect of the British, who appreciated that the steadfast warriors would make excellent soldiers. Upon the declaration of peace in 1816, a partnership was born. This alliance would play a vital role in UK defence over the next two centuries, from surviving the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and fighting in the jungles of Burma to the Khyber Pass, which would keep the Gurkhas in action for ninety years. The First World War sent the Regiment to the trenches, where battalion after battalion was decimated. Some 20 Gurkha battalions were deployed in the Second World War, which was soon increased to 45 following Dunkirk. Around 250,000 Gurkha soldiers would serve and were deployed most significantly in North Africa but also served with distinction in the Italian Campaign and Monte Cassino, as well as the decisive battles of Imphal and Kohima in the Far East. Whilst the Gurkhas saw a drop in overall numbers post-war, they have continued to make integral contributions to many operations, including the Falklands and in Afghanistan, which this book examines extensively, with a special focus on Operation Herrick. In The Gurkha Way, John Sadler tells the story of the Gurkhas from their inception to modern day through interviews, unpublished diaries and correspondence. With over 200 years' experience, these steadfastly loyal soldiers are a link to an imperial past but also a key component of the modern British army. There is no other comparable unit in any of the world's armies, (with the obvious exception of the Indian Army), or one more respected and loved by the British.

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One of the bloodiest battles in Scottish history and a devastating defeat for Clan Donald. The battle of 'Red' Harlaw, fought on 24 July 1411 is one of the most famous fought on Scottish soil, and infamous for the ferocity and duration of the fighting. However, it still remains something of an enigma. Donald Lord of the Isles, spurred on by a dispute over the Earldom of Ross with the Scottish regent, Robert Duke of Albany, led a Highland host to burn Inverness and descend upon Aberdeen. At Inverurie the Highlanders clashed with the smaller Lowlander force of Alexander Earl of Mar, son of the infamous 'Wolf of Badenoch'. The Highland clansmen flung themselves against the Lowland spears, their fearsome long swords and sharp axes doing fearful execution. Wave upon wave of the mighty highland force charged forth, only to meet their death at the hands of the more efficient Lowland force, fighting against the odds. Casualties on both sides were heavy as the carnage continued throughout the day. At dusk, the Lord of the Isles withdrew, leaving the blood-soaked field to Mar's hard-won victory and almost 1,000 of his Highland soldiers dead.

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The 2014 Scottish independence debate and the re-ignition of the SNP's call for a second vote in the wake of Brexit ? and indeed Brexit itself ? begs a reappraisal of what nationality and borderer identity actually mean in the twenty-first century and how the past affects this. As a borderer and historian John Sadler is uniquely qualified to examine the border from Roman times to today. He's been in these Marches all his life, studied and read about their wild inhabitants, traversed every inch and studied every castle, bastle, tower and battlefield.In July 2010 in Rothbury, a latter-day outlaw, Raoul Thomas Moat, a vicious petty criminal and murderer, holed up in Coquetdale as hundreds of police tried to flush him out. Nasty as he was, he became a kind of instant folk hero to some. Four centuries ago, Moat would barely have been noticed on the border ? just another Reiver. From the Hammer of the Scots, William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and Mary, Queen of Scots, right through to today's

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For two years in the mid-thirteenth century England was torn by a bloody civil war between the king and his nobles. For a short time, the country came close to unseating the monarchy, and the outcome changed the course of English history. Yet this critical episode receives far less attention than the Wars of the Roses and the English Civil Wars that followed. John Sadler, in this highly readable and perceptive study of the Barons' War, describes events in vivid detail. He explores the leading personalities, whose bitter quarrel gave rise to the conflict - Henry III, his son Prince Edward, later Edward I, and their most famous opponent, Simon de Montfort, whose masterful charisma galvanized support among the discontented nobility. The clash of interests between the king and his overmighty subjects is reconsidered, as are the personal and political tensions that polarized opinion and tested loyalties to the limit. But the main emphasis of John Sadler's account is on events in the field, in particular the two major campaigns that determined the course of the war and indeed the future government of England - the battles fought at Lewes and Evesham.

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The borderers - people forged and hardened by endemic warfare over generations, whether by raids and skirmishes or set piece battles - are marked even today as a distinct group. For three savage centuries England and Scotland, both dynamic races, slogged it out upon this arena of nations. Scott might have reinvented the border as a sweep of chivalric romance, but the reality was very different. John Sadler knows this ground and its people; he is one of them. For half a century he has traversed the borderland, and has taught, enacted and written about them. In this book he offers a uniquely personal but highly informed view. He neither praises nor condemns them, but seeks to understand and, perverse as it may seem, admires them. History leaves its imprint and like the proverbial stone cast into still waters, it sends out ripples through time that never quite abate. The feuds were pursued with increasing savagery and even when not in outright conflict, the names on both sides continued their 'feids' or vendettas in crazy bloodletting for decades, with cycles of escalating violence creating a dizzying maze of interlocking enmities that was beyond all reason. The late, great George Macdonald Fraser once remarked that the borderers were free in a way we can never imagine. And they were. Here is a book that weighs the evidence from a plethora of sources to provide a compelling history of this border conflict. In the modern political scene, with the issue of a second referendum pending, the theme of a cultural identity, forged in the fury of those Border wars, forms a pivotal theme in the debate.

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During the course of the Second World War, the Allies mounted a series of attempts to prevent Germany from manufacturing heavy water utilising hydroelectric plants in occupied Norway. These efforts comprised a mix of bomber and Commando raids. The overall aim was to stop Nazi Germany building a nuclear bomb. In fact, Hitler was never as close as the Allies thought, but the idea that his regime could construct and deploy such a device was the ultimate doomsday scenario, one that would have tilted the balance in favour of the Nazis. The mere threat might have been sufficient to force a negotiated peace with the perception of a Nazi bomb hanging over the world like a nuclear-powered sword of Damocles. Production, and therefore the Allied target, centred on the Vemork Power Station standing by the Rjukan Waterfall at Telemark. A series of daring raids – Operations Grouse, Freshman and Gunnerside – neutralised the plant’s capacity. In Operation Freshman, every single glider-borne paratrooper was either captured or killed. In February 1943, a force of SOE-trained Norwegian Commandos succeeded in sabotaging the plant’s production capacity. Further manufacturing effort was abandoned, and the Nazis attempted to spirit away the heavy water they had on the ferry SF Hydro. The Norwegians managed to sink the vessel in the deep waters of Lake Tinn. Using primary source material and published on the 80th anniversary of the sinking of the Hydro, The Heavy Water War tells a story of extraordinary courage and endurance. The stakes in any special forces raid in history have never been higher.

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D-Day, the Allied invasion of Europe, began on the night of 5-6 June 1944. At 07.00 hours on the 6th, Britain's First Corps and XXX Corps came ashore on Sword and Gold beaches, to withering fire from the entrenched German forces. Within the initial and critical couple of hours some 30,000 soldiers, 300 guns and 700 armoured vehicles were landed, a magnificent achievement and, though the sands were soon choked with the mother of all logjams, exacerbated by a swelling tide, the British were firmly lodged; a bridgehead had been secured, albeit a rather flimsy one at this juncture. This is the story of the British soldiers’ experience of the beach landings on that fateful morning - the spearhead of Operation Overlord.

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'We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.' (Attributed to Winston Churchill). Exploring the history of military museum collections around Britain.

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The Battle of Flodden in 1513 was the largest battle ever to take place between England and Scotland. James IV himself led an army of 30,000 men over the border into England, ostensibly in revenge for the murder of a Scotsman, but in reality to assist their ally the French by diverting the forces of Henry VIII. Yet the Scots were hampered by old-fashioned weapons and tactics, whereas the English deployed more accurate artillery and their vaunted longbowmen. When King James IV was killed while leading a charge, and many of their officers died, the Scots were left in disarray and the English victory was decisive. As the first new history of the battle in a decade, this authoritative and eye-opening account marks the 500th anniversary and brings our knowledge of the conflict up to date. Expert knowledge and detailed maps look at the key events, the 1135 campaign and the minor battles of Millfield and Norham, and a full profile of the respective forces and deployments, and convey the battle’s course concisely and clearly. A key read for those interested in military history or the period in general.

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The Great War 1914−1918 was dubbed the ‘war to end all wars’ and introduced the full flowering of industrial warfare to the world. The huge enthusiasm which had greeted the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914 soon gave way to a grim resignation and, as the Western Front became a long, agonising battle of dire attrition, revulsion. Never before had Britain's sons and daughters poured out their lifeblood in such prolonged and seemingly incessant slaughter. The conflict produced a large corpus of war poetry, though focus to date has rested with the ‘big’ names − Brooke, Sassoon, Graves, Owen, Rosenberg and Blunden et al – with their descent from youthful enthusiasm to black cynicism held as a mirror of the nation’s journey. Their fame is richly merited, but there are others that, until now, you would not expect to find in any Great War anthology. This is ‘Tommy’ verse, mainly written by other ranks and not, as is generally the case with the more famous war poets, by officers. It is, much of it, doggerel, loaded with lavatorial humour. Much of the earlier material is as patriotic and sentimental as the times, jingoistic and occasionally mawkish. However, the majority of the poems in this collection have never appeared in print before; they have been unearthed in archives, private collections and papers. Their authors had few pretences, did not see themselves as poets, nor were writing for fame and posterity. Nonetheless, these lost voices of the Great War have a raw immediacy, and an instant connection that the reader will find compelling.

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On 21 July 1403 Sir Henry Percy - better known as Hotspur - led a rebel army out at Shrewsbury to face the forces of the king Henry IV. The battle was both bloody and decisive. Hotspur was shot down by an arrow and killed. Posthumously he was declared a traitor and his lands forfeited to the crown. This was an ignominious end to the brilliant career of one of the most famous medieval noblemen, a remarkable soldier, diplomat and courtier who played a leading role in the reigns of Richard II and Henry IV. How did he earn his extraordinary reputation, and why did Shakespeare portray him as a fearsomely brave but flawed hero who, despite a traitor's death, remained the mirror of chivalry? These are questions John Sadler seeks to answer in the first full biography of this legendary figure to be published for over twenty years. Hotspur's exploits as a soldier in France during the Hundred Years War, against the Scots in the Scottish borders and at the battles of Otterburn, Homildon Hill and Shrewsbury have overshadowed his diplomatic role as a loyal royal servant in missions to Prussia, Cyprus, Ireland and Aquitaine. And, as the heir to one of the foremost noble families of northern England, he was an important player not only in the affairs of the North but of the kingdom as a whole. So, as John Sadler reveals in this highly readable study, Hotspur was a much more varied and interesting character than his narrow reputation for headstrong attack and rebellion suggests.

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The origins of most of the west’s Special Forces can be traced back to the Long Range Desert Group which operated across the limitless expanses of the Libyan Desert, an area the size of India, during the whole of the Desert War from 1940 – 1943. After the defeat of the Axis in North Africa they adapted to serve in the Mediterranean, the Greek islands, Albania, Yugoslavia and Greece. They became the stuff of legend. The brainchild of Ralph Bagnold, a pre-war desert explorer, featured, in fictional terms in The English Patient, who put all of his expertise into the creation of a new and, by the standards of the day, highly unorthodox unit. Conventional tactical thinking shunned the deep heart of the vast desert as it was thought to be a different planet, a harsh, inhospitable wilderness where British forces could not possibly survive even less operate effectively. Bagnold, Pat Clayton and Bill Kennedy Shaw created a whole new type of warfare.Using specially adapted vehicles and the techniques they’d learned in the‘30s, recruiting only men of the right temperament and high levels of fitness and endurance, the first patrols set out bristling with automatic weapons. The 30-cwt Chevy truck and the famous Jeep have become iconic, the LRDG, in a dark hour, was the force which took the fight to the enemy, roving over the deep desert – a small raider’s paradise, attacking enemy convoys and outposts, destroying aircraft and supplies, forcing the Axis to expend more and more resources protecting their vulnerable lines.Their work was often dangerous, always taxing, exhausting and uncomfortable. They were a new breed of soldier. The Axis never managed to equip any similar unit, they never escaped their fear of the scorching wilderness. Once the desert war was won they transferred their skills to the Mediterranean sector, re-training as mountain guerrillas, serving in the ill-fated Dodecanese campaign, then in strife torn Albania, Yugoslavia and Greece, fighting alongside the mercurial partisans at a time the Balkans were sliding towards communist domination or civil war.In addition LRDG worked alongside the fledgling SAS and they established, beyond all doubt, the value of highly trained Special Forces, a legacy which resonates today.

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The 2014 Scottish independence debate and the re-ignition of the SNP’s call for a second vote in the wake of Brexit - and indeed Brexit itself - begs a reappraisal of what nationality and borderer identity actually mean in the twenty-first century and how the past affects this. As a borderer and historian John Sadler is uniquely qualified to examine the border from Roman times to today. He’s been in these Marches all his life, read about their wild inhabitants, traversed every inch and studied every castle, bastle, tower and battlefield. In July 2010 in Rothbury, a latter-day outlaw, Raoul Thomas Moat, a vicious petty criminal and murderer, holed up in Coquetdale as hundreds of police tried to flush him out. Nasty as he was, he became a kind of instant folk hero to some. Four centuries ago, Moat would barely have been noticed on the border - just another Reiver. From the Hammer of the Scots, William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and Mary, Queen of Scots, right through to today’s new nationalism, the story of the borderlands is tempestuous, bloody and fascinating. And a ‘Hot Trod’? If your cattle were stolen there was a legal requirement to pursue the rustlers within six days, otherwise you’re on a less enforceable Cold Trod.

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The Little Book of Newcastle is a funny, fast-paced, fact-packed compendium of the sort of frivolous, fantastic or simply strange information which no-one will want to be without. Here we find out about the most unusual crimes and punishments, eccentric inhabitants, famous sons and daughters and literally hundreds of wacky facts (plus some authentically bizarre bits of historic trivia). John Sadler’s new book gathers together a myriad of data on Newcastle. There are lots of factual chapters but also plenty of frivolous details which will amuse and surprise. A reference book and a quirky guide, this can be dipped in to time and time again to reveal something new about the people, the heritage, the secrets and the enduring fascination of the city. A remarkably engaging little book, this is essential reading for visitors and locals alike.

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In the autumn of 1644 was fought one of the most sustained and desperate sieges of the First Civil War when Scottish Covenanter forces under the Earl of Leven finally stormed Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the King's greatest bastion in the north-east and the key to his power there. The city had been resolutely defended throughout the year by the Marquis of Newcastle, who had defied both the Covenanters and northern Parliamentarians. Newcastle had held sway in the north-east since the outbreak of the war in 1642. He had defeated the Fairfaxes at Adwalton Moor and secured the City of Newcastle as the major coal exporter and port of entry for vital Royalist munitions and supply. Without this the north was lost. If anything, Newcastle was more important, in strategic terms, than York and it was the city's fall in October which marked the final demise of Royalist domination of the north. The book tells the story of the people who fought there, what motivated them and who led them there. It is also an account of what happened on the day, a minute-by-minute chronicle of Newcastle's bloodiest battle. The account draws heavily on contemporary source material, some of which has not received a full airing until now.

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On 3 September 1650 Oliver Cromwell won a decisive victory over the Scottish Covenanters at the Battle of Dunbar - a victory that is often regarded as his finest hour - but the aftermath, the forced march of 5,000 prisoners from the battlefield to Durham, was one of the cruellest episodes in his career. The march took them seven days, without food and with little water, no medical care, the property of a ruthless regime determined to eradicate any possibility of further threat. Those who survived long enough to reach Durham found no refuge, only pestilence and despair. Exhausted, starving and dreadfully weakened, perhaps as many as 1,700 died from typhus and dysentery. Those who survived were condemned to hard labour and enforced exile in conditions of virtual slavery in a harsh new world across the Atlantic. Cromwell's Convicts describes their ordeal in detail and, by using archaeological evidence, brings the story right up to date. John Sadler and Rosie Serdiville describe the battle at Dunbar, but their main focus is on the lethal week-long march of the captives that followed. They make extensive use of archive material, retrace the route taken by the prisoners and describe the recent archaeological excavations in Durham which have identified some of the victims and given us a graphic reminder of their fate.

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The Second World War (1939–45) was not greeted with the same lavish outpouring of patriotic fervour that had attended August 1914. Any rags of glory had long since been drowned in the mud of Flanders. The Great War had been heralded as ‘the war to end all wars’; veterans were promised ‘a land fit for heroes’. Both of these vain boasts soon began to sound hollow as depression, unemployment, poverty and a rash of new wars followed. The sons and daughters of those who had embarked upon their own patriotic Calvary did so again in an altogether more sombre spirit. One significant difference between the two conflicts is that, whilst both were industrial wars, the Second World War was far nearer the concept of total war. The growth of strategic air power, in its infancy in 1918, had by 1939 become a reality. In this war, even more widespread and terrible than the last, there were to be no civilians. Death sought new victims everywhere; British citizens were now in the front line, there was to be no respite, no hiding place. This is the poetry and prose of those who were there, ordinary people caught in the terrible maelstrom of mass conflict on a scale hitherto unimagined; this is their testimony.

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