NEW BOOK - The Kiel Raid 1939

An ebook contianing eyewitness accounts of the RAF’s first big daylight raid on Germany. Complete with explanatory text and background on the men and machines involved.
On 4 September, the day after war was declared, the British Royal Air Force sent a powerful force of bombers to destroy German warships achored off the naval port of Kiel. The raid was intended to inflict heavy damage on the German navy and demonstrate to sceptics that “the bomber will get through”.
But the Germans were ready and their defences stronger than anyone expected. What followed was a tale of muddle and gallantry, confusion and heroism.
The “Eyewitness World War II” series is a growing collection of ebooks that contain original eyewitness accounts and contemporary newspaper reports of the action in question. You can find more ebooks in this series by searching for “Eyewitness World War II” or by visiting the military page of our website.

Contents
Chapter 1 Background
Chapter 2 Men and Machines
Chapter 3 Contemporary Press Reports
Chapter 4 Eyewitness Reports


About the Author
Leonard James has written dozens of books, mostly on history or military subjects for a wide audience. He is uniquely placed to analyse and comment upon the accounts used in the “Eyewitness World War II” series.
Buy your copy HERE

Government Minister abuses perks - nothing new under the sun

The Secretary of State for War in March of that year wrote a stinging letter to Bonar Law (who as we know was Chancellor) in the following terms;
"Dear Bonar Law,
"I am sorry for going away, but I really could not stand hearing George Curzon talk, and I did not want to enter into incriminations. As a matter of fact he has behaved disgracefully about the car, and it is undoubtedly his own fault that there is any trouble. There was a car placed at the disposal of the Air Board, but when I was Chairman I never once used it. When Curzon came to the Air Board he calmly took it for himself. He talks about it being for general use, but I should doubt a single soul having been in it except himself and his friends. He motors down to Hackwood and uses the car for sending to the Station for his Saturday to Monday parties, and I should like to have asked him whether it is not true on the occasion of his Dance the other night the car came backwards and forwards to London three times. I am sure he would never deny that Lady Curzon invariably uses it, and he himself admitted to me that although he was ill in bed he had sent for the car in order to send a note down to Mrs. Harry Cust. Now this is a scandalous abuse of a Government car and needless to say makes everybody talk. He was to say the least of it incorrect about the car in the beginning. I am going to try and find his letter, but he wrote to me, if I remember rightly, to say that the Prime Minister had authorised him to have a car. It now turns out that he telephoned to the Prime Minister to know whether he could have one and got no answer. He then told me that he meant to keep the Air Board car. I told him that was entirely a matter of agreement between him and the Air Board, but a second car would have to be supplied and it did not make the least difference which it went to, upon which he telephoned to Cowdray, (Cowdray told me this himself) to say that I had agreed, with the Prime Minister’s consent, to his keeping his present car. It is very amusing his saying that his health can only be kept going by being able to go to Trent every Saturday to Monday. He has only had Trent since he married.
"I am going to try to get out for you the amount of petrol that he has consumed in that car since he has had it, and I think it will be surprising. Of course he kept on quoting me, and it is quite true that both in Peace Time as well as in War, there is a car which is supposed to be the Secretary of State's, and I do have the same car, but if that is wanted for any other military duty I should go without, and it probably will be wanted as we have to supply cars for all our Colonial Conference visitors. The real truth is he is just what he says he is not. He is one of the meanest men that I know. He was a tenant of mine at one time and I have good reason for knowing it.
"Yours sincerely,
"Derby"
From this remarkable letter we can make a number of observations;
1. Ministers appeared to have had a remarkable amount of free time when running the Great War if they allow themselves to get distracted by abuse of a public vehicle.
2. Derbyshire politics runs deep.
3. Abuse of a perk was once considered a very serious and thoroughly underhand matter, that needed remedy.
4. Mrs Cust was the sort of person one should definitely socialise with.
5. One should never rent to Lord Curzon. He was a cad of a tenant (sadly we will never know whether he failed to water the petunias or left soap rings in the bath, but whatever it was he was a rotten bounder).
6. That the ‘Two Jags’ Prescott controversy is hardly modern news. With the motor vehicle barely out of its infancy, the equivalent to ‘sending the car round for Mrs Prescott so she doesn’t get her hairstyle tussled when walking a few yards down to conference’ was still going on.
Thus we can console ourselves with this negligible thought; the sins of abusing the privileges of rank have been with our Parliamentarians for a lot longer than Expensesgate. They have not all descended upon Westminster along with the floods of taxes wrenched from latterday pockets.
Except, of course, that Lord Curzon at least had the excuse of having previously been the Viceroy of India. Running the Raj was a job massively reliant on show and pomp. Some politicians today have delusions of grandeur; Curzon had been the ringleader of the whole mental circus in a show where few of our present leaders can compete. The Prime Minister (with a nuclear button), Archbishop of Canterbury (hotline to God) and Speaker of the Commons (astronomically expensive Pugin wallpaper) are noted exceptions.
Even though they are high on the list of precedence in situations involving protocol, there are still those 4973 claimants to the throne who as members of the House of Hanover actually have possible succession rights. This makes for a long hierarchical queue. It would take a manically insane Boris Johnson in a speeding Number 88 double decker an estimated six minutes to obliterate them if they all in a domino tumble fell under its wheels while queuing (of which the chances are, thankfully, somewhat remote).

from "A Fate Worse than Debt" by Lee Rotherham

Buy your copy at a bookshop or on Amazon

As the UK talks of cuts and austerity, this book explores for beginners the true scale of our financial problems, and some of the controversies behind modern spending. Warning: do not read if you suffer from high blood pressure, or lack a sense of humour in a crisis. Among the questions answered are: What is the difference between Deficit and Debt? How much does the United Kingdom Government really owe? Who is Scotland's forgotten debt genius? How big could you build a new Hadrian's Wall from Pound coins paid out of Britain's debt? Why was Britain's first civil war two thousand years ago triggered by debt repayments? How did WW2 US airmen unexpectedly help bail out Britain's war effort? What was the Geddes Axe, and how far did it swing? What can a wombat's posterior warn us of? How big is our creek today and is there a paddle? Launched to coincide with the Coalition Government's "make or break" 2013 Budget, this book puts the country's financial problems firmly under the microscope. It explains what is going on and why in terms the layman can understand - and will find absolutely terrifying. Possibly the most important book about government you will ever read.

NEW BOOK - The Blackout

An ebook contianing contemporary newspaper reports and eyewitness accounts of what it was like to live through the Blackout during World War II
On the day war broke out the Blackout was imposed. It was illegal to show a light outside at night for any reason at all. Cars drove without headlights, windows were blacked out, torches were banned and streetlights switched off. Britain at night became a country plunged into inky blackness.
How did people find their way, what did you do when you wanted to leave a lit room, how did you get to work or school - or back again? These and other questions are addressed here. An invaluable book explaining one of the most annoying and irritating aspects of World War II.
The “Eyewitness World War II” series is a growing collection of ebooks that contain original eyewitness accounts and contemporary newspaper reports of the action in question. You can find more ebooks in this series by searching for “Eyewitness World War II” or by visiting the military page of our website.

Contents
Chapter 1 Background
Chapter 2 Contemporary Press Reports
Chapter 3 Eyewitness Reports

Buy your copy at a bookshop or on Amazon

Government financies go pear shaped in 1919

After bailing funds out of the bottomless war chest, politicians turned to rendering ship shape the economy in peace. The ideal at the time was to aim for a return to the gold standard, meaning fixed rates of value for Sterling (and other national currencies). A number of belligerent countries had come off it, in no small part due to the need for the state to pay for goods (especially armaments) while holding finite stocks of gold reserves. Coming off the gold standard also allowed for currencies to inflate in value, meaning for instance more purchasing power when buying shells from neutrals. But after the war ended the overwhelming mood amongst economists and politicians was that the long-term stability that went with sticking to gold was a political priority.
That was especially the case in Britain, whose currency had previously been the world leader and an issue of national prestige, especially with the US Dollar at its heels. Considerable debate took place over whether the Pound could or should be restored when back on gold to its old rate when compared to the Dollar.
To get back on to gold, debt reduction was needed, which also meant avoiding a deficit. This came largely out of a revolution in the country’s tax system. The old system had relied heavily on indirect taxation on expenditure; now the emphasis was direct taxation on income and capital. More people were caught by it, and the impact was considerably increased when you were caught – for instance, the standard tax rate on earnings in 1915 had pushed up from 5.8% to 30%.
Meanwhile, inflation meant that many more people whose incomes had previously avoided taxation now fell into it. With more people paying more taxes, an international atmosphere of revolution, and a number of political pledges made to bolster support for the war effort, there was a further consequence in that more people expected the state to do more for them, as they were now paying some form of due and expected service.

from "A Fate Worse than Debt" by Lee Rotherham

Buy your copy at a bookshop or on Amazon

As the UK talks of cuts and austerity, this book explores for beginners the true scale of our financial problems, and some of the controversies behind modern spending. Warning: do not read if you suffer from high blood pressure, or lack a sense of humour in a crisis. Among the questions answered are: What is the difference between Deficit and Debt? How much does the United Kingdom Government really owe? Who is Scotland's forgotten debt genius? How big could you build a new Hadrian's Wall from Pound coins paid out of Britain's debt? Why was Britain's first civil war two thousand years ago triggered by debt repayments? How did WW2 US airmen unexpectedly help bail out Britain's war effort? What was the Geddes Axe, and how far did it swing? What can a wombat's posterior warn us of? How big is our creek today and is there a paddle? Launched to coincide with the Coalition Government's "make or break" 2013 Budget, this book puts the country's financial problems firmly under the microscope. It explains what is going on and why in terms the layman can understand - and will find absolutely terrifying. Possibly the most important book about government you will ever read.

World Lesson 5: 1789 and all that

France emerged as a winner from the American War of Independence ... initially. The French monarchy however turned out to be an even greater loser than its British rivals.
The French state had accumulated major war debt from its intervention in the conflict, which turned into a world war. Perhaps half of the state’s revenue was set aside to service that debt – a sum perhaps equal to Britain’s, but less deftly managed, leading to higher rates of debt repayment. Financial gains from the war had been limited and failed to include any lucrative colonies lost during the Seven Years War, but damages (not least the destroyed French fleet) also needed to be made good. The war had been financed by loans rather than taxation, which merely deferred the problem of payment to a later date. Large parts of society – predominantly the nobility and clergy - were exempt from key taxes, and clearly this skewed revenue and was deeply unpopular with the middle and lower classes. Attempts to sort this out were blocked in the 1780s.
That left the king no other option but to call the full Estates General in 1789, the first time this had been done in over a century and a half. The plebs got uppity, the stakes escalated, and the rest is history. Before anyone knew what was happening, the Black Fingernail was helping the Nobs escape to England (if we are to believe our Carry Ons).
Lesson from La Bastille: Countries that take debt management seriously, rather than try to hide it as a political issue, fare better in the long run.

From "A fate Worse than Debt" by Lee Rotherham

Buy your copy at Amazon or a local bookshop

As the UK talks of cuts and austerity, this book explores for beginners the true scale of our financial problems, and some of the controversies behind modern spending. Warning: do not read if you suffer from high blood pressure, or lack a sense of humour in a crisis. Among the questions answered are: What is the difference between Deficit and Debt? How much does the United Kingdom Government really owe? Who is Scotland's forgotten debt genius? How big could you build a new Hadrian's Wall from Pound coins paid out of Britain's debt? Why was Britain's first civil war two thousand years ago triggered by debt repayments? How did WW2 US airmen unexpectedly help bail out Britain's war effort? What was the Geddes Axe, and how far did it swing? What can a wombat's posterior warn us of? How big is our creek today and is there a paddle? Launched to coincide with the Coalition Government's "make or break" 2013 Budget, this book puts the country's financial problems firmly under the microscope. It explains what is going on and why in terms the layman can understand - and will find absolutely terrifying. Possibly the most important book about government you will ever read.

 

Book Review - A Fate Worse than Debt

A review of our book "A Fate Worse than Debt" has appeared on The Commentator website.

Read the review HERE.

World Lesson 2: The Dutch Revolt

The Dutch spent eighty years fighting for their independence from Spain. The conflict, though heavily about religion, was fired by a tax, and essentially won by a forced loan.
The Low Countries had been simmering after heavy-handed countermeasures had been used to suppress religious rioting. In this context, introducing a ten per cent sales tax, against the will of the States General, was not a wise move by the Regent, especially given the large number of trading middlemen in the country who would be hit by compound taxation in turn.
The war required large numbers of Spanish troops, and these needed paying. In 1576, a Spanish treasure fleet was driven by a storm into an English port. England at this stage was at peace with Spain, and while supportive of the Dutch was treading a fine diplomatic and legal line, not least as Drake had been darting around Spanish imperial waters.
But the bullion being shipped happened to have been loaned by Italian bankers, and properly speaking was not Spanish but Genoese until it arrived. Elizabeth took on the loan herself, thus depriving the Spanish governors in the Low Countries of vital finances. Spanish troops reacted by sacking the city of Antwerp to find their pay themselves. Aside from the permanent damage it did to what had been one of Europe’s great emporia, it strengthened the Dutch opposition at a vital moment, and consolidated a revolt that bled the Hapsburgs and ultimately led to a separate state.
Lesson from Antwerp: Debt weakens the ability of a state to manage crises. It is so powerful that it can be used as an act of war.

from "A Fate Worse than Debt" by Lee Rotherham

Buy your copy at Amazon or your local bookshop

As the UK talks of cuts and austerity, this book explores for beginners the true scale of our financial problems, and some of the controversies behind modern spending. Warning: do not read if you suffer from high blood pressure, or lack a sense of humour in a crisis. Among the questions answered are: What is the difference between Deficit and Debt? How much does the United Kingdom Government really owe? Who is Scotland's forgotten debt genius? How big could you build a new Hadrian's Wall from Pound coins paid out of Britain's debt? Why was Britain's first civil war two thousand years ago triggered by debt repayments? How did WW2 US airmen unexpectedly help bail out Britain's war effort? What was the Geddes Axe, and how far did it swing? What can a wombat's posterior warn us of? How big is our creek today and is there a paddle? Launched to coincide with the Coalition Government's "make or break" 2013 Budget, this book puts the country's financial problems firmly under the microscope. It explains what is going on and why in terms the layman can understand - and will find absolutely terrifying. Possibly the most important book about government you will ever read.

 

 

The Siege of Lachish - first ebook sale for August

Our first ebook sale this month was a copy of The Siege of Lachish by Andrew May.

Buy your copy HERE

Product Description

In 701BC Sennacherib of Assyria marched his army to crush a rebellion in Judah. The city of Lachish was among the cities to be attacked and the siege proved to be a classic action of its time.

The Siege of Lachish is unique among battles of the ancient near east in that we have an account from both sides of the action. The version of the defenders appears in the Bible, while the Assyrian version was unearthed when the royal palace of Nineveh was excavated in the 19th century.

Sennacherib unleashed on the walled city all the most modern techniques of siege warfare that the mighty Assyrian Empire could produce. Archers rained arrows on the defenders while mighty rams smashed at the walls and complex picks prised the stonework apart.

In this fully illustrated book, military analyst Andrew May describes the action, explains the course of the siege and looks at the aftermath of one of the Bible's great battles.

Contents
Chapter 1 - The Assyrian Empire under Sennacherib
Chapter 2 - The Rebel: King Hezekiah of Judah
Chapter 3 - Sennacherib's Campaign against Judah
Chapter 4 - The Siege of Lachish
Chapter 5 - Aftermath


About the Author
Andrew May is a former defence scientist with an MA from Cambridge University and a PhD from Manchester University. His thirty year career spanned academia, the civil service and the defence industry. He has worked on advanced technology research in Farnborough, strategic planning in Whitehall and operational analysis for a large defence company. He is now based in the South-West of England where he works as a freelance writer and blogger.