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Another Hundred Great Books on The Great War from the Collection of David Pritchard
This is the second catalogue of works from the collection of our sadly departed friend and fellow collector, David Pritchard.
A Second Hundred Great Books on The Great War commences with his books on The Tank Men, 1914-1918 (items 1-22) followed by further works on the war on land, at sea and in the air, on all Fronts (items 23-100).
Other works from the collection will be offered in future dedicated catalogues, as well as within my main catalogues. As before, every book from the collection will have a loosely inserted slip in order to commemorate their provenance.
Almost all our books, including the ones in this catalogue, are illustrated on our website:
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Life in a Tank.
 Author, a regular officer of the Berkshire Regt., was attached to Heavy Banch MGC towards the end of 1916, trained on tanks in France & participated in several assaults on the Hindenburg Line in 1917 (Bullecourt &c.): these experiences are described in novelised form here. Haigh later toured the US, demonstrating the tank's capabilities, in a publicity/fundraising exercise of which this book was doubtless a spin-off. Attractive orig. dec. grey cloth, VG in very attractive & rare pictorial dw; this of particular interest as, at the foot of the front panel is printed "Commander of the Tank Britannia" - which indicates that Haigh belonged to "B" Battalion. See illustration on our website. 1918 £245
H.Q. Tanks 1917-1918.
 Undoubtedly, & by far, the rarest of the Tank Men's memoirs, most informative on the conduct & course of the Battle of Cambrai as seen from Tank Corps HQ. Hon. Evan Charteris (1864-1940), a younger son of the 10th Earl of Wemyss, was Ed, at Eton, commissioned in the Coldstream Guards but proceeded to Balliol & practiced at the Parliamentary Bar. A man of affairs, he was Chairman of the Trustees of the National Portrait Gallery, a Trustee of the National Gallery & of the Wallace Collection. In 1916 he became a Staff Captain in the RFC then GSO III in the Tank Corps from Aug. 1916 to Jan. 1918. He resigned his commission in April 1918. The author of several historical works, he did not, however, include this privately printed volume in the list of published works submitted for his "Who's Who" entry. The book was published privately & anonymously. It covers the period July 1917-January 1918, when the author was GSO3 at Tank HQ with the role of historian of the Tank Corps. J.F.C. Fuller, in the Introduction to 'Tanks in the Great War,' thanks Charteris "for the accurate & careful records of the Corps which he compiled from the earliest days of the tank movement in 1914, to the close of the battle of Cambrai. 1920 £1200
Tanks in the Great War 1914-1918.
 From 1916-1918 Fuller was Chief General Staff Officer of the Tank Corps & a leading planner of the Battle of Cambrai. As one of Britain's foremost military thinkers & authors he was a constant & vocal advocate of the mechanised arm. "Colonel Fuller's book on tanks in the War differs from the others on this subject. Like them it gives a short history of the early struggles, developments, & set-backs; but the author, a well-known writer on strategy & tactics, is always more concerned with the future of armoured & catterpillar-propelled vehicles in warfare - whether for offence or transport - than in their actual achievements between 1914 & 1918. See illustrations on our website. 1920 £275
Loretto: Sketches of a German War Volunteer.
 Well-written German personal memoir for which the publisher's sleeve notes claim: "better than any other German book, portrays the psychological changes of the German soldier. LORETTO shows us the heroic fatalism of those who march in full cognizence of death... The book is written in an extraordinarily vivid style, & is absolutely truthful."Rare English language edition, especially in dw (this creased & chipped but neatly renovated & attractive thus). See illustrations on our website. 1930 £145
Red Dust: An Australian Trooper in Palestine.
 Personal experience with the 6th Light Horse. John Lyons Gray, who used the pseudonym Donald Black, enlisted in the 6th Light Horse in 1916 & served in Palestine 1917-18, fighting in the Jordan Valley &c. A classic account of "days & nights of fighting & hard marching, long weeks of waiting & anxiety, heat & cold, dust & thirst, of interludes in Egypt, of the final northward sweep & the collapse of the Turk - memories that fill out the broad strategic history of a great campaign in a strange & beautiful setting." - sleeve notes. Orig. red cloth, titled in black, VG in neatly repaired dw & scarce. See illustration on our website. 1931 £225
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Steel Chariots in the Desert: The Story of an Armoured-Car Driver with the Duke of Westminster in Libya & in Arabia with T.E. Lawrence.
 Lawrence's personal driver in the desert: "our strongest & most resourceful man, the ready mechanic who largely kept our cars in running order..." (TEL: Seven Pillars of Wisdom). Orig. brown cloth, VG in sl. chipped dw & rare thus. See illustration on our website. 1937 £220
On Gallipoli.
 Rare privately printed account of service at Gallipoli with the RND which was originally presented as a talk to the Archaeological Society of Atherstone, Warwickshire, in January 1920. In 1914 George Peel was a squadron commander on the Bedfordshire Yeomany, but tiring of inactivity defending the East Coast managed to get himself made Provost Marshal of the Royal Naval Division: he joined Div. HQ at Blandford & sailed for the east in March 1915. After describing the geography & characteristics of the Peninsula most of the book consists of his daily diary between March-June 1915, including the initial landings &c., followed by a round-up of events from June-Dec. 1915 when he left the Dardanelles. An informative & atmospheric account & undoubtedly one of the rarest relating to the RND. Some extracts: April 23rd: "Last night at dinner in Scyros Bay, young Asquith brings us disastrous news of the illness of Rupert Brooke, our Warwickshire poet. He had just lent me his volume of 'Turkey in Europe'... Hamilton had offered him a place on his staff, but he had declined, saying that his duty lay elsewhere with his battalion..." April 26th: "A really awful morning as we approach Gaba Tepe. £275
Ambush.
 Advertised as "A frank & outspoken book on the War by a Staff Officer who 'saw the fighting at the front' in German East Africa." Wynn/Elias describes the disaster of Tanga & subsequent events of the campaign, & knew Meinertzhagen (whom he calls "Rudolph"): "He was of foreign stock & utterly un-English... Tall, slender, dark, with dreamy blue eyes... clever, too, with a brilliance much above the average of British officers; witty & a good talker. At the same time he almost seemed withdrawn; never quite serenely certain of himself..." Author belonged to the 1st Gurkha Rifles, was a psc & served on the Staff in East Africa. Meinertzhagen noted that he was one of "Malleson's Subordinates" & says that "he seems to have been fed up with Malleson's incompetence." Very rare memoirs of the campaign in German East. Orig. sand cloth, VG in dw (little chipped/rubbed, lacking part of rear panel, but this neatly patched in), bookplate of the Redwood Library & Athenaeum at Newport, RI, & rare author inscription: "To- Peg and Bert Le Vino, two of the World's Best. With the undying affection and gratitude of The Author. Sept. 5th 1937." (Albert S. Le Vino, 1878-1947, was a prolific writer & editor of movies in the USA between 1915-1925. See illustrations on our website. 1937 £250
Hell's Bells & Mademoiselles.
 Memoirs of a tough Aussie from enlistment 18th Bn. AIF in 1915, service in Gallipoli & France, promotion through the ranks to CSM then a commission & much decorated. Foreword by his old CO outlining his character & remarkable military career. Orig. red cloth, titled in black, nice in chipped & worn but striking dw. See illustrations on our website.. 1933 £165
Gun Fodder.
 The author worked in a East London factory; enlisted in 1914 in the Essex Regiment & served in F&F 1915-18 inc. Ypres, Loos, Somme, Cambrai &c., winning the DCM in 1917 as a L/Cpl. Lewis Gunner in charge of four guns. Eventually he returned to England to be commissioned & after the war "became known as an active political worker & a passionate anti-war propagandist & organisor..." (sleeve notes). Excellent portrayal of Army life, in & out of the line. Orig. orange cloth, titled in black to front & sp., VG in attractive dw & very rare, especially so in jacket. See illustrations on our website. 1930 £275
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