AT ALL COSTS! - Stories of Impossible Victories.

UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn.FINE/NFINE.No owner inscrptn but price-clipped dw/dj.Bright,crisp,clean,glossy laminated,wrap-around colour pictorial painting detail illustrated dw/dj [Minden,1st August 1759 with the 1st King' Own Scottish Borderers (25th)],with red+white lettering; with negligible shelf-wear and creasing to edges and corners - no major nicks or tears present - though top, two corners minisculely rubbed and head of spine/backstrip of dw/dj minimally bumped with reciprocal creasing.Top+fore-edges generally bright and clean; contents bright,tight,clean,solid and sound - virtually pristine - no dog-ear reading creases to any pages' corners,appears unread - apart from my own collation. Bright,crisp,clean,sharp-cornered,publisher's original plain black cloth boards with bright,crisp,stamped gilt letters to spine/backstrip and immaculate plain white endpapers.UK,8vo HB+dw/dj,1st edn,8- 223pp [paginated] includes author's introduction,his acknowledgements,11 chapters/battles each with b/w map(s),16pp historical b/w reproduction illustrations and contemporary b/w photographs in 1 block,between pp96/7,author's postscript,a select bibliography,an index; plus [unpaginated] half-title+title pages and contents list/table.
Here is a collection of eleven true stories of the battlefield,each a testament to exceptional bravery in the face of superior odds. In each case,the situation was desperate,the objective dangerous, the odds against success dauntingly high.The 'at all costs' mission on the battlefield is brought about by the desperate need to attain an objective or maintain an existing position.It provides examples of human bravery and determination above and beyond the call of normal duty - some would say sanity.Were the events related in this book woven into a work of fiction,they could well be edited out on the grounds of their being beyond belief. . . yet this book is fact,not fiction! There are many sources for the motivation that drives mortal men to achieve impossible victories at all costs.The author highlights five: a desire for revenge; survival; success; professionalism; and self-sacrifice.In truth,however,such soldiering endeavour almost defies categorisation,for it takes the breath away and stuns coherent thought.How can common man,who winces at toothache and avoids the sight of blood,charge into a battle-zone where enemy numbers or weapons suggest annihilation? Why should a young man in a foreign land,yearning for home,combine with colleagues in a manoeuvre that is statistically suicidal? What motivates the meek to become menacing marauders who can strike fear into apparently superior forces? Military history,for all its horrors,provides many accounts of outstanding bravery and unlikely success.In these eleven actions from three centuries,Bryan Perrett demonstrates an understanding of the military mind and an empathy with men at war,but he does not allow his accurate description of these amazing events to suffer from invention or undue assumption.He acknowledges that these stories are sufficient in themselves to enthrall the reader,be he a serving soldier,a veteran or a civilian who might start the book believing such tales are restricted to Hollywood celluloid or the pages of thriller novels. Since April 2013,again in March 2015,and in this year too,the UK Post Office has altered it's Pricing in Proportion template,altering it's prices,weight allowances,dimensions and lowered it's qualifying compensation rates too!
So,please contact rpaxtonden@blueyonder.co.uk ,because of the weight/value of this item for correct,insured shipping/P+p quotes - particularly ALL overseas buyers - BEFORE ordering through the order page!