Description

Immediate dispatch from Somerset. Book in excellent unread/unused condition. See images. Fantastic book.

About the book >.>.> This book does not attempt to be a Regimental History as such events are too close and the perspective of time is lacking – rather it tries to illustrate the story of The Devonshire and Dorset Regiment using as many high quality images as possible linked by sufficient text to set both images and events in context. We have tried to cover the full range of the Regimental Family: the 1st Battalion the Territorial and Volunteer battalions the Old Comrades the Cadets the families and our links to the two Counties through our Freedom towns and Regimental supporters. Inevitably our coverage cannot be even although we have tried hard to make it so. During the fifties and sixties cameras were relatively rare and colour pictures even more so whereas today everyone seems to own cameras capable of producing high-quality images. We have examined over 15000 images and attempted to produce a balanced selection across the years covering the whole Regimental Family. A major effort has been involved in identifying names; however in order to be even-handed we have only used ranks and surnames as it would have been invidious to have used some Christian names but not others. The production of this book has taken eighteen months from ‘bright idea’ to the finished product and it would have been impossible without the support of a great number of people particularly the editorial team: Derek Thomas who did the detailed research and produced the first draft of both the manuscript and photographs in just three months; Jeremy Archer who edited the manuscript photographs and captions and whose enthusiasm and flair did so much to develop the project; John Mellin who helped enormously in setting people and places in context particularly in the early years; Gill Friswell who started as administrative assistant but who rapidly became indispensable in solving our technical and IT problems; and last but certainly not least Don Jellard whose commitment drive energy and sheer hard work kept the project on the road and on schedule despite what seemed at times to be insurmountable problems. Special thanks must also be given to William ‘Bill Smith whose vast collection of Regimental photographs forms the basis for much of the earlier part of the book; to John Randle for his notes and photographs of Cyprus and British Guiana; to Simon Young who produced the superb artwork which forms the endpapers of the book; to Sue Rouillard of Exeter University who drew the excellent maps; to Angus ‘Tosh’ MacIntosh whose camera work and production knowledge were invaluable; and also to Sylvia Menzies-Earl and Jon Wilkinson at Pen and Sword Books who could not have been more professional and helpful in turning our ideas and images into the finished product.