Gavin Mortimer

Established in June 1940, the Long Range Desert Group was the inspiration of scientist and soldier Major Ralph Bagnold, a contemporary of T.E Lawrence who, in the inter-war years, explored the North African desert in a Model T Ford automobile.Mortimer takes us from the founding of the LRDG, through their treacherous journey across the Egyptian Sand Sea and beyond, offering a hitherto unseen glimpse into the heart of this most courageous organisation, whose unique and valiant contributions to the war effort can now finally be recognized and appreciated. Praise for Gavin Mortimer:"With unparalleled access to SBSs archive, Mortimer draws on private papers to produce the definitive account of the SBSs extraordinary exploits in WWII."Sunday Telegraph"The SBS is finally being recognised thanks to a remarkable new book. Author Gavin Mortimer spent more than a decade interviewing veterans, scrutinising SBS archives and poring over recently declassified documents to write The SBS in World War 2."Daily Mirror"This gripping first-hand account of the raid is one of many previously unpublished resources that Mortimers book draws on."The Times"Mortimer deserves full credit for assembling a mountain of material and presenting it with lucidity and balance"Philip Ziegler, Daily Mail

We will overcome it [and] I hope in the years to come, everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge, and those who come after us will say the Britons of this generation were as strong as any Her Majesty The QueenThe Coronavirus pandemic forced the great British people to dig to the very depths of their resolve. It was during this crisis, the gravest crisis the country has faced since the Second World War, that members of the Greatest Generation - Tom Moore, Dame Vera Lynn, the Queen - proved vital reminders of the self-effacing stoicism required in times of emergency; to summon our Blitz spirit and to Keep Calm and Carry On.Taking twelve qualities of the wartime generation, including fellowship, courage and integrity, and drawing on personal interviews with over two hundred Second World War veterans - from SAS officers to London firewomen to Dame Vera herself - Guidance from the Greatest shows us how we can improve our individual character and our collective approach to life.Guidance from the Greatest reminds us of all that is great about Britain and shows how we can build upon that greatness for the future.

Narraciones en las que imágenes y texto conviven en una perfecta simbiosis narrativa,es posible leer la narración a través del texto y/o a través de las imágenes. Así, texto e ilustración son dos versiones de la misma historia que se complementan mutuamente.

Un llibre per als amants del futbol. Aprèn a xutar amb efecte, les indicacions de l''àrbitre i moltes coses més. Jugues a futbol i t''agradaria millorar el teu estil? Aquest llibre t''ofereix consell

On 10-11 May 1941, Londoners thought the Nazi bombs would never stop falling as the London Blitz reached its furious zenith. These are the true stories from the survivors of one of the longest nights in the Second World WarAn excellent book . . . Mortimer has interviewed scores of survivors for this gripping taleScotland on SundayOn the afternoon of Saturday 10 May 1941, crowds gather at Wembley to watch Arsenal play Preston in the Cup Final. Australian journalist John Hughes starts his shift at Reuters in Fleet Street; 20-year-old Reenie Carter reports for duty at her fire station in Westminster Abbey; RAF pilot Guy Gibson relaxes in the sun before his night patrol; Vera Lynn drives in for an evening concert. Meanwhile, thousands of German airmen are preparing for a massive night raid.Gavin Mortimer has interviewed many survivors of this night to reveal the reality of the London Blitz. In a matter of hours, 1,486 Londoners were killed, 11,000 houses were destroyed, and millions of lives were changed for ever.

Aristocrat, gambler, innovator and special forces legend, the life of David Stirling should need no retelling. His formation of the Special Air Service in the summer of 1941 led to a new form of warfare and Stirling is remembered as the father of special forces soldiering. But was he really a military genius or in fact a shameless self-publicist who manipulated people, and the truth, for this own ends? In this gripping and controversial biography Gavin Mortimer analyses Stirlings complex character: the childhood speech impediment that shaped his formative years, the pressure from his overbearing mother, his fraught relationship with his brother, Bill, and the jealousy and inferiority he felt in the presence of his SAS second-in-command, the cold-blooded killer Paddy Mayne. Stirling lived until old age, receiving a knighthood and plaudits from military forces around the world before his death in 1990. Yet as Mortimer dazzlingly shows, while Stirling was instrumental in selling the SAS to Churchill and senior officers, it was Mayne who really carried the regiment in the early days. Stirling was at best an incompetent soldier and at worst a foolhardy one, who jeopardised his mens live with careless talk and hare-brained missions. Drawing on interviews with SAS veterans who fought with Stirling and men who worked with him on his post-war projects, and examining recently declassified governments files about Stirlings involvement in Aden, Libya and GB75, Mortimers riveting biography is incisive, bold, honest and written with his customary narrative panache. Impeccably researched and with the courage to challenge the mythical SAS brand, Mortimer brings to bear his unparalleled expertise as WW2s premier special forces historian to dig beneath the legend and reveal the real David Stirling, a man who dared and deceived.