The RAF Regiment was created in the early years of World War II for the active dedicated defense of RAF airfields and installations. This book concerns the Regiments operational history in South-east Asia Command and draws on the diaries and recollections of the men who served in that theatre. It is strongly supported by maps and diagrams from official records. The Regiment played a vital and significant role in the two major battles for Burma, Imphal and Meiktila. The struggle at Imphal ranks alongside Stalingrad and Alamein in its significance for the defeat of the Axis. From humble beginnings, the Regiment in Burma had by 1945 become a highly-trained specialist ground force capable of defensive and offensive action. The successes of the 14th Army were founded on the support of the transport, fighter and bomber squadrons. The RAF could not have done this as effectively without the confidence that its airfields and vital installations were safe under the constant vigilance of the RAF Regiment.
The RAF Regiment was created in the early years of World War II for the active dedicated defense of RAF airfields and installations. This book concerns the Regiments operational history in South-east Asia Command and draws on the diaries and recollections of the men who served in that theatre. It is strongly supported by maps and diagrams from official records. The Regiment played a vital and significant role in the two major battles for Burma, Imphal and Meiktila. The struggle at Imphal ranks alongside Stalingrad and Alamein in its significance for the defeat of the Axis. From humble beginnings, the Regiment in Burma had by 1945 become a highly-trained specialist ground force capable of defensive and offensive action. The successes of the 14th Army were founded on the support of the transport, fighter and bomber squadrons. The RAF could not have done this as effectively without the confidence that its airfields and vital installations were safe under the constant vigilance of the RAF Regiment.
This is a comprehensive survey of English medieval church monuments. It examines all types of monument-cross slabs, brasses, incised slabs, and sculpted effigies. It analyzes them in an historical context to show what they reveal of the self image and religious aspirations of those they commemorate.--Summary by the editor.
The three Richards who ruled England in the Middle Ages were among the most controversial and celebrated of its rulers. Richard I ('Coeur de Lion', 1189-99) was a great crusading hero; Richard II (1377-99) was an authoritarian aesthete deposed by his cousin, Henry IV, and murdered; while Richard III (1483-85), as the murderer of his nephews, 'The Princes in the Tower', was the most notorious villain in English history. This highly readable joint biography shows how much the three kings had in common, apart from their names. All were younger sons of monarchs, not expected to come to the throne; all failed to leave a legitimate heir, causing instability on their deaths; all were cultured and pious; and all died violently. All have attracted accusations but also fascination. In comparing them, Nigel Saul tells three gripping stories and shows what it took to be a medieval king.
Lordship and Faith takes as its subject the many hundreds of parish churches built in England in the Middle Ages by the gentry, the knights and esquires, and the lords of country manors. Nigel Saul uses lordly engagement with the parish church as a way of opening up the piety and sociability of the gentry, focusing on the gentry as founders and builders of churches, worshippers in them, holders of church advowsons, and patrons and sponsors of parish communities. Saul also looks at how the gentry's interest in the parish church sat alongside their patronage of the monks and friars, and their use of private chapels in their manor houses. Lordship and Faith seeks to weave together themes in social, religious, and architectural history, examining in all its richness a subject that has hitherto been considered only in journal articles. Written in an accessible way, this volume makes a significant contribution not only to the history of the English gentry but also to the history of the rural parish church, an institution now in the forefront of medieval historical studies.
Richard II is one of the most enigmatic of English kings. Shakespeare depicted him as a tragic figure, an irresponsible, cruel monarch who nevertheless rose in stature as the substance of power slipped from him. By later writers he has been variously portrayed as a half-crazed autocrat or a conventional ruler whose principal errors were the mismanagement of his nobility and disregard for the political conventions of his age. This book—the first full-length biography of Richard in more than fifty years—offers a radical reinterpretation of the king. Nigel Saul paints a picture of Richard as a highly assertive and determined ruler, one whose key aim was to exalt and dignify the crown. In Richard's view, the crown was threatened by the factiousness of the nobility and the assertiveness of the common people. The king met these challenges by exacting obedience, encouraging lofty new forms of address, and constructing an elaborate system of rule by bonds and oaths. Saul traces the sources of Richard's political ideas and finds that he was influenced by a deeply felt orthodox piety and by the ideas of the civil lawyers. He shows that, although Richard's kingship resembled that of other rulers of the period, unlike theirs, his reign ended in failure because of tactical errors and contradictions in his policies. For all that he promoted the image of a distant, all-powerful monarch, Richard II's rule was in practice characterized by faction and feud. The king was obsessed by the search for personal security: in his subjects, however, he bred only insecurity and fear. A revealing portrait of a complex and fascinating figure, the book is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the politics and culture of the English middle ages.
Thank you for visiting our website. Would you like to provide feedback on how we could improve your experience?
This site does not use any third party cookies with one exception — it uses cookies from Google to deliver its services and to analyze traffic.Learn More.