Mark Simner's Blog, page 4

Top Five Military History Book Recommendations for Christmas 2017

Below is a selection of five books which I have been fortunate to read over the past twelve months. All have stood out in my mind for various reasons, which are briefly examined below, and all have been both highly informative and thoroughly enjoyable. They are not listed in any particular order, but if you are looking for a good read during the festive break please do consider one or more of the following titles.

Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man by Hugh Sebag-Montefiore
Although I have read th...

Nominated for MHM Book of the Year Award 2018 | Pathan Rising: Jihad on the North West Frontier of India 1897-1898

My book Pathan Rising: Jihad on the North West Frontier of India 1897-1898 has been nominated for MHM Book of the Year 2018. The nomination reads:

Pathan Rising offers the reader an authoritative account of this people’s uprising against the British on India’s North-West Frontier, during 1897-1898. The spark of conflict flared in June 1897 and within a few weeks the British were battling a full scale revolt by the rebellious tribes. This is a fast-paced and thoroughly researched account of th...

OUT NOW | Chitral 1895: An Episode of the Great Game by Mark Simner

In 1895, a small Indian Army garrison, commanded by Surgeon-Major Sir George Scott Robertson and Captain Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend, was besieged by a joint Chitrali and Pathan army – under the leadership of Sher Afzul and Umra Khan – at the fort of Chitral. Despite the odds heavily stacked against them, Robertson’s beleaguered little garrison held out for forty-eight days until a relief expedition was able to fight its way through to the rescue. The siege and subsequent relief is a story...

OUT NOW | The Sirdar and the Khalifa: Kitchener’s Reconquest of Sudan 1896-98 by Mark Simner

Perhaps one of the most dramatic events of the late Victorian period was the death of General Charles ‘Chinese’ Gordon at the hands of the Mahdi’s fanatical warriors as they finally broke their way into the Sudanese city of Khartoum. The story is well known, recounted in numerous books and celebrated in the film ‘Khartoum’ starring Charlton Heston. However, what is perhaps less well known is the subsequent-and far more successful-campaign fought by the British against the Mahdi’s successor, t...

Heroes of the Victoria Cross: Lieutenant Raymond de Montmorency by Mark Simner

Read about Lieutenant Raymond de Montmorency of the 21st Lancers, and how he got his Victoria Cross for his part in the cavalry charge of his regiment at the Battle of Omdurman in 1898, in the May 2017 issue of History of War Magazine (UK). Article by Mark Simner.

 

Heroes of the Victoria Cross: Piper George Findlater by Mark Simner

Read about Piper George Findlater of the Gordon Highlanders, and how he got his Victoria Cross for his part in the storming of the Dargai Heights in 1897, in the April 2017 issue of History of War Magazine (UK). Article by Mark Simner.

COMING SOON | Chitral 1895: An Episode of the Great Game by Mark Simner

In 1895, a small Indian Army garrison, commanded by Surgeon-Major Sir George Scott Robertson and Captain Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend, was besieged by a joint Chitrali and Pathan army – under the leadership of Sher Afzul and Umra Khan – at the fort of Chitral. Despite the odds heavily stacked against them, Robertson’s beleaguered little garrison held out for forty-eight days until a relief expedition was able to fight its way through to the rescue. The siege and subsequent relief is a stor...

NOW AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER | The Sirdar and The Khalifa: Kitchener’s Reconquest of Sudan 1896-98 by Mark Simner

Perhaps one of the most dramatic events of the late Victorian period was the death of General Charles ‘Chinese’ Gordon at the hands of the Mahdi’s fanatical warriors as they finally broke their way into the Sudanese city of Khartoum. The story is well known, recounted in numerous books and celebrated in the film ‘Khartoum’ starring Charlton Heston. However, what is perhaps less well known is the subsequent-and far more successful-campaign fought by the British against the Mahdi’s successor,...

Meet The Author Mark Simner On Viral Hot News

With the release of my latest book, Pathan Rising: Jihad on the North West Frontier of India 1897-1898, I was recentlyinterviewed to allow my readers to learn a little more about me and my work.

Where were you born? Where did you grow up?

I was born in Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England although I spent most of my time growing up in Walsall in the West Midlands. However, in recent years I moved back to Staffordshire and now live in the beautiful city of Lichfield.

Could you tell us a b...

OUT NOW | Pathan Rising: Jihad on the North West Frontier of India 1897-1898 by Mark Simner

Pathan Rising: Jihad on the North West Frontier of India 1897-1898 tells the story of the large‐scale tribal unrest that erupted along the North West Frontier of India in the late 1890s; a short but sharp period of violence that was initiated by the Pathan tribesmen against the British.

Although the exact causes of the unrest remain unclear, it was likely the result of tribal resentment towards the establishment of the Durand Line and British ‘forward policy’, during the last echoes of the ‘G...