Gavin Mortimer

'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 Queen The 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.

What the World War Two generation can teach us about how we live our lives

Guidance from the Greatest

The Fearless American Aces Who Flew with the RAF in World War I

The First Eagles

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 SBS's archive, Mortimer draws on private papers to produce the definitive account of the SBS's 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 Daily Mirror "This gripping first-hand account of the raid is one of many previously unpublished resources that Mortimer's book draws on."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

The History of the Long Range Desert Group

The Men Who Made the SAS

Numerous eyewitness accounts, survivor testimony, and previously classified documents inform a close-up look at a devastating bombing raid by the Luftwaffe on London on May 10, 1941, revealing the near catastrophoic results of the raid in terms of the ultimate fate of the British during World War II. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.

The Bombing of London on May 10, 1941

The Longest Night

What does a turnip have in common with a pair of 500 sunglasses? They've both played a pivotal role in football history. Following on from Neil MacGregor's groundbreaking The History of the World in 100 Objects, Gavin Mortimer provides a quirky and unique take on the beautiful game told through its defining objects. A History of Football in 100 Objects begins on the momentous day in October 1863 when several men in frock coats formed the Football Association. Ever since, the sport has continually evolved - and created new ways to thrill and infuriate its billions of followers along the way. If you've ever wanted to know when footballers started to feign injury, why an old sock helped Pel become a global legend or how a draper's letter changed football, you'll find the answer in this fascinating history of invention, ingenuity, indiscipline - and sometimes inebriation. From the inaugural red card to a Buddhist shrine, each of the objects selected gives us an intimate glimpse of an unexpected truth behind footie mythology.

A History of Football in 100 Objects

John Cooper

Brett Hudson

Here s the companion to the Spring 2008 bestselling Ultimate Guide to Gaelic Football. "

The Ultimate Guide to Hurling

Drawing upon eyewitness accounts, Mortimer delivers the first in-depth account of the World War II air raid--London, May 10, 1941--that almost defeated England.

The story of Ernest Shackleton, A British explorer who with 28 men attempted to cross the continent aboard his ship the Endurance in 1914 is a story of survival against all odds.

The Men who Battled to Reach the South Pole

Shackleton and the Antarctic Explorers

Scrum down with rugby's finest superstars with this guide that will tell you everything you need to know about the game. The text features master classes explaining techniques and rules with clear illustrations and diagrams.

The Ultimate Guide to Rugby

A detailed, illustrated analysis of the British Commandos' audacious attempt to assassinate Rommel in 1941. In November 1941, a small party of British Commandos landed by submarine in Libya, tasked with the assassination of General Erwin Rommel, commander of the German forces in North Africa, who was believed to be staying in a villa near the coast. Three men – Lt-Col Geoffrey Keyes, Capt Robin Campbell and Sgt Jack Terry – stormed the villa, but the German general was nowhere to be found. In the confused fighting Keyes was killed and Campbell wounded; only two raiders would escape, one of whom was Terry. The raid made headlines round the free world, and Keyes was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. Yet in truth the raid had been a glorious failure, a mission bedevilled by bad planning and poor intelligence. Even so, crucial lessons were learned, particularly by the Special Air Service – who carried out their first mission on the same night as the raid on Rommel's HQ.

Operation Flipper 1941

Kill Rommel!

The winter of 1940-41 was the season of the Blitz. From St Paul's Cathedral to the East End, from the very heart of the capital to the cities of the midlands, throughout the length and breadth of the land the bombs rained down as Germany attempted to bludgeon Britain into submission. As the civilian populations below cowered in their shelters or manned the fire services, there could be no doubt that this was an island under siege. Drawing exclusively on the photo archive of the Mirror newspaper group this volume brings to life this extraordinary period in British history. Remarkably a number of these images have never seen the light of day before thanks to wartime censors and now, 70 years after the fact, they reveal for the first time the harsh realities of life and death during the Blitz. Written by Gavin Mortimer, who has previously published The Longest Night: Voices from the London Blitz (Orion 2005), this book weaves together these incredible images with newspaper articles, diary entries and first-hand accounts to create a compelling chronological account of Britain's darkest and most difficult period in her long history.

An Illustrated History

The Blitz

This volume tells you everything you need to know to play and watch cricket like a pro, including top tips, detailed diagrams and fascinating trivia.

Cricket for Kids (Working Title)

Constance Mortimer

What Every Woman Ought to Know is a fascinating and poignant compilation of love and lifestyle tips, passed down to the contemporary lady from the good women of 100 years ago. Author, Gavin Mortimer, has exhaustively scoured the publications of yesteryear, the pre-cursor to ‘problem pages’, to find unique, useful hints and tips. Some are practical, some intriguing and others exotic, such as the honourable intentions, or otherwise, of a gentleman that has telephoned repeatedly but not yet proposed; the merits of preparing chamomile tea as a beauty treatment; and ways to make automobile riding less painful. Included are recipes for pimples on the skin, and colds and sore throats, remedies for deafness in old people, split ends and wrinkles, and advice on the never-ending problems of courting and romance. Packed full of sound and thoughtful advice, and with chapters on love, etiquette, beauty, home-making, health, exercise…and more, What Every Woman Ought to Know is the perfect way to introduce some decorum into the life of every modern girl. Gavin Mortimer is an author and journalist whose work has been published in the UK, Europe and America. He has written several children’s books, The Great Swim (about the race to become the first female to swim the English Channel), and Chasing Icarus (about the early days of aviation.)

What Every Woman Ought to Know

Draws on primary sources, diaries, and family interviews to document the story of four American athletes who in 1926 became the first women to swim the English Channel, in an account that also cites the media frenzy that surrounded their achievement.

The Great Swim

Specially commissioned artwork, archive photographs and expert analysis combine to tell the absorbing story of the SAS's legendary raid on Sidi Haneish at the height of World War II. The night of July 26, 1942 saw one of the most audacious raids of World War II, just as the outcome of that conflict hung in the balance. In North Africa, a convoy of 18 Allied jeeps carrying Special Air Service personnel appeared out of the early-morning darkness and drove onto the Axis landing strip at Sidi Haneish in the Egyptian desert. Within the space of a few savage minutes 18 Axis aircraft were ablaze; a dozen more were damaged and scores of guards lay dead or wounded. The men responsible for the raid then vanished into the night as swiftly as they had arrived, prompting the Germans to dub the enemy leader, David Stirling, 'The Phantom Major'. Featuring full-colour artwork, gripping narrative and incisive analysis, this engaging study recounts the origins, planning, execution and aftermath of the daring raid that made the name of the SAS at the height of World War II.

The SAS Egyptian Airfield Raids 1942

Stirling’s Desert Triumph

Drawing on recently declassified files and interviews with veterans, this is a fascinating history of Bill Stirling and 2SAS – pioneering founders of modern special forces. David Stirling is the name synonymous with the wartime SAS, but the real brains behind the operation was in fact Bill Stirling, David's eldest brother. Bill was described in the SAS War Diary as a 'man from the shadows'; it was an apt description for, unlike his attention seeking brother, Bill shunned the spotlight. Now for the first time the truth – and the triumph – of 2SAS is revealed. Having originally joined the SOE in March 1940, Bill Stirling sailed for Cairo in 1941 and there had the idea for a small special forces unit to be led by his mercurial brother. But despite some success, David allowed the legendary 1SAS to drift under his leadership. Following his capture, Bill re-directed 2SAS, under his personal command, to the strategy he had originally envisaged: parachuting behind enemy lines to gather intelligence. Fully illustrated with rare and previously unpublished photographs, this compelling history details how 2SAS fought with ingenuity and aggression, from Italy and then into France before heading through Holland into Germany. The unit was capable of attacking by parachute, jeep or landing craft, establishing a template for future special forces' operations. Their feats have been overshadowed by the many books that have focused on David and 1SAS. 2SAS corrects this oversight, revealing that the real innovator was Bill Stirling – the true pioneer of Who Dares Wins.

Bill Stirling and the forgotten special forces unit of World War II

2SAS

An incredible history of the American WWI pilots who refused to be grounded. There was a time when the United States didn’t believe in aerial warfare. Wars, after all, were for men—not flying machines. When Europe went to war in the summer of 1914, the U.S. military boasted a measly collection of five aircraft, with no training programs or recruitment procedures in place. But that didn’t mean the country lacked skilled pilots. In fact, it was just the opposite. In The First Eagles, award-winning historian Gavin Mortimer engagingly profiles the restless, determined American aviators who grew tired of waiting for the their country to establish an aerial military force during World War I. It was these men who enlisted in Britain’s desperate and battered Royal Flying Corps when, in 1917, it opened a recruitment office in New York. After an intensive and deadly year of training that gave recruits a frighteningly realistic taste of the combat they would face, 247 fresh American RFC pilots were shipped over to Europe, with hundreds more following in the next two months. Twenty-eight of them claimed five or more kills to become feted as “aces,” their involvement lauded as pivotal to the Allied victory. In this book, Mortimer compiles their history through letters, diaries, memoirs, and archives from top museums in the United States and Britain—from John Donaldson, who left for France at age twenty and shot down seven Germans before being downed himself, to the Iaccaci brothers, who accounted for twenty-nine German aircraft between them. Complete with 150 period photographs, The First Eagles captures the bravery of these intrepid American pilots, who chose courage over idleness and saved the European skies.

In his new book, WWII historian Gavin Mortimer, examines the pivotal events of one of the most famous military units of all time. Starting with the unit's formation in July 1941, Mortimer recreates the heady days when a young Scots' Guard officer called David Stirling persuaded MEHQ to give its backing to a small band of 60 men christened 'L Detachment.' From there, drawing on over 100 hours of interviews with veterans (much of which has never before been published) he describes the early raids in the desert against Axis airfields that inflicted a deadly cost on the enemy. Embellished with 150 stunning photographs, the majority of which have never before been printed, the book also features side panels on the Lewes bomb, selection and training of personnel, the importance of the French and Belgian squadrons and how the French resistance helped the regiment in 1944.

The SAS in World War II

Once the preserve of the English, now, for nations the world over, summertime means cricket bats to be oiled, rain forecasts analysed and tea in the pavilion. Cricket has enthralled us since the seventeenth century. But what is it about the game that provokes such fervour? Award-winning sports author Gavin Mortimer calls together a cast of salt-of-the-earth Yorkshiremen, American billionaires and dashing Indian princes to tell the strange and remarkable tale of cricket's journey from medieval village sport of 'club-ball' to the global media circus graced by superstars from Denis Compton to Sachin Tendulkar. If you've ever wanted to know what a hoop skirt has to do with overarm bowling, why England fight Australia over a burnt bail, or how to avoid tickling a jaffa in the corridor of uncertainty, Mortimer chalks up a stunning century of tales in the first truly accessible global history of cricket.

A History of Cricket in 100 Objects

The Special Boat Squadron was Britain's most exclusive Special Forces unit during World War II. Highly trained, totally secretive and utterly ruthless, the SBS was established as an entity in its own right in early 1943, having previously operated under the auspices of the SAS during the war in North Africa. Unlike its sister unit, which numbered more than 1,000 men, the SBS never comprised more than 100. Led by men such as the famed Victoria Cross recipient Anders Lassen, the SBS went from island to island in the Mediterranean, landing in the dead of night in small fishing boats and launching savage hit and run raids on the Germans. By the end of the war they had served in Italy, the Balkans and mainland Greece, and following the cessation of hostilities their deeds were airbrushed out of history by an establishment that had never warmed to their piratical exploits. Through unrivalled access to the SBS archives and interviews with the surviving members of the unit, Gavin Mortimer has pieced together the dramatic exploits of this elite fighting force, fully illustrated with images of their daring actions, finally granting the unit the recognition they so richly deserved.

Gavin Mortimer

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