'War is too important to be left to the generals' snapped future French prime minister Georges Clemenceau on learning of yet another bloody and futile offensive on the Western Front. One of the great questions in the ongoing discussions and debate about the First World War is why did winning take so long and exact so appalling a human cost? After all this was a fight that, we were told, would be over by Christmas. Now, in his major new history, Allan Mallinson, former professional soldier and author of the acclaimed 1914: Fight the Good Fight, provides answers that are disturbing as well as controversial, and have a contemporary resonance. He disputes the growing consensus among historians that British generals were not to blame for the losses and setbacks in the 'war to end all wars' - that, given the magnitude of their task, they did as well anyone could have. He takes issue with the popular view that the 'amateur' opinions on strategy of politicians such as Lloyd George and, especially, Winston Churchill, prolonged the war and increased the death toll. On the contrary, he argues, even before the war began Churchill had a far more realistic, intelligent and humane grasp of strategy than any of the admirals or generals, while very few senior officers - including Sir Douglas Haig - were up to the intellectual challenge of waging war on this scale. And he repudiates the received notion that Churchill's stature as a wartime prime minister after 1940 owes much to the lessons he learned from his First World War 'mistakes' - notably the Dardanelles campaign - maintaining that in fact Churchill's achievement in the Second World War owes much to the thwarting of his better strategic judgement by the 'professionals' in the First - and his determination that this would not be repeated. Mallinson argues that from day one of the war Britain was wrong-footed by absurdly faulty French military doctrine and paid, as a result, an unnecessarily high price in casualties. He shows that Lloyd George understood only too well the catastrophically dysfunctional condition of military policy-making and struggled against the weight of military opposition to fix it. And he asserts that both the British and the French failed to appreciate what the Americans' contribution to victory could be - and, after the war, to acknowledge fully what it had actually been.

At the bloody siege of Badajoz, Matthew Hervey must overthrow the French - or die in the attempt. Allan Mallinson brings us another compelling and deeply atmospheric adventure featuring Matthew Hervey. If you like Patrick O'Brian, Bernard Cornwell and CS Forester, you will love this!

The youthful Allan Ouatermain is bound for strange adventures, in the company of the ill-fated Pieter Retief and the Boer Commission, on an embassy to the Zulu despot, Dingaan. Yet he is bound, too, for one of the deepest romances of his life - for in Marie he tells of his courtship and marriage to his first wife, Marie Marais.

The youthful Allan Ouatermain is bound for strange adventures, in the company of the ill-fated Pieter Retief and the Boer Commission, on an embassy to the Zulu despot, Dingaan. Yet he is bound, too, for one of the deepest romances of his life - for in Marie he tells of his courtship and marriage to his first wife, Marie Marais.

The youthful Allan Ouatermain is bound for strange adventures, in the company of the ill-fated Pieter Retief and the Boer Commission, on an embassy to the Zulu despot, Dingaan. Yet he is bound, too, for one of the deepest romances of his life - for in Marie he tells of his courtship and marriage to his first wife, Marie Marais.

The youthful Allan Ouatermain is bound for strange adventures, in the company of the ill-fated Pieter Retief and the Boer Commission, on an embassy to the Zulu despot, Dingaan. Yet he is bound, too, for one of the deepest romances of his life - for in Marie he tells of his courtship and marriage to his first wife, Marie Marais.

The youthful Allan Ouatermain is bound for strange adventures, in the company of the ill-fated Pieter Retief and the Boer Commission, on an embassy to the Zulu despot, Dingaan. Yet he is bound, too, for one of the deepest romances of his life - for in Marie he tells of his courtship and marriage to his first wife, Marie Marais.

It is 1831, riots and rebellions are widespread... In England, the new government is facing protests against the attempts of the Tory-dominated House of Lords to thwart the passing of the Reform Bill. In India, relations are strained between the presidency of Madras and some of the neighbouring princely states. Having taken command of the action in Bristol to restore order after one of the bloodiest and most destructive riots in the nation's history, Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Hervey is out of favour with the new government. But then his old friend, Sir Eyre Somervile, offers him a lifeline. Somervile has persuaded the Court of Directors of the East India Company to approve an increase in the Madras military establishment. Hervey and the 6th Light Dragoons are sent to the princely state of Coorg. The Rajah is in revolt against the East India Company’s terms and Hervey’s regiment is called upon to crush the rebellion. With the stakes raised by an unexpected visitation from his past, for Hervey the question is whether he and his men will get out of this brutal war unscathed?

Following the 6th Light Dragoons' successful campaign in the state of Coorg and the deposition of its deranged Rajah, Lieutenant-Colonel Matthew Hervey is looking forward to a few months' respite for his regiment, for himself and his family. Indeed, with his reputation restored, he's rarely felt so content. Alas, such tranquillity is not to last. India's governor-general believes Hervey is just the man to lead a force against the Thuggee and Dacoity gangs whose increasingly vicious attacks threaten not only the stability of a number of friendly princely states but also, of course, the East India Company's interests in the sub-continent. And so Hervey reluctantly leads the Sixth into the field once more. It's a mission that will prove infinitely more complex, brutal and bloody than anyone predicted. For Hervey has taken the first steps on the path towards the conflagration history calls the Indian Mutiny...

1828: Matthew Hervey of the 6th Light Dragoons is urgently summoned to the Cape Colony when he learns that the Zulu warrior King Shaka is about to wage war. Soon Hervey, his old friend Eyre Somervile and their escort of dragoons and mounted rifles are riding north. When they arrive at Shaka's kraal, it quickly becomes apparent that he has slaughtered thousands of his subjects - warriors and women alike. When Shaka is killed by his own people, and the region plunged into civil war, Hervey and his men find themselves in the midst of terrible danger. Yet worse is to come. Separated from his troop, Hervey must lead Shaka's queen across a hostile land where sanctuary has never seemed further away ...

Edgehill, 1642: Surveying the disastrous scene in the aftermath of the first battle of the English Civil War, Oliver Cromwell realizes that war can no longer be made in the old, feudal way: there has to be system and discipline, and therefore - eventually - a standing professional army. From the 'New Model Army' of Cromwell's distant vision, former soldier Allan Mallinson shows us the people and events that have shaped the army we know today. How Marlborough's momentous victory at Blenheim is linked to Wellington's at Waterloo; how the desperate fight at Rorke's Drift in 1879 underpinned the heroism of the airborne forces at Arnhem in 1944; and why Montgomery's momentous victory at El Alamein mattered long after the Second World War was over. From the Army's origins at the battle of Edgehill to our current conflict in Afghanistan, this is history at its most relevant - and most dramatic.

While Quartermain visits Lord Randall, two foreigners come asking for Macumazana - that is, asking for Allan Quartermain by the name he used among the Africans. The two visitors are Harut and Marut, priests and doctors of the White Kendah People and they have come to ask Allan Quartermain for his help. The White Kendah people are at war with the Black Kendah people who have an evil spirit for a god. That spirit of the god resides in the largest elephant they have ever seen, an elephant that no man can kill - save Allan Quartermain. Now our intrepid hero must return to Africa and destroy this evil spirit before it kills every one of the White Kendah People.

While Quartermain visits Lord Randall, two foreigners come asking for Macumazana - that is, asking for Allan Quartermain by the name he used among the Africans. The two visitors are Harut and Marut, priests and doctors of the White Kendah People and they have come to ask Allan Quartermain for his help. The White Kendah people are at war with the Black Kendah people who have an evil spirit for a god. That spirit of the god resides in the largest elephant they have ever seen, an elephant that no man can kill - save Allan Quartermain. Now our intrepid hero must return to Africa and destroy this evil spirit before it kills every one of the White Kendah People.

While Quartermain visits Lord Randall, two foreigners come asking for Macumazana — that is, asking for Allan Quartermain by the name he used among the Africans.The two visitors are Harut and Marut, priests and doctors of the White Kendah People and they have come to ask Allan Quartermain for his help. The White Kendah people are at war with the Black Kendah people who have an evil spirit for a god. That spirit of the god resides in the largest elephant they have ever seen, an elephant that no man can kill — save Allan Quartermain. Now our intrepid hero must return to Africa and destroy this evil spirit before it kills every one of the White Kendah People.

While Quartermain visits Lord Randall, two foreigners come asking for Macumazana — that is, asking for Allan Quartermain by the name he used among the Africans.The two visitors are Harut and Marut, priests and doctors of the White Kendah People and they have come to ask Allan Quartermain for his help. The White Kendah people are at war with the Black Kendah people who have an evil spirit for a god. That spirit of the god resides in the largest elephant they have ever seen, an elephant that no man can kill — save Allan Quartermain. Now our intrepid hero must return to Africa and destroy this evil spirit before it kills every one of the White Kendah People.

How are you feeling today? This lively and engaging exploration of emotions helps young children learn to answer this important question. Topics covered include learning to describe feelings, how your feelings can change, and being kind to yourself. There are helpful notes for grown-ups at the back too and links to websites for more advice.