Category Archives: Front Page

Front Page, livesinprint

Terence Keyes: Imperial Disguises
Richard Whittingham

Terence Keyes: The Man Who Bought the Russian Banking System For Britain

Terence Keyes (1877-1939) was an important player both in the Great Game and latterly and crucially in the clandestine war against the Bolshevik regime in 1918-1920. This account concentrates upon his involvement in the First World War and then in the Russian Civil War.

Keyes was the mastermind of a British plot to seize control of the Russian banking system with the express intention of funding Counter-Revolution and overthrowing the Bolshevik regime. There were several attempts to achieve this, one of which only failed because of Lenin’s miraculous recovery from an assassination attempt and the murder of a British Naval Commander on the steps of the British Embassy.

Throughout this time, Keyes also had secret dealings with Lenin and the Bolsheviks, the details of which remain shrouded in mystery. He subsequently became one of the most important British advisers to General Denikin, the most important of the White leaders.
Published: Sept 2019
Paperback: 370 pages
Price: £14.99
ISBN: 9-781912-419586

£14.99 (+ £3 postage)
Number of copies:


Available from Amazon

Earlier in his career, Keyes was actively involved in combating Russian and subsequently German threats to British India and played a crucial but also deft role in defeating German schemes to precipitate full-scale rebellion against the British Raj.

Although little known, Keyes had a Zelig-like ability to be at the centre of events during some of the most dramatic moments of the early twentieth century.

Richard Whittingham has made use of previously unpublished archive material to put together the first dramatic account of an absorbing and complex figure.
Reviews...

Front Page, Sport, travel

Mashies and Mash Tuns – A Whisky and Golf tour of England, Wales & Ireland
Andrew Brown

Published: May 2019
Hardback: 166 pages
Price: £19.50
ISBN: 9-781912-419753
Paperback: 166 pages
Price: £10.00
ISBN: 9-781912-419937
Available on Amazon

Mashies and Mash Tuns
A Whisky and Golf tour of England, Wales & Ireland

Following the success of Of Peats and Putts, this book explores how whisky and golf, ‘Scotland’s two gifts to the world’, have developed across the rest of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Again visiting nine distilleries and nine golf courses -four in both England and Ireland and one in Wales – the author discusses how these two great Scottish exports have fared outside of their native land.

Many of the themes of the first book are developed; the importance of location, the role of landscape, the environment and people as well as the author’s contention that these two popular pastimes can be seen as metaphors for the vagaries of life.

The author finds that there is always more to learn about both whisky and golf and starts to form a personal manifesto as to how each should evolve.

Andrew Brown was born in Edinburgh, brought up in the Borders and educated at Loretto School in Musselburgh. After reading history at Cambridge University, he pursued a career in the food industry, marketing many famous brands such as Bisto, Hovis and Mr Kipling.
He has three grown-up children, is now retired and, outside of his regular visits to Scotland, lives in the Chilterns. Apart from playing golf he is an enthusiastic dog walker, a very average tennis player and a novice gardener.
Reviews of Peats and Putts...

Charles Maclean, Whisky Writer and Master of the Quaich
It is astonishing that until now nobody has sought to bring together Scotland’s two greatest gifts to the world – whisky and golf.
This little book is a personal journey of discovery. In ten chapters, each devoted to a region or county – from Sutherland in the north to East Lothian in the south and Islay in the West - Andrew Brown reviews a golf course and a locally made malt whisky.
As he travels from one place to the next he ponders how and why these two products developed in Scotland and what it is about the country, its landscape and people, which connects them. As he writes: “Both whisky and golf are more than just a drink and a sport; both can be seen as metaphors for the vagaries of life itself.” Indeed!

 Golf Quarterly Review June 2018
This is a delightful, well-written little book – part travel guide, part history, part personal philosophy, and part unwitting nationalist tract (what better way, after all, to celebrate Scottish distinctiveness than through writing about its two most famous exports?). It takes the form of a tour of nine regions of the country, in search of the author’s favourite distilleries and favourite golf courses along the way.
I can imagine peripatetic golfers with a fondness for an evening dram, or whisky aficionados with a set of clubs in the boot of their car, packing this little volume and reading up on pleasures planned for the following day. It will be equally enjoyable, though, with a glass of single malt to hand in the privacy of your own home.
What gives the journey special significance is the author’s playful exploration of the similarities and connections between whisky and golf. Andrew Brown, a native Scot who spent most of his career in the food industry south of the border, suggests that location, history and architecture are crucial to the two experiences. History, for instance, is an important part of the narrative that accompanies both playing and drinking. Just as we like to know the origins, ownership and social impact of a particular whisky brand (notwithstanding the marketing hype), so hearing about how and when a golf club was founded, who played there and who designed and changed it invariably enriches a round of golf.
Perhaps design is the most striking common factor given the simple, limited and seemingly unpromising ingredients that course architects and whisky manufacturers both start with. All golf courses are hewn out of sand and soil, while the essential elements of any whisky are also the same: only malted barley, water and yeast are permitted in anything that calls itself Scotch. What produces so many different and unique variations of the spirit is everything from the distilling process to the local landscape, whether it be the taste of the water, the quality of the soil, or the extent of the annual rainfall. In the case of golf it’s the eye and skill to use nature to best effect.
Each chapter describes the idiosyncrasies of a favourite course and distillery. The golf choices are far from predictable – Brora rather than Dornoch in Sutherland, Kilspindie rather than Gullane, Luffness New or Muirfield in East Lothian, the Eden rather than the Old Course in Fife. These reflect not just a conscious decision to stay away from Championship venues but those the author considers best meet his three criteria for selection: a tough but enjoyable (and affordable) test for all levels of golfer, delightful surroundings and a welcoming clubhouse. There is an equally diverse spread of distilleries, old and new, large and small, ranging from multinational owned enterprises such as Glenmorangie to independent Edradour in Perthshire (20,000 cases of which went down off the island of Eriskay in 1941, inspiring Compton Mackenzie’s wonderful book Whisky Galore).
Wisely, the author does not take prior knowledge for granted though spelling out a three-shotter for golfers or mash tuns for devoted whisky drinkers may mildly irritate some. I liked his many diversions - musings on what makes a good golf hole and a good malt, for example, thumbnail sketches of important golf designers like James Braid and Harry Colt, and reflections on the history and practise of naming golf holes. There are plenty of surprises (at least to this non-expert whisky drinker). Did you know that eight of the world’s top ten whisky brands are Indian, while the country that consumes the most whisky on a per capital basis is France (the United States being second and the UK third)?
 Tim Dickson
Editor
Golf Quarterly

Simon Marquis, Cornwall
Of Peats and Putts will appeal to anyone who enjoys golf and/or malt whisky. Andrew Brown is an enthusiastic amateur of both and his enjoyment shines through this delightful scamper across nine of Scotland’s finest golf holes, and a rather more leisurely trundle around nine of its distilleries. The real pleasure of this short volume though is the author’s drawing of nice parallels between these twin pleasures and life itself. Golf has its ups and downs as do our lives, some of them at least, perhaps smoothed away by a late evening dram or two!
The book is a pleasure in itself. I eagerly await volume two.

James Holder - Author of The Great War's Sporting Casualties
 Andrew Brown's second book, Mashies and Mash Tuns, has all the same charm as his first book. He describes the golf courses highlighted in his book leaving you wanting to play them and writes about whiskey in a way which, because of my own aversion to whisky (and whiskey), leaves me regretting I cannot taste them.
And not content with just writing about golf courses and distilleries, he expresses in no uncertain terms how he thinks golf should be played, views I share but views which I fear too many golfers choose to ignore.


Books by Andrew Brown...

 Of Peats and Putts

Mashies and Mash Tuns

Of Peats and Putts - Continental
Front Page, livesinprint

Auntie Emmie’s Suitcase
Susan Davies

Emmie Chester died on 9th March 1988. For the previous ninety five years, she had lived a quiet life in Shropshire, looking after her parents and family and later her great-niece Susan Davies, but once, long ago she had lived a very different life. It was something she didn't talk about very much.
During World War One, she had served in France in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps and was wooed by a handsome Australian entertainer. She might have moved with him to Australia.
On Emmie's death, Susan found a battered old suitcase in the attic, which contained a jumble of her aunt’s letters, photographs, documents and souvenirs from that time. The suitcase revealed a life of comradeship, austerity, romance and also of sadness and it gave an insight into the changing role of women in society during the early twentieth century.

This is the story of Emmie Chester’s life in France told in words and pictures, as it emerged from the contents of a battered old suitcase.
Published: October 2018
Paperback: 64 pages
Price: £7.99
ISBN: 9-781912-419333

£7.99 (+ £2 postage)
Number of copies:


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Following a long career in the Probation Service, Susan Davies now enjoys an active and varied retirement in Shrewsbury.
Reviews...

Front Page, livesinprint, Sport

Atlantic Lady – The oldest woman to row any ocean
Dianne Carrington

In the spring of 2016, recovering from burn-out and depression after many years in the NHS, Dianne Carrington was ready for a new challenge.
So when the phone rang and an old friend asked if she was ready to row the Atlantic in the Talisker Whisky Challenge, how could she say no?
She had always had an interest in outdoor activities and a big project like this was just what she needed to get back on track. Or was it? To row the Atlantic at any age is an undertaking beyond most of us but for a team of women in their sixties, and that was the idea that her friend was suggesting, it seemed almost impossible.
After all, the Talisker Whisky Challenge is one of the most demanding competitions on this planet.
Published: October 2018
Hardback: 156 pages
Price: £9.99
ISBN: 9-781912-419494

£9.99 (+ £2 postage)
Number of copies:


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At twenty-one I was in the Olympic squad for white-water slalom canoeing but left to take up my career. I taught outdoor pursuits for ten years by the sea. I've always loved the sea and canoed on it almost daily, challenging my limits. Then learnt that I couldn't have children and I trained as a nurse, working my way up the career ladder in the NHS. At fifty-five I had to end my career prematurely after I burnt out, having given more than 100%. I lost confidence and my body was racked with pain; I was in a bad place. A team of wonderful people helped me get well again and I wanted to give something back. What better way than to raise money for charity and go back to the oceans that I love? Life is too short to not live it to the full. I set out to gather a lovely team of ladies as close to my age as possible who would be passionate about rowing across the Atlantic with me. I wanted to inspire women and show them that we are never too old to do what we want to do. I wanted to help them embrace the courage to leave sight of the shore and to accomplish great things.”
Reviews...

Front Page, history, Reference, Sport

The Great War’s Sporting Casualties:International sportsmen who were killed in the Great War
James Holder

The Great War claimed the lives of many professional and amateur sportsmen, including over three hundred who had represented their countries in one sport or another.
The Great War’s Sporting Casualties contains details of the sporting achievements and, where known, the circumstances of the deaths of those international sportsmen who were killed in the War or died as a result of injuries sustained in the War. It also contains details of nine other sportsmen who were killed in the War but who, although they did not represent their countries, did achieve something exceptional either in sport or in war.
Included amongst those listed are twenty-two Olympic gold medallists, twelve who captained their country at rugby, two who won the Tour de France and one who was a four-times Wimbledon champion. Also included are the three international sportsmen who won the Victoria Cross, one of whom was the only person to win two Victoria Crosses for deeds during the War and the fifteen who won the Military Cross.
Published: September 2018
Hardback: 502 pages
Price: £25.00
ISBN: 9-781912-419418

£25.00 (+ £3 postage)
Number of copies:


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James Holder was born in Somerset and, after reading law at Cambridge University, practised as a solicitor; he now works as a consultant. He is passionate about sport and has always taken an interest in family history much of which involves relations who were fortunate enough to survive the Great War. He and his wife have four children and one grandchild and live in Oxfordshire.
Reviews...

Andrew Brown, Oxfordshire

This is an impressively comprehensive guide to how the Great War led to the loss of so many top level sportsmen. While that in itself is not surprising –it led of course to the deaths of people from all walks of life-it is a stark reminder as to how many young, talented people were lost in the prime of their lives. The book focuses on international team sports - football, rugby and cricket - and Olympians and it is interesting to see the different rates of losses; for example, the worst hit proportionally were rugby players and Scottish rugby players in particular. The author surmises that this could be because a higher proportion of rugby players were privately educated and as a result officers who led from the front.

As well as the many fascinating and tragic individual stories in the main section of the book, I also enjoyed the appendices. One gives useful summary accounts of the many different Great War battles while one also details the losses by the internationals which they played; of the 30 players who participated in the January 1913 Scotland versus France rugby international, 14 were to die in the subsequent conflict.

Front Page, history

All Quiet in the Western Suburbs: WW1 – Letters home to Chiswick and nearby districts
John Grigg

Millions of letters were written home by soldiers and sailors in the First World War and the men from Chiswick, West London, were every bit as prolific as their companions from elsewhere. Most of the letters in this book were sent to the Rev. Oldfield in Chiswick and he sent them on to the Chiswick Times, but there are others are to relatives, friends and employers and the Chiswick Working Men’s Club, and there are interviews and reports from journalists in the Chiswick Times and the Acton Gazette.
This is a unique record of the experiences of servicemen from the district who served all over the world. They describe the horrors of the war, writing of ‘Jack Johnsons’ ‘Rum Jars’ and ‘Coal Boxes’ (all nicknames for enemy shells and bombs) although often with feigned indifference, but many do not touch on the horrors at all - perhaps to protect relatives and friends from anxiety. The war was not confined to the European Western Front and this book includes letters and reports from other parts of the world: India, Africa, Egypt, Palestine, Greece, Mesopotamia (present day Iraq), and the Dardanelles. There are even letters from Russia where British forces were engaged against the Bolsheviks after 1918.
Published: June 2018
Extent: 460 pages
Paperback: £14.99
ISBN: 9-781912-419319
Available from Amazon
John Howard Grigg was born in Feltham, Middlesex in 1935. He has lived in West London all his life apart from two years in Nottingham with relatives during the Second World War, and two years National Service with the RAF. He retired from the Midland Bank in 1987 and has always denied he was ever a bank manager. He served as a local councillor in Hounslow from time to time between 1958 and 1990. He is an amateur local historian specializing in local social and political history.
Reader Reviews...
Front Page, travel

Forty Days in the Greek Islands
Andrew R Black

From their very first visit to a Greek island, Andrew and his wife Morag were hooked and kept going back for more. As they got to know the country and the language better, they ventured further off the standard tourist trail, finding an endless variety of new places to visit. Twenty five years later they are still exploring and learning about the islands. So what exactly is the attraction of travelling around the Greek islands? There are plenty of guidebooks full of factual information to help you find your way about. Instead this book gives you an insight into some typical day-to-day experiences you might have. It is a personal recollection of forty individual days spent getting to know a selection of forty different Greek islands. It shows why Greek island hopping can be so addictive.
Published: Sept 2017
Extent: 294 pages
Paperback: £11.99
ISBN: 9-781911-175841
Available from Amazon
Reader Reviews...


This is a comfortable, pleasing book to read - it feels like a collection of short stories to be enjoyed at will, and not necessarily in order. Each island with a story of its own, as and when. Slow read...slow food. The style of composition was an apt reflection of the 'there's always tomorrow' Mediterranean way of life that Andrew Black has obviously felt and absorbed. So many mythological-sounding place names are mentioned, therefore the maps outlining the islands were really useful, as was the separate and clear list of island names at the end of the book that could be seen at a glance. Sometimes, when you read travel books, you are left wondering, "yes, but do they really know?" Having spent so much time in the Greek islands, it can be seen from Andrew's descriptions that, yes, he does really know, and has looked and lived beneath the surface of the Greek island culture. He writes it well, too. And on crisp, pure white paper.

A very enjoyable book that has inspired me to expand my knowledge of the Greek islands. There are several hand-drawn maps included, however this is not a standard guide book but an appealing account of experiences from many years of travel, including brief notes on Greek history (mythical, ancient and modern) interspersed with observations on geography, birds, plant life and delicious food. Not all tourists wish to leave the mainstream resorts, however the anecdotes in this book describing encounters with friendly, generous islanders should encourage many to step away from the crowds and undertake their own mini-adventures. Just ensure you leave enough time to relax each day in a local cafe to sip your iced coffee and savour the charm of Greek island life! Well worth reading.

Great book - the basis of next years holiday plans, makes Island hopping sound much easier than I had imagined and I may avoid some obvious mistakes (you pay when you get off the bus!). Recommended read in the planning stage of a holiday to the Greek Islands.

This is one of the best books I have ever read about the Greek Islands and as a regular traveller in Greece I am fussy! I only wish he would write some more.

Front Page, history

My Scottish Common People: The history of a working-class family over 400 years
George Smith

My Scottish Common People is the account of a family history which could stand for a history of the Scottish working class over the last four hundred years. George Smith has tracked eight paternal and maternal lines of forebears, common people who lived in Angus, Inverness-shire, Perthshire, Fifeshire, Orkney and Dundee. They include jute mechanics, seamstresses, handloom weavers, smallholders, farm hands, and fishing families, and finally the not-so-common author’s father, a shipyard joiner who became a trade union leader, TUC president and knight of the realm who will be familiar to many in the Labour Movement.
This book tells of the life events of ordinary people and their pursuit of livelihoods. Included are: members of a congregation that quit the Church of Scotland over a point of principle in 1733, a thirteen-year-old fisherman who joined the naval militia during the Napoleonic war, a politically active shoe clicker who supported a Proletarian Sunday School, a stone mason who helped to build Stevenson lighthouses, an Orkney ploughman and family who migrated to Dundee for a better life, a poor agricultural labourer given free oatmeal and cash from the the Church of Scotland, a widowed mother who survived as a seamstress. All are representative, including, and perhaps especially, a handloom weaver, later soldier, who was in a mutiny in 1794.
Published: May 2018
Extent: 234 pages
Paperback: £9.00
ISBN: 9-781912-419234
Available from Amazon
George Smith was born in Dundee and moved to England as a child. He has since visited Scotland many times. He was educated at Nottingham University, Garnett College, the London School of Economics and the Institute of Education, London University which awarded him a doctorate. For most of his working life he was a lecturer in social studies and contributed to academic publications. He was a magistrate for nine years. In retirement he has furthered his long-held interest in family history through research and published articles. A volunteer, he is an adviser for Citizens Advice. He lives in Worcestershire.
Reader Reviews...