Kipling rudyard

1923 · 47346 — Macmillan 1923. 2 vols. roy. 8vo. First Edition with frontispiece maps in red and black and 9 maps 2 folding in red and black free endpapers mildly browned; original regimental red cloth upper boards blocked with crest in gilt gilt backs gilt tops a near fine set in the original binding. Vol I: The First Battalion; Vol. II: The Second Battalion and Appendices. The standard history of the regiment in the Great War including ROH and awards & decorations. Kipling undertook the history of the regiment in WWI following the death in action of his son John at the Battle of Loos whilst serving with the Second Battalion; a personal tragedy from which the author never fully recovered. After five and a half years of research 'done with agony and bloody sweat' the work was immediately recognised as both a military and a literary masterpiece. 'One could be assured that when Mr. Kipling turned his hand to a regimental history the result would be very different to the ordinary. The particular invention wherewith he has enriched this book is a sort of chorus - the comment of the private soldier upon the events narrated which is witty and effective. Mr. Kipling has also brought to bear his magic upon that most matter-of-fact of records the battalion war diary and has made it live. Generally speaking he has composed a noble tribute to the great regiment in the ranks of which he lost his son' Falls. Enser p.66;Falls p.117; Sutcliffe p.14; White p. 45. Macmillan, hardcover