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Product details
- ISBN 9781910533512
- Weight: 490g
- Dimensions: 171 x 248mm
- Publication Date: 26 Oct 2020
- Publisher: Nine Elms Books
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Hardback
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From the deliberate, but delightful, misspelling of Shakespeare in the title to the carefully portrayed perils of being a Victorian soldier and the appropriately selected Shakespearian quotes to go alongside each cartoon, Thomas Seccombe’s book will resonate with all who have an interest in observing life – military and otherwise.
Seccombe was a true son of the Victorian Empire and served in The Royal Artillery until retiring as a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1881.
This book was first published in 1880 and was so popular that it went on to six reprints in the following two years. Seccombe subsequently had a flourishing civilian career as an illustrator.
Some 140 years later, even today’s readers will see why Military Misreadings of Shakspere [sic] was such a success. Seccombe’s subtle, but perceptive, observations of human character are as true today as they ever were. He had a wonderful eye for detail as well as the ridiculous – but never with malice even when pairing his cartoons with quotes from the Bard of Avon.
This re-issued edition has the added benefit of former Grenadier Paul Cordle’s highly informative commentary which puts Seccombe’s army into perspective and relates regiments to their modern successors-in-arms. With a similar eye for detail as the original illustrator, military historian Paul brings the illustrations to life with fascinating military observations.
Paul Cordle served in the Grenadier Guards in the 1960s and 1970s before turning to business. His has an avid interest in history. Since coming across and buying a tattered and, as it turned out, rare copy of Seccombe’s 1880 book almost 50 years ago he has been been keen to bring it to a wider audience.
