Description

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.