Ian Hay
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Language
English
Description
Excerpt: "And so the drill goes on. All over the drab, dusty, gritty parade-ground, under the warm September sun, similar squads are being pounded into shape. They have no uniforms yet: even their instructors wear bowler hats or cloth caps. Some of the faces under the brims of these hats are not too prosperous. The junior officers are drilling squads too. They are a little shaky in what an actor would call their "patter," and they are inclined to...
Author
Series
Language
English
Description
This 1916 novel, based on the author's combat experiences, tells the story of Kitchener's volunteer army from its mustering in 1914 to its first great blooding in the 1915 Battle of Loos, where, at the cost of 20,000 British casualties, not one inch of ground was gained. Hay's tone perfectly captures the strong character of the soldiers and commanders in times of great difficulty.
Author
Language
English
Description
This book contains a fictionalized account of the day-to-day experiences of soldiers in Kitchener's Army, the voluntary section of the British Army formed following the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Although the characters are a work of fiction, the incidents described all actually occurred. The story was originally contributed in the form of an anonymous narrative to "Blackwood's Magazine". Contents include: "The Daily Grind", "Growing...
Author
Language
English
Description
A series of sketches which the humorist, Ian Hay, has been publishing in Blackwood's under the above title, has more than anecdotal interest to those who can see In the boy the father of the man. Mr. Hay expresses the dominant quality as a dislike for mental cleverness coupled with "worship of force of character."
Author
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English
Description
It was Saturday night at the Rectory, and the Vereker family-"those absurdly handsome Rectory children," as old Lady Curlew, of Hainings, invariably called them-sat round the dining-room table playing "Happy Families." The rules which govern this absorbing pastime are simple. The families are indeed happy. They contain no widows and no orphans, and each pair of parents possesses one son and one daughter-perhaps the perfect number, for the sides of...
Author
Language
English
Description
In this stirring novel of World War I, Ian Hay delves beyond the familiar accounts from the history books and gives readers a glimpse of the many ways the war impacted salt-of-the-earth families in Scotland and England, who demonstrated their bravery and dedication to the effort in their own unique manner.
7) A Man's Man
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Language
English
Description
A University college varies its facial expression about as frequently as The Sphinx and about as violently as a treacle-well. This remark specially applies between the hours of breakfast and luncheon. The courts, with their monastic cloisters and inviolable grassplots, lie basking in a sunny obliviousness to the world outside. Their stately exclusiveness is accentuated rather than diminished by the glimpse of an occasional flying figure in a cap and...
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English
Description
The story centres around Pip (Philip) and his sister Pipette (nicknamed after their doctor father's surgery equipment). Pip is a solid, outstanding sportsman who, in this day and age might be thought of as an Aspergers sufferer. He doesn't 'get' most of what goes on around him and proceeds to do just what he wants. He's not clever and it takes him a long time to get through school and then perform just as badly at college. He is however, an outstanding...
Author
Language
English
Description
It is the tale of an orphan left to the care of his misogynistic uncle – a retired Lt Col of the Indian Army, who suffered a Disappointment in his youth. The uncle spends his time soliciting money from credulous females by sending outrageously fraudulent begging letters and then disbursing the money collected, in a perfectly proper manner.