No Labour, No Battle

John Starling & Ivor Lee • £19.99
The History Press

From 1917 British soldiers who were deemed too unfit or old for frontline service were given a different duty, one that still left them very much within range of German guns for weeks and months at a time. These soldiers were made to undertake labouring tasks such as digging, construction and demolition. The vital yet largely unreported role played by these brave soldiers was crucial to achieving victory in 1918.

No Labour, No Battle is a seminal work by John Starling and Ivor Lee, which traces military labour from its development in the early years of the war to a Corps in November 1918 some 350,000 strong, supported by Dominion and foreign labour of more than a million men. This work provides vital information for those wishing to acquire information about an ancestor in the Corps.

Writing Your Family History

Gill Blanchard • £12.99
Pen & Sword

Gill Blanchard’s practical step-by-step guide to writing a family history is designed for anyone who wants to bring their ancestors’ stories to life. She looks at ways of overcoming the particular problems family historians face when writing a family history; how to deal with gaps in knowledge, how to describe generations of people who did the same jobs or lived in the same area, how to cover the numerous births, marriages and deaths that occur, and when to stop researching and start writing.

Her book provides examples to help readers find their own writing style, deal with family stories, missing pieces of information and anomalies. It also offers advice on key aspects of composition, such as adding local and social history context and using secondary material. The focus throughout is on how to develop a story from beginning to end.

Exercises are a key feature of the text. There is guidance on the various formats a family history can take and how to choose the appropriate one, with examples of format and layout. Production and publishing are also covered; books, booklets, newsletters, websites, blogs and ebooks.

Visiting the Somme & Ypres Battlefields Made Easy

Gareth Hughes • £12.99
Pen & Sword

This timely book will be invaluable to those visiting the battlefields, sites, museums, memorials and cemeteries of France and Belgium. It is intended for those planning and leading groups but is also ideal for individual/family visitors. Rather than list every site it provides realistic itineraries to the best places in the two major areas of the Somme and Ypres. Even these are flexible to allow party leaders suitable discretion.

The author provides helpful information for each site such as its context in the war, visitor orientation, and essential facts to engage, inform and entertain; plus suggested activities and relevant photos and maps.

Grandad Did a Dastardly Deed

Kate Broad & Toni Neobard • £9.99
thefamilyhistorypartnership.com

Was your grandfather a kindly old man, who lovingly tended his prize rhubarb, or did his spade have another use? And just what was in the cupboard in his shed?

Grandad Did a Dastardly Deed continues the work of its companion book Granny Was a Brothel Keeper in highlighting pitfalls associated with family history. Written in a distinctive light-hearted style, this volume is packed with cartoons, true stories, and tips to take you further along your ancestral voyage of discovery.

Expect to encounter dumpling-flingers, ancestors who drowned in exotic places, fake social network profiles, concealed lunatics, dwarf stranglers and malevolent microfilm.