{"title":"Charles R Benstead","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"portrait-of-cambridge-book-charles-r-benstead-9780709101123","title":"Portrait of Cambridge","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe story of Cambridge is one of curious conflict: an unrelenting struggle for independence by a squalid fenland settlement, which entirely changed its purpose as, down the centuries, a great University grew in its midst. Yet it was this unwelcome intruder, seen today as an island of ancient glory in a surge of modern expansion, that makes the City of Cambridge known to the world. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe coming of the clerks; the early hostels and colleges; the problem of the King's Ditch; the limitations of a medieval education, and of learning itself until recent years; the rod and its application; the tremendous religious emphasis, and compulsion, that endured until the last century; the dissolution of the religious houses; the Reformation and its martyrs; the threats to the University's very existence; Cambridge and Cromwell, himself a pensioner of Sidney Sussex; the seemingly unending strife between town and gown, and the hazardous office of Mayor; the unending procession of poets and scientists, headed by Milton and Newton, and of great men in every walk of life; the colleges, and their independence, in the modern age of reform, not least in architecture; and even the tidal phenomenon of the undergraduates' hair, once restricted by clerical tonsure: It is in terms of these factors, grave and gay, that the story of Cambridge is told. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMr. C. R. Benstead, a graduate of Cambridge University, has been both soldier and sailor. In the First World War he was mentioned in despatches after the controversial Passchendaele battle in 1917, and won the Military Cross in the fighting near Amiens that followed the great German offensive in 1918. His book \u003ci\u003eRetreat, \u003c\/i\u003e written against the background of the ill-fated British Fifth Army, created worldwide interest. At the outbreak of the Second World War he was Meteorological Officer of the aircraft carrier \u003ci\u003eFurious, \u003c\/i\u003e in which he continued to serve for over two years and he finished the war on the staff of the \u003ci\u003eCommander-in-Chief\u003c\/i\u003e, British Pacific Fleet. After retiring from the Navy, he was, at one time, Senior Proctor of the University.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49627218608401,"sku":"GOR004772857","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49644039667985,"sku":"GOR004575962","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51188127269137,"sku":"GOR007361646","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0709101120.jpg?v=1750743342"},{"product_id":"retreat-book-charles-r-benstead-9780413778093","title":"Retreat","description":"Retreat, A Story of 1918 by Charles R. Benstead was first published by Methuen in 1930, as First World War fiction was moving from positive accounts of combat heroism towards narratives of disillusionment and loss. Retreat spans both phases through its tragic portrayal of an army chaplain driven to madness when his Christian values hold no sway against the bloody realities of war and through its heartening vision of how devotion to duty can fortify soldiers' sense of purpose and self-worth in the absence of spiritual faith. Retreat is based on the author's combat experiences as a Fifth Army artillery officer during the massive German advance in March 1918, adding historical depth to the literary value of the novel. The book centres heavily on the British retreat as experienced by Padre Elliot Warne, an egotistical churchman ill suited to the bitter realities of combat at the front. Warne shepherds a flock whose lack of interest in religion undermines his sense of significance to the war effort; and in the shadow of the overwhelming German army, he finds his faith gives way to fear. In Retreat, Benstead captures the cruel injustices of war as he knew it and demonstrates the inadequacies of religion as a balm to the harsh realities of war. In the introduction to this edition, war historian Hugh Cecil provides historical context for the novel's plot, a biography of the author and a survey of the book's critical and controversial reception. Charles R. Benstead (1896-1980) served with distinction as an artillery officer in the First World War and as a naval training officer in the Second World War. He wrote twelve books in all on topics ranging from naval combat to Cambridge history but none achieved the same critical success as Retreat.   Hugh Cecil is an honorary lecturer at Leeds University and co-founder of the Second World War Experience Centre in Leeds. His many publications include The Flower of Battle; How Britain Wrote the Great War; Facing Armageddon: The First World War Experienced, and At the Eleventh Hour with Peter H. 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