{"title":"Sir Sydney Giffard","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"guns-kites-and-horses-book-sir-sydney-giffard-9781860649066","title":"Guns, Kites and Horses","description":"The personal diaries kept by three of the six Giffard brothers who fought in the Great War (three of them as Horse Gunners), provide a vivid record of service on the Western Front in World War I and stand witness to a lost generation through which the war cut its huge and deadly swathe. Jack Giffard served in the Royal Horse Artillery and was in the famous retreat from Mons. He was briefly captured and wounded and was the only officer to survive the great battle at Nery. Eddie Giffard was a Field Gunner supporting the Guards Division, rose to be Battery Commander and was killed shortly before the Armistice. Walter Giffard served in balloons in the Royal Flying Corps - a dangerous and often under-valued aspect of the war. This memoir conveys a striking and immediate sense of what it was really like - from everyday details, to boredom, intense danger, wounds and even death. There is a matter-of-factness about the entries but still a tender concern for suffering - comrades and their horses. The comments of the balloonist brother, Walter, combine a lightness of touch with a sense of history, as when he watches the great German offensive in the Spring of 1918: \"the most colossal battle, both in magnitude and importance, that the world has ever seen\".","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49563630731537,"sku":"GOR004231666","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50811080737041,"sku":"GOR014081850","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52469770027281,"sku":"GOR012793435","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1860649068.jpg?v=1751451594"},{"product_id":"japan-among-the-powers-1890-1990-book-sir-sydney-giffard-9780300058475","title":"Japan Among the Powers, 1890-1990","description":"This absorbing book, written by an author who lived in and studied Japan for many years, provides a fresh perspective on Japan's history, politics, and culture over the past hundred years. It traces Japan's phenomenal development into one of the world's great powers, portraying events in Japan and its rapid industrialization as they were shaped by Japanese decisionmakers rather than as they were perceived by the outside world. Beginning in 1890, the year in which the country's first modern constitution came into being and the Imperial Diet was first convened, Sydney Giffard describes Japan's determination to gain an equal place with the dominant nations of the West. He examines the complex interplay of forces underlying economic development through the century during peace and war, analysing the conflicts and contradictions, as well as the achievements. Recognizing the role of individuals in the development of modern Japan, he includes insights into many important leaders - from those who directed comprehensive national transformation at the start of the century to those who inspired economic recovery after World War II. He concludes by analysing the demand for political reform in Japan up to the spring of 1992 and commenting on its implications for Japan's future as a world power.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49648032809233,"sku":"GOR009839824","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51681976811793,"sku":"GOR014349475","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0300058470.jpg?v=1750780207"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-sir-sydney-giffard.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}