None Bolder: The History of the 51st (Highland) Division in the Second World War [Hardcover]

This is the book that the Highland Division deserved. They were outstanding soldiers, probably the best British infantry division of the Second World War, and the author has done them full justice in this excellent account.

As well as being very well researched - look at the many notes to each chapter - None Bolder is also very well written. Doherty has a flair for good writing and it shows throughout this book.

I recommend wholeheartedly this volume to anyone with an interest in the British Army of the Second World War. My only problem with it is actually finding a copy in Ireland - mine was bought in London. But there were many Irishmen in the division and there should be a market here as well.

Good - new condition. Lots of plagerism in the book almost directly from Linklater and Salmond's earlier contemporary work. Nothing much new in this book to add to the fine history of the Highland Division.

This book is a typical Richard Doherty work. It is researched with obvious diligence and written with the flair that we've become used to. The subject is one in which the author has a clear interest and that he treats with compassion while maintaining a fair balance. So it is that he writes of the strengths and the weaknesses of the Highland Division and notes where its soldiers faltered as well as when they were at the peak of efficiency.

The Highland Division served with gallantry in the ill-fated campaign of 1940 in France before being forced to surrender at St Valery en Caux. But some of the Division escaped and formed the core of a new 51st (Highland) Division, created from 9th (Highland) Division in Britain, which went back to war in Egypt at El Alamein and in the pursuit into Tunisia before crossing to Sicily for the brief campaign there.

Returning to Britain the Highlanders took part in the invasion of Europe and the campaign of liberation that followed.

Doherty captures the essence of war for the infantryman but does not forget the many others who made up the Division. There are stories from the Gunners, the Sappers, the Signalmen and RASC members. Especially sad is the story of the death of Dvr William Watt of the RE which was witnessed and reported by the BBC's Godfrey Talbot. There is even a photograph of Dvr Watt as a member of a musicla ensemble, The Harmonisers, in France in 1940. Such stories do much to personalise any work of history.

To sum up, I can only say that the book's title says it all. None Bolder is taken from the ballad 'The Green Hills of Tyrol', otherwise known as 'A Scottish Soldier', which was a hit for Andy Stewart over 40 years ago (giving my age away). Doherty asserts that the Highland Division was the most outstanding British infantry division of the war and that there were 'none bolder' than its soldiers. Having read this book I would agree with him.

The timing of the publication is also appropriate as the Scottish Highland regiments that formed the Division ceased to exist at the end of March and were merged into the cumbersomely-named Royal Regiment of Scotland.

Recommended reading for anyone interested in the British Army of the Second World War.