The author recreates, by means of contemporary photographs juxtaposed with others taken by him over a number of years plus eyewitness accounts and narrative, the atmosphere, past and present, of that once famous salient. He aims to present a moving tribute to the men who fought with great courage and tenacity in the horrendous conditions that prevailed in Flanders during what was known as the Great War. To them Wipers was more than just a foreign city, it was a way of life and, for so very many, a way to death.

This work covers the main British battle areas of the Western Front between 1914 and 1918. Starting with the spark that ignited the war, the outline of events brings the operations of the British Army in France and Flanders full circle: from the BEF at Mons in August 1914 and the retreat beyond Marne to the victorious advances of the forces of the British Empire and their re-entering the town in November 1918. It is impossible not to marvel at the triumph of nature over the obliteration of the landscape.

John Giles had a gift. At the age of three, he could kick a ball the way it was supposed to be kicked. And he knew that every hour that passed without kicking a ball was an hour wasted. Here, Giles tells the story of a dream pursued and realized beyond his wildest imaginings, from his humble beginnings in Ormond Square in 1940s' Dublin, counting down the minutes to his next game of football, to that unforgettable moment when the original football man his dad, "Dickie" announced that his young son, at just fourteen, was on his way to Manchester United. Full of anecdote, insight, and wry humor,...