To Fight Alongside Friends - The First World War Diary of Charlie May

The WWI diaries of Manchester Pals Captain Charlie May were written and kept in secret,a and are now published for the first time. They give a vivid picture of life of battalion life in the build up to the Battle of the Somme. May was killed in the early morning of the first day of the battle.

About the author

Born in India, Gerry Harrison returned to England for his education. Leaving school, and to fulfil a passion, he became an actor, before following a rewarding career on the production side of feature films. He has since worked for as a producer for Channel Four, BBC and ITV, and then as a councillor for twelve years. Meanwhile he has written pieces for the Guardian and the Times, and the Irish Times. He lives in Ireland.

David Crane's first book, ‘Lord Byron’s Jackal’ was published to great acclaim in 1998, and his second, ‘The Kindness of Sisters’ published in 2002, is a groundbreaking work of romantic biography. In 2005 the highly acclaimed 'Scott of the Antarctic' was published, followed by ‘Men of War’, a collection of 19th Century naval biographies, in 2009. His ‘Empires of the Dead’ was shortlisted for the 2013 Samuel Johnson Prize. He lives in north-west Scotland.

Summary

The First World War Diaries of Manchester Pals Captain Charlie May – written and kept in secret and published now for the first time. A born storyteller, Charlie May’s vivid eye for detail and warm good humour brings his experience in the trenches (and the experience of millions of ordinary men like him) to life for a 21st-century readership.

Product details

• Authors: David Crane, Gerry Harrison
• Assisted by: Harrison Gerry (Editor), David Crane (Foreword)
• Publisher: William Collins
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback
• Released: 05.11.2015
• EAN: 9780007558551
• ISBN: 978-0-00-755855-1
• Dimensions: 129 mm x 198 mm x 20 mm
• Subjects: Fiction > Narrative literature > Letters, diaries; Non-fiction book; Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political administration; Europe, European History, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Military, Diaries, letters & journals, First World War, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Diaries & Journals, HISTORY / Europe / General, LITERARY COLLECTIONS / Letters, Autobiography: historical, political & military, Autobiography: historical, political and military, Diaries, letters and journals, c 1914 to c 1918 (including WW1), c 1914 to c 1918 (World War One period), HISTORY / Wars & Conflicts / World War I