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I have recently published a biography/memoir of my grandfather which covers his army career throughout two conflicts; the Boer War and the Great War. During my research I discovered that he served under the command of Guy du Maurier with the 20th Mounted Infantry Battalion in South Africa. Taking a deep dive into the archives, both analogue and digital, and scouring second-hand bookshops, contacting academic institutions and interested individuals, I eventually tracked down a cache of letters written by Guy du Maurier during the conflict. Previously unpublished, I have extensively quoted these letters in my book. They are a fascinating insight into the day-to-day life of the Mounted Infantry and an invaluable resource for anyone researching this aspect of the war. My book - Fought Like a Lion: The Life of an East End Soldier by Paul Blumsom - is published by the Reveille Press of Brighton, ISBN 978-1-0683111-1-6. I devote two chapters to the Boer War and respectfully hope it will be of interest.

I wish you well with your book Paul and thank you for sharing this announcement here. This is certainly the best place to raise awareness of previously unpublished Boer War material and I’m sure that it will spark a lot of attention. I think it’s great to see that you have your Grandfather’s medals and have displayed them so well.

Thanks for those kind words Ian, much appreciated

The book launch of Fought Like a Lion took place at the Fusilier Museum within the Tower of London during Remembrance season. It is a spectacular venue and the spiritual home and regimental HQ of the Royal Fusiliers, with whom my grandfather and Major du Maurier served throughout the Boer War. The Western Front Association featured the event in an article on their website, see following link:
www.westernfrontassociation.com/news/202...er-war-to-palestine/

Congratulations Paul. What a wonderful book launch event and location and also for the excellent article raising awareness of your book. I wish you the very best with this book and hope that sales have been encouraging. Any ideas for a second book?

Thanks Ian, appreciate your comments. I do have ideas for another book but I am conscious of the amount of time, effort and commitment it has taken to publish my first book. As you well know, although challenging, writing a book brings its own reward. Bringing your work to market however, involves a whole different skill set and is a much tougher task. Unless one is fortunate enough to a) engage the services of an agent and b) secure an advance from a mainstream publisher, an author is left to their own devices, involving self or partnership publishing, self-funding and learning how to 'hustle'; i.e. publicising and marketing the book. It can be an extremely frustrating and mentally exhausting process. As a result, the books I would like to write have been put on the back burner while I attempt to identify what might be a more commercially viable subject and therefore attractive to the mainstream; a real challenge when working in what is perceived as the niche genre of military history. At this moment in time, I have not been made aware of sales figures, my publisher works on a print-on-demand basis. I assume the initial print run was very limited. However, its encouraging that the book was sold out just prior to Christmas. How about you, are you working on anything?