A new book has been published about Northamptonshire during the First World War and profits made from sales will be going to charity – 50% to Northamptonshire Health Charity to benefit our local NHS and 50% to the Royal British Legion.
Northamptonshire in the First World War has been eight years in the making.
Printed in Great Britain, and running to 264 pages, the book is beautifully illustrated with over one hundred rare and never-before-seen images of Northamptonshire during the First World War.
The author of the book, Mikesh Mistry visited the charity office this week and it was great to hear about all the hard work that went into getting it completed and published.
As one of our supporters you can receive a 10% discount on the price of the book by using the code ‘NHS10′ at checkout.
To purchase a copy online please click >>here<<.
Drawing on several interviews of descendants of men who fought in the war and countless hours of research in dusty archives, the book takes the reader on a journey with the heroic Northamptonshire Regiment as they embark on a series of deadly battles across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
The immense impact of the war on society back in Northamptonshire is explored.
The book covers the impact of conscription, military tribunals, women at work, a large prisoner of war camp in the county, media censorship, rising social tensions, the local boot industry, food shortages and much more.
The idea of a local history about Northampton came when the author, Mikesh, was just twenty-two years old and recently graduated in 2014.
With no car, he would cycle from Kingsthorpe to the Northamptonshire Record Society in Wootton to conduct research with his laptop and camera.
To make the most use of his time at the archives, Mikesh cleverly decided to request as many documents as allowed, and instead of reading them at the archives study room, he would use his camera to quickly photograph pages before transferring the images to his laptop.
A digital archive was built using clever software featuring Optical Character Recognition (OCR) that meant typed documents (such as old newspapers) were searchable.
This facility helped Mikesh organise important sections without having to print masses of materials or requiring a large office to store it all.
Initially, the book was only supposed to be a small-scale project, but as Mikesh asked staff at the Record Office, local libraries and museums, he was pointed in a myriad of directions to conduct research.
Mikesh remarked:
People who I spoke to about the book were extremely helpful and would point me to a resource that I was not aware of.
I couldn’t resist not looking and I would usually find another treasure chest of information and details that I wanted in my book.
It got to the point where I had to stop talking to people about the book because I would never finish the research after all their suggestions!
Mikesh signed some copies of the book for us.
November and the run-up to Christmas will be a busy period for the author embarking on a tour to promote the book.
There’s been a lot of interest across the county, and Mikesh will be speaking at schools, pubs and churches.
There are also two standout events currently planned.
On Friday 11th November, Mikesh will be at Holy Cross Church, Daventry.
The beautiful 260-year-old ironstone church will play host to Mikesh as he gives a speech on how Northamptonshire was affected by the war and on the importance of the war’s legacy.
The event will feature live singing, including God Save the King and other favourite British patriotic songs, along with a musical accompaniment.
Then on Saturday 19th November, the stunning All Saints’ Church in the centre of Northampton, will host an Evening with the Author night.
Mikesh will discuss the making of the book, the challenges and joys of writing it, and will talk about the impact of the Great War on Northamptonshire.
This event will also feature living singing by Elise Fairley, a soprano trained at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire.
For more information, please click >>here<<.
During the writing of the book, research was conducted on how Christmas was celebrated in Northamptonshire during the war.
Unfortunately, the chapter never made it into the book, but the research will not be lost as there will be further events in December where Mikesh will give a Christmas themed talk on Northamptonshire during the war.
In addition, Northamptonshire in the First World War is being stocked by shops and museums up and down the county including Northampton Museum, Wellingborough Museum and Towcester Museum.
Mikesh will be at Wellingborough Museum on Saturday 5th November from 1pm.
The author said:
I’m absolutely delighted the book has come out so well.
It’s reflective of all the hard work that has gone into it, whether that is writing, researching or designing.
I never thought this book would take quite so long, but life, work and even a pandemic kept getting in the way.
However, the book is worth the wait.
The response to the book so far has been excellent, and I can’t wait to give speeches about the war in Northamptonshire at Daventry, Northampton and other locations.
The events at Holy Cross Church and All Saints’ are going to be special evenings.
I’m hoping to be able to raise a nice amount of money for both the NHS and Royal British Legions who do so much to help our communities.