Pen and Sword Books, also stylised asPen & Sword, is aBritishpublisher which specialises in printing and distributing books in both hardback and softback onmilitary history,militaria and other niche subjects, primarily focused on theUnited Kingdom. Pen and Sword has over 6,000 titles available in print, and also available asebook download.[1] Releasing 500 new titles each year on a variety of subjects,[1] it is part of theBarnsley Chronicle newspaper group.
The first books produced by the company were in response to public demand, following a series of articles first published weekly in theBarnsley Chronicle.Dark Peak Aircraft Wrecks told the story of crash sites in theDark Peak area of the Peak District National Park, and a further weekly feature on the history of twoKitchener battalions, known as theBarnsley Pals, aroused a public interest. Over the years these books have beenreprinted a number of times.
Following on from the success of the Dark Peak and Barnsley Pals books, a number oflocal history paperbacks were produced, along with a series ofbattlefieldguide books.Battleground Europe proved successful, and as more titles were produced, the company made the decision to launch abook publishing arm of the group.
When theLeo Cooper imprint became available, theBarnsley Chronicle purchased it;[1] and the Pen and Sword publishing house was established in1990.[3] Leo Cooper (1934–2013), the late husband of novelistJilly Cooper, had established a reputation for publishingmilitary history titles. Leo Cooper later retired.[3]
'Classics' – books coveringmilitary operations and stories from many different periods throughout history;
'Cold War 1945–1991' – a series of 19 books (as of December 2020[update]) documenting individual battles around the world during the period from 1945 to 1991, known as theCold War;[5]
'FlightCraft' – 18 books (as of December 2020[update]) focussing on significantmilitary aircraft from the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States of America, and Russia; primarily during the early part of the Cold War;[6]
'History of Terror' – a series of 15 books (as of December 2020[update]) documenting significant episodes of terror from the last two millennium; titles include:Emperors of Rome: The Monsters, detailing the 'bad' Roman emperors fromAD 14 to 548[a];Irgun, about fanaticalZionists who wish to convertPalestine andTransjordan into an independent Jewish state from 1931 to 1948[b];Northern Ireland: The Troubles, an intimate documentation of paramilitary operations on the island ofIreland, and the quest to quash them, in a period known as 'The Troubles' from 1968 to 1998[c]; andAl Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, about theal Qaeda insurgencies in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and theYemen, along with splinterjihadist groups in West Africa and Europe, from 2007[d];[7]
'Holt's Guidebooks' – overview general information books with maps,memorials, battleground descriptions and tourist-focused summaries covering variedmilitary campaigns fromWorld War I andWorld War II;
'Napoleonic Library' – a series of 27 books (as of December 2020[update]) dedicated to the people, equipment and battles from theNapoleonic Wars;[8]
'Pals' – narratives documenting the lives of friends,comrades, and pals, who joined together in the sameBattalions to serve King and Country during theGreat War
'ShipCraft' – a series of 30 books (as of December 2020[update]) documenting military battleships, cruisers, destroyers, frigates, sloops, and aircraft carriers; along with the great passenger liners such asthe Titanic and her sisters;[9]
'TankCraft' – 28 books (as of December 2020[update]) documenting in significant detail the tracked warfare vehicles commonly known astanks; from Britain, Germany, and America;[10]
'Warships of the Royal Navy' – stories behind famousRoyal Navy (RN)ships from theNapoleonic Wars to contemporary military conflicts;
'Images of War' – a major series of 243 books (as of December 2020[update]) of rare photographs fromwartime archives of every possible global military subject, from animals and aircraft to theWaffen SS and Winston Churchill; including concentration anddeath camps, individual battles, squadrons, battalions and divisions, the people, and the equipment they flew, sailed and operated, on the ground, in the air, and at sea; in all theatres of war since World War One; all with detailed captions and references;[11]
Shot in the Tower: the story of the spies executed in the Tower of London during the First World War.[12]
^Shot in the Tower: the story of the spies executed in the Tower of London during the First World War. Leonard Sellers: Books.ASIN1848840268.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
