This last year has been a time to slow down, reflect and perhaps finally get round to completing that long desired task. For many of our Alumni this has been to write books which are available now from the Sandhurst Trust Shop .
Lt Gen Peter Pearson CB CBE (SMC 9 & RMAS Commandant 2006-2007)
No other book has made Public Speaking so simple.
It’s aimed at the younger generations setting out in life, as well as those who continue to be novices at speaking in public. Whether you are preparing for an interview for a university place or a job, or if you have been asked to ‘say a few words’ or give a keynote address at some event, this book is for you.
Written by someone who has been speaking to audiences for over 40 years, the book takes you through, step by step, how to put a speech together and how to give it successfully. It covers the early part of analysing the task in front of you, and helps you put a structure together for your speech.
General Peter has kindly signed all the copies for the Sandhurst Trust.
Neil Jurd – SMC 921
The Leadership Book, by Neil Jurd, has been written to encourage and enable effective leadership. Leadership is a simple but powerful concept which anyone with an open mind can apply. Leadership is about knowing where you are going and recruiting others to help. Leadership can be learned and anyone who chooses to work to improve their leadership will be able to do so. Better leadership means happier teams, and better output.
"Throughout the book, Jurd stresses that good leadership is ultimately about human relations, therefore being an effective leader is something that anyone can do, a dark art it is not. I finished The Leadership Book with a better understanding and acceptance of myself, a sense of the importance of connecting with people in a deeper way and a renewed desire to just get out there, lead and love every minute of it. Now ask yourself: how many leadership books have you read that have had that impact on you?" The Centre for Army Leadership (CAL)
Paul Cordle (Intake 27)
A book first published in 1880 by Major Thomas Seccombe has been re-published for the 21st Century.
"This book is fun; it throws an amusing light on the British Army as the British Empire approached the apogee of its power... This short book should make a colourful addition to the home of anyone remotely interested in military history and Shakespeare; and I wish it success."
General Sir Jack Deverell KCB OBE DL
From the deliberate, but delightful, misspelling of Shakespeare in the title to the carefully portrayed perils of being a Victorian soldier and the appropriately selected Shakespearian quotes to go alongside each cartoon, Thomas Seccombe's book will resonate with all who have an interest in observing life - military and otherwise.
Seccombe was a true son of the Victorian Empire and served in The Royal Artillery until retiring as a Lieutenant-Colonel in 1881. This book was first published in 1880 and was so popular that it went on to six reprints in the following two years. Seccombe subsequently had a flourishing civilian career as an illustrator. Some 140 years later, even today's readers will see why Military Misreadings of Shakspere [sic] was such a success. Seccombe's subtle, but perceptive, observations of human character are as true today as they ever were. He had a wonderful eye for detail as well as the ridiculous - but never with malice even when pairing his cartoons with quotes from the Bard of Avon.
This re-issued edition has the added benefit of former Grenadier Paul Cordle's highly informative commentary which puts Seccombe's army into perspective and relates regiments to their modern successors-in-arms. With a similar eye for detail as the original illustrator, military historian Paul brings the illustrations to life with fascinating military observations.