Weep, you may weep, for you may touch them not. Wilfred Owen
Although at 45 well over-age, George Calderon was determined in 1914 to get to the Front. He signed up on 4 August 1914 and went with the Blues as an interpreter to Ypres, where he was wounded on 29 October. By a ruse, he then joined the Ox & Bucks regiment as a lieutenant and in May 1915 volunteered for an overseas posting which turned out to be Gallipoli. There he was transferred to the 1st Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers, who were crack troops at the spearhead of the advance on 4 June 1915, the fateful Third Battle of Krithia. Using Calderon’s vibrant war letters, this book reconstructs in detail his army career and the military history of the battles he took part in. It concludes that he is buried in an unnamed grave at Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery on the Gallipoli Peninsula. It also tells the moving story of how his wife Kittie tried to trace him after he was reported missing, fought to hold her life together after his death was confirmed, and dedicated herself to preserving his literary legacy.
This is the first full-length biography of George Calderon. It proves that he was a man of action and a significant Edwardian literary, theatrical and political figure. He lived in Russia 1895-97, was an expert on Russian folklore and literature, wrote two novels, visited Tahiti, premiered Chekhov in Britain, and wrote successful plays himself.
The 544-page book is available online at the Sam&Sam site priced £30 plus postage. Alternatively, if you prefer to buy it by cheque, or wish to discuss discounts for multiple purchases, please contact the author at mail@patrickmiles.co.uk .
SOME RESPONSES RECEIVED SO FAR
‘The book is written with great assurance and the reader always feels in safe hands. I liked the idea of it being a story and I read it the same way I would read a novel.’ Harvey Pitcher, writer
‘It is a masterly synthesis of your own approach with scholarship and very judicious discussion of the evidence.’ Emeritus Professor Catherine Andreyev, historian
‘A monumental scholarly masterpiece that gives real insight into how the Edwardians viewed the world.’ Arch Tait, Translator of Natalya Rzhevskaya’s Memoirs of a Wartime Interpreter
‘You have, I believe, architected and written a monumental and original biography.’ John Pym, film critic
‘This is bound to remain the definitive account.’ Laurence Senelick, Fletcher Professor of Drama, Tufts University
A review by DAMIAN GRANT appears in the comments to this entry.
A review by JOHN DEWEY appears here on Amazon UK.
Related
George and Kittie Calderon 1905
Michel and Vera Fokine in “Scheherazade”, 1914 (The Music And Theatre Library of Sweden, creative commons)
Captain of the 11
Book sent to George Calderon in Russia by his mother, Christmas 1895.
Figure from Gauguin’s 1899 painting ‘Tahitian Women with Mango Blossoms’ (left); George Calderon’s pencil sketch ‘Manu’ (right)
Frontis piece by Frank Calderon
Jean Ryckaert, May 1916.
Patrick Miles in his summer house, 11 December 2016
George Calderon, 1912
George Calderon c.1901
Sir Richard Vincent Sutton c. 1913
K.N. Das Gupta and Margaret Mitchell in an Indian Dramatic Society production of The Maharani of Arakan, 1913?
Christmas 1901 Cartoon by George Calderon
Unpublished watercolour by George Calderon, Tahiti 1906
Colonel Sir Walter Coote Hedley c. 1920
A happy memory of Trinity College: undergraduates breakfast together in Downy V. Green, p. 77.
Basic form of the Calderon coat of arms
The entrance to Fort Brockhurst (picture from Britain’s Past)
Monarch Butterfly Madeira
First biography of Gallipoli war hero
Weep, you may weep, for you may touch them not. Wilfred Owen
Although at 45 well over-age, George Calderon was determined in 1914 to get to the Front. He signed up on 4 August 1914 and went with the Blues as an interpreter to Ypres, where he was wounded on 29 October. By a ruse, he then joined the Ox & Bucks regiment as a lieutenant and in May 1915 volunteered for an overseas posting which turned out to be Gallipoli. There he was transferred to the 1st Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers, who were crack troops at the spearhead of the advance on 4 June 1915, the fateful Third Battle of Krithia. Using Calderon’s vibrant war letters, this book reconstructs in detail his army career and the military history of the battles he took part in. It concludes that he is buried in an unnamed grave at Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery on the Gallipoli Peninsula. It also tells the moving story of how his wife Kittie tried to trace him after he was reported missing, fought to hold her life together after his death was confirmed, and dedicated herself to preserving his literary legacy.
This is the first full-length biography of George Calderon. It proves that he was a man of action and a significant Edwardian literary, theatrical and political figure. He lived in Russia 1895-97, was an expert on Russian folklore and literature, wrote two novels, visited Tahiti, premiered Chekhov in Britain, and wrote successful plays himself.
The 544-page book is available online at the Sam&Sam site priced £30 plus postage. Alternatively, if you prefer to buy it by cheque, or wish to discuss discounts for multiple purchases, please contact the author at mail@patrickmiles.co.uk .
SOME RESPONSES RECEIVED SO FAR
‘The book is written with great assurance and the reader always feels in safe hands. I liked the idea of it being a story and I read it the same way I would read a novel.’ Harvey Pitcher, writer
‘It is a masterly synthesis of your own approach with scholarship and very judicious discussion of the evidence.’ Emeritus Professor Catherine Andreyev, historian
‘A monumental scholarly masterpiece that gives real insight into how the Edwardians viewed the world.’ Arch Tait, Translator of Natalya Rzhevskaya’s Memoirs of a Wartime Interpreter
‘You have, I believe, architected and written a monumental and original biography.’ John Pym, film critic
‘This is bound to remain the definitive account.’ Laurence Senelick, Fletcher Professor of Drama, Tufts University
A review by DAMIAN GRANT appears in the comments to this entry.
A review by JOHN DEWEY appears here on Amazon UK.
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