Theirs is the Glory: Arnhem, Hurst and Conflict on Film

Description

Theirs is the Glory - the story of the Battle of Arnhem - was the biggest-grossing UK war film for a decade. Made by veterans of the battle in the late summer of 1945, it tells their story day by day: the pre-operation briefing, the drop, the race to the bridge, the daring, death and banter that onlysoldiers could have scripted - but the veterans had outstanding assistance. Men like Terence Young of XXX Corps - and later the early `James Bond' director - helped craft the words we hear. Directing the veterans was a First World War veteran - who had survived a bayonet charge at Gallipoli - and prolific film director: Brian Desmond Hurst. Born and bred in Belfast, Hurst went on to learn the craft of filmmaking in Hollywood with his mentor, John Ford. Conflict is shown, heard and interpreted in many of his 30 films made from the 1920s to the 1960s. This book is the `director's cut' - looking in-depth at his work on conflict - and takes, as its centrepiece, Theirs is the Glory. Decade-by-decade conflict is chronicled from the 1920s and Hurst's Ourselves Alone (and the War of Independence in Ireland, where his film was banned in Northern Ireland) to the 1960s and Simba and the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya. This is a book you will refer to again and again, and shows why Theirs is the Glory is the definitive film on Arnhem; it will remain the veterans' lasting tribute to their comrades that did not return. This book also shows why Hurst was an enigma, but a master of the genre, and at his very best when focusing on the subject of conflict on the vast canvas of film.

David Truesdale took early retirement in 1998 and since then has written for films and television and produced battlefield guides for the Royal Irish Fusiliers Museum, The First Eagle: the 87th Foot at the Battle of Barrosa and Regulars by God! The 89th Foot at the Battle of Lundy's Lane. He is the author of Brotherhood of the Cauldron: Irishmen in the 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem; Angels and Heroes, the story of a machine gunner with the Royal Irish Fusiliers 1914 to April 1915 (with Amanda Moreno); Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (with Richard Doherty); Leading the Way to Arnhem: a History of the 21st Independent Parachute Company (with Peter Gijbles); Arnhem, Their Final Battle: the 11th Parachute Battalion (with Gerrit Pijpers obe); Victoria's Harvest: The Irish Soldier in the Zulu War of 1879 (with John Young) and Young Citizen Old Soldier: the Journal of Rifleman James McRoberts. With David R Orr he has written The Rifles are There: 1st and 2nd Battalions Royal Ulster Rifles in the Second World War and A New Battlefield: The Royal Ulster Rifles in Korea. For relaxation he paints in watercolour, listens to good music, drinks red wine and finds that Tommaso Albinoni (1671-1750) and his 'Oboe Concerto in D Minor' has been an inspiration during difficult times in any manuscript. Allan Esler Smith administers the estate of his uncle, Brian Desmond Hurst, Northern Ireland's greatest film director, who made 'Theirs is the Glory'. In addition to writing and speaking about Hurst's life and films, Allan is a chartered accountant and business start-up expert and co-authors The Good Retirement Guide.

This is a book you will refer to again and again, and shows why 'Theirs is the Glory' is the definitive film on Arnhem; it will remain the veterans' lasting tribute to their comrades that did not return. * Books Monthly * The epic of Arnhem blurs the lines but Theirs is the Glory was honest in its presentation of events and this book will help you appreciate the men, the movie and the history perhaps even more than you do already. * War History Online * It is a niche subject but it is a fascinating niche that I think will intrigue those who want to know all there is to know about the 1st Airborne Division experience at Arnhem and Oosterbeek. * Eagle *