Abstract
In this chapter, we ask why military memoirs look like they do. We focus in this chapter on the book covers, and do so using a framework suggested by an existing literature on paratext. We examine in detail some of the key paratextual features of the covers of military memoirs, looking at the titles of books, the way in which an author’s name is presented, and the overall design of the cover, including the imagery and other features used. Given that the cover is so significant for the sales of a book, we then go on to consider how covers and their imagery comprise a visual economy, and in turn how this suggests a relationship to wider narratives about war through which it is given meaning in contemporary public cultural life.
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Notes
- 1.
The covers of all the books described in this chapter can be viewed online, providing a more satisfactory viewing experience than the monochrome reproductions that could have been used in this book.
- 2.
Genette, G. (1991) Introduction to the paratext. New Literary History 22: 261–272. See also Genette, G. (1997) Paratexts: Thresholds of Interpretation. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.
- 3.
This feature of covers is not unique to military memoirs. Not for nothing does the satirical magazine Private Eye run an occasional photo-story feature, Bookalikes, pointing to the similarity in cover design between books within a particular genre.
- 4.
Jan Tschichold, Graphic Arts and Book Design, quoted in Rota, A. (1998) Apart from the Text. Pinner: Private Libraries Association, Oak Knoll Press. p. 124.
- 5.
Tanselle, G.T. (1971) Book-jackets, blurbs and bibliographies. The Library Fifth Series, Vol XXVI, No. 2, 91–134. See also Tanselle, G.T. (2003–04) Dust-jackets, dealers and documentation. Studies in Bibliography 56: 45–97.
- 6.
Rota, A. (1998) Apart from the Text. Pinner: Private Libraries Association, Oak Knoll Press. p. 137.
- 7.
Thompson, J.B. (2010) Merchants of Culture: The Publishing Business in the Twenty-First Century. Cambridge: Polity.
- 8.
Stokmans, M. and Henrickx, M. (1994) The attention paid to new book releases on a display table. Poetics 22:3, 185–197.
- 9.
D’Astous, A., Colbert, F. and Mbarek, I. (2006) Factors influencing readers’ interest in new book releases: An experimental study. Poetics 34: 134–147.
- 10.
Genette (1991) op. cit., p. 261.
- 11.
Genette (1991) op. cit. p. 262.
- 12.
Fowler, L. (2005) Operation Barras: The SAS Rescue Mission: Sierra Leone 2000. London: Cassell. Heaney, S. with Lewis, D. (2014) Operation Mayhem. London: Orion. Crossland, P. (1996) Victor Two. London: Bloomsbury.
- 13.
Hutchings, R. (2008) Special Forces Pilot: A Flying Memoir of the Falklands War. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. Cartwright, J. (2011) Sniper in Helmand: Six Months on the Frontline. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. Hill, C. (2014) Combat Camera: From Auntie Beeb to the Afghan Frontline. Croydon: Alma Books.
- 14.
McManners, H. (1984) Falklands Commando: A Soldier’s View of the Land War. London: William Kimber. McLaughlin, S. (2006) Squaddie: A Soldier’s Story. Edinburgh: Mainstream. Groom, T. (2007) Diver: A Royal Navy and Commercial Diver’s Journey Through Life and Around the World. Rendlesham: Seafarer Books. Anderson, M. (2006) RAF ‘Plumber’: My 30 Years in the Armament Trade 1953–1983. Bognor Regis: Woodfield Publishing.
- 15.
Spence, C. (1998) Sabre Squadron. London: Penguin. Grahame, P. and Lewis, D. (2010) Fire Strike 7/9. London: Ebury. Peters, J. and Nichol, J. (1994) Team Tornado. London: Michael Joseph.
- 16.
Ward, S. (2000) Sea Harrier Over the Falklands. London: Cassell. McMullon, D. (1998) Chinook! The Special Forces Flight in War and Peace. London: Simon & Schuster. Inskip, I. (2012) Ordeal by Exocet: HMS Glamorgan and the Falklands War 1982. London: Frontline Books. McNally, T. (2000) Cloudpuncher: A Young Gunner’s Struggle with a Hidden Enemy. Oxton: Classfern.
- 17.
Pook, J. (2007) RAF Harrier Ground Attack – Falklands. Barnsley: Pen and Sword.
- 18.
Charlwood, A. (2001) Tread Lightly into Dander: International Experiences of a Bomb Disposal Expert. Bognor Regis: Woodfield Publishing. Madison, C. (2010) Dressed to Kill: The True Story of a Woman Flying Under Fire. London: Headline Review. Stewart, B. (1993) Broken Lives: A Personal View of the Bosnian Conflict. London: Harper Collins. Renwick, A. (1999) Hidden Wounds. London: Barbed Wire. Rose, M. (2008) Fighting for Peace: Bosnia 1994. London: Harvill Press. Hunter, G. (1999) The Shooting Gallery. London: BCA. McCallion, H. (1995) Killing Zone. London: Bloomsbury. Tootal, S. (2009) Danger Close: Commanding 3 PARA in Afghanistan. London: John Murray. Asher, M. (2003) Shoot to Kill: A Soldier’s Journey Through Violence. London: Cassell Military. Collins, F. (1997) Baptism of Fire: The Astonishing True Story of a Man of God. London: Doubleday.
- 19.
Elwood, N. (1999) All the Queen’s Men. London: Gay Men’s Press/Millivres Ltd. Eyles-Thomas, M. (2007) Sod That for a Game of Soldiers. Sevenoaks: Kenton Publishing. Novak, R. (2006) Drop and Give Me Twenty: Mischievous Memoirs of a Former RAF Mechanic. Bognor Regis: Woodfield Publishing. Bedwell, T. (2004) Swinging the Lamp: A Former ‘Webfoot’ Looks Back on 22 Years in the RAF Marine Branch. Bognor Regis: Woodfield Publishing Ltd.
- 20.
Ballinger, A. (1992) The Quiet Soldier: On Selection with 21 SAS. London: Orion. Beharry, J. with Cook, N. (2006) Barefoot Soldier: A Story of Extreme Valour. London: Sphere. Stewart, S.P. (2014) The Accidental Soldier: From Civvy Street to Afghanistan. London: Trinity Mirror Media. Beattie, D. with Gomm, P. (2008) An Ordinary Soldier. London: Simon and Schuster. Glenton, J. (2013) Soldier Box: Why I Won’t Return to the War on Terror. London: Verso.
- 21.
Mervin, K. (2005) Weekend Warrior: A Territorial Soldier’s War in Iraq. Edinburgh: Mainstream. Goodley, H. (2012) An Officer and a Gentlewoman: The Making of a Female British Army Officer. London: Constable. Spicer, T. (1999) An Unorthodox Soldier: Peace and War and the Sandline Affair. Edinburgh: Mainstream. Wharton, J. (2013) Out in the Army: My Life as a Gay Soldier. London: Biteback Publishing Ltd. Hennessey, P. (2009) The Junior Officers’ Reading Club: Killing Time and Fighting Wars. London: Allen Lane.
- 22.
Henderson, T. and Hunt, J. (2008) Warrior: A True Story of Bravery and Betrayal in the Iraq War. Edinburgh: Mainstream. Barry (2008) op. cit. Lukowiak, K. (1993) A Soldier’s Song: True Stories from the Falklands. London: Phoenix.
- 23.
Bywater, S. (2003) Forced Out. Lewes: The Book Guild. Weston, S. (1989) Walking Tall: An Autobiography. London: Bloomsbury. Thompson, J. (1985) No Picnic: 3 Commando Brigade in the Falklands. London: Secker & Warburg.
- 24.
Farthing, P. (2009) One Dog at a Time: Saving the Strays of Afghanistan. New York: Thomas Dunne Books. In a paperback edition, the sub-title ‘Saving the Strays of Helmand’ is used.
- 25.
Scott, J. (2008) Blood Clot: In Combat with the Patrols Platoon, 3 PARA Afghanistan, 2006. Solihull: Helion.
- 26.
Nordass, G. with Riegel, R. (2009) Commando: A Royal Marine’s Story. Dublin: The O’Brien Press.
- 27.
Morgan, D. (2007) Hostile Skies: The Battle for the Falklands. London: Phoenix. Colbeck, G. (2002) With 3 PARA to the Falklands. London: Greenhill Books.
- 28.
Ely, N. (2003) For Queen and Country. London: Blake. Also published in 2007 as Fighting for Queen and Country. Campion, P. (2011) Born Fearless: From Kid’s Home to SAS to Pirate Hunter – My Life as a Shadow Warrior. London: Quercus. Crossland, P. (1997) Victor Two: Inside Iraq, the Crucial Mission. London: Bloomsbury.
- 29.
de la Billière, P. (1992) Storm Command: A Personal Account of the Gulf War. London: Harper Collins. de la Billière, P. (1995) Looking for Trouble: SAS to Gulf Command. London: Harper Collins. Cordingley, P. (1996) In the Eye of the Storm: Commanding the Desert Rats in the Gulf War. London: Hodder & Stoughton. Barry, B. (2008) A Cold War: Frontline Operations in Bosnia 1995–1996. Stroud: Spellmount Ltd. Cook, M. (1994) Promise of Hope. London: Hamish Hamilton. Eeles, T. (2008) A Passion for Flying: 8000 Hours of RAF Flying. Barnsley: Pen & Sword. Newton, J. (2007) Armed Action: My War in the Skies with 847 Naval Air Squadron. London: Headline Review. Hammond, M. (2009) Immediate Response: A Chinook Pilot’s Explosive True Story. London: Michael Joseph. Mason, P. with Bartlett, K. (1992) Pablo’s War. London: Warner Books. McManners (1984) op. cit. Lofthouse, R. (no date) A Cold Night in June: Falklands Battle of Mount Longdon. Amazon.
- 30.
Bramley, V. (1991) Excursion to Hell: Mount Longdon, A Universal Story of Battle. London: Pan.
- 31.
Beharry, J. with Cook, N. (2006) Barefoot Soldier: A Story of Extreme Valour. London: Sphere. Croucher, M. with Jobson, R. (2009) Bullet Proof: One Marine’s Ferocious Account of Close Combat Behind Enemy Lines. London: Century. Beattie, D. with Gomm, P. (2008) An Ordinary Soldier. London: Simon & Schuster. Beattie, D. with Gomm, P. (2009) Task Force Helmand. London: Simon & Schuster. Ratcliffe, P. with Botham, N. and Hitchen, B. (2000) Eye of the Storm: Twenty-Five Years of Action with the SAS. London: Michael O’Mara. McNab, A. (1993) Bravo Two Zero. London: Bantam Press.
- 32.
Spicer, T. (1999) An Unorthodox Soldier: Peace and War and the Sandline Affair. Edinburgh: Mainstream. Pook, J. (2007) RAF Harrier Ground Attack – Falklands. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. Newton, J. (2007) Armed Action: My War in the Skies with 847 Naval Air Squadron. London: Headline Review.
- 33.
Ivison, K. (2010) Red One: A Bomb Disposal Expert on the Front Line. London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson.
- 34.
Grahame, P. and Lewis, D. (2010) Fire Strike 7/9. London: Ebury. Ward, S. (2000) Sea Harrier Over the Falklands. London: Cassell. Duncan, A. with Loveless, A. (2011) Sweating the Metal. London: Hodder and Stoughton. Chapman, C. (2013) Notes from a Small Military. London: John Blake. Ashby, P. (2002) Unscathed: Outnumbered, Unarmed, Under Attack. London: Macmillan. Edwards, G.G. (2005) Out of the Blue: An Airman’s Tale 1965–2005. Bognor Regis: Woodfield.
- 35.
Kleinreesink, E., Jenkings, K.N. and Woodward, R. (2015) How (not) to sell a military memoir in Britain. Political and Military Sociology: An Annual Review Vol. 43, pp. 1–26. Transaction Publishers.
- 36.
Citation of medals and honours on a cover is not absolute; however, the cover of Mick Flynn’s Bullet Magnet calls him ‘Britain’s most decorated frontline soldier’ but his medals are not mentioned by name, and readers of Bill Shaw’s Kill Switch have to open the book to discover that he was awarded an MBE.
- 37.
Thompson (2010), op. cit.
- 38.
For a discussion of the soldier hero figure in contemporary print media, see Woodward, R., Winter, T. and Jenkings, KN (2009) Heroic anxieties: the figure of the British solider in contemporary print media. Journal of War and Culture Studies 2 (2): 211–223.
- 39.
Monty B (2014) A Sniper’s Conflict. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. Gurkha, J. (2013) A Gurkha’s Story: The Explosive True Story of the First Gurkha in the SAS. Croydon: Lamjung Books. Time, M. (2014) Going Commando. Leicestershire: Matador: Troubadour Publishing.
- 40.
We cannot be completely certain about the total absence of cover imagery. Some of the hardbacks in our collection do not have their dust-jacket, having been bought from second hand booksellers and charity shops.
- 41.
Asher, M. (2003) Shoot to Kill: A Soldier’s Journey Through Violence. London: Cassell Military.
- 42.
Mercer, P. (2001) Not By Strength By Guile: The Amazing True Story of My Life in the SBS. London: Blake.
- 43.
Knell, T. (2012) A Hell for Heroes: An SAS Hero’s Journey to the Heart of Darkness. London: Coronet.
- 44.
Bury, P. (2010) Callsign Hades. London: Simon and Schuster.
- 45.
Preece, S. (2004) Amongst the Marines: The Untold Story. Edinburgh: Mainstream.
- 46.
Ormrod, M. (2009) Man Down. London: Bantam Press.
- 47.
Roderick, I. (2009) Bare life of the virtuous shadow warrior: The use of silhouette in military training advertisements. Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies 23 (1): 77–91.
- 48.
Stewart, S.P. (2014) The Accidental Soldier: From Civvy Street to Afghanistan. London: Trinity Mirror Media.
- 49.
Bywater, S. (2003) Forced Out. Lewes: The Book Guild.
- 50.
Olafson, J. (2011) Wearing the Green Beret: A Canadian with the Royal Marine Commandos. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. Mervin, K. (2005) Weekend Warrior: A Territorial Soldier’s War in Iraq. Edinburgh: Mainstream. McManners (1984) op. cit. Stankovic, M. (2001) Trusted Mole: A Soldier’s Journey into Bosnia’s Heart of Darkness. London: Harper Collins. Williams, P. with Power, M.S. (1990) Summer Soldier. London, Bloomsbury. McNally (2000) Cloudpuncher. Oxton: Classfern.
- 51.
Ford, S. (1997) One Up: A Woman in Action with the SAS. London: Harper Collins.
- 52.
Weston, S. (1989) Walking Tall: An Autobiography. London: Bloomsbury. Weston, S. with Man, J. (1992) Going Back: Return to the Falklands. London: BCA. Weston, S. (2003) Moving On. London: Portrait.
- 53.
Extract from Official Citation, back cover, Beharry, J. with Cook, N. (2006) Barefoot Soldier: A Story of Extreme Valour. London: Sphere.
- 54.
Dannatt (2010) op. cit.
- 55.
Collins, T. (2005) Rules of Engagement: A Life in Conflict. London: Headline. Richards, D. (2014) Taking Command: The Autobiography. London: Headline. Jackson, M. (2007) Soldier: The Autobiography. London: Bantam.
- 56.
Hariman, R. and Lucaites, J.L. (2007) No Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture, and Liberal Democracy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- 57.
Peters, J. and Nichol, J. with Pearson, W. (1992) Tornado Down. London: BCA.
- 58.
Bramley, V. (1991) Excursion to Hell: Mount Longdon, A Universal Story of Battle. London: Pan.
- 59.
Vaux, N. (1986) March to the South Atlantic: 42 Commando Royal Marines in the Falklands War. London: Buchan and Enright.
- 60.
McNally, T. (2007) Watching Men Burn: A Soldier’s Story. Monday Books.
- 61.
Bain, C. (2007) Cold War, Hot Wings: Memoirs of a Cold War Fighter Pilot 1962–1994. Barnsley: Pen and Sword.
- 62.
Orchard, A. (2008) Joint Force Harrier. London: Michael Joseph.
- 63.
Barker, N. (1997) Beyond Endurance: An Epic of Whitehall and the South Atlantic Conflict. Barnsley: Pen and Sword.
- 64.
Fieldgate, B. (2007) The Captain’s Steward. Chippenham: Melrose Books.
- 65.
Black, D. (2011) Playing for England. CreateSpace. Scholey, P. (1999) The Joker: Twenty Years Inside the SAS. London: André Deutsch.
- 66.
Farthing (2009) op. cit.
- 67.
Goodley, H. (2012) An Officer and a Gentlewoman: The Making of a Female British Army Officer. London: Constable.
- 68.
Hennessey (2009) op. cit.
- 69.
Jim Stoddart, Art Director Penguin Press, ‘Penguin Press Design July 09’, The Penguin Blog August 2009, https://penguinukbooks.wordpress.com/2009/08/19/its-been-mentioned-once-or-twice-that-there-should-be-more-about-book-covers-on-this-blog-and-so-this-is-the-first-in-an-atte/ [accessed 4 September 2017].
- 70.
Brian Lawler, http://thelawlers.com/Blognosticator/?p=749
- 71.
Crossland (1996) op. cit. Douglas, C. (2013) Fire Mission: The Diary of a Firing Sergeant in Afghanistan. Gritfiction. Croucher, M. (2009) Bulletproof: One Marine’s Ferocious Account of Close Combat Behind Enemy Lines. London: Century.
- 72.
Ivison (2010) op. cit.
- 73.
Woodward and Jenkings (2012) op. cit.
- 74.
Compton, M. and Compton, M., with Summerfield Smith, M. (2009) Home from War: How Love Conquered the Horrors of a Soldier’s Afghan Nightmare. Edinburgh: Mainstream.
- 75.
The irony is not lost on us; consider the cover endorsements for this book, for example.
- 76.
Some of the points which follow are also made in Woodward and Jenkings (2012) op. cit.
- 77.
Data from Nielsen Bookscan.
- 78.
See Woodward, R., Jenkings, K.N. and Williams, A.J. (2017) Militarisation, universities and the University Armed Service Units. Political Geography, following Jauregiu, 2015.
- 79.
Following Kuus in Flusty, S, Dittmer, J., Gilbert, E., and Kuus M. (2008) Interventions in banal imperialism. Political Geography 27: 617–629
- 80.
Kurasawa, F. (2014). In praise of ambiguity: On the visual economy of distant suffering. In Hadj-Moussa, R. and Nijhawan, M. (Eds.) Suffering, Art and Aesthetics. New York, Palgrave, pp. 23–50. Kurasawa, following Poole (1997), defines a visual economy as ‘the distribution and circulation of relations of power that produce and organize a specific socio-visual field, resulting in a historically established system of representational conventions and typifications consistently reproduced in images of similar events or situations’ (p. 24). See also Poole, D. (1997) Vision, Race and Modernity: A Visual Economy of the Andean Image World. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
- 81.
Kurasawa (2014), op. cit., p. 23.
- 82.
Campbell, D. (2008) The visual economy of HIV/AIDS, online publication at https://www.david-campbell.org/visual-hivaids/index.html
- 83.
Poole (1997), op. cit., pp. 9–10.
- 84.
Der Derian, J. (2009) Virtuous War: Mapping the Military-Industrial Media-Entertainment Network. London: Routledge.
- 85.
Grahame (2010) op. cit.
- 86.
Mills, D. (2007) Sniper One: The Blistering True Story of a British Battle Group Under Siege. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
- 87.
See for example Lewis, D. (2013) Zero Six Bravo: 60 Special Forces, 100,000 Enemy, the Explosive True Story. London: Quercus. Lewis, D. (2008) Apache Dawn. London: Sphere.
- 88.
Maylor, R. with Macklin, R. (2010) Sniper Elite: the World of a Top Special Forces Marksman. New York: St Martin’s Press.
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Woodward, R., Jenkings, K.N. (2018). Why Do Military Memoirs Look Like They Do?. In: Bringing War to Book. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-57010-9_8
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