MacDonald of the 42nd

London: Seeley Service & Co, 1971. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Good/Good. 237, [1] pages. Footnotes. Illustrations. Notes. Appendices. Bibliography. DJ is worn, soiled, torn, chipped and price clipped. Some endpaper soiling. Some pencil marks noted. Donald F. Featherstone (20 March 1918 - 3 September 2013) was a British author of more than forty books on wargaming and military history. Donald Featherstone was born on 20 March 1918 in London. and during the Second World War, he joined the Royal Armoured Corps. An account of his war experiences can be found in his book Lost Tales. Featherstone was first introduced to wargaming by reading H. G. Wells' Little Wars and his first opponent was his brother. His second opponent was Tony Bath many years later in 1955. In 1960 the two of them began editing the UK version of the War Game Digest, a seminal wargaming newsletter started by Jack Scruby in the United States. Featherstone expressed disapproval of articles "attempting to spread an aura of pseudo-science over what is a pastime". In 1962, he started his own periodical, Wargamer's Newsletter. In 1961, he organized the first UK wargames convention at his home in Southampton. Two years later he organized the first National Wargames Championships Convention at a local hotel which was attended by about a hundred wargamers from all over the country. In 1977 he was one of the founder members of the British Commission for Military History. In 1978, Featherstone appeared on the BBC to promote the hobby. After a discussion with Paddy Griffith, Featherstone realized that wargaming as a hobby could considerably aid in understanding military history. A look at the valiant career of Hector MacDonald in the Black Watch in the mid-19th century. Mostly taken from in-depth research and the personal letters of MacDonald, who fought in the Crimean War and the Indian mutiny. He left the Army and traveled to the US where he fought in the Civil War before returning to die as a dock worker in poverty. Hector MacDonald was fourteen when he ran away to join the Black Watch, the famous 42nd Highland Regiment. From service in the Crimean War, where he was wounded , to the Indian Mutiny, and then through a whole array of other assignments, MacDonald saw more service than most. Based on a single letter found in Bristol's Docks, Donald Featherstone has written an imaginative reconstruction of the outstanding soldier's life. From the extensive contemporary accounts of the Regiment and histories of the Army, Donald Featherstone has reconstructed the life of a Highlander in the mid-nineteenth century. Using the archives of the Black Watch Regimental Museum and his unique access to key British military historians, Featherstone has found a wealth of period detail. Hector MacDonald was a real soldier and the actions in this book are real, his story is in many ways representative of the Victorian soldier who founded an empire by feat of arms.