Writing

Notable books include: ‘Beneath Flanders’ Fields: The Tunneller’s War’ (with Peter Barton and Johan Vandewalle, for Spellmount); ‘Grasping Gallipoli, Terrain Maps and Failure at the Dardanelles, 1915’ (with Peter Chasseaud, for Spellmount); ‘Tommy’s War, British Military Memorabilia, 1914–1918’ (for Crowood); ‘The British Soldier of the First World War’, ‘British Postcards of the First World War’, ‘First World War Britain’, ‘British Army Cap Badges of the First World War’ and ‘What Tommy Took to War’ (all for Shire); ‘Battle Story: Gallipoli, 1915’, ‘Battle Story: Loos 1915’ and ‘Trench Talk’ (all for the History Press).

Notable additions include ‘Remembering Tommy: The British Soldier of the First World War’ for The History Press – a detailed and beautifully illustrated account of the soldier (written with Chris Foster); and the Haynes Manual: ‘Great War Tommy’ – a guide to the training, equipping and life of the Great War Tommy’.

Recently Peter worked with illustrator and artist Tim Godden on the graphic novel ‘Percy A Story of 1918′ a book shortlisted for a SAHR prize in 2020. The book is based on a small bundle of letters found in a flea market, recounting the tale of Percy Edwards who was conscripted into the Royal Welsh Fusiliers in 1918. He was sent to the front, aged just 18. Percy’s letters were few and his words sparse and immature, but they are very powerful.

Peter Doyle’s ‘First World War in 100 Objects’ was the flagship book of the History Press Great War Centenary.

All books currently in print are listed below.

Gallipoli

Gallipoli was an ill-fated battlefront in 1915. Landing on a hostile shore, the Allies had to combat well-prepared Ottoman positions, the difficulties of the terrain, the inadequacies of water supply and the prevelance of disease. However, research carried out by Peter Chasseaud and Peter Doyle suggests that the traditional view of poor maps and terrain intelligence has been overplayed, and that the Allied commander, Ian Hamilton, had much information at hand.

Evaluation of the ground shows that, at Cape Helles, the British 29th Division had to face a firestorm magnified by the terrain – a lecture delivered by Peter Doyle to the cadets at West Point in 2007 and 2014. His latest book on the subject: Rough Riders: Two Brothers and the Last Stand at Gallipoli, 1915, was published in 2015.

Remembrance

War has left an indelible mark both on the landscape, and on modern memory. The memorials present in every town and village, the war graves that marking sites of conflict, and the scars deeply ingrained in communities are its legacy. The work of the All Party War Graves and Battlefield Heritage Group, chaired by Lord Faulkner of Worcester, ensures that all aspects of remembrance, commemoration and interpretation are discussed within Parliament. Peter Doyle is secretary of this Group.

1939 – 1945

Peter Doyle has worked extensively with Richard Burt and others at Texas A & M University understanding the role that geology and terrain had to play in the storming of the Pointe du Hoc in Normandy on 6 June 1944.

With the Battlefield Detectives team he has applied the same skills to understanding how terrain played an important role in impeding the progress of the German offensive during the ‘Battle of the Bulge’, and in defeating the British push along the narrow ‘Devil’s Highway’ to relieve the beleagured Paratroopers at Arnhem in September 1944.

Recent work with Jamie Pringle at Keele University has looked at underground structures from prisoner of war escape tunnels to air raid shelters.

He has also studied the life of the British soldier during the conflict, as well as life on the Home Front. He has written several books on the subject, including: ‘The British Soldier of the Second World War’ and ‘Prisoner of War in Germany’ (for Shire); The Home Front, British Wartime Memorabilia’ and ‘The British Soldier in Europe, 1939–45’ (both with Paul Evans, for Crowood); and ‘The Blitz’ and ‘ARP and Civil Defence Services in the Second World War’ (both for Shire).

Material culture and objects

Three volumes by Peter Doyle, published by the Crowood Press – ‘Tommy’s War, 1914–1918’, ‘The Home Front 1939–1945’ and ‘The British Soldier in Europe, 1939–1945’ explore the material culture of two world wars.

A further eleven books for Shire Publications deal with all aspects of the British military experience in the two world wars and beyond, including two books on British military insignia (British army Cap Badges of the First World War & British Army Cap Badges of the Second World War, both for Shire, co-authored with Chris Foster).

His book, ‘First World War in 100 Objects’ was the flagship for the History Press and its commemoration of the Great War Centenary, and is published in March 2014.