The Monocled Mutineer: The First World War's Best Kept Secret: The Etaples Mutiny - Softcover

John Fairley; William Allison

Softcover

ISBN 10: 028564310X ISBN 13: 9780285643109

Publisher: Souvenir Press Ltd, 2015

Synopsis

Percy Toplis was WW1's most guarded secret, the ringleader of the Étaples mutiny. In 1917 British, New Zealand and Australian troops stationed at the Étaples Training Camp in northern France protested against the inhuman conditions. The mutineers commandeered the camp's weapons and marched into Étaples, holding the town for three days, attacking military police and the commander of the training camp, General Thomson.

Several of the mutineers were executed, but Toplis remained at large for three years. The Army immediately covered up the mutiny; thousands of the participants would die shortly afterwards in the Passchendaele offensive.

The survivors remained silent for over fifty years while all records of the Étaples Board of Enquiry were destroyed. It's only when John Fairley and William Allison tracked down survivors of the mutiny, and relatives and friends of Percy Toplis, that this story came to public attention.

The Monocled Mutineer became a national sensation when it was made into an acclaimed, and controversial, BBC drama in 1986, starring Paul McGann. The Monocled Mutineer asks: was Percy Toplis an anti-establishment hero? What made the monocled mutineer the most wanted man in Britain?

About this title

Review:

"A shameful, secret story which, for so long, the Establishment had tried to hide." - Daily Mirror

"First revealed the secret of Étaples, and the incredible story of conman and killer Percy Toplis." - Nottingham Post

"A colourful chapter in First World War history... the book's new edition, now expanded to include Étaples stories which have only recently come to light." - Mansfield Chad

"Gripping... Covers the colourful career of Toplis... The authors worked hard to track down survivors of the mutiny." - The Morning Star

"First revealed the shameful secret of Étaples, and the incredible story of protagonist Percy Toplis." - Derby Telegraph

"The authors have undertaken a huge amount of research... The question remains: was Toplis some sort of hero for drawing attention to dreadful conditions at Étaples or just a deceitful, dangerous, manipulative rabble-rouser... a fascinating book." --The Garden Window Blog

"This book has completely opened my eyes... It doesn't really romanticise him [Percy Toplis], or the mutiny, but it does really give you a feel for the emotion and the people behind it, which I don't think you get a lot when you watch war documentaries... I loved it, it was incredibly accessible to read, incredibly enjoyable to read, it's not slow in any way. You really are fascinated by Percy Toplis." --Laura Blumenthal, BookTuber

"This is the second and updated edition of The Monocled Mutineer, which includes a new introduction and epilogue that expand on newly discovered information about the events of the mutiny and the government's response to it... the main sources of information are the personal accounts from the veterans as they remembered them many years later. And the picture they paint is a most remarkable and shocking one of the brutal and inhuman conditions which were in operation at the camp... Maybe more information will be available in 2017 when the files are opened and a fuller picture of what happened will emerge." --Books Please Blog

About the Author:

John Fairley is a former Director of Programmes at Yorkshire TV and is now the Chairman of Highflyer Productions. William Allison worked extensively in Fleet Street and for BBC television news.

About this edition

• Publisher: Souvenir Press Ltd
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 028564310X
• ISBN 13: 9780285643109
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 208