Mainstay: A Twentieth Century Life. Soldier-farmer-musician-horseman-artist - Hardcover

Val Ffrench Blake

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1903071321 ISBN 13: 9781903071328

Publisher: Bene Factum Publishing, 2013

Synopsis

If the word polymath is defined as a person of varied learning then Val ffrench Blake surely qualifies. In Mainstay the author, who died in March 2011 aged 98, recorded his rich and varied life. He writes with refreshing candour and insight about his family, Eton in the 1920s (where his Choir report gave him the title of this book), rigorous military training at Sandhurst, and then the traditional life of a cavalry officer in 1930s British Raj India. This was soon followed by his participation in some of WW2 s most dramatic fighting N Africa (severely wounded) and Italy where, at the extremely young age of 32, he commanded his regiment the 17th/21st Lancers for the final bitter hard-fought actions of the war (for which he was awarded the DSO). Although Val wrote about the past, his story will have a definite relevance to today s younger reader. The author s post-war life was no less interesting he helped re-establish a new forward-thinking syllabus at Sandhurst, left the Army to farm, was immensely involved in the equestrian world at the highest level, took up picture restoring, was a very competent artist in his own right, and had a life-long love of music as well as mountaineering and country sports. He also authored a number of books on equestrianism and military history. Mainstay is mostly the narrative of Val ffrench Blake s life, but the last part of the book he called 'A Catalogue of Pleasures' and it is just that a record of those activities and people who enriched this remarkable life.

About this title

Review:

"The author was a brave and gifted man--this becomes apparent early in his delightful autobiography." --Times

About the Author:

Val ffrench Blake was born in Rawalpindi in 1913, and raised in England following the death of his father during the First World War. After attending Eton and Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the 17th/21st Lancers, eventually taking command of the regiment in Italy in 1944. After the War, he returned to Sandhurst to teach, before leaving the Army to indulge with his wife and family in a life of farming, art and equestrian sports, to name just a few of his many pleasures. During his busy life, he also found time to write. He is the author of A History of the 17th/21st Lancers (Macmillan), The Crimean War (Archon Books) and various books on dressage and equestrianism. He died in March 2011, leaving behind his two sons.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bene Factum Publishing
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1903071321
• ISBN 13: 9781903071328
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352