| Books by Keith Taylor
CALL TO ARMS
Officer Cadet Training at Eaton Hall 1943 - 1958
In response to very positive support, this book has been written
and compiled by two Old Eatonian officer cadets, Keith Taylor and
Brian Stewart. It has even been printed by an OE, Ronnie Adam, in
Scotland!
The major part of the book consists of over 100 diverse, often
amusing, personal accounts and reminiscences of cadets’ experience
at Eaton Hall OCS with reflections on the influence that this has
had on their subsequent lives.
This hardback book is in three parts and is beautifully produced
with a number of carefully selected photographs. It includes a foreword
by the Duke of Westminster, a chapter on the Grosvenor military
history, Eaton Hall as a hospital in WWII and the bombing of the
Hall, the occupation by BRNC Dartmouth from 1943-46 and an epilogue
by the Rt. Revd. John Kirkham, himself an OE, in the form of the
texts of his moving and memorable addresses in the chapel at Eaton
on 7th May 1993 and 19th May 2006. It includes copies of documents
and a comprehensive list of further reading about British Army National
Service.
The book will fascinate and entertain any former cadet or member
of staff who ever passed through the Golden Gates of Eaton Hall.
It is an ideal present for yourself, a friend, relation or historian.
WHITHER THE FATES CALL
A Personal Account of National Service in the British Army
1950 - 1952
This is a true adventure story which in today’s parlance
might be described as a 2 year “gap” year. From the
day he entered the Guards Depot at Caterham, Surrey, to the day
he disembarked from the troopship Empire Pride in Liverpool from
the Far East, the author wrote 208 letters home. These letters,
meticulously kept in chronological order, together with numerous
photographs, provide a unique record of one person’s National
Service experience in The British Army. This beautifully produced
hardback of 400 pages is a fascinating story. Ranging from boredom
to under-fire action in the Korean War as a junior infantry Officer,
the letters include vivid descriptions of arduous training at battlecamps
as far from each other as Dartmoor in Devon to Hara Mura in Japan,
smuggler hunting on the Hong Kong/Chinese border, rowdy Officers’
Mess nights, leave in Ceylon (Sri Landa) via the Nicobar Islands
in the Indian Ocean, an aircraft crash-landing in Manila and learning
to manage men under stressful conditions.
The author recalls his experiences with a discerning eye, a sense
of humour and a great respect for British National Servicemen to
whom, along with his family, this book is dedicated. The Forewords
to the book are by General Sir Geoffrey Howlett, KBE, MC, Ambassador
to the United States, Mr. Lee, Taw Sik and David Smurthwaite, Assistant
Director, National Army Museum, London.
AMERICAN ADVENTURE: THE 1959 JOURNAL
OF A
ROOSEVELT SCHOLAR
A Personal Account of The Nottingham Roosevelt Memorial Travelling
Scholarship
This is a remarkable adventure story. The City and County of Nottingham,
England (hunting ground of Robin Hood!), wished to honour the memory
of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1949, a Memorial Travelling
Scholarship was announced, funded by public subscription, to enable
two or three young men or women, aged between 20 and 30, and resident
in the City or County, to go to America for four months, all expenses
paid. The fortunate Scholar was required to fulfill an ‘ambassadorial
role’ for the British way of life and was free to travel anywhere
in the US but also to spend some of the time looking at their own
career direction.
In 1959, Keith Taylor at twenty seven was a young manager with Raleigh
Industries, the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world at that
time making over one million bicycles a year. He chose to travel
by car, the first (and last!) Scholar to do so, and drove an astonishing,
accident free 17300 miles in a small British Hillman Minx convertible
and 1000 miles by train. After crossing the Atlantic on the Queen
Elizabeth liner to New York, together with two other Scholars, he
had the great privilege of spending a weekend as a guest of Mrs
Eleanor Roosevelt at Val-Kill Cottage, Hyde Park, New York. He later
met her in San Francisco and also spent Thanksgiving with her and
other guests at Hyde Park. She took a deep interest in the Scholars.
Keith also tells of his connection with the USS Nautilus, one of
whose officers he met when the nuclear powered submarine came to
Portsmouth, England after its historic North Pole underwater crossing.
His trip included New England, the Midwest, the West coast from
Vancouver to San Diego, including British Week in San Francisco,
to the bottom of Grand Canyon and numerous other well known but
also remote places .He met literally hundreds of interesting people
from all walks of life.
This is a fascinating story which any British or American reader
will enjoy.
Books by Other Authors
MORE FROM THE BETTER MOUSETRAP
Tips, Tricks & Tales About Corporate Communications For Small
Business
As a marketing orientated businessman by discipline (and a former
National Award Winner and Fellow of the (British) Chartered Institute
of Marketing), I consider 'The Better Mousetrap' one of the best
of numerous books about marketing. It is full of wisdom,sound advice
and humour based on real life experience at the sharp end of marketing.
I commend it to anyone owning or managing a business of any kind
in the private or public sector including not-for-profit enterprises.
“Build a better mousetrap” they say, “and the
world will beat a path to your door.”
Not necessarily. The world has to know your mousetrap has been
built. The Better Mousetrap, with its tips, tricks and tales about
marketing, promotion and communications will amuse you while helping
you build and promote your own better mousetrap.
Nancy Parsons and Dick Amsteram have been partners in advertising
and corporate communications for over twenty-five years. Nancy is
the team’s creative director and writer; Dick, who has degrees
in electrical engineering and marketing, handles the stuff with
decimals and dollar signs. One of the pair is right-brained, the
other is left-brained, however they can’t remember which is
which, so they simply claim one whole brain between them. This brain,
they apply diligently to their clients’ marketing and promotional
challenges. They also used it to collaborate on this book. And it’s
a god thing they did too, because they have some great stories to
tell and a wealth of practical advice to share.
247 pages
Hardcover or softcover
IN THE MOB
A Memoir of National Service
In this book, part personal memoir, part social history, Tony Pearson
describes his life as a National Serviceman, but also reflects generally
on the British army of the time and the society of the mid-1950s
which created it.
Never a natural conformist, Pearson did not have an easy time.
From basic training in Colchester, to Eaton Hall officer cadet school,
where he brushed with authority, to the Outer Hebrides as a cook
on a tank landing craft, he describes a wide range of experiences
with an intelligent, detached and humorous eye.
"Quite remarkable in the detail…
thoughtful, perceptive, and reveals the
uncertainties and lack of self-confidence
that most of us felt…It is of great
social value."
Keith M Taylor, Founder and Chairman,
Eaton Hall Officer Cadet School
Reunion Dinner
126 Pages |
