THE DREADFUL DAY THE BATTLE OF MANZIKERT, 1071 ALFRED FRIENDLY HUTCHINSON: LONDON 1981 1st edition. Signed & inscribed. 22 x 14 cm. 256 pp HB/DJ. With a book review, newspaper obituary and leaflet from the authors memorial service loosely inserted. Signed and inscribed to Patsy [Jellicoe] on the half title page and her details on the ffep. The Battle of Manzikert, which took place in 1071 on the Anatolian plains in the easternmost part of the Eastern Roman Empire, was strategically one of the most significant battles in history. Fought between the sophisticated armies of Byzantium and the nomadic tribes of Seljuk Turks which were ravaging its borders, this ferocious conflict led to the immediate conquest of Asia Minor and the Moslem occupation of Turkey which has continued to the present day. The alarmed European response to the loss of the great Christian domain was the instigation of the Crusades less than two decades later. The battle itself was a dramatic exercise in ruthlessness, ignorance and deceit; and little more than a year after it, both victorious and vanquished generals had met violent deaths. But it is the origins of the conflict and its implications for the collapse of Byzantium that most concerns Alfred Friendly. In an entertaining narrative of considerable historical breadth, covering the internecine plotting of the Imperial Court in Constantinople, the Papacy, and the mores of the illiterate Asiatic hordes, he provides us with a fascinating picture of a little-known medieval world, but one in which more modern conflicts are already discernible. Alfred Friendly (December 30, 1911 November 7, 1983) was an American journalist, editor and writer for the Washington Post. He began his career as a reporter with the Post in 1939 and became Managing Editor in 1955. In 1967 he covered the 6-Day War for the Post in a series of articles for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1968. He is credited with bringing the Post from being a local paper to having a position of national prominence. One of many books from the collection of Patricia, Countess Jellicoe that I will be listing over the coming weeks. Patsy Jellicoe, as she was know (1917-2012), lecturer on Islamic art and society hostess, was a remarkable woman in the tradition of Gertrude Bell and Fraya Stark. Born in Shanghai (where she danced with Margot Fonteyn), educated by French nuns and then at the Slade School of Art. Returning to China in 1937 shortly before the Japanese invaded, she was interned in a prison camp until 1942. Upon release she got a job in the British Embassy in Beirut where she met and married the 2nd Earl Jellicoe, one of the SAS originals and first commander of the SBS. Extremely well connected to royalty, politicians, artists and academics, she developed an interest the history and culture of the Middle East and Central Asia, travelling extensively in the region and going on several archaeological digs. In 1971 she started giving lectures at the Royal Asiatic Society and for the next 30 years she gave lectures around the world; Gore Vidal described the countess as “the most erudite woman I have ever known”.

THE DREADFUL DAY
THE BATTLE OF MANZIKERT, 1071

ALFRED FRIENDLY

HUTCHINSON: LONDON
1981

First edition. Signed and inscribed.
'An important and original subject becomes in Alfred Friendly's skilled telling a fascinating historical rediscovery' - Barbara Tuchman

The Battle of Manzikert, which took place in 1071 on the Anatolian plains in the easternmost part of the Eastern Roman Empire, was strategically one of the most significant battles in history. Fought between the sophisticated armies of Byzantium and the nomadic tribes of Seljuk Turks which were ravaging its borders, this ferocious conflict led to the immediate conquest of Asia Minor and the Moslem occupation of Turkey which has continued to the present day. The alarmed European response to the loss of the great Christian domain was the instigation of the Crusades less than two decades later.

The battle itself was a dramatic exercise in ruthlessness, ignorance and deceit; and little more than a year after it, both victorious and vanquished generals had met violent deaths. But it is the origins of the conflict and its implications for the collapse of Byzantium that most concerns Alfred Friendly. In an entertaining narrative of considerable historical breadth, covering the internecine plotting of the Imperial Court in Constantinople, the Papacy, and the mores of the illiterate Asiatic hordes, he provides us with a fascinating picture of a little-known medieval world, but one in which more modern conflicts are already discernible.

Alfred Friendly (December 30, 1911 November 7, 1983) was an American journalist, editor and writer for the Washington Post. He began his career as a reporter with the Post in 1939 and became Managing Editor in 1955. In 1967 he covered the 6-Day War for the Post in a series of articles for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1968. He is credited with bringing the Post from being a local paper to having a position of national prominence.

22 x 14 cm. 256 pp. With a book review, newspaper obituary and leaflet from the authors memorial service loosely inserted. Signed and inscribed to Patsy [Jellicoe] on the half title page and her details on the ffep.

Very good + condition. Dust jacket faded on the spine and along the top edge; small crease to the front flap from a paper clip. Some discolouring to the front endpaper from the newspaper cuttings.


One of many books from the collection of Patricia, Countess Jellicoe that I will be listing over the coming weeks.

Patsy Jellicoe, as she was know (1917-2012), lecturer on Islamic art and society hostess, was a remarkable woman in the tradition of Gertrude Bell and Fraya Stark. Born in Shanghai (where she danced with Margot Fonteyn), educated by French nuns and then at the Slade School of Art. Returning to China in 1937 shortly before the Japanese invaded, she was interned in a prison camp until 1942. Upon release she got a job in the British Embassy in Beirut where she met and married the 2nd Earl Jellicoe, one of the SAS originals and first commander of the SBS.

Extremely well connected to royalty, politicians, artists and academics, she developed an interest the history and culture of the Middle East and Central Asia, travelling extensively in the region and going on several archaeological digs. In 1971 she started giving lectures at the Royal Asiatic Society and for the next 30 years she gave lectures around the world; Gore Vidal described the countess as “the most erudite woman I have ever known”.






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