A Dirty Swindle

About the Book: 

Walter Stephen provides an uninhibited look at the misery and toil of World War I through a collection of twelve tales. Providing a Scottish perspective, he takes a look at reports from home and abroad with scepticism, delving deeper to unveil the unencumbered truth.

Recalling Siegfried Sassoon’s words, Stephen reveals the failures of those in command as the Great War became known as A Dirty Swindle. The varied accounts chronicle the progress of troops from recruitment to training to the frontline, as well as revealing a side of Field Marshal Haig never seen before.

Reviews: 

Walter Stephen eschews any temptation to cover old ground, instead presenting a series of uniquely Scottish and deeply individual accounts of the conflict… the author pieces together a series of personal tales that provide a valuable contribution to how the Great War is understood in the present day. ROBERT TURBYNE, Leopard Magazine

This book approaches the war from different angles… particularly through the lives of certain individuals… telling the stories, warmly, directly and allowing any emotion expressed to come through the words of others. I would certainly recommend Walter Stephen’s book, which has a light and deft touch, in such a painful area of history. His writing is warm, informative about so many people and places, sympathetic but never sentimental. MORELLE SMITH, Scottish Review

About the Author:

WALTER STEPHEN was born in Thurso, Caithness and educated at schools and universities in Glasgow and Edinburgh, with degrees in Geography, Economic History and Education. He was Principal Teacher of Geography in distinguished schools in Fife and Edinburgh, then became the first Adviser in Social Studies in Edinburgh and Senior Adviser in Lothian Region. In schools shrunk by falling student numbers, he set up Castlehill Urban Studies Centre, the first successful Urban Studies Centre in Britain, and the History of Education Centre.

As an independent scholar he has been active in investigating Interesting Victorians and has been responsible for books on Patrick Geddes (planner and polymath), Willie Park Junior (‘The Man who took Golf to the World’), Frank Fraser Darling (born in 1903, but a Victorian in spirit who lived among the red deer and founded the environmental movement) and Charles Darwin (in The Evolution of Evolution: Darwin, Enlightenment and Scotland).