Product Description

McCrae's Own was the "Heart of Midlothian Battalion", mentioned all too briefly in Martin Middlebrook's classic book "The First Day on the Somme". Raised in Edinburgh shortly after the start of the Great War, it was perhaps the finest unit in Lord Kitchener's volunteer army - a brotherhood of sportsmen, bound together by their extraordinary colonel and their loyalty to a quaintly named Association Football club, the famous Gorgie "Hearts". McCrae's were blooded in the Battle of the Somme, losing three-quarters of their strength on the first day alone. The Colonel himself was invalided home. In time, the battalion recovered. It came of age at Arras, endured the muddy horror of Passchendaele, and held the line unbroken in the face of furious German attacks on the Lys in 1918. For almost a century, their story has remained untold. It was all but lost forever. Now, after 12 years of exacting historical detective work, Jack Alexander has reclaimed the 16th Royal Scots for posterity. In this book, he draws upon interviews with veterans and a unique archive of letters, diaries and photographs, assembled from the families of more than 1000 of Sir George McCrae's men. Who was the Colonel? How did the players come to enlist? Where did they fight? Where did they die? What became of the survivors? Why were they forgotten? Who was the handsomest man in the world? All these questions and many more are finally answered: the truth proves more remarkable than legend.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #587671 in Books
• Published on: 2003-10-23
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Review
'Do not ask where Hearts are playing and then look at me askance. If it's football that you're wanting, you must come with us to France!' Private George Blaney, Castle Brewery, Edinburgh, December 1914

The Times
'Magnificent, compelling, quite simply the best football related book of the year.'

The Herald
Unbearably poignant

Customer Reviews

Stunningly good
This is a stunningly good book. It is part football story, part social history, part military history, part political history. However categorised, it is superbly well written, with intelligence and a nice dry sense of humour. There is also just the occasional "Edinburgh-ism" in the language which natives will enjoy.

The football story is the birth of Heart of Midlothian football club and the first forty years of its life, leading to the famous (in Edinburgh at least) voluntary (although as the book shows not quite spontaneous) mass enlistment of the players into the army in 1914. There is a fine description of how manager John McCartney in a couple of years turned a bottom half of the league side into championship contenders.

There is also a wonderful evocation of the social and political life of Edinburgh of the time and of the complex and intimate relationship between the classes.

It is also a military history of the Western Front, a new slant on a familiar story made more poignant and tragic by the link to the rich civilian life portrayed beforehand.

It is far from a simple tale of heroes, and deals with the complexity of the emotions of and influences on those who rose to do their patriotic duty but before doing so were pursued by the proffering of white feathers by those who never had and never would fight for their country.

The complexity is hinted at by a quote from Pat Crossan, one of the players who volunteered. For a long time he was apparently remembered fondly in Edinburgh for turning, during one of a sequence of recruiting marches and events around Edinburgh, and saying to a potential recruit "Have you got bairns? Well then, dinnae be sae daft", thus incurring the displeasure of Colonel George McCrae.

I have not even mentioned McCrae, a fascinating man himself. But I would reserve the title of hero of this book for all of those whom John McCartney described as he saw them leave Waverley Station for the unimaginable horrors ahead as "the finest men I have known".

The common man and uncommon situations
As one who has a great interest in the Great War as well as the Heart of Midlothian Football Club I waited earnestly for this books publication. It was worth the wait!
Not only does Jack Alexander give the background to the Hearts mobilisation, but he relates a story of Edinburgh life in 1914.
The social rise of McCrae himself, from poverty to knighthood. The footballers on the verge of a championship, the mass of others, students, artisans, fans etc who put aside their hopes and fears and laid their lives on the line are covered in excellent detail by Alexander.
A wealth of detail, from a decade of research, put together with a readable, and very enjoyable narrative leaves us with a book that is hard to put down!
This however is a book that rings true throughout the UK. It reflects the lives of ordinary men from all walks of life who went of to serve in a cause greater than anything else in their own individual lives.
A Great Book for the Great War reader. A must read!

Brilliant Military/Social History book
This is an excellent account of a long forgotten story and particulary odd behaviour by some sections of society during the Great War. Behaviour now largely forgotten. Who would know a stopper now!! This book is superbly written and a joy to read. Jack deserves a bestseller with this and anyone interested in the Great War, social history, military history or football have just got to read it.