Collection: War and Peace

From our new home in Cecil Court, we have assembled a catalogue shaped by a striking imbalance: books on war are plentiful, while books on peace are harder to come by. Between them stands a first edition of Tolstoy's War and Peace - a reminder of how literature has long wrestled with the tension between conflict and concord. 

War, often presented as a theatre for heroism, reveals in reality only horror. Peace can be easily overshadowed until its absence is most deeply felt. An absence which we are witnessing at this very moment. 

Our catalogue ties these voices together to demonstrate that reading is inherently an act of resistance.

39 items
  • COMMINES, Philippe de. Les Memoires de Messire Philippe de Commines, Sr. d'Argenton. Derniere édition.
    Les Memoires de Messire Philippe de Commines, Sr. d'Argenton. Derniere édition
    Regular price
    £800.00
    Sale price
    £800.00
  • DEMBITZER, Salamon. Visas for America. A Story of an Escape.
    Visas for America. A Story of an Escape
    Regular price
    £1,800.00
    Sale price
    £1,800.00
  • FALLS, Cyril. War Books. A Critical Guide.
    War Books. A Critical Guide
    Regular price
    £450.00
    Sale price
    £450.00
  • FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS. The Works … translated by William Whiston.
    FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS. The Works … translated by William Whiston.
    Regular price
    £450.00
    Sale price
    £450.00
  • [GLEIG, George Robert]. A Narrative of the Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans under Generals Ross, Pakenham, and Lambert, in the Years 1814 and 1815; with some Account of the Countries Visited … Second Edition.
    A Narrative of the Campaigns of the British Army at Washington …
    Regular price
    £250.00
    Sale price
    £250.00
  • GROTIUS, Hugo. De iure belli ac pacis libri tres, cum annotationibus selectis Ioann. Frid. Gronovii, & auctoribus Ioannes Barbeyracii. Accedit H. Grotii dissertation de mari libero; et libellus singularis de aequitate, indulgentia, & facilitate. Edidit a…
    De iure belli ac pacis libri tres, cum annotationibus selectis Ioann …
    Regular price
    £1,000.00
    Sale price
    £1,000.00
  • GUICCIARDINI, Francesco. L’historia d’Italia.
    L’historia d’Italia
    Regular price
    £7,500.00
    Sale price
    £7,500.00
  • HORNE, Thomas Hartwell. Compendium of the Statute Laws, and Regulations of the Court of Admiralty; Relative to Ships of War, Privateers, Prizes, Recaptures, and Prize-Money. With an Appendix of Notes, Precedents, &c.
    Compendium of the Statute Laws, and Regulations of the Court of …
    Regular price
    £1,000.00
    Sale price
    £1,000.00
  • HUTTON, Alfred. Fixed Bayonets: A Complete System of Fence for the British Magazine Rifle, Explaining the Use of Point, Edges, and Butt, both in Offence and Defence; Comprising also a Glossary of English, French, and Italian Terms common to the Art of Fe…
    Fixed Bayonets: A Complete System of Fence for the British Magazine …
    Regular price
    £800.00
    Sale price
    £800.00
  • JELLICOE of Scapa, Admiral Viscount. The Crisis of the Naval War.
    The Crisis of the Naval War
    Regular price
    £400.00
    Sale price
    £400.00
  • LEVI, Primo If This is a Man.
    If This is a Man
    Regular price
    £1,800.00
    Sale price
    £1,800.00
  • MacDIARMID, Hugh. The Battle Continues.
    The Battle Continues
    Regular price
    £500.00
    Sale price
    £500.00
  • [MACGREGOR, Sir Charles, editor ]. The Second Afghan War 1878-80. Abridged Official Account. Produced in the Intelligence Branch Army Head-Quarters, India.
    The Second Afghan War 1878-80. Abridged Official Account. Produced in the …
    Regular price
    £1,400.00
    Sale price
    £1,400.00
  • MOBERLY, Frederick James. The Campaign in Mesopotamia 1914-1918. Compiled, at the Request of the Government of India, under the Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence.
    The Campaign in Mesopotamia 1914-1918. Compiled, at the Request of the …
    Regular price
    £900.00
    Sale price
    £900.00
  • [MOORE, William.] The Crisis … During the present bloody Civil War in America.
    The Crisis … During the present bloody Civil War in America
    Regular price
    £1,800.00
    Sale price
    £1,800.00
  • MOSSMAN, Samuel. General Gordon in China. The Story of the "Ever Victorious Army."
    General Gordon in China. The Story of the Ever Victorious Army
    Regular price
    £750.00
    Sale price
    £750.00
  • OVERTON FULLER, Jean. The Starr Affair.
    The Starr Affair
    Regular price
    £500.00
    Sale price
    £500.00
  • PEPPER, W. A Treatise on the New Broad Sword Exercise … The sixth Edition with Additions.
    PEPPER, W. A Treatise on the New Broad Sword Exercise … The sixth Edition with Additions.
    Regular price
    £2,500.00
    Sale price
    £2,500.00
  • PYNCHON, Thomas. Gravity's Rainbow.
    Gravity's Rainbow
    Regular price
    £750.00
    Sale price
    £750.00
  • RYOZO TANAKA. The "Sino-Japanese disturbances" Souvenir Album. Shanghai. 1932 [ author and imprint information taken from colophon ].
    The Sino-Japanese disturbances Souvenir Album. Shanghai. 1932 [author and imprint …
    Regular price
    £700.00
    Sale price
    £700.00
  • SASSOON, Siegfried. Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man.
    Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man
    Regular price
    £350.00
    Sale price
    £350.00
  • SASSOON, Siegfried. Memoirs of an Infantry Officer.
    Memoirs of an Infantry Officer
    Regular price
    £350.00
    Sale price
    £350.00
  • SCHACHT, Hjalmar. Account Settled. Translated by Edward Fitzgerald.
    Account Settled. Translated by Edward Fitzgerald
    Regular price
    £450.00
    Sale price
    £450.00
  • SEBALD, W.G. [ trans. Anthea Bell]. On the Natural History of Destruction.
    On the Natural History of Destruction
    Regular price
    £75.00
    Sale price
    £75.00
  • STANFORD, Edward [ publisher ]. Map of the Seat of War in the Far East.
    Map of the Seat of War in the Far East
    Regular price
    £800.00
    Sale price
    £800.00
  • STUTTERHEIM, Carl Freiherr von. A Detailed Account of the Battle of Austerlitz. Translated from the French by Major Pine Coffin.
    A Detailed Account of the Battle of Austerlitz. Translated from the …
    Regular price
    £800.00
    Sale price
    £800.00
  • [SUCHTELEN, Paul van]. Narrative of the Conquest of Finland by the Russians, in the years 1808-9. From an unpublished Work by a Russian Officer of Rank. Edited by Gen. Monteith.
    Narrative of the Conquest of Finland by the Russians, in the …
    Regular price
    £1,200.00
    Sale price
    £1,200.00
  • SWINHOE, Robert. Narrative of the North China Campaign of 1860; Containing Personal Experiences of Chinese Character, and of the Moral and Social Condition of the Country; Together with a Description of the Interior of Pekin.
    Narrative of the North China Campaign of 1860; Containing Personal Experiences …
    Regular price
    £600.00
    Sale price
    £600.00
  • TOMLINSON, H.M. All Our Yesterdays (signed Limited Edn.).
    All Our Yesterdays (signed Limited Edn …
    Regular price
    £150.00
    Sale price
    £150.00
  • VANE, Sir Francis Patrick Fletcher. Agin the Governments. Memoirs and Adventures … Foreword by AE.
    Agin the Governments. Memoirs and Adventures … Foreword by AE
    Regular price
    £250.00
    Sale price
    £250.00
  • VENN, Thomas. Military & Maritine [ sic ] Discipline in three Books. Book I. Military Observations or Tacticks put into Practice for the Exercise of Horse and Foot; … By Captain Thomas Venn. Book II. An exact Method of Military Architecture, the Art of F…
    Military & Maritine [sic] Discipline in three Books. Book I. Military Observations …
    Regular price
    £2,000.00
    Sale price
    £2,000.00
  • WARD, Harriet. Five Years in Kaffirland; with Sketches of the Late War in that Country, to the Conclusion of Peace. Written on the Spot.
    Five Years in Kaffirland; with Sketches of the Late War in …
    Regular price
    £1,250.00
    Sale price
    £1,250.00