MAINSTAY
A Twentieth Century Life
by Val ffrench Blake
If the word polymath is defined as a ‘person of varied learning’ then Val ffrench Blake surely qualifies. In Mainstay of the Altos he wrote with refreshing candour and insight about his family, Eton in the 1920s, Sandhurst and the life of a cavalry officer in 1930s India, and his subsequent participation in WW2 – N Africa (severely wounded) and Italy where, at the young age of 32, he commanded his regiment (awarded the DSO).
Val’s post-war life was no less interesting – he helped re-establish a new forward-thinking syllabus at Sandhurst, left the Army to farm, was immensely involved in the horse world, took up picture restoring, was a very competent artist in his own right, and has a life-long love of music as well as mountaineering and country sports.
ISBN: 978-1-903071-32-8
Size: 234 x 156
Pages: 138 photographs
Price: £19.99
