Military Organization and Administration
By Lieut.-General Sir W.G. Lindsell
Published by Aldershot, Gale & Polden Ltd: London 1941 25th Edition
PROVENANCE: Signed by author and includes a personal letter from author to "Lady Apsley"
"Military Organization and Administration by Lieut.-General Sir W. G. Lindsell, published in 1941 in this Twenty-Fifth Edition by Gale & Polden of Aldershot, is a foundational British military text written on the eve and during the height of the Second World War. Designed as both a practical manual and an examination text, it covers the principles of military organization, logistics, administration, and supply that underpinned the functioning of the British Army across global theatres. Lindsell, a highly decorated senior officer, draws on extensive professional experience to explain how armies are sustained in the field, emphasising that sound administration is as decisive to success as tactics or firepower.
The work was widely used for Staff College entrance examinations, promotion courses, and officer training at Woolwich and Sandhurst, and this later wartime edition reflects the rapid evolution of British military organization in response to mechanisation, rearmament, and modern warfare. Illustrated with clear diagrams and organisational charts, the book provides rare insight into how command structures, transport, petrol supply, medical services, and administrative staff were coordinated during a period of unprecedented military pressure. As such, it stands as both a technical manual and an important historical document of British military thought in the early 1940s.
This particular copy carries
exceptional provenance
, being signed by the author, Sir W. G. Lindsell, and dated January 1942, and accompanied by a personal typed letter from Lindsell to "Lady Apsley," dated 4 February 1942, written from the ATS Welfare Depot at Radnor House, Salisbury. The letter discusses wartime welfare work, logistics, and daily challenges on the home front, providing an intimate and human counterpoint to the formal military text. Such an association copy, linking a senior British general directly to a titled recipient during wartime, significantly enhances the historical and collectible value of the volume and would strongly appeal to collectors of Second World War material, British military history, and books with strong personal provenance."
Light wear and fading to covers and spine with a small hole to outer spine hinge as shown. Signed by author and includes a personal letter from author to "Lady Apsley". Foldout chart present. Pages clean and well presented. An excellent copy with wonderful provenance in very good condition overall. Please study photos to further understand condition.
Size 19cm x 13cm x 2cm - 282 Pages
