Founder of sandhurst: maj-gen john le marchant paul le messurier (amberley, £22.99)

I must extend my huge thanks to Jon Winder for his excellent article Swings and Roundabouts (July). I am currently scribbling notes which I hope to turn into a memoir of my childhood, and one chapter

The piece I’d never part with

This William IV silver timepiece and its owner survived the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava

Sir Barney White-Spunner discusses his latest book Nations in Arms , in which he analyses how five armies across centuries have found success on and off the battlefield, and helped shape Europe

That threatened thrones

The mischievous cultural commentator and diarist who changed the way museums think about the past