Pen and Sword Books

Pen and Sword Books, publisher of military history and nostalgia

Pen and Sword Books is a UK-based publisher dedicated to publishing books on military history, aviation, naval, local history, true crime and nostalgia. Its catalogue is organised into major thematic areas and imprints covering everything from the First and Second World Wars to ancient history, archaeology, social history and transport, among many others.

A catalogue structured by conflicts and disciplines

The publishing output covers a wide spectrum of historical topics. In the military field, the sections dedicated to the First World War stand out, with titles on artillery, battles and campaigns such as Aisne, Arras, Cambrai, Gallipoli, Jutland, Passchendaele, Somme and Ypres, as well as biographies, memoirs, German forces and weaponry, chemical warfare, snipers, tanks and prisoners of war. The Second World War has sections on battles and campaigns such as Arnhem, the Atlantic, the Bulge, Berlin 1945, D-Day and Normandy, Dunkirk, El Alamein, the Italian Front, Japan and the Pacific, Midway, North Africa, Norway, Russia and the Eastern Front, with operations such as Barbarossa and Stalingrad, as well as biographies, espionage and the SOE, German forces, the Third Reich, the Blitz and photographic books.

The catalogue also includes general military history, with imprints such as After the Battle, Andrea Press, Frontline Books, Greenhill Books and Fonthill, covering from ancient and medieval history to the modern era, including the Napoleonic Wars, the Crimean War, the Boer War, the English Civil War and post-Second World War conflicts such as Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands, the Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan. There are specific sections on weapons, uniforms, tanks, armoured vehicles, fortifications, intelligence and strategic studies, terrorism, leadership and crisis management, and special forces.

Aviation, maritime and modelling

The aviation division brings together books on aircraft, pilot biographies, civil and modern aviation, the RAF, the Battle of Britain, Bomber Command, the Luftwaffe, the Dambusters and Lancaster bombers, as well as modelling titles and the Fonthill: Scale Modelling series. In the maritime field, the Chatham Books and Seaforth Publishing imprints offer works on historic ships, merchant shipping, naval, naval aviation, the Royal Navy, submarines, ship modelling, shipwrecks and the Titanic, with collections such as ShipCraft, Seafarers' Voices, Wooden Walls and Traditional Craft.

Ancient history, archaeology and humanities

The publishing list includes ancient history with sections on Alexander the Great, ancient and medieval weapons and warfare, Egypt and Egyptology, Greece and the Hellenistic world, the ancient Near East, Rome and the Roman provinces, Carthage, the Roman army, art and architecture, philosophy and religion, as well as archaeology, prehistory, the medieval world, Vikings and early medieval Europe. It also covers humanities, philosophy, literature, social science and culture, politics, psychology, theology and religion, Jewish studies and the Holocaust, social history, numismatics, royal history and true crime, with a section dedicated to Jack the Ripper.

Local, family and transport history

The publisher pays attention to British local history, with books on England, London, Yorkshire and Humberside, Barnsley, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, as well as towns and cities in the Great War and the Second World War. Family history features guides on ancestors in the armed forces, by industry or profession, by region, by religion and types of records. In transport, the catalogue includes buses, canals, cars, London transport, railway modelling, trains and trams. There are also sections on women's history, with titles on suffrage, struggle and pioneering women, and world history by region.

Formats, imprints and series

In addition to printed books, Pen and Sword Books sells eBooks, audiobooks, DVDs and magazines. Its publishing structure is organised into imprints such as After the Battle, Air World, Frontline Books, Green Bean Books, Greenhill Books, Pen & Sword Aviation, Pen & Sword Digital, Pen & Sword Discovery, Pen & Sword Family History, Pen & Sword History, Pen & Sword Maritime and Pen & Sword Military, among others. The catalogue is completed with specific series and collections, and with sections for new releases and coming soon.

Opening hours

The publisher is open Monday to Thursday from 9:00 to 17:00 and Fridays from 9:00 to 16:30.