The Writers of Wales Database

HAMMOND, JOSEPHINE

Ashdale, Llanmill, Narberth, Pembrokeshire, SA67 8UE
Email: jmahammond@tiscali.co.uk

Josephine Hammond was born in London but brought up in the Sudan and West Africa. After graduating in French and Italian from University College London she taught languages for many years before running her own property and mail order business in Pembrokeshire. In between work and having a family of four sons she has always written articles, stories and poems. These have been published in a variety of publications ranging from The Times, M&M magazine for new mothers, the Portsmouth Evening News, RUSI Journal, Pembrokeshire Life, Roundyhouse to Welsh Country Magazine.

Five years ago she successfully completed an MA in creative writing at Trinity College Carmarthen and is now writing full time. She has contributed to several short story anthologies, she also gained practical experience in editing when working briefly for Accent Press. Her first book, published in August 2009, is based on her grandfather’s letters and diaries telling of his experiences in the First World War. She is currently working on a biography of Adelina Patti, the nineteenth century opera star who made her home in Wales.

Reviews:
With respect to Battle in Iraq (Radcliffe Press, IB Tauris, 2009)

”…I found the book an absolutely gripping read. Very well put together with just the right amount of extracts from the diaries. I thought that JM Hammond very clearly and concisely put the period into context adding an informative discussion of the present conflict. Her grandfather's accounts of the Julnar's attempt to run the gauntlet to Kut and his experiences in a Turkish prison camp I found were riveting reading..."
Rachel Strong, amazon.co.uk

“...Using diaries and letters, Pembrokeshire writer Josephine Hammond tells her grandfather's extraordinary life story in, Battle in Iraq...”
Margaret Keenan, BBC S.W. Wales


Selected Publications: 
Battle in Iraq (Radcliffe Press, IB Tauris, 2009)

Contributed to:
Sexy Shorts for Summer (co-writer) (Accent Press, 2004)
Saucy Shorts for Chefs (co-writer) (Accent Press,2005)
Sexy Shorts for Lovers (co-writer) (Accent Press, 2005)
Wicked Words (co-writer) (co-editor) (Accent Press 2005)
The Town Built to Build Ships (co-editor) (Accent Press 2007)
Hole – Kidnapped in Georgia (co-editor) (Accent Press, 2007)
Beyond Belief (co-editor) (Accent Press, 2007)



Battle in Iraq (Radcliffe Press, IB Tauris, 2009)

This moving and unusual story of a British engineer caught up in the horrifying events of the First World War vividly illuminates life – and death – on the Mesopotamian front.

At the outbreak of war William Reed was working as a marine engineer for the Euphrates and Tigris Steam Navigation Company, a job that took him initially to Persia to work in the fledgling oil industry. He travelled extensively through the mountains of Southern Persia before being drawn into the war effort in Iraq as a Naval Reservist. Josephine Hammond skilfully weaves together her grandfather’s diaries with history and narrative chapters to tell this gripping story, placing Reed’s personal adventures against the backdrop of the unfolding drama of war.

Reed’s own involvement in the war culminated in one of those deeds of gallantry doomed to failure with which the history of the war is littered. The suffering and privations of the fighting forces and the prisoners in this conflict are poignantly evoked, and can be seen to be every bit as bad as experiences on the Western Front.

Battle in Iraq offers an invaluable record of events in Iraq during the First World War, seen from an on the scene perspective, and sensitively draws out the unavoidable parallels with the contemporary conflict and the long-term consequences of international interference in the region.

The book is illustrated with helpful maps as well as documents and photographs from the author’s family collection.

To purchase this title from amazon.co.uk please click on the front cover, or visit www.ibtauris.com