1

Helion & Company Style Guidelines

The following are guidelines only and as such are not intended to be exhaustive; for

additional guidance contact your editor. It may be helpful to use other guides in the

preparation of a manuscript; Helion recommends New Oxford Style Manual, The Chicago

Manual of Style, and Judith Butcher, Copy-Editing: The Cambridge Handbook for Editors,

Authors and Publishers (3rd edition) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992).

NOTE: An author’s manuscript will be referred to as ‘the Work’ throughout this

document.

CONTENTS

Quotations & Citations 2

Bibliographical Conventions 6

Additional Stylistic Conventions 9

Military History Conventions 9

Photographs & Illustrations 12

Image Permissions 13

Maps 15

Series Guidelines for Century of the Soldier c.1618-1721 16

Series Guidelines for From Reason to Revolution 1721-1815 21

2

QUOTATIONS & CITATIONS

Please note the following amendments to the UK’s Quotation and Parody Regulations (1

October 2015):

Copyright in a work is not infringed by the use of a quotation from the work (whether for

criticism or review or otherwise) provided that:

The work has been made available to the public

The use of the quotation is fair dealing with the work

The extent of the quotation is no more than is required by the specific purpose for

which it is used

The quotation is accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement (unless this would be

impossible for reasons of practicality or otherwise)

Use single quote marks ‘like this’ for quotations; use double quote marks for a quote-within-

a-quote, e.g. ‘I remember that Smith shouted “help!”‘.

When using single (‘ ‘) quotation marks, full stops and commas are ALWAYS inside the end

quotation marks.

When using single quotes (‘), punctuation belonging to that quote is ALWAYS inside the end

mark (‘Smith shouted out and fell.’ ; ‘Smith shouted out and fell!’)

When using double quotes (“) to indicate sub-quotes, again all punctuation belonging to the

sub-quote should be included inside those double marks (e.g. ‘He said, “Smith shouted for

help.”‘ ; ‘Smith “shouted out, then fell,” ...’). When a sub-quote has no end punctuation, or

has no punctuation at all (‘He said, “Smith, drunk, fell”‘; or ‘He said, “Smith was drunk and

3

fell”...’) Do NOT add any (e.g. ‘Smith, drunk, fell.”‘; or ‘He said, “Smith was drunk and

fell.”...’)

Lengthy text quotations (60 words or more) should be set as a distinct paragraph, single-

spaced, and indented but NOT italicised:

The South African War, of course, had an impact beyond one British officer. It

galvanised the British state, the British army and what would now be called the

‘defence establishment’. A series of important social reforms were designed to

improve the health and potential military effectiveness of the urban working

class. British diplomacy abandoned ‘splendid isolation’. An important alliance

was concluded with Japan (1902). Improved relations with France and Russia

were sought and achieved (1904, 1907).1

When quotes begin or end mid-sentence, ellipses are acceptable, e.g. ‘... at that point I

couldn’t see the wood for the trees’, or ‘I couldn’t see the wood …’ They should have a space

either side if mid-quote, but no space between them and a quote mark. They should be proper

ellipsis characters, NOT three separate dots. In MS Word the ellipsis can be inserted via the

‘insert symbol’ panel, or added to the default ‘autocorrect’ list if not there already.

Square brackets should be used for author’s comments inside quotations. For example:

‘On 21st June they [2nd Buffs] moved to a new position’.

CITATIONS

In most of our books, citations in the form of footnotes should be provided for any direct

quotation, and to reference any significant fact or information. In the case of some highly-

illustrated formats, different protocols are followed and fewer or no direct citations are required;

your commissioning editor will make you aware if this is the case with your book – otherwise,

follow the guidelines set out below.

4

Do not use footnotes for extensive discursive material; this is better incorporated into the main

text.

On the first occasion that a source is cited in your book, full bibliographical information is

required. Thereafter, if you cite that source again, a short form can be used, as shown below.

Archival References

Archive name, collection name, reference number (if applicable), item details.

First Citation:

The National Archives, WO1/199, pp.347–350, Lt. Gen Sir Thomas Graham to Lord

Bathurst, 3 January 1814.

Later:

TNA, WO1/199, pp.347–350, Graham to Bathurst, 3 January 1814.

Book

First Citation

John M. Bourne, Who’s Who in the First World War (London: Routledge, 2001), p.26.

[Note that, unlike in the bibliography, the author’s Christian name is given first]

Later:

Bourne, Who’s Who, p.72.

Chapter in Edited Book

First Citation:

5

John M. Bourne, ‘British Generals in World War One’, in G.D. Sheffield (ed.), Leadership and

Command: The Anglo-American Experience since 1861 (Revised paperback edition, London:

Brassey’s, 2002), pp.93–116.

Later:

Bourne, ‘British Generals’, p.95.

Journal Article

First Citation

John M. Bourne, ‘The Decline and Fall of the British Aristocracy’, Twentieth Century British

History, 2:1 (1991), pp.380–386.

Later:

Bourne, ‘Decline and Fall’, p. 381.

Unpublished Theses and Documents

Unpublished theses should be in regular font as opposed to italics. For example:

First Citation

Stuart Mitchell, ‘An Inter-disciplinary Study of Learning in the 32nd Division on the Western

Front 1916–18’ (PhD Thesis, University of Birmingham, 2013).

Later

Mitchell, ’32nd Division’.

Online Sources

Online sources should employ the following outline: Author, ‘Title of Article’ Name of Website,

url (accessed day month year). For example:

First Citation

6

Richard Tennant, ‘Wellington and Money’, The Napoleon Series http://www.napoleon-

series.org/military/organization/Britain/Miscellaneous/Paymasters/Wellington'sMoney.pdf

(accessed 5 October 2018)

Later:

Tennant, ‘Wellington and Money’

It is recognised that in many cases not all of the required information will be available: if so,

please provide what you can; see below under bibliographical conventions for more

examples. If possible, provide a permalink to the article as these are shorter and easier to

reproduce.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL CONVENTIONS

All sources used in your book must be detailed in full in the bibliography; it is recommended

that you compile this as you are preparing the work, so that nothing gets left out. You must

provide complete author particulars (surname first, then full name or initials), book or article

title, place of publication, publisher and date. Place commas between the elements of the

reference rather than full stops. The reference should end with a full stop.

A book must be referred to as, for example:

Moore-Bick, Christopher, Playing the Game: The British Junior Infantry Officer on the

Western Front 1914–18 (Solihull: Helion & Company, 2011).

Jones, Spencer (ed.), Stemming the Tide: Officers and Leadership in the British

Expeditionary Force 1914 (Solihull: Helion & Company, 2013).

Note in the second case that Spencer Jones is the editor, not the author, and identified as

such; for books with multiple editors, use (eds.).

7

A journal article must be referred to as, for example:

Oates, Jonathan, ‘The Manchester Regiment of 1745’, Journal of the Society for Army

Historical Research, Vol.88, No.354 (Summer 2010), pp.129–151.

French, David, ‘“Official but not History?” Sir James Edmonds and the Official History of

the Great War’, RUSI: Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies Journal, 131:1

(March 1986), pp. 58–63.

Note in the second case that the article title contains a quote; this is placed within double

quote marks.

If information is not known, fill the appropriate gap. For example, use Anon. for an unknown

author, ‘undated’ if no publishing date is provided; ‘privately published’ if the book was not

issued though a known house.

Arrange the bibliography in strict alphabetical order. Entries starting with M’, Mc and Mac

should all be ordered as Mac. Check dates carefully for consistency with text references to

avoid time-consuming queries at the copy-editing stage.

Type book and journal titles in italics with main words having capitals. Type the article and

chapter titles with essential capitals only and in single quotation marks. If you are using law

reports, parliamentary papers, etc. please pay careful attention to consistency. For

government reports use the name of the government department if there is no obvious author;

do not use HMSO.

List manuscript and archival sources separately from published works.

8

Electronic references should be included in the main bibliography and should include

additional details as outlined here.

A book, part of a book, a journal, or a journal article which has been published and is also

available on the internet should contain the usual reference details followed by the medium

(e.g. online), where it is available (e.g. HTTP, Gopher protocols, email, etc.) and then the

actual electronic address with the access date in brackets. For example:

University of Glasgow, Archive Services: Roll of Honour

(accessed 4 January 2016).

If the reference is to a book, part of a book, journal or journal article but was published only

on the internet then the entry should be as above but without the place name and publisher.

If the reference is to a message on a discussion board the entry should be: Author (year)

‘Subject of message’, Title of Discussion List, Online posting, Available email:

listserv@wlv.ac.uk (4 January 2016).

If the reference is to a personal email message: Author (year) ‘Subject of message’. Email (4

January 2016).

As online material may be continually updated or revised, you cannot be sure that the

material you refer to will not have been changed since the time you cited it. Therefore, you

should always include the date that you accessed the material.

9

ADDITIONAL STYLISTIC CONVENTIONS

Newspaper Titles

Newspaper titles are always rendered in italics, viz. Guardian, but The Times or The Daily

News would have the definite article italicised since it is part of a proper noun.

Media & Art

Film titles should always be italicised with single quote marks; poems/songs/works of art

should be set in normal type with single quote marks; books and plays should be italicised

without quote marks.

Nations

Nation abbreviations should be written as USSR and USA etc. NOT U.S.S.R. and U.S.A.

This applies to UN/U.N. as well.

Foreign Language

Please take particular care when spelling foreign terms/words. All foreign language

terms/words should be in italics throughout the entirety of the text (e.g. Luftwaffe,

Kampfgruppe, Stavka etc.) unless they form part of the name of a military unit or formation

(e.g. Luftflotte I, 1er Régiment de Ligne)

MILITARY HISTORY CONVENTIONS

British Army conventions should be adhered to when describing United Kingdom

formations/units. If forces described are not British, authors should clarify formation/unit

10

conventions with their Helion editor at an early stage. Different conventions also apply to

different eras; see the series/era specific guidelines at the end of this document.

Write ranks in full. This saves confusion: Field Marshal; Major General; Lieutenant Colonel;

Lance Corporal and Corporal. RSM, CSM, CQMS, etc. are exceptions to this rule.

Abbreviations (FM; Maj. Gen.; Lt. Col., etc.) are acceptable in footnotes/endnotes.

If a rank not listed occurs frequently in a paragraph or chapter, there may be a case for

abbreviating it, but the general rule is that ranks should be spelt out. Similarly, CO and GSO 1

etc. may be used if frequently occurring.

Anyone writing military history has to confront the problem of how to describe military

formations/units. For 20th century topics use the following formations: First Army; I Corps;

1st Division; 1st Brigade. This is clear and unambiguous. For earlier examples, employ the

usage of the time but take care to standardise usage throughout the work. When formations

were designated by their commander’s name, take care to capitalise in full as a proper noun

(e.g. Colville’s Brigade). Similarly, take care to distinguish between formations named for

their place in the line and general references to troops in a particular area, e.g. ‘The Left

Wing under Sir John Hope operated independently from the centre and right of Wellington’s

army.’

Military history also loves acronyms and abbreviations (e.g. BGRA, C-in-C, DQMG, etc.).

These are acceptable, provided that a separate list is compiled for inclusion in the preliminary

pages. Acronyms should be written in full the first time, with the intended abbreviation in

11

circle brackets, viz. Royal Flying Corps (RFC). You may then use the abbreviation

subsequently.

POW/POWs are the accepted acronyms for prisoner of war/prisoners of war. Note that for the

plural form, the ‘s’ is always lower-case.

Units/Formations: When a particular battalion is being referred to, the regimental number

and name is used (see below). When referring to battalions (or brigades, divisions etc.), in

general, no initial capital is required. The general rule is to be consistent: 7th Battalion

North Staffordshire Regiment is fine, and so is 7/North Staffords or 7th North Staffords, but

not all in the same manuscript. For the numbered regiment era, employ, e.g. 33rd Foot or

95th Rifles when referring to a single-battalion regiment or a regiment as a whole, but use,

e.g. 1/23rd or 5/60th when indicating a single battalion of a multi-battalion regiment. For

the pre-numbered era, use the usage of the time, e.g. Pulteney’s Regiment of Foot or

Pulteney’s Foot (which might then be shortened simply to Pulteney’s on subsequent

mentions), Gardiner’s Dragoons, Ligonier’s Horse, etc.

Refer to First World War/Great War and/or Second World War NOT World War I or

World War II. Please also note Peninsular War, not Peninsula War (but Iberian

Peninsula).

Warship names are to be written in italic type but where there is a lettered prefix this should

not be italicised (e.g. HMS Illustrious; USS Essex). Merchant ships names should also be in

italics with HT, RMS, SS etc., in normal font without full stops (e.g. RMS Titanic).

12

PHOTOGRAPHS & ILLUSTRATIONS – HOW TO SUPPLY USEABLE GRAPHICS

Do not send original images unless this has been agreed with your editor.

Supply digital images in .jpg or .tiff format at a minimum of 300 dpi (dots per inch). See

below for further explanation of file types. Please note, re-saving a lower-quality image (eg

72 dpi) at 300 dpi will not make it useable; images need to be that good to begin with.

Do not send files with any of the following extensions: .gif, .png, .bmp. For information: png

and gif files are formats primarily for use on websites and are compressed files for ease of

up/download speed; bmp files are bitmap files that should only be used for true ‘black and

white diagrams’.

As it may be difficult to envisage the file size in physical terms, here are some examples.

File size of RGB image to cover paper size (JPGs should not be compressed.):

A4 (210mm x 297mm): 24Mb

A5 (148mm x 210mm): 12Mb

A6 (105mm x 148mm): 6Mb

A7 (74mm x 105mm) : 3Mb

If scanning original material ensure the finished scan is as noted above (i.e. 300dpi jpg or

tiff). If the images are very small scan to 600dpi.

Use of mobile devices: make sure the ‘HDR’ button is ‘ON’, there will generally be an option

to send either low, medium or high resolution, always send the highest resolution jpg files.

Do NOT embed ANY graphics (jpg, Excel or PowerPoint or any other imagery) into a

Microsoft Word document, they all need to be supplied as individual files

We strongly discourage sourcing images from the web. Web graphics are compressed files

for ease of upload/download speed and are only produced at 72dpi which is far too low a

quality for use. If you source images from the web you should apply for permission from the

13

copyright holder who should be available to supply high resolution images, though you may

need to pay for this.

Taking images on a mobile phone or camera (although discouraged because it can make the

images distorted) should only be used if the high resolution (‘HDR’) key is ON. Otherwise

you will end up with images at 72dpi. Optimum printing level is 300dpi.

All scanned images must be saved as .tiff files and must not be compressed. Please be

advised that when it comes to usage of non-digital images, we are able to scan as necessary.

The following are unacceptable, so please do not transmit/post:

Laser or inkjet prints of photographs

Photographs or other images scanned from books, magazines or newspapers. This

applies even if you are the author of the book/article.

IMAGE PERMISSIONS

If you wish to use images published in other books, magazines or newspapers, you must first

obtain both an original or professional copy of the image AND written permission from the

publisher/owner. This permission must be supplied at the time the image is submitted to us. If

supplying us with images that belong to another party, similarly you must supply written

permission for their use and the name of the current owner, so we can correctly attribute the

source.

Authors who have already obtained letters or other permission documents must submit

emails/photocopies of the documentation and keep the originals. Authors who have not yet

received permissions should contact us to obtain a sample permissions form.

14

Dear Permissions Manager,

I am preparing a book entitled [book title] which will be published by [imprint] in

[year]. It will be published in [hardback/paperback] and is expected to cost [price].

The print run will be [number] copies.

I would like your permission to include the following material from one of your

publications.

Title

Year of publication

Author/editor

Page number(s) and total number of words and/or Figure/Table number

I understand that you control the rights to this material. I would be very grateful if

you could grant permission for its use as soon as possible, stating any credit lines or

fees that you require. If you do not control these rights, please let me know to whom

I should apply.

We are seeking non-exclusive world English language rights and will reproduce the

material as part of the complete text in print for distribution throughout the world.

Yours faithfully,

Specimen Permissions Letter:

15

MAPS

Nearly all military history books require maps. These must be as clear and informative as

possible. Helion is happy to arrange map renderings or introductions to third party

cartographers. As a rule, all that is required is a ‘rough’ or pre-existing map to indicate

depiction requirements.

Authors often wish to reproduce maps which are either public domain or provide copies from

related books, journal articles, etc. Renderings from these sources usually present technical

problems due to the fact that they are scanned or photocopied from the original source. This

results in unacceptable quality and renderings that are often incorrectly sized to the

dimensions of the forthcoming publication. Please discuss the use of public domain maps

with us BEFORE submitting material. Maps sourced from copyrighted books or publications

are not permissible.

Authors desirous of creating their own maps or employing a third party cartographer should

proceed as follows:

Maps must not be hand drawn. Use of Adobe Illustrator is recommended, but Adobe

Photoshop is an acceptable alternative. All renderings must be created at 600 dpi and

submitted to us as native Illustrator (.ai) or Photoshop (.psd) files with ‘layers’ intact,

and NOT as .tif, .pcx, .jpg/.jpeg or any other file configuration. Submitting files in

this way allows for corrections if necessary.

Author-created layers in native files should remain visible (in other words, do NOT

‘flatten’ or ‘merge’ layers), in addition, you must use the ‘type tool’ to render layers

of type. You should use one layer for each place name and each layer should be

16

named with that place name i.e., the layer should be labelled ‘St Mère Eglise’ not

‘Layer 3’.

It is recommended that you ascertain projected book dimensions prior to map

creation. It is, for a standard (234mm x 156mm) hardback edition, normal for maps to

be reproduced in ‘landscape’ (i.e. the reader has to adjust the book to view the map).

Maximum size should be c.128mm high x 203mm wide. If the map is reproduced in

‘portrait’, the maximum width should be c.128mm and the maximum height

c.203mm.

Authors choosing to employ a cartographer must supply a permission letter stating the map in

question can be reproduced in the first and subsequent book editions. This also applies to

editions published by another firm. The permission must accompany the map on submission

as opposed to transmission/posting of the former at a later date.

ANNEX I – SERIES GUIDELINES FOR CENTURY OF THE SOLDIER c.1618–1721

Contemporary Spelling and Punctuation

Spellings for places and personal names were inconsistent during the Early Modern period,

but you should pick one version of a name and stick to it throughout (except where a quoted

source spells it differently). In general be sparing when modernising spellings, but the

judgment is yours: if you feel your reader will simply not understand something, modernise

the language but leave a note somewhere to say that you have done so. Make sure the original

document or the later source which quotes it is properly referenced, so the reader can follow

the chain back and inspect the source in the original if they wish (for example, they may want

17

to personally check a handwritten document if they suspect the transcription from that

original was incorrect).

Ditto, if clarifying contemporary punctuation. As punctuation in Early Modern documents

can be random at best or absent altogether (e.g., in the 1640s plural and possessive

apostrophes were virtually unknown), you may find you need to insert the occasional comma

or apostrophe for clarity. Take care, however: there is a world of difference between ‘Let’s

eat, Grandma’ and ‘Let’s eat Grandma’(!), and you do not want to be responsible for a later

researcher taking your interpretation of a sentence as the original and correct one, and

completely misreading the original document. It’s good practice to enclose inserted

punctuation in [square brackets] so it’s clear this is a clarification of yours.

Using Early Printed Matter

Take care when transcribing early printed lists or tables, which may not follow the tabular

rules we are familiar with today. Make sure you’re clear about which column or section

everything is in: printing was still in its infancy and some printers were highly creative about

how they laid out a page, often to the detriment of clarity.

Watch out for stray marginal notes from the printer, as they may be important to your text

(they may be last-minute corrections to a submitted battle report, for example). Lists of errata

on the last page of a book or other document were common, so look out for them. English

Civil War newsbooks often included corrections to previous issues.

If the document is in poor condition and some of the text is illegible, make this clear in your

transcription, for example [illegible], or include an underscore ____. Only fill in the missing

18

text or letters yourself if you are absolutely sure you know what it should be. Even so, you

should still include the miss[i]ng letters in square brackets.

Watch out for the ‘long s’ – ʃ – which looks like a lower-case, tailed f without a cross stroke,

and is often confused with an f either through ignorance of the Early Modern printed

alphabet, or because the original document is poorly printed. Thus, a genuine example

recently found in a modern printed transcription: ‘the grasse was full of bodies’, which

should have been ‘the graffe [i.e., the ditch] was full of bodies’. In this case the problem was

almost certainly poor print quality and missing cross strokes, leading the transcriber to read

the letters as a ‘long s’ and the word as ‘grasse’. A fresh study of the original document

revealed the error. Mistranscriptions like this can make an appreciable difference to a military

report, and potentially to the accuracy of your manuscript.

Words and Spelling

Please check non-English sources and references are spelled correctly, including any accents,

umlauts etc. If you can’t access a native speaker, you can check the officially accepted

spellings for the work using worldcat.org (see below).

If you are using contemporary terms to describe ordnance, e.g. saker, culverin, an appendix

of the terms should be added.

Source Quotations

Make sure all source quotations are absolutely faithful to the primary (i.e. original) document

(if you need to modernise spellings or punctuation, follow the guidelines at the start of this

section). Your work may well be quoted by later authors/researchers who could not access

19

that source themselves – perhaps they could not visit the archive concerned – and in turn their

work may be quoted by someone else; unless care is taken at every stage, quotations can take

on the ‘Chinese whispers’ effect and gradually warp into inaccuracy, which may affect

someone’s future research.

If you’re repeating a quotation via a secondary or even tertiary source, make this clear. It is

preferable to reference the original source directly instead, if you have access to it. The

shorter the route back to the primary source the better, as there is less chance for error or

misinterpretation to creep in.

Double check that your reference for the quotation is as complete as possible, including page

/ folio number(s); if quoting from a book, note if it is a reprint or a new edition (your reader

may need to locate that precise edition themselves).

References

As well as author and title, source references should include the publisher name, and date and

place of publication. If these are unknown or in any respect unclear – this may particularly be

the case with early publications in our period – say so, and include any other relevant

information that can identify the text. It’s perfectly acceptable to include a brief narrative

explanation in the footnote (or even in the main text, if appropriate) about the source’s

provenance/location. The more information, the better.

You can check the accuracy and completeness of all your reference titles on

http://www.worldcat.org/, an online global library catalogue. It contains publication details

for the vast majority of printed books, including many very early ones, so if you’re missing

20

basic information for one of your source references, you should be able to find it on

Worldcat. On the front page, simply enter the title, partial title or author name in the “Find

Items in Libraries Near You” box, to bring up a list of matching publications. Note the option

to “view all editions”: this will give you a list of all the various editions of a book, and who

published them, in date order.

Worldcat is a free tool, and you do not need a login. Please make frequent use of it, and save

your Helion editor hours of work looking up missing reference details during the

editing/proofing stage!

If referencing early pamphlets or periodicals (e.g. English Civil War newsbooks), you should

include the title (appropriately shortened if necessary: some are very long), and the author or

printer if known; the date and place of publication if known; and the issue date and issue

number if the document has one (newsbooks were usually numbered, for example). Also the

name of the holding archive and the document’s reference number there. For items from the

Thomason Tracts in the British Library, for example, the references will be something like

E.345[6], or 669.f.9[46]. An early books catalogue number (e.g. from the STC II or Wing

catalogues), will also help a later researcher locate a copy of the item you are referencing.

21

ANNEX II – SERIES GUIDELINES FOR FROM REASON TO REVOLUTION 1721–

1815

With respect to the Helion house style, attention is particularly drawn to the correct form for

bibliographical citations (both in the bibliography itself and in footnotes). Reformatting these

if done incorrectly can take a considerable amount of time, and bibliographies not in the

required format will be returned to the author.

Dates and Calendars

Russia throughout this period, and Britain until 1752, retained the Julian calendar. For a book

set entirely within a country using the old calendar, use the dates as they would have been

given at the time. For a book where both sets of dates are in use, provide the alternative dates

as well – the abbreviations O.S. and N.S. for old and new style may be employed here. For

example, 14 September (3 September O.S.).

It is generally best to ignore the British pre-1752 system of the year beginning on Lady Day

(25 March), and to count years as if beginning in January; this may sometimes cause

problems with dates given in quoted material but an explanatory note should suffice to

resolve this. If necessary, this can be discussed further with your editor to produce a bespoke

solution for your book.

Ranks

Please give all ranks in the language of the army in question. Ranks in non-English-speaking

armies should always be italicised, even if spelled the same as in English (for example, major

22

and major). Archaic English spellings, e.g. serjeant, may be employed if appropriate,

particularly if it is necessary to be consistent with quoted matter.

If a foreign rank structure is unusual or likely to cause confusion, a table of comparative

ranks might be included as part of the front matter, or else an unusual rank might require an

explanatory footnote when first encountered (for example, many readers would be unlikely to

recognise the Dutch naval rank of schout-bij-nacht as equating to rear admiral, but it would

be safe to assume that the same navy’s vice-admiraal would be understood).

The exception to this rule is Russian ranks, which should generally be given as the English

equivalent or translation (for example, lieutenant colonel rather than podpolkovnik).

Unit Designations

Regiments and other formations should be referred to by the names they were called at the

time, although these may safely be abbreviated after a first mention. Thus, ‘Pulteney’s

Regiment of Foot’ or ‘Régiment de la Reine’ on first mention, can become ‘Pulteney’s’ or ‘la

Reine’ thereafter.

Battalions of a regiment are generally best indicated in the form, for example, 1/88th for the

first battalion of the 88th Foot or 2/Pavlovski for the second battalion of the Pavlovski

Grenadiers. For Prussian regiments post-1808 with an integral fusilier battalion, Füs/ may

also be employed as a battalion designator.

23

Take care to distinguish between ‘Smith’s Brigade’ as a proper noun if an army identified its

brigades by their commander’s name, and ‘Smith’s brigade’ if the brigade was commanded

by Gen. Smith but known by some numerical or other designator.

Larger formations should be referred to by their names in the army’s order of battle, be that

descriptive – Left Wing, First Line, Advance Guard – or numerical – II Corps, 1er Division

de Cavalerie, 4th Brigade (note Roman numerals for corps and Arabic for divisions and

brigades).

Weapons

Artillery pieces distinguished by weight of shot should be given in the form 6-pounder, 18-

pounder, etc. Give shot-weights as per the nationality in question rather than converting to

English pounds (adding, if necessary, a note in the front matter to explain any differences –

this may be particularly important in naval books where comparative weight of broadside is

of importance). However, again, Russians are the exception and the Russian pud is better

converted to the English pound, there being forty pounds to one pud.

Weapons distinguished by size of bore should be given in the form 5.5-inch howitzer, 10-inch

mortar, etc.

Bore of small-arms should generally be given in imperial measurements, for example 0.69-

inch, but a metric equivalent might be added in brackets afterwards if it is felt that this would

be helpful.

24

Measures and Measurements

These should generally be given in the manner of the times, with a metric or other modern

equivalent provided if necessary.

Special Notes for Falconet and Other Illustrated Titles

Books in our Falconet format, and some others which are heavily illustrated (books of plates,

atlases, etc.) may not require the full scholarly apparatus of footnotes that apply to our other

titles. If working on a book of this nature, please discuss this aspect with your editor at an

early stage to agree the most suitable methodology for your book. For example, a Falconet

title detailing a battle or campaign might usefully include citations in the usual manner, at

least for direct quotes; for a work on uniforms, a bibliography is often sufficient along with

textual mentions to identify sources used.

ANNEX III – CONVENTIONS FOR GREAT WAR TITLES

Calibres/projectiles should be written as:

18-pdr or 18-pounder

4.5-in. Howitzer or 4.5-inch (please note not to use “ as inch)

4.7-in. or 4.7-inch

9.2-in. or 9.2-inch

12-in. or 12-inch

60-pounder or 60-pdr

75mm

77mm

10.5cm

15cm

25

21cm

42cm

Infantry battalions can be given in the forms thus: 7th Battalion North Staffordshire Regiment,

7/North Staffords or 7th North Staffords for titles. Commonly recognised regimental

abbreviations can also be employed, viz. 1st RIR for 1st Royal Irish Rifles, 16th HLI for

16th Highland Light Infantry, etc. These titles will, on first appearance, be reproduced in

full with the intended abbreviation in squared brackets.

When referring to A, B etc., Company there is no need for quotation (‘A’) marks. Where

companies are numbered, the titles should be written 1, 2, 3 etc., Company to avoid

confusion with a quantity of companies.

It is better if possible to avoid abbreviations in unit and formation names such as coy,

sqn, bty, bn, regt, bde, div, etc., except where space is limited (e.g. on maps, tables etc.)

or if appearing in quoted passages.

Full-stops are not used in decorations such as VC, DSO, MM, etc. They are also not used

for very common acronyms such as GHQ, BEF, CIGS and so on.

no man’s land should always be written thus.

Battlefield localities should be written as normal place names (e.g. Hill 52, Rotten Row,

The Sugarloaf, Venison Trench etc.) without quotes.