Edith Elizabeth APPLETON O.B.E.  R.R.C.

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Publication of Edie's diaries

Update 17 February 2013.

Edie is today at no. 10 in the Sunday Times Bestseller list! It's here.

Update 8 February 2013

A couple of nice reviews of the paperback edition: Daily Mail of 1 February 2013 and Daily Express 8 February

Update 8 January 2013

Click  to enlarge

A Nurse at the Front is now published as a paperback book; publication date is 7 February 2013 Foreword by Michael Morpurgo Edited by Ruth Cowen who has also written the Introduction Appendix: British Military Nurses in the Great War - Sue Light Comprehensive index of all names and places Publisher: Simon & Schuster with the Imperial War Museum Click here for sample from the book (PDF) Press release from Simon & Schuster (PDF) Click here for information on the publisher's website. Please do leave a message in Edie's Visitors Book

A Nurse at the Front was published as a hardback book and eBook on 1st March 2012 Foreword by Michael Morpurgo Edited by Ruth Cowen who has also written the Introduction Appendix: British Military Nurses in the Great War - Sue Light Comprehensive index of all names and places Publisher: Simon & Schuster with the Imperial War Museum Click here for sample from the book (PDF) Press release from Simon & Schuster (PDF) Click here for information on the publisher's website. Please do leave a message in Edie's Visitors Book < Click on the image to enlarge

Update 11 April: Edie was back on the BBC today; in the form of her great nephew, Dick Robinson, who was interviewed on Radio 4 Midweek programme, alongside others, by presenter Libby Purves. More information here: http://www.edithappleton.org.uk/audio/radio4_midweek.asp.

Update 23 March 2012:

This morning I was interviewed live on BBC Radio Gloucestershire by Anna King. Anna had played three extracts from the diaries earlier in the week. You can hear the 10 minute interview here. This may take a little time to download - be patient, it's worth the wait!  

Update 18 March 2012:

Saturday's 'signing' in the Cotswold Bookstore in Moreton in Marsh was a great success with more than 65 books sold in a couple of hours. Click here to see the Bookstore's blog report and here to see some more pictures (PDF 199KB). Thanks to everyone who turned up and bought copies!

Update 13 March 2012:

This Saturday 17^th March 10.30am to 12.30pm Dick will be at the Cotswold Bookstore in Moreton-in-Marsh for a book ‘signing’. More information here.

Update: 9 March 2012

BBC TV Midlands Today came and interviewed us (Dick and Lisa Robinson) in Gloucestershire on Friday 9 March and everyone seems to have seen the programme except us as we were away later that day!   Dick was interviewed and Lisa read some excerpts from the diaries. You can see the whole piece here. Be patient - it takes some time to download.

I have also done a number of BBC radio interviews: one for Radio Kent (Edie grew up in Deal in Kent) and another for Radio Solent which covers the Isle of Wight where Edie lived from 1923 until her death in 1958. BBC Radio Hereford and Worcestershire did three items over three days and it was a delight to visit the presenters Howard Bentham and Toni McDonald in their studio.

Update: 3 March 2012

BBC TV South East did a piece about the publication of the diaries today. This includes brief clips of Ruth Cowen who edited the diaries for the book and of Dick Robinson, Edie's great nephew. You can view this:

• on the BBC South East website here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-17223205 (I min 16 sec) or

• download a longer version (2 min 24 sec) here. It's 6MB to download - be patient!

Shame that the photo they used at the beginning of the piece was not of Edie but of her colleague and best friend, Sister Kate Maxey, instead. Edie would probably have been pleased, though, and there is a photo of her at the end of the piece in her Barts uniform dated about 1901. Also it would have been nice if they had mentioned the actual book!

Update: 9 December 2011

The title is "A Nurse at the Front - The Great War Diaries of Sister Edith Appleton" and outline information can now be seen here: http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/Nurse-at-the-Front/Ruth-Cowen/9780857202239. Publication will be on 1st March 2012.

Update: 4 July 2011

Latest news is that the title of the book will be 'A Nurse at the Front'.  It is edited by Ruth Cowen and has a Foreword by Michael Morpurgo.  Have a look at more information in The Bookseller magazine 1 July 2011 or try this link: http://www.thebookseller.com/news/ss-publish-diaries-war-museum.html.

Update: 26 May 2011

From October this year, in anticipation of publication of an edited hardback book version in March 2012 and at the request of the publishers, the majority of the diaries will be removed from this website. In order that descendants of those soldiers, nurses, doctors and others whom Edie mentions in her diaries can check for individual names (as well as places, battles, events etc), we are preparing a detailed index for you to check. 

If you spot a name in the index which is of personal interest to you (or perhaps you will have seen it mentioned in the book once it is published), you will be able to request that a copy of the relevant volume(s) of the original, unedited diaries be emailed to you. This facility will also be available to bona-fide researchers with an interest in the Great War and, in particular, the role of nurses.

The publishers have requested that we first get a signed form from you undertaking to respect their copyright conditions. While we realise that this may seem rather burdensome. we do respect the needs of the publisher to protect copyright and we are, of course, very happy and proud that they have decided to publish Edie's wonderful diaries.

Exciting news - 26 January 2011

Edie's Diaries are to be published as a hardback by major international publishers, Simon and Schuster, early in 2012.  This is as part of a series in conjunction with the Imperial War Museum. The working title is 'A Nurse on the Western Front'. If you want to receive information about the forthcoming book, send us a message via Edie's Visitors' Book and we will let you know as soon as we have more to report.

Needless to say, we are very excited about this development.  Further information about exact dates etc will be added here as it becomes available.

Dick Robinson

Copyright © 2008-11. Dick Robinson, Piers and Jill Stainforth [Edie was our great aunt]. All rights reserved.
Permission granted to reproduce for personal and educational use only. Commercial copying, hiring, lending is prohibited.