As autumn comes so too do Christmas books and despite the Indian Summer ,this week sees the arrival of the paperback of Warrior: The Amazing Story of a Real Warhorse.

The hardback sold over 45,000 copies so I am hoping that many more people can now enjoy my grandfather’s little tribute to the extraordinary horse he bred and brought up on the Isle of Wight and then took to the Front Line throughout the First War surviving every horror imaginable, coming back to win the Isle of Wight point to point and living until 1941.

The paperback is basically the same although it does include a picture of ‘Winnipeg’ the Canadian Cavalry’s little bear cub befriended by Warrior and the future inspiration, when moved to London Zoo, for Winnie The Pooh! The epilogue also has a photograph of the half life size Philip Blacker sculpture of Grandpa and Warrior which will stand in the Isle of Wight as a permanent memorial to the most famous horse in their, or anyone else’s, history.

Meanwhile I have been very touched by the kind reviews about my book on Henry Cecil. Despite one or two misunderstandings most people seem to have accepted the spirit in which it was written. As we go to Christmas and another edition I hope it can stand as what is now a posthumous tribute to an amazing man and a quite extraordinary career.