Unknown Warrior

THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER Chosen by WATERSTONES as one of their BEST HISTORY BOOKS for 2024‘Compelling… [Nichol has a] terrific eye for detail; an ability to blend tear-jerking letters, quotation and personal anecdotes into a rich, thought-provoking narrative’Daily Telegraph Over one million British Empire soldiers died during the First World War. More than a century later, over half a million still have no known grave. As the nation grieved, the need for remembrance became paramount and an idea was born for a single ‘Unknown Warrior’ representing all the missing to be recovered from the battlefields and buried in Westminster Abbey on Armistice Day, 11 November 1920, when the Cenotaph was due to be unveiled on Whitehall by the King.Bestselling author and former RAF Tornado navigator John Nichol draws on his own experience of combat and loss to shine light on this century-old story. His search becomes a moving personal journey exploring the true meaning of camaraderie, service, sacrifice and remembrance from the First World War through to the present day.

John Nichol served in the Royal Air Force for fifteen years. On active duty during the first Gulf War in 1991, his Tornado bomber was shot down during a mission over Iraq. Captured, tortured and held as a prisoner of war, John was paraded on television, provoking worldwide condemnation and leaving one of the most enduring images of the conflict.  John is the bestselling co-author of Tornado Down and author of many highly acclaimed epics, including Spitfire, Lancaster and Tornado, all of which were Sunday Times bestsellers. He has made a number of TV documentaries with Second World War veterans, written for national newspapers and magazines, and is a widely quoted commentator on military affairs.