Blumberg's History of the Royal Marines 1755-1914 by General Sir H. E. Blumberg, K.C.B., RM

 Blumberg's History of the Royal Marines 1755-1914 by General Sir H. E. Blumberg, K.C.B., RM

Herbert Blumberg was commissioned into the Royal Marines Light Infantry in 1888. He is now best remembered for his highly respected' Britains Sea Soldiers, A History of the Royal Marines 1914-1919'. This is considered to be the conpanion volumeto Cyril Field's 'Britain's Sea Soldiers' Volumes I and II that record Corps history from 1664-1914. Blumbergs tomewas known as Volume III.

Field and Bloomberg collaborated on a number of projects, and indeed Bloomberg is credited as a key source for Field's work whilst both were co-authors of the scarce ‘Random Records of the Royal Marines’ published by the Globe and Laurel in 1930. However, shortly before his death between January and July 1934 Bloomberg also privately published ‘A Record of the Royal Marines’, a three-volume work that recorded the history of the Corps 1755-1914. Amongst the rarest of the Corps histories, the original print had a miniscule circulation and in 1979 the RMHS decided to publish extracts from Bloomberg 's “Royal Marines records”, covering ‘the administrative, social and domestic detail and excluding the ‘fighting’ which is covered in detail in other places.’ 

 The different styles and interests of Field and Bloomberg mean that even when recording the same piece of history both focus on different matters with vastly different emphasis. The RMHS pamphlets have been long out of print and with falling publication costs, the RMHS have revisited Bloomberg's work and the result is ‘Bloomberg's History of the Royal Marines, 1755 to 1914’ in its entirety for the first time. Some 85 years after his death, General Bloomberg's final work is published in this single volume. 

Royal Marines Historical Society Special Publication No. 49.