Salvation Army History Books, we all have them on our shelves. As all of my packages are sent to me at Territorial Headquarters, I think I must drive my office colleagues mad sometimes with this particular passion, particularly when I have for me at least an exciting new acquisition. 1 will to the best of my limited ability endeavour to give an outline of books published on the history of The Salvation Army.
It would seem that for a long time period there were very few books on the subject, but more recent years has seen a veritable explosion of new works. Between the years 1883-1885 The Salvation Army published 'The Salvation War' a precursor to the Year Book that we all know and love. These contain contemporary accounts of The Salvation Army's spectacular progress at home and abroad at that time. I have to state at this point that I would not be without my copy of the Year Book as very often it gives a good starting point for any queries that may arise.
1 will begin with the Biographies of William and Catherine Booth, the official biography of Catherine Booth was written by her son in law - Frederick Booth-Tucker and published in 1892. W.T. Stead also wrote Catherine's biography which was published in 1900. Catherine Booth has actually had very little written about her since that time. The only other books that I can find are a volume of The Warriors Library written by Mildred Duff in 1914, Metcalfe 1967,1980, the 1970 biography written by Catherine Bramwell Booth which is without doubt a very difficult book to read, Charles Ludwig's 'Mother Of An Army' in 1987 and Roger Green's 1996 biography.
William Booth had his biography written more than once even before his Promotion to Glory. There has been something in the region of twenty biographies, these include: Booth Tucker 1898, Page 1901, Railton 1912, Begbie 1920, Nelson 1929, St John Ervine 1932, Carpenter 1944, Steele 1954, Taylor 1963, Bishop 1964, Collier 1965, Barties 1975, Vaisey, Benge, Hosier, Hattersley 1999, Bennett, Green 2006. There are of course some booklets in the Liberty Books and Victory Books Series. There is also Moyles' book published in 2006 - William Booth In Canada, which deals with the visits William Booth made to the that country.
The Booth funily have not fared too well as far as biographies are concerned, Bramwell Booth 1932 written by his daughter Catherine; Evangeline Booth - Wilson 1935, Lavine 1970, Troutt 1980. Two on Catherine - The Marechale: Strachan 1920's, The Heavenly Witch: Scott 1981; The Consul (Enuna) - Frederick Booth Tucker 1903; Herbert, Ballington and Lucy - there appears to be nothing, Marian Carpenter 1921.
Early Salvation Army Leaders have not fared too well either - Dowdle 1901; Railton - Duff 1920, Watson 1970, Chase 1995; Cadman - Wallis 1928; Lawley - Carpenter 1924; Booth-Tucker - Williams 1980; Jeffries - Claughton 1946. It is now long overdue for new biographies of these greats to be written as so many Salvationists are totally ignorant of the contribution made by them and they are written for a completely different era. More recent works are those on Yarnamuro - Rightmire 1997; Brengle - Rightmire 2003, the previous full biography being Halls in 1933. Over the years there has also been a large number of biographies (mainly in booklet form) written of other leaders and notable officers but these are two numerous to deal with here; 1 personally would love to see a full length biography of Colonel William Pearson and Eliza Shirley amongst others though there are mini-biographies of many of these early personalities. One very notable publication is Yin - The Mountain The Wind Blew Here - Brown 1988.
Biographies of Army leaders are a very useful source of information, particularly the Generals as they often give an insight to happenings behind significant events, amongst these are - Storm Pilot (Higgins), Evangeline Booth - see above; A Man Of Peace In A World At War (Carpenter); A Very Private General (Coutts); The Ninth General (Wickberg); General of God's Army (Burrows); If Two Shall Agree (Rader). There are also autobiographies - should that not ought to be biographies - that have been published over the years, amongst these being - The House Of my Pilgrimage (Osbom); A Goodly Heritage (Kitching); A Burning In My Bones (Wiseman); There's A Boy Here (Gowans). 1 have to confess I have a problem with anything autobiographical as it seems to me that the writers are on some kind of ego trip, and that these writings in reality contribute very little of real worth.
The origins of The Salvation Army is a fascinating area of study, but surprisingly little has been published on this particular subject, with only Glenn Horridge - The Salvation Army - Origins and Early Days 1993; Norman Murdoch - Origins Of The Salvation Army 1994; and Parnela Walker - Pulling The Devils Kingdom Down 2001.
The now eight volume official history is of course necessary reading, but it should be noted that this is an official history and always shows the movement in the best possible light. I have my doubts about whether volumes 7 and 8 should have been written so early as almost everything they contain is within living memory, and some of the events described particularly in Volume 8 differ from my memory and the memories of others 1 have spoken too. It would perhaps have been better if these last two volumes had been kept back for a few years more. Dates of publication are Volume 1 1947, Volume 2 1950, Volume 3 1955 author Sandall, Volume 4 1964, Volume 5 1968 author Wiggins, Volume 6 1973, Volume 7 1986 author Coutts, Volume 8 2000 author Gariepy.
Also very valuable are the history of The Salvation Army in various countries, and parts of a country with many of these being written for centenaries. Countries: United States - Mackinley - Marching To Glory 1980 2nd edition expanded 1992, other books on The Salvation Army in the United States are The Hallelujah Army - Neal 1961, Soldiers Without Swords - Wisbey 1955, Born To Battle - Chesham. 1965; South Africa - Tuck - Salvation Safari 1983; Canada - Collins - The Holy War Of Sally Ann 1982, other books on the history of the Salvation Army in Canada are Brown - What God Hath Wrought 1952, Moyles - The Blood And Fire In Canada 1977; Australia - Bolton - Booth's Drum 1980, Salvos With the Forces - Red Shield Services in ~I - Hull 1995, Salvo The Salvation Army in The 1990's - Cleary, New Zealand - Bradwell - Fight The Good Fight 1982; India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Sri Lanka - By Love Compelled - Smith 1981, also of interest is Muktifauj Forty Years In India - Booth-Tucker 1922; Caribbean - Hobbs - Jewels Of the Caribbean 1987; Mozambique - The Song Of The Unsung Heroes - Dunwoodie 1994, Indonesia - History Of The Salvation Army in Indonesia Volume 1 - Brotiwer 1996; Zimbabwe - A Flame Of Sacred Love (S.A. in Zimbabwe 1890-1991) Nyandoro 1993; Mexico - Salvation Patrol - Gearing 1981; Singapore - By Love Compelled 60th Anniversary - Wong 1995; China - A Costly Death Bed Charge Cairns 1989 and Good Morning China - Yee 2005. Parts of Countries - Scotland Marching As To War - McLean 1979; Sweeping Through The Land - A History of The Salvation Army in the Southern United States - Satterlee 1989; Texas-Lone Star Legacy 1989 (Mainly Photographs); Utah 100 Years Of Service - Fritz 1989; Alaska - A Century of Service in Alaska - Gariepy 1998; The Salvation Army In Newfoundland - Moyles 1997. Of particular interest is We Have Returried-The Salvation Army In Uganda 1980-1985 - Millar 2003; Red Hot and Righteous Winston 1999 and Hallelujah Lads & Lasses-Remaking the Salvation Army in America 1880-1930 - Taiz 2001. Though many of these are again usually 'official histories' they do contain a good deal of information about the spread of The Salvation Army around the world. Some non-English speaking territories have also produced histories but I am unable to cover them in this article, these include Sweden and Germany.
There has for some reason no definitive History of The Salvation Army Social Work ever been written. There has though been many books written amongst these are The Poor and the Land 1905 and Redemption 1910 - H Rider Haggard, The History Of The Salvation Army Volume 3 - Robert Sandall 1955, Bread For My NeighbourThe Social Influence Of Williarn Booth - Coutts 1978, Booth's Boots-Social Service Beginnings in The Salvation Army - Fairbank 1983, Somebodys Brother - McKinley 1986 which deals with the Men's Social Service Dept in the United States 1891-1985. Perhaps unique is Happy Warriors the Story Of The Social Work Of The Salvation Army - Search 1956, but the book only deals with some aspects of the Womens Social Work in the United Kingdom. Of great interest are The Salvation Army Farm Colonies - Spence 1985, Southern - Soap-Soup-Salvation - A Compendium of Salvation Army Social Services in the Australia Southern Territory - Kirkham/Cox 2003. From Canada there is Eighty Years of Grace Wagner 1970, this volume deals with the history of the Grace Hospitals in Canada. There is also Green's - War On Two Fronts- The Redemptive Theology Of Williarn Booth, 1989 which deals with William, Booth's thinking in regard to Social Work and Reform, also I will include here What Price the Poor?-William Booth, Karl Marx and the London Residuum Woodall 2005. Nothing except the three following seems to have been written concerning the various aspects of Salvation Army Work - Missing - Williams 1969 and God's Private Eye - Pratt 1988 - both of these deal with missing persons work, and The Falling Leaf - Smith 2004 - which tells of The Salvation Army's involvement in ministering to those who are H.I.V. positive and their families. I am including a new publication - Soldiers Of The Cross - Murdoch - in this section as it is the biographies of two pioneers of social change - Susie Swift and David Larnb, this books gives due credit to two unsung heroes of The Salvation Army's early days in social reform.
Corps Histories - I only know of very few of these and they have all been produced for the Corps Centenaries; these are Sheffield Citadel, Croydon Citadel, Portland, Felixstowe, Newbury Park, Exeter Temple, Leigh on Sea; Chelmsford (though this is an account of the first year in Chelmsford as seen through the various newspaper reports). There may be others that have been produced in other Salvation Army Territories - Australia Eastern Territory seems to have produced quite a number including histories of Broken Hill Corps; Wollongong Corps, Brisbane City Temple and Toowoomba, Corps (I have a complete list but there are far too many to list here). From the United States I have heard of only three; Greenville Corps; South Carolina Kitchen; Cap'n Tom -The Story of one man's victory over alcoholism and his ministry on the Street of Lost Hope - Troutt (This is also the story of the Harbor Light Corps m Chicago and Detroit). I am not sure if this book is actually a history of the Corps but - For My Kinsmen's Sake - Check Hung Yee (A Salvation Army Officer's quarter century of service in San Francisco Chinatown) would appear to be a very interesting read. From New Zealand there is again quite a number of full works including Linwood Corps; Christchurch Corps and Invergargill Corps. (Again there are too many to list here, but I do have a full list). From Canada I can only find two The History of St John's 1 and 2 Corps, Newfoundland; and Edmonton Corps Moyles. I would be interested in hearing of others, it must also be remembered that many corps have produced booklets etc for centenaries but these are far too numerous to list.
The first High Council fascinates many people and Kirkhain's book - Deposed But Not Despised is excellent. Others include Allighan's - Four Bonnets To Golgotha and Lunn's - Salvation Dynasty. Both of these are perhaps a little on the sensational side but I found them to be a fascinating read along with 'The Clash Of The Cymbals' This subject is also covered at some detail in St. John Ervine's second volume of his biography of William Booth though where he obtained his information is perhaps best left to the imagination.
Though there have been many incidents of many kinds in the history of The Salvation Army very few appear to have had any major works written about them. I can only find three major incidents that have been covered in any depth, these being the Maiden Tribute Campaign of 1885, the campaign to abolish Devils Island 1933-1952, and the Empress of Ireland 1914. The titles are Maiden Tribute - Unsworth 1954; The Conquest of Devils Island - Pean 1953 (1 believe there are at least two other books by the same author on this subject, but I have been unable to trace them); Till We Meet Again-The Sinking of the Empress of Ireland - Wood 1982, Losing The Empress - Creighton 2000. Having said this two authors at least have produced very interesting works which cover a variety of incidents from the fascinating history of the Salvation Army - The Salvation Army And The Public - Moyles 2000 and Turning Points-How The Salvation Army Found A Different Path - Satterlee 2004.
Though women have played a major part in the history and the development of The Salvation Army ahnost nothing has been written about their specific contribution - all I have been able to find is Heart of the Family - A History of the Home League in the British Territory - Burrows 1989. A fascinating book on this topic is Women In God's Army-Gender and Equality in the Early Salvation Army - Eason 2003, both of these books being written by men.
One fascinating book is Bernard Watson's 'A Unique Society - A History of The Salvation Army Assurance Society Limited' 1968. This book gives a detailed history of a unique branch of Salvation Army work. Published to commemorate the Centenary of The Salvation Army in 1965 is 'A Hundred Years War' Written by Bernard Watson, whilst this book does contain some anecdotal history, it is in many ways more of are view of Salvation Army work in the mid 1960's. It is still a good read.
It would seem that since the late 1950's numerous novels have been written that are set in a Salvation Army context e.g. Shout Aloud Salvation - Terrant, Strawberry Fields - Flynn. Some of these are an interesting diversion but there is no way they can be regarded as serious historical works though they may give some background.
On the subject of Salvation Army music there appears to have been very little written at least in book form. The only books 1 can find are Play The Music Play - Boon 1966, Sing The Happy Song - Boon 1978, I.S.B. - Boon 1985. From Australia there is Pressing Onward: the first one hundred years of the Melbourne Staff Band - Peeke 1986, and Brave and True - Cox 2003 and from the United States there is Heralds of Victory/New York Staff Band - Holz 1987. There is also a new publication that was due to be published this year but to date it has not made an appearance - Brass Bands Of The Salvation Army - 2006. 1 have only found one (though I am informed that there are several others, 1 do not have the details) concerning the history of a Corps Band - The Band With A Name-A History Of Coventry City Salvation Army Band from 1892-1993 - Elliott 1994. There are also a number of biographers of various Salvation Army Musicians - In The Firing Line (Coles) W. Court 2006 is the latest. Others include Father of Salvation Army Music (Slater) A. Wiggins 1943, Triumph Of Faith (Marshall) A. Wiggins 1958, Symphony Of Thanksgiving (Goffin) C. Bradwell 1994.
There was a new departure in July 2006 with the publication of A Historical Dictionary Of The Salvation Army - Merritt. This is an encyclopaedic work covering most of what some would call Salvation Army trivia. This book falls into a category of its own and one can only hope that it will be regularly updated, and that some kind of supplement will be made available.
To say the least this has been an interesting piece of research and I will be most happy to receive any further information. This is not an exhaustive article on this subject but an introduction; I have left out any references to books on Salvation Army Doctrine etc. as I feel that subject is left to someone more qualified than myself
Editorial Note: Advice on obtaining any of these books or on any book connected to the Salvation Army can be freely obtained by e-mailing or writing to the Editor (we have managed to locate most books previously requested and are happy to offer a free book search). We are also aware of other publications due next year, in particular Ken Elliott's story of Eliza Shirley. In Australia, Garth Hentzschel's 'Cross and Crown Publications' is producing classic Army reprints as well as new books and we are happy to provide lists of his publications on request.
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