Books by Philip MacDougall

Secret Gillingham explores the lesser-known history of the Medway town of Gillingham in Kent through a fascinating selection of stories, unusual facts and attractive photographs.

A pictorial history of the working life of the Medway Towns over the last century and more.

The untold story of the Royal Navy's experimental flying stations created in the First World War to perfect the aeroplane as a weapon of war. In establishing a number of advanced experimental units, the envelope of flight was pushed to the extreme, resulting in futuristic weapons, advanced aircraft and new approaches to gaining aerial victory.

Ethiopia (1935-6), Spain (1936-9), China (1937 onwards), Mongolia (1939), Finland (1939-40) France (1939-40) were the testing grounds for the aerial fighter tactics of World War Two and even today. In a subject rarely looked at in depth the author explores the lessons learnt, the means by which information was collected and subsequently used.

Dr Philip MacDougall, local historian, takes you on a journey through the City of Chichester revealing much of its lesser-known history. Here you will find the story behind the city's nineteenth-century banking crisis, the activities of a London mob of criminals who targeted the Goodwood races, a fascinating collection of letters written during the First World War and even how local politicians once bribed potential voters with lashings of beer. Blending the serious and the not so serious and drawing heavily on primary sources, including newspapers and original documents, Secret Chichester gives a fascinating look at this city's past with images from long ago and today.

If War Should Come

A history of Chatham

Chatham is a town that has been undergoing change for the last five hundred years. It all began with the arrival of the naval dockyard in the sixteenth century. From this, a town was created which began to grow with the rapidity of a Chatham built warship. The site of the former dockyard is still under development and in the town major changes are not only underway but others are in the pipeline and will include the Brook, the waterfront and the area of the railway station. What better time can there be for a book on Chatham that not only looks at the past but also the present? While many of the photographs show the town as it is today - many of those scenes will also be changing in the near future. This book attempts to capture this evolving town, and will be of interest to anyone who knows and loves this area.