Jocelyn Pereira's vivid and colourful narrative of the 5th Battalion' Coldstream Guards advance from Normandy to Cuxhaven in 1944-45 is a priceless piece of regimental history and a tribute to those who served in that final, testing phase of the war. It is a story of war, an intensely human endeavour, with its bursts of extreme activity interspersed with long periods of relative inactivity; with its highs and lows, good times and bad. It is a story of Guardsmen, of professionalism and discipline in the most demanding of circumstances, of initiative and resourcefulness, of determination and stubbornness, of fortitude and stoicism in adversity, of comradeship and consideration for others, of humour and unbreakable morale, of extraordinary gallantry and sacrifice.

With a light touch, a dose of irreverence, modesty and understatement, and an evidently healthy disregard for dress regulations, Jocelyn Pereira captures that enduring Coldstream spirit.

A Distant Drum also contains useful appendices for the historian, these include: a Roll of Honour, citations for awards and medals and lists of orders of battle throughout the campaign.