The Changing of the Guard

The Changing of the Guard
Author: Simon Akam
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2021-03-02
Genre:
ISBN: 9781922310279

A revelatory, explosive new analysis of the British military today. Over the first two decades of the twenty-first century, Britain has changed enormously. During this time, the British Army fought two campaigns, in Iraq and Afghanistan, at considerable financial and human cost. Yet neither war achieved its objectives. This book questions why, and provides challenging but necessary answers. Composed of assiduous documentary research, field reportage, and hundreds of interviews with many soldiers and officers who served, as well as the politicians who directed them, the allies who accompanied them, and the family members who loved and -- on occasion -- lost them, it is a strikingly rich, nuanced portrait of one of our pivotal national institutions in a time of great stress. Award-winning journalist Simon Akam, who spent a year in the army when he was 18, returned a decade later to see how the institution had changed. His book examines the relevance of the armed forces today -- their social, economic, political, and cultural role. This is as much a book about Britain, and about the politics of failure, as it is about the military.

The Military in British India

The Military in British India
Author: T. A. Heathcote
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2013-08-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1783830646

T.A. Heathcotes study of the conflicts that established British rule in South Asia, and of the militarys position in the constitution of British India, is a classic work in the field. By placing these conflicts clearly in their local context, his account moves away from the Euro-centric approach of many writers on British imperial military history. It provides a greater understanding not only of the history of the British Indian Army but also of the Indian experience, which had such a formative an effect on the British Army itself. This new edition has been fully revised and given appropriate illustrations.

The Oxford History of the British Army

The Oxford History of the British Army
Author: David G. Chandler
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 498
Release: 1996
Genre: History
ISBN: 0192853333

From longbow, pike, and musket to Challenger tanks, from the Napoleonic Wars to the Gulf Campaign, from the Duke of Marlborough to Field Marshal Montgomery, this stimulating and informative book recounts the history of the British army from its medieval antecedents to the present day. Commanders, campaigns, battles, organization, and weaponry are all covered in detail within the wider context of the social, economic, and political environment in which armies exist and fight, making this the definitive one-volume history of the British army for specialists and non-specialists alike. Book jacket.

The British Army and Jewish Insurgency in Palestine, 1945-47

The British Army and Jewish Insurgency in Palestine, 1945-47
Author: David A. Charters
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 285
Release: 1989-06-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1349199753

The first comprehensive scholarly study of the British Army's campaign against the Jewish insurgency in postwar Palestine, this book shows how outdated doctrine, traditional resistance to change, and postwar turbulence hampered the army's efforts to modify its counter-insurgency tactics. It also shows why the security forces failed to develop intelligence sufficient to defeat the insurgents.

A Long Long War

A Long Long War
Author: Ken Wharton
Publisher: Grub Street Publishers
Total Pages: 524
Release: 2008-05-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1907677607

The author of Bloody Belfast delivers “a vivid and unforgettable record” of the Northern Irish conflict that captures the “true horrors of war” (Best of British). There are stories from some of the most seminal moments during the troubles in Northern Ireland—the Crossmaglen firefights, the 1988 corporals killings, the Ballygawley bus bombing, and more—told from the perspective of the British soldiers who served there between 1969 and 1998. This was a war against terrorists who knew no mercy or compassion; a war involving sectarian hatred and violent death. Over 1,000 British lives were lost in a place just thirty minutes flying time away from the mainland. The British Army was sent into Northern Ireland on August 14, 1969, by the Wilson government as law and order had broken down and the population (mainly Catholics) and property were at grave risk. Between then and 1998, some 300,000 British troops served in Northern Ireland. This is their story—in their own words—from first to last. Receiving a remarkable amount of cooperation from Northern Ireland veterans eager to tell their story, the author has compiled a vivid and unforgettable record. Their experiences—sad and poignant, fearful and violent, courageous in the face of adversity, even downright hilarious—make for compelling reading. Their voices need to be heard. “One of the first and only books to offer the perspective of regular British soldiers serving in the Northern Irish conflict . . . a valuable addition to the extensive literature about the Irish Troubles.” —Choice

Fit for Service

Fit for Service
Author: J. A. Houlding
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 492
Release: 1981
Genre: History
ISBN:

With Zeal and With Bayonets Only

With Zeal and With Bayonets Only
Author: Matthew H. Spring
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
Total Pages: 408
Release: 2012-11-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 0806184221

The image is indelible: densely packed lines of slow-moving Redcoats picked off by American sharpshooters. Now Matthew H. Spring reveals how British infantry in the American Revolutionary War really fought. This groundbreaking book offers a new analysis of the British Army during the “American rebellion” at both operational and tactical levels. Presenting fresh insights into the speed of British tactical movements, Spring discloses how the system for training the army prior to 1775 was overhauled and adapted to the peculiar conditions confronting it in North America. First scrutinizing such operational problems as logistics, manpower shortages, and poor intelligence, Spring then focuses on battlefield tactics to examine how troops marched to the battlefield, deployed, advanced, and fought. In particular, he documents the use of turning movements, the loosening of formations, and a reliance on bayonet-oriented shock tactics, and he also highlights the army’s ability to tailor its tactical methods to local conditions. Written with flair and a wealth of details that will engage scholars and history enthusiasts alike, With Zeal and with Bayonets Only offers a thorough reinterpretation of how the British Army’s North American campaign progressed and invites serious reassessment of most of its battles.

Fire Power

Fire Power
Author: Dominick Bidwell
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Total Pages: 343
Release: 2004-10-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1844152162

This is, without doubt, the finest book about the crucial role that artillery played in the two World Wars of the Twentieth century. The authors, both former artillery officers who saw action in Word War Two, describe the development of their neglected, inadequate and class-ridden arm through the battles of the First World War and the eventual war-winning role that artillery played, to the culmination of professional military deployment in the Second World War.