The story of the British Army has many sides to it, being a tale of heroic successes and tragic failures, of dogged determination and drunken disorder. It involves many of the most vital preoccupations in the history of the island - the struggle against Continental domination by a single power, the battle for Empire - and a cast of remarkable characters - Marlborough, Wellington and Montgomery among them.
Yet the British, relying on their navy, have always neglected their army; from the time of Alfred the Great to the reign of Charles II wars were fought with hired forces disbanded as soon as conflict ended. Even after the struggles with Louis XIV impelled the formation of a regular army, impecunious governments neglected the armed forces except in times of national emergency.
In this wide-ranging account, Major Haswell sketches the medieval background before concentrating on the three hundred years of the regular army, leading up to its role in our own time. He presents an informed and probing picture of the organization of the army, the development of weaponry and strategy - and the everyday life of the British soldier through the centuries.
John Lewis-Stempel has brought Major Haswell's classic work right up to date by expanding the section on the dissolution of empire to include a full account of Northern Ireland and the Falklands War. He has added a new chapter to cover the Gulf War, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq; also the increasing role of special forces and the amalgamation of regiments.
About the Authors
John Lewis-Stempel is an award-winning writer predominantly known for his books on nature and history. His many books include the best-selling
Six Weeks, about British frontline officers in the First World War, described by the Literary Review as 'the most moving book I have ever read on the First World War' and by actor Dan Stevens (Matthew Crawley in Downton Abbey) as 'the best research resource ever', The Autobiography of the British Soldier and The War Behind the Wire, about the life, death and glory of British PoWs in the First World War. His books have been published in languages as diverse as Brazilian Portuguese and Japanese and have sold more than a million copies. He has two degrees in history, writes books under the pen name Jon E. Lewis, is married with two children, and also farms in Herefordshire.
Jock Haswell was educated at Winchester and Sandhurst, from where he was commissioned into The Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey) in June 1939. During the Second World War he fought in India, East Africa, Ethiopia and Madagascar, returning to serve in Germany in the psot-war period. He retired in 1960, having attained the rank of major, but was employed by the Ministry of Defence at the School of Service Intellligence. He is the author of a number of books on military history, including the history of his own regiment,
British Military Intelligence, Citizen Armies and
Spies and Spymasters.
