British Military History For Dummies

Introduction 1

Part I: Ancient and Medieval Warfare 7

Chapter 1: Small Islands with Lots of Clout 9

Chapter 2: Swords, Sandals, and Geometry: The Romans 15

Chapter 3: Arthur, Alfred, and Aethelstan: The Dark Ages 29

Chapter 4: The Hard Knight’s Day: The Norman Conquest and Medieval Period 39

Part II: The Arrival of Gunpowder 57

Chapter 5: With Pike and Shot: Renaissance Warfare 59

Chapter 6: Hearties versus Gloomies: The Civil Wars 69

Chapter 7: Founding a Regular Army: The Late Seventeenth Century 81

Part III: Wars of Succession, Independence, and Revolution 91

Chapter 8: O’er the Hills and Far Away: Marlborough Country and Beyond 93

Chapter 9: Risings and Rebellions: Jacobites and Americans 117

Chapter 10: Revolting Frenchmen, The Grand Old Duke, and Boney: The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars 133

Chapter 11: Wellington Boots the French Out: The Peninsula to Waterloo 143

Part IV: Nineteenth-Century Wars 171

Chapter 12: Britain’s Little Wars: Imperial Expansion 173

Chapter 13: Helping Turkey Fight the Bear: The Crimean War 187

Chapter 14: Rebels, Rajahs, and a Rani: The Indian Mutiny 203

Chapter 15: Home and Away: Reorganisation, Re-Equipment, and More Trouble in India 223

Chapter 16: Boots, Boots, Boots, Boots: Marchin’ Over Africa 239

Part V: The First World War 267

Chapter 17: ‘Hangin’ On the Old Barbed Wire’: The Western Front, 1914–1917 269

Chapter 18: Storm Troopers and Tank Attacks: The Western Front, 1918 287

Chapter 19: Turkey With All the Trimmings: The Middle East and Beyond, 1914–1918 297

Part VI: The Second World War (and Beyond) 319

Chapter 20: Phoney War, Panzers, and Miracles: The Outbreak of the Second World War 321

Chapter 21: Sun, Sand, Sea, and Tanks: The Middle East and North Africa, 1940–1943 331

Chapter 22: One Bloomin’ Ridge After Another: The Italian Campaign, 1943–1945 353

Chapter 23: Beachheads and Bridges: Normandy and Northwest Europe, 1944–1945 361

Chapter 24: Welcome to the Jungle: The Far East, 1941–1945 377

Chapter 25: Around the World in 60 Years: Operations 1945–2006 393

Part VII: The Part of Tens 411

Chapter 26: Ten Great British Generals 413

Chapter 27: Ten Decisive Battles in British Military History 419

Chapter 28: Ten British Military Museums Worth Visiting 423

Index 427