An Army officer must lead men into frightening and dangerous situations and sometimes make them do things that they never thought they could do. This book recounts how British officers have led their men, and commanded their respect, from the days of Marlborough to the Second Iraq war of 2003. Anthony Clayton explores who the officers, men and now women, have been and are, where they came from, what ideals or traditions have motivated them, and their own perceptions of themselves. His account tells the fascinating story of how the role of the military officer evolved, illustrated by a selection of captivating images, and the personal memoirs, biographies and autobiographies of officers.

An Army officer must lead men into frightening and dangerous situations and sometimes make them do things that they never thought they could do. This book recounts how British officers have led their men, and commanded their respect, from the days of Marlborough to the Second Iraq war of 2003. Anthony Clayton explores who the officers, men and now women, have been and are, where they came from, what ideals or traditions have motivated them, and their own perceptions of themselves. His account tells the fascinating story of how the role of the military officer evolved, illustrated by a selection of captivating images, and the personal memoirs, biographies and autobiographies of officers.

Published in the year 1974, Government and Labour in Kenya is a valuable contribution to the field of History.

This ambitious survey draws together the two major wars of decolonization fought by France in Indochina and Algeria (as well as the lesser but far from insignificant military operations in Madagascar, Tunisia and Morocco) into a single integrated account. It examines traditional French attitudes to empire, and how these changed under the pressure of events; the military operations themselves; the collapse of the Fourth Republic and the return of de Gaulle; and the final drama of French withdrawal from Algeria and the 'ethnic cleansing' of its European settler population.

Published in the year 1974, Government and Labour in Kenya is a valuable contribution to the field of History.

Since 1950, there has been almost continuous military unrest in Africa. This study offers an overview of warfare in this period, examining a military tradition that ranges from the highly sophisticated electronic, air and armour fighting between South Africa and Angola-Cuban forces, to the spears and machetes of the Rwandan genocide. The author explores two themes: first, that warfare in North Africa has principally been a matter of identity and secondly, that warfare south of the Sahara is comparable with that of pre-colonial Africa - conflicts of frontiersmen trying to extend their control over land and resources. Exploring liberation campaigns, civil wars, ethnic conflicts and wars between nations, this study provides an authoritative military history of Africa over half a century.

This ambitious survey draws together the two major wars of decolonization fought by France in Indochina and Algeria (as well as the lesser but far from insignificant military operations in Madagascar, Tunisia and Morocco) into a single integrated account. It examines traditional French attitudes to empire, and how these changed under the pressure of events; the military operations themselves; the collapse of the Fourth Republic and the return of de Gaulle; and the final drama of French withdrawal from Algeria and the 'ethnic cleansing' of its European settler population.

In the 1870s, to supplement their early steam engines, French warships were still rigged for sail. In the 1970s the Marine Nationale's ships at sea included aircraft carriers operating supersonic jets, and intercontinental ballistic missile submarines propelled by nuclear engines. Within this one hundred years, the Marine has played important roles in the acquisition of Asian and African colonial empires; until 1900 the lead role in a naval 'Cold War' against Great Britain; in 1904-1920 preparation, largely Mediterranean-based for, and participation in a Paris agenda in the First World War; a spectacular modernisation unfortunately incomplete in the inter-war years; division, tragic self-destruction and a rebirth in the Second World War; important roles in the two major decolonisation campaigns of Indochina and Algeria; and finally in the retention of major world power status with power-projection roles in the late 20th century, requiring a navy with both nuclear age and traditional amphibious operational capabilities. The enormous costs involved were to lead to reductions and a new naval relationship with Great Britain at the end of the 20th Century. These successive radical changes were set against political dispute, turmoil and in the years 1940 to 1942, violent division. Political leaders from the 19th Century imperialists to the Fifth Republic sought a lead role for France or if not, sufficient naval power to effectively influence allies and world affairs. Domestic economic difficulties more than once led to unwise`navy on the cheap' policies and construction programmes. The major post-1789 rift in French society appears occasionally among crews on board ships, in docks and builders yards, and in 1919-1920 open munities in ships at sea. In this work the author has tried to weave together these very varied strands into a history of a navy whose nation's priorities have more often been land frontier defence, the navy undervalued with a justifiable pride in its achievements poorly recognised. A study of the history of the Marine is also useful and important contribution to wider studies of French national history over thirteen tumultuous decades.

In the 1870s, to supplement their early steam engines, French warships were still rigged for sail. In the 1970s the Marine Nationale's ships at sea included aircraft carriers operating supersonic jets, and intercontinental ballistic missile submarines propelled by nuclear engines. Within this one hundred years, the Marine has played important roles in the acquisition of Asian and African colonial empires; until 1900 the lead role in a naval 'Cold War' against Great Britain; in 1904-1920 preparation, largely Mediterranean-based for, and participation in a Paris agenda in the First World War; a spectacular modernisation unfortunately incomplete in the inter-war years; division, tragic self-destruction and a rebirth in the Second World War; important roles in the two major decolonisation campaigns of Indochina and Algeria; and finally in the retention of major world power status with power-projection roles in the late 20th century, requiring a navy with both nuclear age and traditional amphibious operational capabilities. The enormous costs involved were to lead to reductions and a new naval relationship with Great Britain at the end of the 20th Century. These successive radical changes were set against political dispute, turmoil and in the years 1940 to 1942, violent division. Political leaders from the 19th Century imperialists to the Fifth Republic sought a lead role for France or if not, sufficient naval power to effectively influence allies and world affairs. Domestic economic difficulties more than once led to unwise 'navy on the cheap' policies and construction programmes. The major post-1789 rift in French society appears occasionally among crews on board ships, in docks and builders yards, and in 1919-1920 open munities in ships at sea. In this work the author has tried to weave together these very varied strands into a history of a navy whose nation's priorities have more often been land frontier defence, the navy undervalued with a justifiable pride in its achievements poorly recognised. A study of the history of the Marine is also useful and important contribution to wider studies of French national history over thirteen tumultuous decades.

An army marches on its stomach, observed Napoleon. One hundred and fifty years later General Rommel remarked that the British should always be attacked before soldiers had had an early morning cup of tea. This book, written to raise money for the Army Benevolent Fund and with a Foreword by General Lord Dannatt, sets out the human story of the food and "brew-ups" of the front-line soldier from the Boer War to Helmand. Throughout, the importance of the provision of food, or even a simple mug of tea, for morale and unit fellowship, as well as for the need of the calories required for battle is highlighted with many examples over the century. For many, until 1942, the basis of food was"bully beef" and hard biscuit, supplemented by whatever could be found locally, all adequate but monotonous. Sometimes supply failed, on occasions water also. The extremes of hardship being when regiments were besieged, as in Ladysmith in the Boer War and Kut el-Amara in Iraq in the 1914-18 war. At Kut soldiers had, at best, hedgehogs or birds fried in axle-grease with local vegetation. On the Western Front the Retreat from Mons in August 1914 was almost as severe. The inter-war years experiences of mountaineers and polar explorers, supplemented by academic diet studies of the unemployed in London and Northern England led to the introduction of the varied composite, or 'compo' rations, marking an enormous improvement in soldiers' food, an improvement commented upon by the bully beef and biscuits-fed 8th Army advancing into Tunisia from Libya on meeting the 1st Army which had landed in Algeria with tins of compo. Soldiers landing in Normandy and fighting on into Germany were generally well fed even during a hard 1944-45 winter. The worst suffering, though, fell on soldiers in the Burma campaign, especially in the Chindit columns. In one unit the only food available at one time was the chaplain's store of Communion wafers. Many men died unnecessarily from the results of poor feeding. The work has been compiled from documents in the Royal Logistic Corps Museum at Deepcut, from memoirs, letters and interviews, and from the superb collection of regimental histories in the library of the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. All royalties from this book will be given to the Army Benevolent Fund.

Fighting in woods and forests is a very special form of war. Avoided by military commanders unless such terrain is to their advantage, for soldiers forest battles are a chaotic mix of dread, determination, and, all too often, death. Adversaries remain in constant fear of concealed ambush, casualties usually must be abandoned, and prisoners who cannot be guarded are killed. Heightened fear can lead to excesses. Too often, armies have been badly prepared and trained for such warfare and have suffered severely for it. In Warfare in Woods and Forests, noted military historian Anthony Clayton describes major events in woods and forest warfare from the first century CE to the 21st. These events involve Roman soldiers in Germany 2,000 years ago; North Americans in 18th- and 19th-century conflicts; invaders of Russia in 1812 and 1941; British, French, and Americans in France in 1916 and 1918; Americans in the Hurtgen Forest in 1944; and modern-day Russian soldiers in Chechnya."

With a foreword by HRH The Duke of Kent On 13 February 1945 Dresden, one of the most beautiful and historic cities of Europe, was destroyed by British and American air raids. This book is the first comprehensive history in the English language of this important cultural and historical centre. The book traces the city's evolution from 1206 to its great baroque period under Augustus the Strong, and from the bombing to the present day. The story of Dresden supplies the reader with unique insights into the collapse of the old monarchic order, the resistance of citizens to the Nazi regime, as well as the reaction of the Church and the rise and fall of the GDR. It describes the post-war replanning of the city, from its ideological reshaping under Communism to the liberation of ideas and energies after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Experts in their fields tell the story of Dresden's great musical, artistic, architectural, literary and theatrical traditions which are further illuminated by a series of personal memoirs from eye-witness accounts in 1945 to contemporary reflections by Lord Menuhin and others. Heavily illustrated, this book will be relevant to students of German history and art history or for anyone interested in a wide-ranging introduction to the history of Dresden.

World War I from the French point of view: the first ever account in English Anthony Clayton is an acknowledged expert on the French military and his book is a major contribution to the study and understanding of the First World War. He reveals why and how the French army fought as it did. He profiles its senior commanders - Joffre, Petain, Nivelle and Foch - and analyses its major campaigns both on the Western Front and in the Near East and Africa. PATHS OF GLORY also considers in detail the officers, how they kept their trenches and how men from very different areas of France fought and died together. He scrutinises the make-up and performance of France's large colonial armies and investigates the mutinies of 1917. Ultimately, he reveals how the traumatic French experience of the 1914-18 war indelibly shaped a nation.

The career of the French general Maxime Weygand offers a fascinating glimpse into the perils and politics of military leadership and loyalty in the interwar years and after France's defeat in 1940. Of obscure birth, Weygand had an outstanding career during WWI as chief of staff for Marshal Foch and served France after the war in Poland and Syria before returning home. Alarmed by Nazi Germany's rearmament, Weygand locked horns with a political leadership skeptical of the growing military threat, leading to accusations that his desire for a strong army was anti-democratic. With German invaders again threatening Paris, Weygand argued for armistice rather than face certain military defeat. No friend of the newly-installed Vichy government, Weygand was soon shuffled off to North Africa, where he plotted the army's return to the Allied cause. After the German entry into Unoccupied France, Weygand was imprisoned. Released at war's end, he was rearrested on the orders of Charles de Gaulle and afterwards fought to restore his name. In this concise biography, Anthony Clayton traces the vertiginous changes in fortune of a soldier whose loyalty to France and to the French army was unwavering.