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An encyclopedia of articles examining guerrilla warfare throughout the world, focusing on military tactics utilized by minority groups within a state or indigenous population to oppose the ruling government or foreign occupying forces.
The story of the British army, from its inception in the late
seventeenth century to the present. This new concise history by one
of Britain's leading military historians explores the British army
from the creation of a permanent standing army in the seventeenth
century to the present. It sets the institutional development of
the British army, and its often ambiguous relationship with state
and society, as well as the army's wider political, social,
economic, and cultural role within international, imperial,
national, regional, and local contexts. An army exists to fight,
however, and the British army's story cannot be separated from
those wars and conflicts that have punctuated its evolution.
Consequently, attention is also paid to the army's commanders,
operations, and battlefields from the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in
the seventeenth century to Iraq and Afghanistan in the
twenty-first. Beckett traces the army's evolution through five
chronological phases: the standing army of the seventeenth century
and its antecedents, the national army of the eighteenth century,
the imperial army of the nineteenth century, the people's army of
the two world wars, the era of national service, and the return to
a small professional army fulfilling a global role envisaged by
successive governments in the twenty-first century at a time of
rapidly changing social attitudes towards the utility of force,
that pose a challenge to the army's traditional core values.
The British amateur military tradition of raising auxiliary forces
for home defence long preceded the establishment of a standing
army. This was a model that was widely emulated in British
colonies. This volume of essays seeks to examine the role of
citizen soldiers in Britain and its empire during the Victorian
period.
The course of events of the Great War has been told many times,
spurred by an endless desire to understand 'the war to end all
wars'. However, this book moves beyond military narrative to offer
a much fuller analysis of of the conflict's strategic, political,
economic, social and cultural impact. Starting with the context and
origins of the war, including assasination, misunderstanding and
differing national war aims, it then covers the treacherous course
of the conflict and its social consequences for both soldiers and
civilians, for science and technology, for national politics and
for pan-European revolution. The war left a long-term legacy for
victors and vanquished alike. It created new frontiers, changed the
balance of power and influenced the arts, national memory and
political thought. The reach of this acount is global, showing how
a conflict among European powers came to involve their colonial
empires, and embraced Japan, China, the Ottoman Empire, Latin
America and the United States.
The course of events of the Great War has been told many times,
spurred by an endless desire to understand 'the war to end all
wars'. However, this book moves beyond military narrative to offer
a much fuller analysis of of the conflict's strategic, political,
economic, social and cultural impact. Starting with the context and
origins of the war, including assasination, misunderstanding and
differing national war aims, it then covers the treacherous course
of the conflict and its social consequences for both soldiers and
civilians, for science and technology, for national politics and
for pan-European revolution. The war left a long-term legacy for
victors and vanquished alike. It created new frontiers, changed the
balance of power and influenced the arts, national memory and
political thought. The reach of this acount is global, showing how
a conflict among European powers came to involve their colonial
empires, and embraced Japan, China, the Ottoman Empire, Latin
America and the United States.
Series Information: Warfare and History
Modern Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies explores how unconventional warfare tactics have opposed past and present governments all over the world, from eighteenth-century guerrilla warfare to the urban terrorism of today. Insurgency remains one of the most prevalent forms of conflict and presents a crucial challenge to the international community, governments and the military. In addition to examining the tactics of guerrilla leaders such as Lawrence, Mao, Guevara and Marighela, Modern Insurgencies and Counter-Insurgencies also analyses the counter-insurgency theories of Gallieni, Callwell, Thompson and Kitson. It explores such conflicts as: * the American War of Independence * Napoleon's campaign in Spain * the wars of decolonisation * the superpowers in Vietnam and Afghanistan * conflicts in Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone and Colombia.
You offer yourself to be slain,"" General Sir John Hackett once
observed, remarking on the military profession. ""This is the
essence of being a soldier."" For this reason as much as any other,
the British army has invariably been seen as standing apart from
other professions - and sometimes from society as a whole. A
British Profession of Arms effectively counters this view. In this
definitive study of the late Victorian army, distinguished scholar
Ian F. W. Beckett finds that the British soldier, like any other
professional, was motivated by considerations of material reward
and career advancement. Within the context of debates about both
the evolution of Victorian professions and the nature of military
professionalism, Beckett considers the late Victorian officer corps
as a case study for weighing distinctions between the British
soldier and his civilian counterparts. Beckett examines the role of
personality, politics, and patronage in the selection and promotion
of officers. He looks, too, at the internal and external influences
that extended from the press and public opinion to the rivalry of
the so-called rings of adherents of major figures such as Garnet
Wolseley and Frederick Roberts. In particular, he considers these
processes at play in high command in the Second Afghan War
(1878-81), the Anglo-Zulu War (1879), and the South African War
(1899-1902). Based on more than thirty years of research into
surviving official, semiofficial, and private correspondence,
Beckett's work offers an intimate and occasionally amusing picture
of what might affect an officer's career: wealth, wives, and family
status; promotion boards and strategic preferences; performance in
the field and diplomatic outcomes. It is a remarkable depiction of
the British profession of arms, unparalleled in breadth, depth, and
detail.
The battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879, the first major
encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War, witnessed the worst single day's
loss of British troops between the battle of Waterloo in 1815 and
the opening campaigns of the First World War in August 1914.
Moreover, decisive defeat at the hands of the Zulu came as an
immense shock to a Victorian public that had become used to easy
victories over less technologically advanced indigenous foes in an
expanding empire. The successful defence of Rorke's Drift, which
immediately followed the encounter at Isandlwana (and for which 11
Victoria Crosses were awarded), averted military disaster and went
some way to restore wounded British pride, but the sobering memory
of defeat at Isandlwana lingered for many years, while the
legendary tale of the defence of Rorke's Drift was re-awakened for
a new generation in the epic 1964 film Zulu, starring Michael
Caine. In this new volume in the Great Battles series, Ian F. W.
Beckett tells the story of both battles, investigating not only
their immediate military significance but also providing the first
overarching account of their continuing cultural impact and legacy
in the years since 1879, not just in Britain but also from the once
largely inaccessible and overlooked Zulu perspective.
The British amateur military tradition of raising auxiliary forces
for home defence long preceded the establishment of a standing
army. This was a model that was widely emulated in British
colonies. This volume of essays seeks to examine the role of
citizen soldiers in Britain and its empire during the Victorian
period.
This volume recounts the battles of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift,
exploring how they were fought, how they have been remembered, and
what they mean for us today. The battle of Isandlwana on 22 January
1879, the first major battle in the Anglo-Zulu war, witnessed the
worst single day's loss of British troops between the battle of
Waterloo in 1815 and the opening campaignns of the First World War
in August 1914. Moreover, decisive defeat at the hands of the Zulu
came as an immense shock to a Victorian public that had become used
to easy victories over less technologically advanced indigenous
foes in an expanding empire. The successful defence of Rorke's
Drift, which immediately followed the encounter at Isandlwana (and
for which 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded), averted military
disaster and went some way to restore wounded British pride, but
the sobering memory of defeat at Isandlwana lingered for many
years, while the legendary tale of the defence of Rorke's Drift was
reawakened for a new generation in the epic 1964 film Zulu,
starring Michael Caine. In this new volume in the Great Battles
series, Ian F. W. Beckett tells the story of both battles,
investigating not only their immediate military significance but
also providing the first overarching account of their continuing
cultural impact and legacy in the years since 1879, not just in
Britain but also from the once largely inaccessible and overlooked
Zulu perspective.
What exactly is military history? Forty years ago it meant battles,
campaigns, great commanders, drums and trumpets. It was largely the
preserve of military professionals and was used to support national
history and nationalism. Now, though, the study of war has been
transformed by the 'war and society' approach, by the examination
of identity, memory and gender, and a less Euro-centric and more
global perspective. Generally it is recognised that war and
conflict must be integrated into the wider narrative of historical
development, and this is why Ian Beckett's research guide is such a
useful tool for anyone working in this growing field. It introduces
students to all the key debates, issues and resources. While
European and global perspectives are not neglected, there is an
emphasis on the British experience of war since 1500. This survey
of British military history will be essential reading and reference
for anyone who has a professional or amateur interest in the
subject, and it will be a valuable introduction for newcomers to
it.
An original and spellbinding reinterpretation of the most
significant events of the Great War Nearly a century has passed
since the assassination of Austria-Hungary's Archduke Ferdinand,
yet the repercussions of the devastating global conflict that
followed echo still. In this provocative book, historian Ian
Beckett turns the spotlight on twelve particular events of the
First World War that continue to shape the world today. Focusing on
episodes both well known and scarcely remembered, Beckett tells the
story of the Great War from a new perspective, stressing accident
as much as strategy, the small as well as the great, the social as
well as the military, and the long term as much as the short term.
The Making of the First World War is global in scope. The book
travels from the deliberately flooded fields of Belgium to the
picture palaces of Britain's cinema, from the idealism of Wilson's
Washington to the catastrophic German Lys offensive of 1918. While
war is itself an agent of change, Beckett shows, the most
significant developments occur not only on the battlefields or in
the corridors of power, but also in hearts and minds. Nor may the
decisive turning points during years of conflict be those that were
thought to be so at the time. With its wide reach and unexpected
conclusions, this book revises-and expands-our understanding of the
legacy of the First World War.
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