War was Britain’s furnace for two thousand years and we are that forging. Rome conquered England if not Scotland and imposed military rule on the north. Saxon raiders, then Vikings and finally Normans each invaded in turn. England and Scotland spent three hundred years at war with each other – a very nasty form of endemic, asymmetric warfare and those scars still linger. Edward III pursued expeditionary warfare against France and established a tradition that has since characterised UK military activity, the projection of force across the globe; most strikingly in recent times with the Falklands War of 1982. In 1914 Lord Haldane asked ‘what is the Army for?’ Nobody yet has a definitive answer, nor ever will. All of this experience and the many traditions it has fostered are preserved in the aspic of our military museum collections, the broad threads of history and grand strategy but also the human dimension of individual stories. Author John Sadler, in the company of Captain Graham Trueman, formerly of 3rd Battalion the Light Infantry, has visited 50 museums to tell 50 of those stories. Recent campaign experiences in Afghanistan and emerging global threats have thrown into stark relief the need to determine the role of the UK’s armed forces and of its global aspirations in a world which is both unstable and threatening. To ascertain how we move forward, we need to understand what went before. The author has interviewed military figures and museum curators to get to the truth. Leon Trotsky warned that ‘You may not be interested in war, but war is always interested in you…’

The borderers - people forged and hardened by endemic warfare over generations, whether by raids and skirmishes or set piece battles - are marked even today as a distinct group. For three savage centuries England and Scotland, both dynamic races, slogged it out upon this arena of nations. Scott might have reinvented the border as a sweep of chivalric romance, but the reality was very different. John Sadler knows this ground and its people; he is one of them. For half a century he has traversed the borderland, and has taught, enacted and written about them. In this book he offers a uniquely personal but highly informed view. He neither praises nor condemns them, but seeks to understand and, perverse as it may seem, admires them. History leaves its imprint and like the proverbial stone cast into still waters, it sends out ripples through time that never quite abate. The feuds were pursued with increasing savagery and even when not in outright conflict, the names on both sides continued their 'feids' or vendettas in crazy bloodletting for decades, with cycles of escalating violence creating a dizzying maze of interlocking enmities that was beyond all reason. The late, great George Macdonald Fraser once remarked that the borderers were free in a way we can never imagine. And they were. Here is a book that weighs the evidence from a plethora of sources to provide a compelling history of this border conflict. In the modern political scene, with the issue of a second referendum pending, the theme of a cultural identity, forged in the fury of those Border wars, forms a pivotal theme in the debate.

The 2014 Scottish independence debate and the re-ignition of the SNP’s call for a second vote in the wake of Brexit - and indeed Brexit itself - begs a reappraisal of what nationality and borderer identity actually mean in the twenty-first century and how the past affects this. As a borderer and historian John Sadler is uniquely qualified to examine the border from Roman times to today. He’s been in these Marches all his life, read about their wild inhabitants, traversed every inch and studied every castle, bastle, tower and battlefield. In July 2010 in Rothbury, a latter-day outlaw, Raoul Thomas Moat, a vicious petty criminal and murderer, holed up in Coquetdale as hundreds of police tried to flush him out. Nasty as he was, he became a kind of instant folk hero to some. Four centuries ago, Moat would barely have been noticed on the border - just another Reiver. From the Hammer of the Scots, William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and Mary, Queen of Scots, right through to today’s new nationalism, the story of the borderlands is tempestuous, bloody and fascinating. And a ‘Hot Trod’? If your cattle were stolen there was a legal requirement to pursue the rustlers within six days, otherwise you’re on a less enforceable Cold Trod.

If Richard III had not charged to his death at Bosworth, how different might the history of Britain have been?

Beginning in 1453 and ending in 1487, "The Red Rose and the White" provides a gripping overview of the bitter dynastic struggle for supremacy that raged between the houses of York and Lancaster for thirty years, culminating in the dramatic events on Bosworth Field in 1485.

As well as offering a comprehensive account of the campaigns, battles and sieges of the conflict, the book also assesses the commanders and men involved and considers the weapons and tactics employed. Photographs, maps and portraits of the principal characters help to bring the period to life, whilst the fast-paced narrative conveys a sense of what it was actually like to fight in battles such as Towton or Tewkesbury the effect of the arrow storm and the grim realities of hand-to-hand combat with edged and bladed weapons.

Skilfully weaving in political and social events to place the conflict in its context, "The Red Rose and the White" is a fascinating exploration of the turbulent period that would change the course of British history forever.

If Richard III had not charged to his death at Bosworth, how different might the history of Britain have been? Beginning in 1453 and ending in 1487, The Red Rose and the White provides a gripping overview of the bitter dynastic struggle for supremacy that raged between the houses of York and Lancaster for thirty years, culminating in the dramatic events on Bosworth Field in 1485. As well as offering a comprehensive account of the campaigns, battles and sieges of the conflict, the book also assesses the commanders and men involved and considers the weapons and tactics employed. Photographs, maps and portraits of the principal characters help to bring the period to life, whilst the fast-paced narrative conveys a sense of what it was actually like to fight in battles such as Towton or Tewkesbury the effect of the arrow storm and the grim realities of hand-to-hand combat with edged and bladed weapons. Skilfully weaving in political and social events to place the conflict in its context, The Red Rose and the White is a fascinating exploration of the turbulent period that would change the course of British history forever.

Border Fury provides a fascinating account of the period of Anglo-Scottish Border conflict from the Edwardian invasions of 1296 until the Union of the Crowns under James VI of Scotland, James I of England in 1603. It looks at developments in the art of war during the period, the key transition from medieval to renaissance warfare, the development of tactics, arms, armour and military logistics during the period. All the key personalities involved are profiled and the typology of each battle site is examined in detail with the author providing several new interpretations that differ radically from those that have previously been understood.

In the 18th century in the town of Gorkha, just north of Kathmandu, ruler Prithvi Narayan fought campaigns against his neighbours and the British. During the fighting his warriors, renowned for their aggression and courage, gained the respect of the British, who appreciated that the steadfast warriors would make excellent soldiers. Upon the declaration of peace in 1816, a partnership was born. This alliance would play a vital role in UK defence over the next two centuries, from surviving the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and fighting in the jungles of Burma to the Khyber Pass, which would keep the Gurkhas in action for ninety years. The First World War sent the Regiment to the trenches, where battalion after battalion was decimated. Some 20 Gurkha battalions were deployed in the Second World War, which was soon increased to 45 following Dunkirk. Around 250,000 Gurkha soldiers would serve and were deployed most significantly in North Africa but also served with distinction in the Italian Campaign and Monte Cassino, as well as the decisive battles of Imphal and Kohima in the Far East. Whilst the Gurkhas saw a drop in overall numbers post-war, they have continued to make integral contributions to many operations, including the Falklands and in Afghanistan, which this book examines extensively, with a special focus on Operation Herrick.�In The Gurkha Way, John Sadler tells the story of the Gurkhas from their inception to modern day through interviews, unpublished diaries and correspondence.�With over 200 years' experience, these steadfastly loyal soldiers are a link to an imperial past but also a key component of the modern British army.�There is no other comparable unit in any of the world's armies, (with the obvious exception of the Indian Army), or one more respected and loved by the British.

Border Fury provides a fascinating account of the period of Anglo-Scottish Border conflict from the Edwardian invasions of 1296 until the Union of the Crowns under James VI of Scotland, James I of England in 1603.

It looks at developments in the art of war during the period, the key transition from medieval to renaissance warfare, the development of tactics, arms, armour and military logistics during the period. All the key personalities involved are profiled and the typology of each battle site is examined in detail with the author providing several new interpretations that differ radically from those that have previously been understood.

Originally warriors mounted on horseback, knights became associated with the concept of chivalry as it was popularised in medieval European literature. Knights were expected to fight bravely and honourably and be loyal to their lord until death if necessary. Later chivalry came to encompass activities such as tournaments and hunting, and virtues including justice, charity and faith. The Crusades were instrumental in the development of the code of chivalry, and some crusading orders of knighthood, such as the Knights Templar, have become legend. Boys would begin their knightly training at the age of seven, learning to hunt and studying academic studies before becoming assistants to older knights, training in combat and learning how to care for a knight's essentials: arms, armour, and horses. After fourteen years of training, and when considered master of all the skills of knighthood, a squire was eligible to be knighted. In peacetime knights would take part in tournaments. Tournaments were a major spectator sport, but also an important way for knights to practice their skills - knights were often injured and sometimes killed in melees. Knights figured large in medieval warfare and literature. In the 15th century knights became obsolete due to advances in warfare, but the title of 'knight' has survived as an honorary title granted for services to a monarch or country, and knights remain a strong concept in popular culture. This short history will cover the rise and decline of the medieval knights, including the extensive training, specific arms and armour, tournaments and the important concept of chivalry.

The 2014 Scottish independence debate and the re-ignition of the SNP's call for a second vote in the wake of Brexit - and indeed Brexit itself - begs a reappraisal of what nationality and borderer identity actually mean in the twenty-first century and how the past affects this. As a borderer and historian John Sadler is uniquely qualified to examine the border from Roman times to today. He's been in these Marches all his life, read about their wild inhabitants, traversed every inch and studied every castle, bastle, tower and battlefield. In July 2010 in Rothbury, a latter-day outlaw, Raoul Thomas Moat, a vicious petty criminal and murderer, holed up in Coquetdale as hundreds of police tried to flush him out. Nasty as he was, he became a kind of instant folk hero to some. Four centuries ago, Moat would barely have been noticed on the border - just another Reiver. From the Hammer of the Scots, William Wallace, Robert the Bruce and Mary, Queen of Scots, right through to today's new nationalism, the story of the borderlands is tempestuous, bloody and fascinating. And a 'Hot Trod'? If your cattle were stolen there was a legal requirement to pursue the rustlers within six days, otherwise you're on a less enforceable Cold Trod.

The Second World War (1939-45) was not greeted with the same lavish outpouring of patriotic fervour that had attended August 1914. Any rags of glory had long since been drowned in the mud of Flanders. The Great War had been heralded as 'the war to end all wars'; veterans were promised 'a land fit for heroes'. Both of these vain boasts soon began to sound hollow as depression, unemployment, poverty and a rash of new wars followed. The sons and daughters of those who had embarked upon their own patriotic Calvary did so again in an altogether more sombre spirit. One significant difference between the two conflicts is that, whilst both were industrial wars, the Second World War was far nearer the concept of total war. The growth of strategic air power, in its infancy in 1918, had by 1939 become a reality. In this war, even more widespread and terrible than the last, there were to be no civilians. Death sought new victims everywhere; British citizens were now in the front line, there was to be no respite, no hiding place. This is the poetry and prose of those who were there, ordinary people caught in the terrible maelstrom of mass conflict on a scale hitherto unimagined; this is their testimony.

The Great War 1914 1918 was dubbed the 'war to end all wars' and introduced the full flowering of industrial warfare to the world. The huge enthusiasm which had greeted the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914 soon gave way to a grim resignation and, as the Western Front became a long, agonising battle of dire attrition, revulsion. Never before had Britain's sons and daughters poured out their lifeblood in such prolonged and seemingly incessant slaughter. The conflict produced a large corpus of war poetry, though focus to date has rested with the 'big' names Brooke, Sassoon, Graves, Owen, Rosenberg and Blunden et al - with their descent from youthful enthusiasm to black cynicism held as a mirror of the nation's journey. Their fame is richly merited, but there are others that, until now, you would not expect to find in any Great War anthology. This is 'Tommy' verse, mainly written by other ranks and not, as is generally the case with the more famous war poets, by officers. It is, much of it, doggerel, loaded with lavatorial humour. Much of the earlier material is as patriotic and sentimental as the times, jingoistic and occasionally mawkish. However, the majority of the poems in this collection have never appeared in print before; they have been unearthed in archives, private collections and papers. Their authors had few pretences, did not see themselves as poets, nor were writing for fame and posterity. Nonetheless, these lost voices of the Great War have a raw immediacy, and an instant connection that the reader will find compelling.

The origins of most of the west's Special Forces can be traced back to the Long Range Desert Group which operated across the limitless expanses of the Libyan Desert, an area the size of India, during the whole of the Desert War from 1940 - 1943. After the defeat of the Axis in North Africa they adapted to serve in the Mediterranean, the Greek islands, Albania, Yugoslavia and Greece. They became the stuff of legend. The brainchild of Ralph Bagnold, a pre-war desert explorer, featured, in fictional terms in The English Patient, who put all of his expertise into the creation of a new and, by the standards of the day, highly unorthodox unit. Conventional tactical thinking shunned the deep heart of the vast desert as it was thought to be a different planet, a harsh, inhospitable wilderness where British forces could not possibly survive even less operate effectively. Bagnold, Pat Clayton and Bill Kennedy Shaw created a whole new type of warfare. Using specially adapted vehicles and the techniques they'd learned in the'30s, recruiting only men of the right temperament and high levels of fitness and endurance, the first patrols set out bristling with automatic weapons. The 30-cwt Chevy truck and the famous Jeep have become iconic, the LRDG, in a dark hour, was the force which took the fight to the enemy, roving over the deep desert - a small raider's paradise, attacking enemy convoys and outposts, destroying aircraft and supplies, forcing the Axis to expend more and more resources protecting their vulnerable lines. Their work was often dangerous, always taxing, exhausting and uncomfortable. They were a new breed of soldier. The Axis never managed to equip any similar unit, they never escaped their fear of the scorching wilderness. Once the desert war was won they transferred their skills to the Mediterranean sector, re-training as mountain guerrillas, serving in the ill-fated Dodecanese campaign, then in strife torn Albania, Yugoslavia and Greece, fighting alongside the mercurial partisans at a time the Balkans were sliding towards communist domination or civil war. In addition LRDG worked alongside the fledgling SAS and they established, beyond all doubt, the value of highly trained Special Forces, a legacy which resonates today.

'An astonishingly complete account of this most significant battle in the Wars of the Roses. Impeccable research, clear, concise and fascinating maps, and a narrative that persuades you you're an onlooker at the very time these astounding events took place, this is as complete a history of an English medieval battle as I have ever read. Staggering.' Books Monthly 'Towton is a masterful account of a subject which had been much written about over the years - John Sadler sets his book apart from the rest by bringing his own background research and imagination into play...[He brings] a battle which took place over 500 years ago vividly back to life.' Suite101.com 'Mr Sadler has achieved what he set out to do and has produced a readable and understandable account of the battle of Towton and the events leading up to it, especially for those less familiar with the subject. However, the more knowledgeable can find plenty of positive new aspects as well, in particular the chapters covering the period 1400-1460 and the subsequent war in the North between 1461 to 1464.' Medieval Warfare

During the course of the Second World War, the Allies mounted a series of attempts to prevent Germany from manufacturing heavy water by utilising hydroelectric plants in occupied Norway. These efforts comprised a mix of bomber and commando raids. The overall aim was stop Nazi Germany building a nuclear bomb. In fact, Hitler was never as close as the Allies thought, but the idea that his regime could construct and deploy a device was the ultimate Domesday scenario, one that would have tilted the balance in favour of the Nazis. The mere threat might have been sufficient to force a negotiated peace with the perceived reality of a Nazi bomb hanging over the world like a nuclear-powered sword of Damocles. Production, and therefore Allied aims, centred on the Vemork Power Station standing by the Rjukan Waterfall at Telemark. A series of daring raids, Operations Grouse, Freshman and Gunnerside, neutralised the plant’s capacity. In Operation Freshman, every single glider-borne paratrooper was either captured or killed. In February 1943, a force of SOE-trained Norwegian commandos succeeded in sabotaging the plant’s production capacity. Further manufacturing effort was abandoned, and the Nazis attempted to transport the heavy water they had about the ferry SF 'Hydro'. The Norwegians managed to sink the vessel in the deep waters of Lake Tinn. The stakes in any special forces raids in history have never been higher.

The context for this interdisciplinary work by a philosopher and a clinician is the psychiatric care provided to those with severe mental disorders. Such a setting makes distinctive moral demands on the very character of the practitioner, it is shown, calling for special virtues and greater virtue than many other practice settings. In a practice so attentive to the patient's self identity, the authors promote a heightened awareness of cultural and particularly gender issues. By elucidating the nature of the moral psychology and character of the good psychiatrist, this work provides a sustained application of virtue theory to clinical practice. With its roots in Aristotelian writing, The Virtuous Psychiatrist presents virtue traits as habits, able to be cultivated and enhanced through training. The book describes these traits, and how they can be habituated in clinical training. A turn towards virtue theory within philosophy during the last several decades has resulted in important research on professional ethics. By approaching the ethics of psychiatric professionals in these virtue terms, Radden and Sadler's work provides an original application of this theorizing to practice. Of interest to both theorists and practitioners, the book explores the tension between the model of enduring character implicit in virtue theory and the segmented personae of role-specific moral responses. Clinical examples are provided, based upon dramaturgical vignettes (caseplays) which illustrate both the interactions of the case participants as well as the inner monologue of the clinician protagonist.

On 3 September 1650 Oliver Cromwell won a decisive victory over the Scottish Covenanters at the Battle of Dunbar - a victory that is often regarded as his finest hour - but the aftermath, the forced march of 5,000 prisoners from the battlefield to Durham, was one of the cruellest episodes in his career. The march took them seven days, without food and with little water, no medical care, the property of a ruthless regime determined to eradicate any possibility of further threat. Those who survived long enough to reach Durham found no refuge, only pestilence and despair. Exhausted, starving and dreadfully weakened, perhaps as many as 1,700 died from typhus and dysentery. Those who survived were condemned to hard labour and enforced exile in conditions of virtual slavery in a harsh new world across the Atlantic. Cromwell's Convicts describes their ordeal in detail and, by using archaeological evidence, brings the story right up to date. John Sadler and Rosie Serdiville describe the battle at Dunbar, but their main focus is on the lethal week-long march of the captives that followed. They make extensive use of archive material, retrace the route taken by the prisoners and describe the recent archaeological excavations in Durham which have identified some of the victims and given us a graphic reminder of their fate.

D-Day, the Allied invasion of Europe, began on the night of 5-6 June 1944. At 07.00 hours on the 6th, Britain's First Corps and XXX Corps came ashore on Sword and Gold beaches, to withering fire from the entrenched German forces. Within the initial and critical couple of hours some 30,000 soldiers, 300 guns and 700 armoured vehicles were landed, a magnificent achievement and, though the sands were soon choked with the mother of all logjams, exacerbated by a swelling tide, the British were firmly lodged; a bridgehead had been secured, albeit a rather flimsy one at this juncture. This is the story of the British soldiers' experience of the beach landings on that fateful morning - the spearhead of Operation Overlord.