Soldiers

Army Lives and Loyalties from Redcoats to Dusty Warriors

By: Richard Holmes

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Paperback | 27 September 2012

At a Glance

Paperback
688 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
19.8 x 12.9 x 5.1

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Since 1660 the army has evolved and adapted, but the social organisation of the men has changed less, with the major combat arms retaining many of the characteristics familiar to those who fought at Blenheim, Waterloo and the Somme. The Duke of Marlborough, who built up the British army to become a world-class fighting force in the 1660s, would recognise in the tired heroes of Helmand the descendants of the men he led to victory at Blenheim over three hundred years ago.

Soldiers is exhaustively researched, and Holmes′s affection for the soldier shines through on every page. Above all, this book is brimming with great stories, from the chaos of the battlefield to the fug of the barrack-room, from Ulster to Bengal, from Flanders′ fields to the Afghan hills. This is a magisterial social history of the British soldier -- and Richard Holmes′s fitting last tribute to the British soldier, to whom he was so devoted.

About the Author

Richard Holmes is our greatest living biographer. His biography of Shelley won the Somerset Maugham Prize. Footsteps (1985) revolutionized the way biography was thought about and written. The first part of his biography of Coleridge won the 1989 Whitbread Book of the Year Prize. His portrait of the friendship between Dr Johnson and Mr Savage won the James Tait Black Prize. The concluding volume of his Coleridge biography won the Duff Cooper Prize and the William Heinemann award. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy, and Professor of Life Writing at the University of East Anglia. He lives in London and Norwich with the novelist Rose Tremain.

Industry Reviews

'If any of his many works of military history should stand as a memorial to his work and achievement, this last most lively book might well be the most fitting' The Times

'A book of majestic, heart-rending humanity: a deeply affectionate portrait of British soldiers as they have existed for more than 350 years' Daily Telegraph

'Almost every page is adorned with a fascinating fact or amusing vignette . . . illuminating just how much, and how little, the Army has changed over the centuries. Holmes was a first-rate military historian and his passion for his subject shines through. "That article" [the British Tommy] could not hope for a finer champion.' Mail on Sunday

'Stirring and magnificent . . . covers every aspect of army life you can think of, and many you wouldn't have' Sunday Times

"Holmes's thematic panorama glitters with fascinating detail" Independent

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