British Military History For Dummies

Bryan Perrett served with the Royal Armoured Corps, the 17th/21st Lancers, the Westminster Dragoons, and the Royal Tank Regiment and has written more than 50 books on military history.

• Introduction 1Part I: Ancient and Medieval Warfare 7Chapter 1: Small Islands with Lots of Clout 9Chapter 2: Swords, Sandals, and Geometry: The Romans 15Chapter 3: Arthur, Alfred, and Aethelstan: The Dark Ages 29Chapter 4: The Hard Knight’s Day: The Norman Conquest and Medieval Period 39Part II: The Arrival of Gunpowder 57Chapter 5: With Pike and Shot: Renaissance Warfare 59Chapter 6: Hearties versus Gloomies: The Civil Wars 69Chapter 7: Founding a Regular Army: The Late Seventeenth Century 81Part III: Wars of Succession, Independence, and Revolution 91Chapter 8: O’er the Hills and Far Away: Marlborough Country and Beyond 93Chapter 9: Risings and Rebellions: Jacobites and Americans 117Chapter 10: Revolting Frenchmen, The Grand Old Duke, and Boney: The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars 133Chapter 11: Wellington Boots the French Out: The Peninsula to Waterloo 143Part IV: Nineteenth-Century Wars 171Chapter 12: Britain’s Little Wars: Imperial Expansion 173Chapter 13: Helping Turkey Fight the Bear: The Crimean War 187Chapter 14: Rebels, Rajahs, and a Rani: The Indian Mutiny 203Chapter 15: Home and Away: Reorganisation, Re-Equipment, and More Trouble in India 223Chapter 16: Boots, Boots, Boots, Boots: Marchin’ Over Africa 239Part V: The First World War 267Chapter 17: ‘Hangin’ On the Old Barbed Wire’: The Western Front, 1914–1917 269Chapter 18: Storm Troopers and Tank Attacks: The Western Front, 1918 287Chapter 19: Turkey With All the Trimmings: The Middle East and Beyond, 1914–1918 297Part VI: The Second World War (and Beyond) 319Chapter 20: Phoney War, Panzers, and Miracles: The Outbreak of the Second World War 321Chapter 21: Sun, Sand, Sea, and Tanks: The Middle East and North Africa, 1940–1943 331Chapter 22: One Bloomin’ Ridge After Another: The Italian Campaign, 1943–1945 353Chapter 23: Beachheads and Bridges: Normandy and Northwest Europe, 1944–1945 361Chapter 24: Welcome to the Jungle: The Far East, 1941–1945 377Chapter 25: Around the World in 60 Years: Operations 1945–2006 393Part VII: The Part of Tens 411Chapter 26: Ten Great British Generals 413Chapter 27: Ten Decisive Battles in British Military History 419Chapter 28: Ten British Military Museums Worth Visiting 423Index 427

"a ‘who, what, when, where and why’ of military events in Britain from the Romans to the present day." (Family Tree Magazine, September 2007) "Although the chapter titles and subtitles are jokey, the content is solidly descriptive...a very useful one-volume reference book." (Ancestors, November 2007)