While there is much written about wars, battles, tactics and fighting in this period, there is relatively little serious research on the nature of everyday military life. This new series aims to publish a range of interesting new books which explore a variety of questions about soldiering in this period. Subjects covered will include who were the soldiers and the officers?; how did their careers develop?; their cultural attitudes, including the changing nature of masculinity; the growth of professionalism; how soldiers related to their families and wider society; changing approaches to military discipline and organisation; and much more.
The series will cover all the different forces of the British crown – the regular army, militia, home defence forces, part-time soldiers, auxiliaries; and officers, NCOs, rank and file, camp followers and military families. Besides studying the forces raised in Britain and Ireland, the series will also examine troops raised overseas including “foreign” units and forces recruited in the colonies and the Empire. Soldiering had a lifecycle – from recruit, to life as a soldier, then discharge and returning to the community, all of which could be repeated – the series overall aims to provide rich detail on exactly what this life was like.
These should be sent in the first instance to the series editor, Kevin Linch at [email protected].
How Britain Won the War of 1812
The Royal Navy’s Blockades of the United States, 1812-1815
The War of 1812 between Britain and the United States was fought on many fronts: single ship actions in the Atlantic; a US invasion of Canada, which the Canadians heroically resisted; the burning of the new US capital, Washington, by the British, the President’s house subsequently painted white to hide the fire damage; and an unsuccessful attack by the British on New Orleans. The war is usually seen as a draw. However, as this book demonstrates, it was in fact a British victory.
British Expeditionary Warfare and the Defeat of Napoleon, 1793-1815
Britain’s naval victories in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars succeeded in protecting Britain from French invasion, but they could not of themselves defeat France. How did Britain manage the transportation of large numbers of troops to French controlled territory during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars and successfully land them?
A Social History of British Naval Officers, 1775-1815
Who were the men who officered the Royal Navy in Nelson’s day? This book explores the world of British naval officers at the height of the Royal Navy’s power in the age of sail. The demands of life at sea conflicted with the expectations of genteel behaviour and background in eighteenth-century Britain, and the ways officers grappled with this challenge forms a key theme.
The Birth of the Royal Marines, 1664-1802
The Royal Marines come from a long and proud tradition dating back to 1664. However, the first incarnation of the service, the Marine Regiments, was plagued by structural and operational difficulties. This book traces the origins and early development of the Royal Marines, outlining their organisational structures, their recruitment and social background, the activities in which they were engaged, and how their distinctive identity was forged.
Exploring the Medieval Armoury