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