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Title: Mr. Kipling's Army by Byron Farwell ISBN: 0-393-30444-2 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: 01 August, 1987 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.75 (8 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Be Prepared--You Will Captured by "Mr. Kipling's Army"
Comment: A superb book. I had a rather vacant weekend recently and fortunately this book arrived a day before. Superb, highly entertaining stories on the pre-World War I British Army covering subjects as diverse as discipline, officers, enlisted men, religion, women (there were few of them-wives, sweethearts, prostitutes), drink (there was way too much of that), the importance of regimental loyalty,-see chapter titles for a full list. This does for the British army of the later 19th century what Don Rickey's FORTY MILES A DAY ON BEANS AND HAY accomplished for the American frontier army but is far more readable and enjoyable, even though the Indian Wars period is my main area of interest and research.
One drawback to the book--there are no footnotes or bibliography so we are left guessing where Mr. Farwell culled all these wonderful stories, tidbits and insights from. The book is so readable though and I am not a tracking down sources to write something myself, so this is easily forgiven. Enjoy!
Rating: 5
Summary: An Eccentric View of The Victorian Army
Comment: This book provides a comprehensive survey of the Victorian army during the height of the Great British Empire. Mr. Farwell is something of an expert on this period and his lucid writing is a joy to read. The book brings out the many varied living conditions that existed in the British army of that time. This is more social history than pure military fare, but don't let that discourage the perspective reader. This is not dry stuff about living conditions in the Victorian army, the book is full of amusing anedotes from actual living Victorian soldiers.
They were a peculiar lot these Soldiers of the Queen, who cherished all their old traditions. The army was extremely conservetive in outlook, from Prviate to General. The regiment was the key element which kept it all together. The British army has always been a regimental army, and this was never more so than in the 19th Century. The army proved extremly adaptive to fighting in all the varied conditions within the Empire, and while this abundance of expereince gave it a unique espirit-de-corps, it did not prepare it well to fight any European conflicts. The British only barely managed to field a few full strength Corps at the beginning of the Great War in 1914. This was in no small way due to the Reforms of Edward Cardwell who created a reserve by linking many of the single battalion regiments together in the 1880s thereby establishing some form of reserve pool of manpower. The system just managed to hold the army together, but created many animosities between time-honored regiments who disliked being linked to each other in adinistractive fashion.
The book goes to great lengths to explain the huge social gulf between officers and enlisted men. The British army was stratified to a degree that no other army of the period entertained. It was an 18th century notion which struggled on into the next century. Farwell brings out these and many other fascinating details as he illustrates the daily life of the Victorian soldier. Those interested in the period of Queen Victoria's Little Wars won't want to put this one down. Its full of fascinating tid-bits of people like Kitchener, Charles Gordon, Wolsley, Frederick Roberts and Churchill, as well as the common soldiers and officers that made up the army. Also, anyone interested in the social anatomy of an army and the society to which it belonged should also find it most rewarding. There are many such Victorian studies out there, but few address the army, which perhaps reflected the age more directly than any other English institution of the time.
Rating: 4
Summary: Helpful
Comment: To better understand the character of the British Army and officers of the Victorian age, one needs to be fully versed on the Roman Army. Without this background, Farwell's fine book will be nothing more than anecdotal and amusing. This books is a valuable addition to the literary collections of military historians and modern military officers.
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Title: Queen Victoria's Little Wars by Byron Farwell ISBN: 0393302350 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: 01 July, 1985 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: Death's Men: Soldiers of the Great War (Penguin History) by Denis Winter ISBN: 0140168222 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 March, 1993 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: Eminent Victorian Soldiers: Seekers of Glory by Byron Farwell ISBN: 0393305333 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: 01 July, 1988 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: On Guerrilla Warfare by Zedong Mao, Tse-Tung Mao ISBN: 0252068920 Publisher: University of Illinois Press Pub. Date: 01 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $12.95 |
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Title: The Great War in Africa, 1914-1918 by Byron Farwell ISBN: 0393305643 Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: 01 August, 1989 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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