Description: A new study of a critical period in the history of the British Army.
Brief description: Ben Barry was commissioned into the Light Infantry and later commanded its second battalion. He is now Senior Fellow for Land Warfare in the International Institute for Strategic Studies and a visiting professor at the Department of War Studies, Kings College London. He is the author of Blood, Metal and Dust: How Victory Turned into Defeat in Afghanistan and Iraq (Osprey), which was shortlisted for The Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History 2021, the British Army Book of the Year 2021, a finalist for the 2020 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award and awarded First Runner Up in the Templer Medal Book Prize 2021.
Review Quotes:
"Barry, who served in senior positions in the army until 2010, tells this history with candor. His book is authoritative, detailed, and readable." --Foreign Affairs
"An impressively detailed chronicle by an analyst well up to the task. Read it and weep." --Allan Mallinson, The Spectator "The author is among the best-informed commentators on our armed forces." --Max Hastings, The Times "Ben Barry combines the intimate knowledge of the insider with the objectivity of the strategic commentator." --Sir Hew Strachan "This highly authoritative book will please professional soldier and interested civilian alike." --Field Marshal Lord David Richards "This timely book is a love letter to the British Army, written by a man whose experience of the army spans all of the five decades under review." --Dr Robert Lyman, co-author of 'Victory to Defeat: The British Army 1918-40' "This is quite simply a superb discussion of the British Army's engagement with thinking and doctrine over recent decades." --Brian Holden Reid, Emeritus Professor of American History and Military Institutions, Department of War Studies, King's College London "This excellent title offers profound insights." --British Army Review "The book deserves recommendation to any audience interested in contemporary British defence policy and its evolving armed forces." --The Naval Review "This is a landmark publication that will long remain the standard work on the subject." --Dr Paul Winter, The TLS "This highly readable and compelling book deserves to be on the reading list of all serving officers and warrant officers of the British Army." --Mungo Melvin, The RUSI Journal "Authoritative, detailed and readable." --Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman