The battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879, the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War, witnessed the worst single day's loss of British troops between the battle of Waterloo in 1815 and the opening campaigns of the First World War in August 1914. Moreover, decisive defeat at the hands of the Zulu came as an immense shock to a Victorian public that had become used to easy victories over less technologically advanced indigenous foes in an expanding empire. The successful defence of Rorke's Drift, which immediately followed the encounter at Isandlwana (and for which 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded), averted military disaster and went some way to restore wounded British pride, but the sobering memory of defeat at Isandlwana lingered for many years, while the legendary tale of the defence of Rorke's Drift was re-awakened for a new generation in the epic 1964 film Zulu, starring Michael Caine. In this new volume in the Great Battles series, Ian F. W. Beckett tells the story of both battles, investigating not only their immediate military significance but also providing the first overarching account of their continuing cultural impact and legacy in the years since 1879, not just in Britain but also from the once largely inaccessible and overlooked Zulu perspective.

Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana: Great Battles

History

Beckett, Ian F.W.

Europe

Oxford University Press

This volume recounts the battles of Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift, exploring how they were fought, how they have been remembered, and what they mean for us today.\nThe battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879, the first major battle in the Anglo-Zulu war, witnessed the worst single day's loss of British troops between the battle of Waterloo in 1815 and the opening campaignns of the First World War in August 1914. Moreover, decisive defeat at the hands of the Zulu came as an immense shock to a Victorian public that had become used to easy victories over less technologically advanced indigenous foes in an expanding empire.\nThe successful defence of Rorke's Drift, which immediately followed the encounter at Isandlwana (and for which 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded), averted military disaster and went some way to restore wounded British pride, but the sobering memory of defeat at Isandlwana lingered for many years, while the legendary tale of the defence of Rorke's Drift was reawakened for a new generation in the epic 1964 film Zulu, starring Michael Caine.\nIn this new volume in the Great Battles series, Ian F. W. Beckett tells the story of both battles, investigating not only their immediate military significance but also providing the first overarching account of their continuing cultural impact and legacy in the years since 1879, not just in Britain but also from the once largely inaccessible and overlooked Zulu perspective.

Africa

The story of the British army, from its inception in the late seventeenth century to the present. This new concise history by one of Britain's leading military historians explores the British army from the creation of a permanent standing army in the seventeenth century to the present. It sets the institutional development of the British army, and its often ambiguous relationship with state and society, as well as the army's wider political, social, economic, and cultural role within international, imperial, national, regional, and local contexts. An army exists to fight, however, and the British army's story cannot be separated from those wars and conflicts that have punctuated its evolution. Consequently, attention is also paid to the army's commanders, operations, and battlefields from the Wars of the Three Kingdoms in the seventeenth century to Iraq and Afghanistan in the twenty-first. Beckett traces the army's evolution through five chronological phases: the standing army of the seventeenth century and its antecedents, the national army of the eighteenth century, the imperial army of the nineteenth century, the people's army of the two world wars, the era of national service, and the return to a small professional army fulfilling a global role envisaged by successive governments in the twenty-first century at a time of rapidly changing social attitudes towards the utility of force, that pose a challenge to the army's traditional core values.

The British Army: A New Short History

Nearly a century has passed since the assassination of Austria-Hungary's Archduke Ferdinand, yet the repercussions of the devastating global conflict that followed echo still. In this provocative book, historian Ian Beckett turns the spotlight on twelve particular events of the First World War that continue to shape the world today. Focusing on episodes both well known and scarcely remembered, Beckett tells the story of the Great War from a new perspective, stressing accident as much as strategy, the small as well as the great, the social as well as the military, and the long term as much as the short term.
The Making of the First World War is global in scope. The book travels from the deliberately flooded fields of Belgium to the picture palaces of Britain's cinema, from the idealism of Wilson's Washington to the catastrophic German Lys offensive of 1918. While war is itself an agent of change, Beckett shows, the most significant developments occur not only on the battlefields or in the corridors of power, but also in hearts and minds. Nor may the decisive turning points during years of conflict be those that were thought to be so at the time. With its wide reach and unexpected conclusions, this book revises—and expands—our understanding of the legacy of the First World War.

The Making of the First World War

Yale University Press

An original and spellbinding reinterpretation of the most significant events of the Great War Nearly a century has passed since the assassination of Austria-Hungary's Archduke Ferdinand, yet the repercussions of the devastating global conflict that followed echo still. In this provocative book, historian Ian Beckett turns the spotlight on twelve particular events of the First World War that continue to shape the world today. Focusing on episodes both well known and scarcely remembered, Beckett tells the story of the Great War from a new perspective, stressing accident as much as strategy, the small as well as the great, the social as well as the military, and the long term as much as the short term.
The Making of the First World War is global in scope. The book travels from the deliberately flooded fields of Belgium to the picture palaces of Britain's cinema, from the idealism of Wilson's Washington to the catastrophic German Lys offensive of 1918. While war is itself an agent of change, Beckett shows, the most significant developments occur not only on the battlefields or in the corridors of power, but also in hearts and minds. Nor may the decisive turning points during years of conflict be those that were thought to be so at the time. With its wide reach and unexpected conclusions, this book revises—and expands—our understanding of the legacy of the First World War.

The battle for Ypres in October and November 1914 represented the last opportunity for open, mobile warfare on the Western Front. In the first study of First Ypres for almost 40 years, Ian Beckett draws on a wide range of sources never previously used to reappraise the conduct of the battle, its significance and its legacy.

Ypres: The First Battle, 1914

Longman

A warm regard for the British soldier, the values he served and the regimental traditions that nourished his humanity underlines the information collected in this book. It gives a brief history of each of the former county regiments, lists the battle honors on their Colours, their marches, customs, Victoria Crosses, nicknames, badges, facings, mottoes and memorials and describes their amalgamations and later lineage. Details of the regimental museum are also given, together with churches where regimental Colours are lodged. This information is offered in order that others may discover something of the endeavor which preserved Britain's national liberties. This new, expanded volume is based upon the original work by Arthur Taylor. Ian Beckett, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, is Major General Matthew C. Horner, Professor of Military Theory a the US Marine Corps University, Quantico, Virginia, USA. His first publication was Marlborough's Campaigns in the Politicians and Defense, Riflemen Form. A Nation in Arms, The Army and the Curragh Incident. The Amateur Military Tradition 1858-1945, The Oxford Illustrated History of the British Army and Discovering British Regimental Traditions. He is also the author of the Shire County Guide to Buckinghamshire and, in the Shire History in Camera series, Victoria's Wars.

Discovering English County Regiments (Shire Discovering)

Americas

Shire

Charts the history of the British Army by using one of its most distinctive aspects - its regimental traditions. This work describes the emergence of a royal army under Charles II and its expansion during the eighteenth century, the formation of its militia, the yeomanry and the Territorials, the distinction of the Household Cavalry and more.

British Regimental Traditions (Shire Discovering)

Military

PARKWEST PUBLICATIONS

<div> "You offer yourself to be slain," General Sir John Hackett once observed, remarking on the military profession. "This is the essence of being a soldier." For this reason as much as any other, the British army has invariably been seen as standing apart from other professions--and sometimes from society as a whole. A British Profession of Arms effectively counters this view. In this definitive study of the late Victorian army, distinguished scholar Ian F. W. Beckett finds that the British soldier, like any other professional, was motivated by considerations of material reward and career advancement. Within the context of debates about both the evolution of Victorian professions and the nature of military professionalism, Beckett considers the late Victorian officer corps as a case study for weighing distinctions between the British soldier and his civilian counterparts. Beckett examines the role of personality, politics, and patronage in the selection and promotion of officers. He looks, too, at the internal and external influences that extended from the press and public opinion to the rivalry of the so-called rings of adherents of major figures such as Garnet Wolseley and Frederick Roberts. In particular, he considers these processes at play in high command in the Second Afghan War (1878-81), the Anglo-Zulu War (1879), and the South African War (1899-1902). Based on more than thirty years of research into surviving official, semiofficial, and private correspondence, Beckett's work offers an intimate and occasionally amusing picture of what might affect an officer's career: wealth, wives, and family status; promotion boards and strategic preferences; performance in the field and diplomatic outcomes. It is a remarkable depiction of the British profession of arms, unparalleled in breadth, depth, and detail. &nbsp;</div>

A British Profession of Arms: The Politics of Command in the Late Victorian Army (Volume 63) (Campaigns and Commanders Series)

University of Oklahoma Press

Riflemen form: a study of the rifle volunteer movement, 1859-1908

Historical Study & Educational Resources

The Ogilby Trusts

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Beckett, Ian F.W.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Beckett, Ian F.W.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Beckett, Ian F.W.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana: Great Battles

Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana: Great Battles

The British Army: A New Short History

The Making of the First World War

The Making of the First World War

Ypres: The First Battle, 1914

Discovering English County Regiments (Shire Discovering)

British Regimental Traditions (Shire Discovering)

A British Profession of Arms: The Politics of Command in the Late Victorian Army (Volume 63) (Campaigns and Commanders Series)

Riflemen form: a study of the rifle volunteer movement, 1859-1908