The British Empire at War - 1857-1947

June 1897. England celebrates Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. The highlight of the festivities takes the form of a memorable military parade in London, reminding the British that their country stands at the head of the greatest empire the world has ever known. Its representatives are all there, dressed for the occasion in their finest regalia: the Scottish pipers, the Indian princes of the Indian Imperial Service Troops, the camel riders of Rajasthan, the hussars of Canada, the Hong Kong Police, the cavalry of Natal and of Australia, the soldiers of Black Africa, those of Malaya, the Jamaicans, the Cypriots, Dayak men from northern Borneo… an immense throng. In the background, Queen Victoria's declaration to her Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli: "If we are to maintain our position as a first-rate power, we must, with our Indian Empire and our large Colonies, be prepared for attacks and wars, somewhere or other, CONTINUALLY."

Indeed, in 1857 the Sepoy Mutiny broke out — the Indian uprising against the British — a prelude to many other conflicts: the Zulu War, the Boer War, clashes in the Sudan and Asia, the "Great Game" in Afghanistan, the Boxer Rebellion in China, not to mention the two world wars, which were particularly devastating. A long litany of battles, dramas and feats of arms, until in 1947 the Union Jack was lowered in India and Pakistan, marking the end of an empire on which, as people liked to say, the sun never set.

Benoît Rondeau traces the history of British expansion and its slow decline. He paints an exhaustive picture of the overseas campaigns waged by the foremost power of the era, through the evocation of great figures — Lawrence of Arabia, Kitchener, Baden-Powell and Churchill —, of battles that have passed into posterity — Isandlwana, Khartoum, the Somme (1916), El Alamein, Normandy (1944) —, exploring the mentality and organisation of the British army and navy, their characteristics, their evolution, and the daily life of the fighting men, the armed instrument of "Rule Britannia".

A fascinating and unrivalled book on the subject.