Military

Past services cannot determine future policy. But, writes Brian Bond, the record of the Territorial Army suggests that the force has always given returns out of all proportion to the small amount invested in it.

From Roman times to the present age of American dominance, writes Brian Bond, philosophers, jurists and men of state have tried to answer the question: ‘When is war just?’

Ill-fed, badly lodged, subject to ferocious discipline, once described by their leader as “fellows who have all enlisted for drink,” Wellington’s soldiers showed a solidity and courage in action that enabled him to “do the business”. By T.H. McGuffie.

I.F. Clarke offers a study of the “pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war” as foreseen by imaginative writers and artists.

The crossing of the Beresina alone cost Napoleon more than 20,000 men. But, writes Alan Collis, some fortunate survivors of the terrible retreat from Moscow struggled home to tell the tale.

John Terraine describes how the military policy of democracies evolved and how they attempted to carry out a grand strategy, 1861-1945.

Modern democratic war was the warfare of mass armies; the logical end, writes John Terraine, was a weapon of mass destruction.

Wellington, writes Richard Blanco, was one of the first British commanders to recognise the importance of the medical corps.

Do war toys encourage violent behaviour and make conflict more acceptable? Or do they offer genuine insight into military history? Philip Kirby, Sean Carter and Tara Woodyer examine the evidence.

A distinguished soldier and a capable administrator, Adam had the misfortune to fall foul of the Napier Brothers, a close-knit fraternity who had a strong taste for controversial warfare. By Robert Cecil.