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The Collapse of British Power
"'The summer of 1940 marked the consummation of an astonishing decline in British fortunes. The British invested their feebleness and isolation with a romantic glamour - they saw themselves as latter-day Spartans, under their own Leonidas, holding the pass for the civlised world. In fact, it was a sorry and contemptible plight for a great power, and it derived neither from bad luck, nor from the failures of others. It had been brought down upon the British by themselves.' Once...the British were thoroughly hard-nosed and aggressive about foreign plicy, but with Wellington's victory at Waterloo, there appeared the first signs of a moral change that was to leave them fatally unprepared to meet the challenges of the determined imperialists guiding other nations in the twentieth century."--Taken from book jacket flap.
The Desert Generals
This book gives intimate portraits of the five men who led the British Army through the battles of the Desert campaign in 1940-43: Sir Richard O'Connor, Sir Alan Cunningham, Sir Neil Ritchie, Sir Claude Auchinleck, and Field Marshal Montgomery.
Bonaparte
This book, originally published in 1978, argues that there was no ‘turning-point’ in Bonaparte’s career, but rather a consistent pattern from beginning to end. As a commander Bonaparte’s forte was speed and aggressiveness. As a planner, however he was slapdash: his armies starved and went barefoot. The author argues that far from being a master of concentration of force on the battlefield, he was again and again caught with his army dispersed and only rescued from disaster by the last-minute arrival of reinforcements.
Engage the Enemy More Closely
The accepted interpretation of Britain's wartime role as an island sea power is challenged by Correlli Barnett's brilliant demonstration that the dependence on seashore imports of food and raw materials, together with the obligations of Empire, were less a form of strength to Britain than a weakness. Topics discussed in this book range from strategic debates in London and Washington to gripping descriptions of the Royal Navy in action: the remorseless struggle against the U-boat in the Atlantic, the desperate convoy battles in the Mediterranean and the Arctic, and the battles in the Far East. It weaves in the rivalry between Allied and German technology and the all-important secret war of the cryptographers. 'This outstanding military historian has turned to maritime war and written an authoritative, meticulously researched and stirring account of the Royal Navy's part in World War II.' Admiral of the Fleet Lord Lewin of Greenwich, KG, GCB, LVO, DSC
The Audit of War
Correlli Barnett described his Audit or War as an 'operational study' to 'uncover the causes of Britain's protracted decline as an industrial country since the Second World War.' First published in 1986, the book swiftly became one of the most controversial and influential historical works of its time. '[The Audit of War] argued that British industry during the Second World War was scandalously inefficient, a situation Barnett blamed on an establishment more concerned with welfare than with industry, technology or the capacity of the nation to fight a war... Alan Clark records approvingly that Mrs Thatcher herself read it...' David Edgerton, London Review of Books 'A stimulating polemic.' Times Literary Supplement 'A formidable book, essential reading.' Asa Briggs, Financial Times
The Verdict of Peace
Correlli Barnett brings to a majestic finale his acclaimed Pride and Fall quartet, tracing Britains decline from world power. He argues that between the Korean conflict in 1950 and the Suez debacle in 1956, Britain threw away her last opportunity to re-invent herself as an industrial nation state. The Verdict of Peace explains why this happened and how the national character itself aided this decline.
The Swordbearers; Supreme Command in the First World War
The theme of this book is the decisive effect of individual human character on history. The background, in sharpest contrast, is a sudden and violent transition to mass collectivised life - to twentieth-century industry civilisation. The principal actors are four national commanders-in-chief: two German, one Frenchman, one Englishman. Theirs was the novel task of directing these new and terrifying forces of mass power in battle. Each had been born and bred in the last age; each belonged to a highly conservative profession. Their abilities and defects reflected and illustrated those of their countries.
Rethinking British Decline
Protagonists in the heated debate about British decline here set out their current views and respond to critics. The second half of the book builds on these chapters by systematically examining key themes and issues.
The First Day on the Somme
A history of the British Army’s experience at the Battle of the Somme in France during World War I. After an immense but useless bombardment, at 7:30 AM on July 1, 1916, the British Army went over the top and attacked the German trenches. It was the first day of the battle of the Somme, and on that day, the British suffered nearly 60,000 casualties, two for every yard of their front. With more than fifty times the daily losses at El Alamein and fifteen times the British casualties on D-day, July 1, 1916, was the blackest day in the history of the British Army. But, more than that, as Lloyd George recognized, it was a watershed in the history of the First World War. The Army that attacked o...
