Warriors in Scarlet

A comprehensive, vivid and pacy history of the Victorian Army between 1837 and 1860, from the Battle of Bossenden Wood to the Crimean War, a period of seismic change.

An acclaimed military historian, Ian Knight draws on first-hand accounts to show us the reality of life in the British Army: the drudgery of peacetime service, the excitement and privations of postings overseas, the floggings and desertions, the regimental pride, and comradeship. The rapid expansion of the British Empire meant that soldiers found themselves facing diverse and skilful enemies around the world. Trained in the tactics that won the Napoleonic Wars but that were no longer helpful in their new role, British troops had to adapt or die.

Knight vividly recreates the action on the ground, from bloody skirmishes in southern Africa and siege warfare in New Zealand to disasters like the 1842 retreat from Kabul and Chillianwalla in the Punjab - but shows that in reality the army won more than four-fifths of the battles they fought in this era. By 1860, their redcoats increasingly replaced by khaki, the British Army was a more professional, efficient and increasingly ruthless fighting force.

Based on eye-witness accounts, Warriors in Scarlet is a gripping, authoritative history of Queen Victoria's army from award-winning historian Ian Knight.