Product Description

An Army officer must lead men into frightening and dangerous situations and sometimes make them do things that they never thought they could do. This book recounts how British officers have led their men, and commanded their respect, from the days of Marlborough to the Second Iraq war of 2003. Anthony Clayton explores who the officers, men and now women, have been and are, where they came from, what ideals or traditions have motivated them, and their own perceptions of themselves. His account tells the fascinating story of how the role of the military officer evolved, illustrated by a selection of captivating images, and the personal memoirs, biographies and autobiographies of officers.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22632 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 376 pages

Review

"[an] engaging study... provides a considerable amount of detail" - Military Illustrated, August 2006

"Anthony Clayton's book The British Officer: A History of the Regimental Officers of the British Army is fascinating and an informative history of the Regimental system and the British Officers who made it work....Anybody who wants to understand why the British Army is what it is today should read this book."
General the Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank GCB LVO OBE

"This is a very interesting book that tackles in an informed and cogent fashion one of the key elements in fighting quality, and throws much light on the organisational culture of the British army."
Professor Jeremy Black, Exeter.

"This is precisely the kind of book that I like to see ... accessible, well-written, and relevant to the British Forces of today."
Rear Admiral Richard Cobbold, Director, Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies 

”… anyone with the slightest interest in the British Army – especially Sandhurst cadets and up and coming NCO’s should not be without a copy, as it makes fascinating reading …”
Michael D Booker

"Clayton's book is a useful starting point for any student of the British army and its leaders."
Keith Surridge, Independent Scholar

Colonel (Retired) Tom Moncur
''A highly readable, informative volume, underlining that the physical conditions in which officers have to make life or death decisions may be very severe, and not fully understood by political leaders raised int eh age of Health and Safety Executive.''

From the Back Cover

The British Officer

Anthony Clayton

"This is precisely the kind of book that I like to see ... accessible, well-written, and relevant to the British Forces of today."

Rear Admiral Richard Cobbold, Director, Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies 

"[an] engaging study... provides a considerable amount of detail" 

Military Illustrated, August 2006

”… anyone with the slightest interest in the British Army – especially Sandhurst cadets and up-and-coming NCO’s should not be without a copy, as it makes fascinating reading …”

Michael D Booker

An Army officer must lead men into frightening and dangerous situations and sometimes make them do things that they never believed they could do. This book recounts how British officers have led their men, and commanded their respect, from the days of Marlborough to the Second Iraq war of 2003.

The British Officer examines the changing social origins of both the officers and the soldiers they lead, exploring their relationships with their men as well as the duties they carried out during various campaigns. Clayton also discusses the ideals and traditions that have motivated officers, their own perceptions of themselves and the changes in public attitudes to the military.

This enthralling account is complemented by illustrations of the officers from each historical period showing changes in both their dress and representation. The personal memoirs, biographies and autobiographies of regimental service years, as well as regimental histories, shed light onto who these officers, men and women, were, where they came from and what motivated them to join the British Army.

 Anthony Clayton is a lecturer at the University of Surrey and was a Senior Lecturer at the R.M.A. Sandhurst. He was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Territorial Army and is holder of the French Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques. He is author of a number of books including Paths of Glory: The French Army, 1914-18 (2003), The Wars of French Decolonisation (1994), The British Empire As a Superpower 1919-39 (1986) and France, Soldiers and Africa (1988). 

Customer Reviews

A MUST FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN THE BRITISH ARMY
This is a very useful volume for the both the casual researcher and military historian alike. In fact I would also stick my neck out and say that anyone with the slightest interest in the British Army - especially Sandhurst cadets and up and coming NCO's should not be without a copy, as is makes fascinating reading and also provides an excellent source of research for the future.

This excellent volume covers every period of our history from the English Civil Wars to the present day and the major wars and campaigns fought during that time are covered and the well written text is supported with some fine copies of engravings and photographs too.

The book is set out in chronological order and the overviews of each period are especially useful as they provide information on the conditions experienced at the time, the tactics and equipment used and features everything else including recruiting, manning strengths, promotion procedures and levels of pay at the various times. There are excellent chapters dealing with logistics, amalgamations and the support arms and the appendix covering the more recent "Options for change", brings it smack up to date.

I personally enjoyed reading it and believe other readers will find the biographies and extracts from personal memoirs of officers from the different periods covered most enlightening. Although the title is "The British Officer", I believe it is more general than that and in fact offers a pretty good insight into the army as a whole - an army that has in fact served us well over the years and will, I am sure do so in the years to come.

A little negative
Although Michael Booker is correct about the quality and usefulness of the The British Officer, Anthony Clayton is perhaps a little too critical of the current and future role of the regimental officer. His penultimate chapter, 14, strongly suggests that the very fabric of the British army officer is under question in the context of the 21st century, without giving any balanced or positive insight into how the problems might be solved. If anything, this book, in the chapter 'From Aden to Belfast and Basra' is enough to put any prospective officer off from joining the army as an officer, suggesting that relationships are likely to be ruined whilst away on tour, promotion is unlikely and that service is almost certainly restricted to 3 years only, and that certain regiments, such as the guards and cavalry, still only pick semi-aristocratic candidates for fear of recruiting a modern-generation yob, incapable of management or leadership. This book might be seen as a prior warning for prospective officers, not a promoting aid. On the other hand, it perhaps tells the situation how it is, and not what the British Army PR department pumps out. As someone looking to joining the army as an officer, this book has created serious reservations in my mind over the futility of such an act; it highlights clearly the negative sides of army life and the apparently poor career prospects. The scariest part of this book, in my opinion, is how Clayton states that some elements within the MoD would be happy to see an end to not only the regimental system but also messes, uniform variation and unit tradition.

Conclusively, whilst giving an extremely useful history of the British Officer, the latter chapters of the book present a negative and in some ways one-sided account of the officer in the modern British Army. It may serve to deter the reader from military service or strengthen any fears within him or her about the institutional weaknesses of modern soldiering.

Historically fascinating and distinctly relevant to the modern soldier or interested civilian
Clayton has neatly traced the history of the 'institution' of the British Officer from the end of the New Model Army to the present. In particular, he gives great insight into the various changes in experiences and perceptions of Officers, as well as on their changing relationship with NCOs, soldiers and civilians.

The curious nature of the British Officer's leadership is well captured: for instance, the age-old paradox of nonchalance and bigotry at home, coupled with incredible bravery in battle; the gradual change from studied disdain of professionalism to the modern ethos that sets the British Army apart; and the peculiar development of an officer 'class' with its mixed, though undeniable, successes.

To conclude, I was unable to put this book down for three days, and was sorry to have finished it so soon. Anyone considering taking the Queen's Shilling, or interested in those that do, should definitely spend a few of their own on this worthy tome.