Product Description

Magnificent history of the common British soldier from 1700 to 1900 by one of Britain's best-known and accomplished military writers and broadcasters. Red Coat is non-fiction Sharpe, filled with anecdote and humour as well as historical analysis. 'Redcoat is a wonderful book. It is not just a work of history -- but one of enthusiasm and unparalleled knowledge.' BERNARD CORNWELL Redcoat is the story of the British soldier from c.1760 until c.1860 -- surely one of the most enduring and magnetic subjects of the British past. Solidly based on the letters and diaries of the men who served and the women who followed them, the book is rich in the history of the period. It charts Wolfe's victory and death at Quebec, the American War of Independence, the Duke of York's campaign in Flanders, Wellington's Peninsular War, Waterloo,the retreat from Kabul, the Sikh wars in 1845-9, the Crimean war and the Indian Mutiny.The focus of Redcoat, however, is the individual recollection and experience of the ordinary soldiers serving in the wars fought by Georgian and early Victorian England.Through their stories and anecdotes -- of uniforms, equipment,'taking the King's shilling', flogging, wounds, food, barrack life, courage, comradeship, death, love and loss -- Richard Holmes provides a comprehensive portrait of a fallible but extraordinarily successful fighting force. 'Such a scene of mortal strife from the fire of fifty men was never witnessed!' writes Harry Smith of the 95th Rifles, recounting the death of a brother officer in Spain in 1813. 'I wept over his remains with a bursting heart as, with his company who adored him, I consigned to the grave the last external appearance of Daniel Cadoux. His fame can never die.' Smith's account is typical of the emotions and experiences of the men who appear on every page of this book, sporting their red uniforms to fight for King and country.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36704 in Books
• Published on: 2002-08-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
The battlefield museum of Waterloo, Richard Holmes comments in Redcoat, tells us much about Napoleon, Wellington and their senior commanders but far less about the men they led. Holmes aims, in this massively researched history, to redress the balance. He does so by piling up facts, information and anecdotes, many of them culled from memoirs of the period, to illustrate the everyday life of British soldiers in the 18th and 19th centuries, from the Battle of Blenheim to the Crimean War. In the hands of a less gifted historian this might have made for a dry, daunting and overpowering text. Holmes, however, has a sharp eye for the telling details and the memorable stories that bring the past to life. He pays as much attention to the small-scale as to the larger picture: a soldier is promoted because "his beautiful black eyes and whiskers had attracted the notice of his colonel's lady"; Crimea-bound infantrymen play cricket in "what the scorebook calls Sultan's Valley, Asia Minor"; black musician-soldiers enrich the repertoire of a regimental band; a respected military surgeon is revealed, after death, to have been a woman dressed as a man. Yet Holmes is always aware of that larger picture and of the hardships and dangers of the military life. His chapters on the floggings and punishments inflicted on the common soldier and on the terrible wounds that battle could bring--which again make vivid use of period memoirs--are often very moving. Anyone wanting to find out how the ordinary soldier of the 18th and 19th centuries was recruited, how he was drilled, how he fought, how he lived and (often) how he died, need look no further than this impressive work of popular history. --Nick Rennison

Review
'I have never met Richard Holmes, but I am deeply jealous of him for Redcoat opens with the re-enactment of a Napoleonic battle that I wish I had written myself! The redcoat and his family were never appreciated, but Richard Holmes has written them a marvellous memorial. Redcoat is a wonderful book, full of anecdote and good sense. Anyone who has enjoyed a Sharpe story will love it, anyone who likes history will want to own it and anyone who cherishes good writing will read it with pleasure.' BERNARD CORNWELL, Daily Mail 'Wonderfully written history of the British soldier, enlivened by the voices of the men who marched in campaigns from Washington to Beijing. Holmes shows why the Duke of Wellington considered common soldiers to be such 'fine fellows'. This is military history at its enthralling best.' Mail on Sunday Books of the Year 'A moving history of footsloggers in the age of muskets and floggings.' Boyd Tonkin, Independent Books of the Year

Evening Standard
Richard Holmes obviously has a deep love of his subject, and writes of it with an infectious enthusiasm...

Customer Reviews

Ordinary soldier comes through
History lessons in Irish schools feature redcoats quite a lot - how they put down rebellions and killed loads of Irish people. I was very surprised to find in Holmes' book that 40% of the British army was Irish at certain times!

This book is very skillfully written from the point of view of the ordinary soldier. Holmes has researched his book in meticulous detail and I found it a fascinating read. There's no attempt to rewrite history, justify or condemn the actions of the army or Empire - we're told how life was.

I also liked the description of weapon's used - especially the Brown Bess musket. Now I know where the expression "Flash in the pan" comes from.

The only thing missing for me is what it was like in battle for the Redcoats. Some describe the horror and bloodbaths - but I've often wondered how soldiers get posted in the front of a rank or column where they are more likely to be killed - or are they?

The ordinary soldier comes through here and this book is well worth reading.

Brilliant, very readable history of the 'Lobster'
Hint: please, DO read the introduction.
Arranged in chapters dedicated to a particular theme, this book gives the history of the British Army during their busiest era when the Empire covered most of the world.
In describing the social conditions which forced a good number of Britons to join up, rather than suffer the civilian hardships, we get a brilliantly concise history of the period. This was a time of the greatest change that Britain had ever seen; canals, metalled roads and railways improved communication and access; mechanisation and imports undermined the traditional workers' jobs; a series of wars caused a terrific drain on the economy; expansionism was pushing back the boundaries of the Empire; and the Government was beset by constant calls for reform. Little surprise that the Army had its hands full, both at home and abroad, with the consequent need to increase its strength and change its mode of operation.

Written for readability rather than minutely describing the trappings of military dress, it succeeds admirably - we get in a few paragraphs a potted history of the major military (including naval) actions in the Georgian era - the rest of the book is dedicated to specific aspects of soldierly life, for which Prof. Holmes gets his information first-hand from letters and memoirs of the common soldier, as well as from the officers - both are quoted freely. But it goes beyond the bounds of military life, to describe the many outside influences which affected how the Army was recruited, clothed, fed, trained, punished, doctored and entertained.
Very readable, full of anecdotes, and probably the best condensed history of the period, both social and military, that I have come across. A must for any fan of military fiction. *****

Hardship, death, disease and flogging - superbly related
Rarely does one read a history book that brings its subject alive with such vivid narrative and anecdote. Rather than plodding through a chronology of campaign and battle, Holmes takes broad topics such as uniform, armament, tactics, welfare, punishment, health, etc. and tracks their evolution (or lack thereof) through the 18th and 19th centuries. In each area he supports his narrative with a rich sprinkling of contemporary source material. Unlike many histories that draw on contemporary sources, however, Holmes tends to favour "personal" anecdote. This humanises the history and adds significantly to its relevance. The question that remains unresolved for me, given the grim picture painted of life in the British Army in this period, is why would anyone ever want to do it? Perhaps the answer is that the army of that time was largely peopled with misfits and the socially excluded. This being the case, the achievements it made are all the more impressive. Even if you are not really interested in military history, Holmes's enthusiasm, knowledge and insight will tell you a lot about some of the foundations of the British character, will entertain you and will leave you wanting to learn more.