Warriors in Scarlet

Ian Knight has long been an outstanding military historian of the nineteenth century, and here he mobilizes all his experience in an impressively researched and highly readable analysis of those British soldiers who served in all the corners of Queen Victoria’s empire … he paints vivid but also nuanced portraits not just of the men who took the Queen’s shilling, but also those who faced them on the battlefield, where at times they delivered devastating defeats against Victoria’s red-coated warriors – Tony Pollard, Professor of Conflict History and Archaeology, University of GlasgowIan Knight masterfully shows that history might appear well-ordered when looking back at events, but at the time those events are disjointed, chaotic and often contradictory. Above all, he is to be commended for telling the heart-warming and heart-wrenching stories of the ordinary British soldiers, escaping rural and industrial poverty and thrown into conflicts in distant lands – Chris Green, The History ChapIan Knight combines meticulous research with a depth of knowledge of his subject, and a knack for ferreting out unusual and illuminating details, with, crucially, a true flair for storytelling. All this makes Warriors in Scarlet not just solid military history but a rattling good yarn. Highly recommended – Journal of the Victorian Military SocietyA highly readable and informative study, which locates its subject firmly in the wider context of 19th-century society and imperial expansion. Anyone with an interest in the evolution of the British army will gain from reading it – Military History Matters

Military historian Ian Knight has been writing about nineteenth-century British colonial campaigns for thirty years. His most recent book, Zulu Rising, received universal critical acclaim and he is a winner of the Anglo Zulu War Historical Society’s Prince Buthelezi award for his lifelong contribution to Anglo-Zulu studies. A former editor of the Journal of the Victorian Military Society, he is a regular contributor to historical journals. He has advised on and appeared in a number of television documentaries, including Channel 4’s Secrets of the Dead and the BBC’s Timewatch.