The life of a soldier from Agincourt to Afghanistan, told in the words of the people who were there via a series of letters and other writings.

Some of the writers you'll have heard of, Gunner Spike Milligan and Cornet Auberon Waugh for example, but most you won't. The variety of voices and perspecti

Details of battles, conflicts, etc from Agincourt to the second Iraqi War told through contemporary accounts. Some are amusing, others harrowing and most are illuminating. Lewis-Stempel does a good job of inserting a few sentences in between accounts to inform the reader a little of the conflict or

Don't believe this made the case for British soldiers being 'different' to soldiers from other nations, as its introduction implied. There was only one entry that made me dislike the morals/ethics of soldiers. Mostly it was just a load of poor buggers fighting other people's wars and often getting h

A series of short selections of letters, memoirs and other first hand accounts of British soldiers. Some, especially the early entries, are a bit difficult for the modern reader to follow (but still interesting). My only real complaint is that the sections left me wanting more of from them. Also, I

Great selection through the ages

This was tough going at first with the early snippets being quite hard to relate to and difficult to read because of the archaic language. But stick with it! It is fascinating to see the world we know gradually come to life as the decades pass. There are some great st