Release Date: 06/10/11SYNOPSIS:
Throughout history the English have been a warlike lot. Often we fight among ourselves - there have been a good few civil wars - and when we were not slaughtering each other, we practiced on our neighbours, the Scots, the Irish, the French ...When that got too easy, we set off around the world to find other people to fight. This was usually done with a hubris that invited some ludicrous pratfall. In THE BEASTLY BATTLES OF OLD ENGLAND, Nigel Cawthorne takes us on a darkly humorous journey through some of our ill-advised military actions. From the war over a severed ear to a general seeking out his rival's mistresses to even the score, it is a miscellany of insufferable arrogance, reckless gallantry, stunning stupidity, massive misjudgements and general beastliness.
REVIEW:
As this book lets you know, the British have often regarded war as a game and if that’s the case, it will probably come as no surprise to read up on all the military blunders that have oft occurred when we marched into battle, almost as if it’s a game that we don’t care about winning (as you’ll probably think whenever you see one of our national teams playing.)
This book by Nigel Cawthorne is funny, it has some great military anecdotes and of course it’s entertaining to the reader as it imparts it information in such a way that a lot of it sticks. For me, if you’re trying to get your Teen into History (and they’ve claimed that its bored them) this is one of those titles that might just get them to change their mind. For me, this is a great read and one that I’ll be passing on to my Dad to keep him amused over the holiday period.
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