Description
Book SynopsisOver the last seven hundred years the United Kingdom has acquired a staggering array of treasures as a direct result of its military activities – from Joan of Arc’s ring to the Rock of Gibraltar to Hitler’s desk. Spoils of War describes these spoils and how they came to be acquired as well as telling the tales of some of the extraordinary (and extraordinarily incompetent) men and women, now mostly forgotten, who had a hand in the rise and fall of the British Empire. Along the way the book debunks a significant number of myths, exposes a major fraud perpetrated on a leading London museum, reveals previously unknown spoils of war and casts light on some very dark corners of Britain’s military history.
Trade Review“Christopher Joll’s original and entertaining book focuses on some of the remarkable spoils of war seized during the age of empire by British soldiers, sailors and airmen. Each of these tangible trophies of victory, ranging from the priceless to the valueless, has a story which Joll recounts, and sometimes debunks, with style, humour and insight.” Michael Portillo (broadcaster and former Secretary of State for Defence)
Table of ContentsForeword by the Duke of Wellington. Introduction. THE CAMPAIGNS: 1. Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453). 2. English Civil War (1642–1651) . 3. War Of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748). 4. Seven Years’ War (1756–1763). 5. American War of Independence (1775–1783). 6. Anglo-French War (1778–1783). 7. French Revolutionary Wars (1792–1802). 8. Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (1798–1799). 9. War of the Third Coalition (1805). 10. West Indies Campaign (1804–1810). 11. Peninsular War (1807–1814). 12. Retreat from Moscow (1812). 13. British-American War of 1812 (1812–1815). 14. The 100 Days (1815). 15. First Anglo-Ashanti War (1823–1831). 16. Sindh Campaign (1843). 17. Crimean War (1853–1856). 18. Indian Mutiny (1857–1858). 19. Second Opium War (1856–1860). 20. Abyssinia Expedition (1867–1868). 21. Third Anglo-Ashanti War (1873–1874). 22. Anglo-Zulu War (1879). 23. Urabi Revolt (1879–1882). 24. Mahdist War (1881–1899). 25. Third Anglo-Burmese War (1885). 26. Boxer Rebellion & The Siege of Peking (1889–1901). 27. Second Boer War (1899–1902). 28. First World War (1914–1918). 29. Second World War (1939–1945). 30. Malayan Emergency (1948–1960). 31. Indonesia-Malaysia Confrontation (1962–1966). 32. The Troubles, Ulster (1968–1998). 33. Falklands War (1982). About the author. Appendices. 1. Styles, titles, honorifics and regimental names. 2. Principal British campaigns. 3. Prize law, prize money and.prize auctions. 4. Sources and locations. Acknowledgements.
