All the King’s Men

by Saul David

First published 2012

Amazon

4.4(84)

All the King’s Men traces the development of the British soldier from the restoration of Charles II in 1660 to the defeat of Napoleon in 1815. It explains how a small, distrusted standing army became an instrument capable of campaigning across Europe, North America, India and the Iberian Peninsula while Britain built a maritime, commercial and imperial system around it.

The book follows soldier-kings, politicians and commanders including William III, Marlborough, Wolfe, Moore and Wellington, but it keeps the ordinary redcoat at the centre. Recruitment, pay, food, housing, disease, punishment and regimental identity are examined beside battles from Blenheim and Plassey to Quebec and Waterloo. David argues that discipline and endurance, as much as generalship, sustained a century and a half of military success.

Historical Periods

Napoleonic Era1792–1815 CE Seven Years’ War1756–1763 CE American Revolutionary War1775–1783 CE Restoration1660–1685 CE

Genres

Court & Political Fiction

Historical people

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington1769–1852 Napoleon1769–1821 John Moore1761–1809 Charles II of England1630–1685 George III1738–1820 Robert Clive1725–1774

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