ANTHONY CLAYTON. The British Officer: Leading the Army from 1660 to the Present. New York: Longman. 2006. Pp. xiv, 271. $32.95

Abstract

The officer corps of the British Army always has been a singular organization. While much has changed in recent years, traditionally officers have been largely drawn from the higher social classes. Some regiments required their officers to possess a considerable private income. Snobbery was rampant, with some unfortunates deemed socially unacceptable hounded out of their regiments. There was a cult of effortless amateurism, with bookishness frowned upon, and even the discussion of “shop” (i.e. the profession of arms) was banned in the Mess. Yet there is another side to the story. There has often been a place for the gifted but impecunious officer who had risen from the ranks. One, William Robertson, rose from a private in the 16th Lancers to serve as the Chief of the Imperial General Staff, the professional head of the Army, for much of World War I. The British Army has an impressive, although not unblemished, record of accomplishment in small wars and counterinsurgencies, and after distinctly shaky starts in both world wars, the Army was able to adjust to the very different demands of large-scale high intensity warfare with considerable success. All this suggests that the reactionary, technophobic “Colonel Blimp” figures must have coexisted alongside at least some highly effective, progressive, and adaptable officers. This tension between these two faces of the British officer corps is a rich field for the historian.