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The Royal Marines: From Sea Soldiers To A Special Force
The Royal Marines Commandos are one of the greatest special forces in the world. Their achievement, toughness, professionalism and enterprise puts them in the same league as such other elites as the SAS, the Paras, the US Marines and the French Foreign Legion. This is their stirring and fascinating story, brilliantly and authoritatively told by Major General Julian Thompson, commander of the Commando Brigade in the Falklands.
The Marines of the eighteenth and nineteeth centuries would not recognize their descendents in the second half of the twentieth. Marines shared with their sailor comrades all the disadvantages of serving at sea (as Samual Johnson remarked, 'being in a jail with the chance of being drowned'), but were denied the glittering advantages open to their naval shipmates - including promotion to the highest rank and the lion's share of any prize money (sometimes equivalent to winning the lottery in today's terms).
"The Royal Marines: From Sea Soldiers to a Special Force" tells how this all changed in the middle of the twentieth century. With their transformation to Commandos and landing craft crews, they set the scene for their leading role for the next fifty years and into the future.
'vivid extracts from personal accounts' "Field Marshal Lord Carver, Times Literary Supplement "
'A fine narrative history... that does not hold back from strong opinion.' "Legion"
'Compelling narrative... spiced with wry observations.' "Soldier"
The Marines of the eighteenth and nineteeth centuries would not recognize their descendents in the second half of the twentieth. Marines shared with their sailor comrades all the disadvantages of serving at sea (as Samual Johnson remarked, 'being in a jail with the chance of being drowned'), but were denied the glittering advantages open to their naval shipmates - including promotion to the highest rank and the lion's share of any prize money (sometimes equivalent to winning the lottery in today's terms).
"The Royal Marines: From Sea Soldiers to a Special Force" tells how this all changed in the middle of the twentieth century. With their transformation to Commandos and landing craft crews, they set the scene for their leading role for the next fifty years and into the future.
'vivid extracts from personal accounts' "Field Marshal Lord Carver, Times Literary Supplement "
'A fine narrative history... that does not hold back from strong opinion.' "Legion"
'Compelling narrative... spiced with wry observations.' "Soldier"
699 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
1 person is currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Julian Thompson
70 books25 followersMajor General Julian Harold Atherdean Thompson, CB, OBE is a military historian and former Royal Marines officer who as a brigadier commanded 3 Commando Brigade during the Falklands war.
Thompson, who was British commander on the islands during the final phase of the conflict has written extensively on the Falklands conflict and British military history. He is also a visiting professor at the department of War Studies, King's College, University of London.
Thompson, who was British commander on the islands during the final phase of the conflict has written extensively on the Falklands conflict and British military history. He is also a visiting professor at the department of War Studies, King's College, University of London.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 24, 2015
Wow! This was some read.
Small print and lots of pages - all combining to take a great deal of time to complete.
This isn't a novel though - so don't expect to be 'entertained' as such.
If however you want to read the history (and about the successes) of one of the worlds greatest special forces then this fits the bill perfectly.
Royal can trace it's formation right back to the 28th October 1664 - 351 years in all.
The attention to detail is impressive - so the reader certainly needs to have a fondness for historical fact.
The book begins way back in the 17th century and works its way through the years up to the Gulf wars of the 1990's. The book itself was published in the year 2000.
I last read this book ten or so years ago. I was actually bought a second copy as a gift - so I have two of them on my shelf!
I've enjoyed working my way (slowly) through it once more & I can even see myself reading it again - eventually.
So...if you like military history and would like to read how an armed force faced so many times with being disbanded/amalgamated manages to survive (and actually thrive in the modern world) then this is for you.
NB - Just one thing more I would say.
My interest in this subject is helped greatly by the fact that I spent time in the Royal Marines in my early twenties.
Consequently it's a topic which remains close to my heart even today.
Small print and lots of pages - all combining to take a great deal of time to complete.
This isn't a novel though - so don't expect to be 'entertained' as such.
If however you want to read the history (and about the successes) of one of the worlds greatest special forces then this fits the bill perfectly.
Royal can trace it's formation right back to the 28th October 1664 - 351 years in all.
The attention to detail is impressive - so the reader certainly needs to have a fondness for historical fact.
The book begins way back in the 17th century and works its way through the years up to the Gulf wars of the 1990's. The book itself was published in the year 2000.
I last read this book ten or so years ago. I was actually bought a second copy as a gift - so I have two of them on my shelf!
I've enjoyed working my way (slowly) through it once more & I can even see myself reading it again - eventually.
So...if you like military history and would like to read how an armed force faced so many times with being disbanded/amalgamated manages to survive (and actually thrive in the modern world) then this is for you.
NB - Just one thing more I would say.
My interest in this subject is helped greatly by the fact that I spent time in the Royal Marines in my early twenties.
Consequently it's a topic which remains close to my heart even today.
December 31, 2022
7/10
Truly reprehensible at times, but in a way which I find totally fascinating by how it provides insight into the dangerous construction of nationalist and imperialist mythologies. For the most part, this is just a conventional, if dry, military history, which Thompson works in his favour with economical bluntness, technical detail and well-deployed primary source material, giving his stories of Marine daring-do the oddly compelling quality of a hard-as-tack sea biscuit (Which I like to imagine are narrated by Game of Thrones actor Stephen Dillane).
But there's also a fascinating insight given (Unintentionally) into the petty rivalries and insecurities between the competing sections of the British Armed Forces, as well as their shared perceptions of a class of Whitehall Mandarins and politicians that veers strongly into the populist. And that's not even getting into the absolute worst chapters of the book, those dedicated to the Malayan Emergency and Northern Ireland in particular, in which war crimes are casually justified or simply glossed over and opposing forces are routinely dehumanised.
Of course an officially sanctioned history of this kind, authored by a retired Major-General and Marine Commando, was never going to offer anything that dared to question or deconstruct these toxic narratives. But their matter-of-fact presentation here does make it, for worst, one of the most honest portrayals of how the army both views itself and seeks to position itself, within the framework of British society, culture and history. Unfortunately that portrayal is of an insecure and broadly contemptuous class of killer drones who think they're above the people who send them off to die in pointless post-WWII conflicts.
Truly reprehensible at times, but in a way which I find totally fascinating by how it provides insight into the dangerous construction of nationalist and imperialist mythologies. For the most part, this is just a conventional, if dry, military history, which Thompson works in his favour with economical bluntness, technical detail and well-deployed primary source material, giving his stories of Marine daring-do the oddly compelling quality of a hard-as-tack sea biscuit (Which I like to imagine are narrated by Game of Thrones actor Stephen Dillane).
But there's also a fascinating insight given (Unintentionally) into the petty rivalries and insecurities between the competing sections of the British Armed Forces, as well as their shared perceptions of a class of Whitehall Mandarins and politicians that veers strongly into the populist. And that's not even getting into the absolute worst chapters of the book, those dedicated to the Malayan Emergency and Northern Ireland in particular, in which war crimes are casually justified or simply glossed over and opposing forces are routinely dehumanised.
Of course an officially sanctioned history of this kind, authored by a retired Major-General and Marine Commando, was never going to offer anything that dared to question or deconstruct these toxic narratives. But their matter-of-fact presentation here does make it, for worst, one of the most honest portrayals of how the army both views itself and seeks to position itself, within the framework of British society, culture and history. Unfortunately that portrayal is of an insecure and broadly contemptuous class of killer drones who think they're above the people who send them off to die in pointless post-WWII conflicts.
February 26, 2025
So boring. I give up (at page 451 of 592). So much detail, but it's mostly names and numbers, and little of it interesting. I can only tip my cap to the author who had to write this.
October 8, 2015
Great book, starts off slow and a little dull but soon picks up pace. Very comprehensive book and charts the full history of the marines from the start to present day, utilises eye witness statements, history archives, war diaries and also personal accounts of the author. Well worth a read for those with an interest in this area.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews