Following The Drum: The Lives of Army Wives and Daughters Past and Present

by Annabel Venning

FOLLOWING THE DRUM tells the stories of the women who followed their men around the world, sometimes onto the battlefield itself, and went on to become brave, headstrong and positively warlike. Army wives have 'followed the drum' to the cholera-ridden valleys of the Crimea, the sweltering plains of the Indian Mutiny, the trecherous Burmese jungle and into the last Gulf War. Drawing on letters, journals and interviews, FOLLOWING THE DRUM pays tribute to the remarkable women who triumphed amidst the blood, battles and brawls.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War

372 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Lynne - The Book Squirrel · Rating 5 out of 5]

After picking up and then leaving it I have finished!

A brilliant history of being an Army Wife, up to 2004. Things have moved on more now, my first taste of Army life in the middle of Salisbury plain is hardly recognisable. New houses being built on the old sports fields, and new roads.
Loved this book!

[Dippy Longstocking · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. As a daughter of a USAF Master Sgt, I grew up in and around military bases and although this is a history of British wives and daughters, it spoke of familiar things. The British Army was never really welcoming to married soldiers and tried hard to keep them from following their husbands overseas but it didn't work in the late 1600s and women actually following their husbands to battlefields only ended with the Crimean War. Wives of both officers and other ranks were often a big help to the army but their contributions were very rarely acknowledged. The author, Annabel Venning, has a personal connection as well, with a grandmother and great-grandmother who followed their husbands to India and Ceylon respectively. To me history is all about the stories of real people and this book is full of many great stories.

[Elizabeth Judd Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm fibbing a bit, I didn't finish this but rather gave up a little under halfway through. There are a lot of good primary sources in this book but I craved more analysis of these sources: how truthful are they, are they suffering from perceptions of the time, from the person writing them, etc.? Perhaps it is a book to dip into rather than read cover to cover (at least for me).

[Bettie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unabridged and read at such a rate that it feels as if I have tyre-scorched eardrums.

LATER - yeah! yeah! gallopy gallopy blah blah. Earache for not enough return - there is only so much that can be said about lice-ridden, VD crippled army followers to enhance my overall world view.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was an interesting read. Although a little biased toward the military. Some food for thought facts. The courage of some of the women involved is remarkable.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting for first half. Well researched. But just not enjoying it. Hot to half way