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The Army of Charles II
First published in 2006. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
- GenresReference
304 pages, Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1976
9 people want to read
About the author
John Childs
28 books7 followersJohn Charles Roger Childs FRHS is Emeritus Professor of Military History at the University of Leeds.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
October 2, 2017
This book is just packed with fascinating details. It also has an easy to read narrative and is engaging, not your usual dry academic style often found when PhD theses become books.
The subject is very well researched and referenced, as one would expect. There are detailed annexes on rates of pay, units, officers and also the units in foreign pay as well as in the Army of Charles II.
While there is a mass of material on how the army was organised, paid and used there is also a lot on the social attitudes to the army. These are exemplified by way of vignettes showing some of the behaviour. There are also bits from debates in Parliament showing the fears of Parliament that a standing army might be used again to control them.
Best of all is the chapter on Foreign Service. The Army of Charles II, like it's predecessors didn't want to serve overseas. Units formed for expeditions were slower to recruit and suffered more from desertion than those reserved for home service. Some even killed their officers to escape being sent abroad.
I came away from studying this book with a much clearer understanding of both the Army of Charles II, it's campaigns and context. Mainly I was reading it as background before moving on to the Army of James II. However I've ended up with dozens of post it flags and loads of pencil marks to come back to.
The subject is very well researched and referenced, as one would expect. There are detailed annexes on rates of pay, units, officers and also the units in foreign pay as well as in the Army of Charles II.
While there is a mass of material on how the army was organised, paid and used there is also a lot on the social attitudes to the army. These are exemplified by way of vignettes showing some of the behaviour. There are also bits from debates in Parliament showing the fears of Parliament that a standing army might be used again to control them.
Best of all is the chapter on Foreign Service. The Army of Charles II, like it's predecessors didn't want to serve overseas. Units formed for expeditions were slower to recruit and suffered more from desertion than those reserved for home service. Some even killed their officers to escape being sent abroad.
I came away from studying this book with a much clearer understanding of both the Army of Charles II, it's campaigns and context. Mainly I was reading it as background before moving on to the Army of James II. However I've ended up with dozens of post it flags and loads of pencil marks to come back to.
Displaying 1 of 1 review