Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket - Hardcover

'Redcoat is a wonderful book, doing justice to men who have long deserved a chronicler of Richard Holmes' skill. It is not just a work of history – but of enthusiasm and unparalleled knowledge.' BERNARD CORNWELL

Redcoat combines a first-class military historian famous as a TV personality with a Schama-esque approach to one of the most enduring and magnetic subjects of British history. It has all the makings of a big autumn best-seller.

Richard Holmes is famous as TV’s military historian, the writer and presenter of War Walks and author of Firing Line and Riding the Retreat. Red Coat marks his return to serious writing.
Drawing on a wealth of original source material – diaries, letters, memoirs – Red Coat is an anecdotal history of the British soldier from 1700 to 1900, a period in which methods of warfare and the social makeup of the British army changed little, and in which the Empire was forged.

Similar in style to Katie Hickman’s Daughters of Britannia, or Simon Schama’s Citizens, Red Coat gives a rich and wonderful portrait of the men who donned the red uniform, charged in the Light Brigade, dug in at Rourke’s Drift, fought Napoleon at Waterloo, Washington in America, were stabbed by Afghans, annihilated by Zulus and turned the atlas pink.

''The 'eathen in 'is blindness must end where 'e began, but the backbone of the Army is the non-commissioned man.' Rudyard Kipling'

'Redcoat' represents the return to serious writing of one of Britain's most celebrated and outstanding historians, best known for his BBC Television series, War Walks. 'Redcoat' is the story of the 'backbone of the army' – the British soldier in the age of horse and musket from c.1760 until c.1860 – and surely one of the most enduring and magnetic subjects of the British past.

The book is based on the letters and diaries of the men who served and, although it provides sufficient background to provide a framework onto which the slabs of individual recollection can be fitted, the book's focus is on the experience of the ordinary soldier in the wars fought by Georgian England. It covers a period during which warfare and the social makeup of the army changed little, and in which the beginnings of Empire were forged, and covers the American War of Independence, Wolfe at Quebec, the Duke of York's campaign in Flanders, Seringapatam, Waterloo, Montevido, the retreat from Kabul, the Sikh wars in 1845/6, the Crimean war, the Indian Mutiny and many more. Similar in style to Katie Hickman's 'Daughters of Britannia', or Simon Schama's 'Citizens', 'Redcoat' gives a vivid portrait – often in their own words – of the emotions and experiences of the men (and some women) who donned the red uniform for King and country and ended up in the charge of the Light Brigade, digging in at Rourke's Drift, fighting Napoleon at Waterloo, and Washington in America, who were stabbed by Afghans, or annihilated by Zulus in their efforts to turn the atlas pink.

Richard Holmes chronicles the events of the era with customary brilliance. The book is meticulously researched from original and (usually) unpublished sources. It is social history at its best, published with lavish illustrations.