The Imperial Army Project
Britain and the Land Forces of the Dominions and India, 1902-1945
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press
- Initial publish date
- Jan 2018
- Category
- General
-
Hardback
- ISBN
- 9780198704461
- Publish Date
- Jan 2018
- List Price
- $175.00
-
Paperback / softback
- ISBN
- 9780198845805
- Publish Date
- Mar 2020
- List Price
- $46.99
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Description
How did British authorities manage to secure the commitment of large dominion and Indian armies that could plan, fight, shoot, communicate, and sustain themselves, in concert with the British Army and with each other, during the era of the two world wars? What did the British want from the dominion and Indian armies and how did they go about trying to get it? Douglas E Delaney seeks to answer these questions to understand whether the imperial army project was successful.
Answering these questions requires a long-term perspective - one that begins with efforts to fix the armies of the British Empire in the aftermath of their desultory performance in South Africa (1899-1903) and follows through to the high point of imperial military cooperation during the Second World War. Based on multi-archival research conducted in six different countries, on four continents, Delaney argues that the military compatibility of the British Empire armies was the product of a deliberate and enduring imperial army project, one that aimed at standardizing and piecing together the armies of the empire, while, at the same time, accommodating the burgeoning autonomy of the dominions and even India. At its core, this book is really about how a military coalition worked.
About the author
Contributor Notes
Douglas E. Delaney holds the Canada Research Chair in War Studies at the Royal Military College of Canada. He is the author of The Soldiers' General: Bert Hoffmeister at War (2005), which won the 2007 C.P. Stacey Prize for Canadian Military History, and Corps Commanders: Five British and Canadian Generals at War, 1939-1945 (2011). He is also co-editor of Capturing Hill 70: Canada's Forgotten Battle of the First World War (2016) and Turning Point 1917: The British Empire at War (2017). Professor Delaney is a retired lieutenant-colonel who served with the First and Third Battalions, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, and the Canadian Airborne Regiment.
Other titles by
Manpower and the Armies of the British Empire in the Two World Wars
Military Education and the British Empire, 1815–1949
Turning Point 1917
The British Empire at War
Capturing Hill 70
Canada’s Forgotten Battle of the First World War
The Soldiers' General
Bert Hoffmeister at War
Corps Commanders
Five British and Canadian Generals at War, 1939-45