Warriors in Scarlet

Ian Knight has long been an outstanding military historian of the nineteenth century, and here he mobilizes all his experience in an impressively researched and highly readable analysis of those British soldiers who served in all the corners of Queen Victoria’s empire . . . he paints vivid but also nuanced portraits not just of the men who took the Queen’s shilling, but also those who faced them on the battlefield, where at times they delivered devastating defeats against Victoria’s red-coated warriorsTony Pollard, Professor of Conflict History and Archaeology, University of Glasgow

Ian Knight masterfully shows that history might appear well-ordered when looking back at events, but at the time those events are disjointed, chaotic and often contradictory. Above all, he is to be commended for telling the heart-warming and heart-wrenching stories of the ordinary British soldiers, escaping rural and industrial poverty and thrown into conflicts in distant landsChris Green, The History Chap

Ian Knight combines meticulous research with a depth of knowledge of his subject, and a knack for ferreting out unusual and illuminating details, with, crucially, a true flair for storytelling. All this makes Warriors in Scarlet not just solid military history but a rattling good yarn. Highly recommendedJournal of the Victorian Military Society

A highly readable and informative study, which locates its subject firmly in the wider context of 19th-century society and imperial expansion. Anyone with an interest in the evolution of the British army will gain from reading itMilitary History Matters