Gentlemen of the blade : a social and literary history of the British Army since 1660 /

Brodsky, a Canadian Forces Officer, sets out to do three things: describe the changing social structure of the British Army during three centuries, examine its literary reflections, and discuss the much argued issue of British military "amateurism." The first two are done competently enough, although given the limitations of space, little new ground is broken. The problem with the third is that "amateurism" in the British army is inseparable from that quality in British, or at least English, society as a whole. To do justice to that issue would, in turn, require more space and wider research. That Martin Wiener's seminal English Culture and the Decline of the Industrial Spirit, 1850-1980 (CH, Jul '81) is missing from the author's bibliography is indicative of the book's weakness in this area. Even military memoirs, a key source, are not exploited as fully as they might be: John Masters is used but not Bernard Fergusson's immensely revealing The Trumpet in the Hall (London, 1970). Brodsky has produced an introduction to his topic rather than a comprehensive study. -R. A. Callahan, University of Delaware