Starting his account at a time when Britain was poised to rule the world's oceans-and much of its land as well-prolific historian Jeremy Black details the nation's involvement in global affairs from the late-18th century to the present. A Military History of Britain is an account of military structures and cultures, and relevant socio-political contexts, as well as of conflicts. As in all of his writing, Black seeks to challenge conventional assumptions and offer illuminating new perspectives. Black begins by setting the background to British military history, in particular the anti-(large) army ideology, the maritime tradition, and the growing geo-political rivalry with France. After the defeat of the French in North America, Britain would become the world's leading maritime power. The 19th Century would see tension between Britain and the new United States, France, Germany, and an increasing emphasis on imperial conquests. Organized in three parts: Britain as Imperial Parent; Britain as Imperial Rival; and Britain as Imperial Partner. A primary focus of this account will be the 20th century, examining Britain and World War I (including Britain as a world power and issues of imperial overstretch) and World War II (and the subsequent wars of Imperial Retention in Malaya, Kenya, and Cyprus). As in all of his writing, Black seeks to challenge conventional assumptions, and offer illuminating new perspectives. Black details the involvement of Britain in global affairs up to the present. Recent issues of continuing importance include Britain as a nuclear power, the end of the East of Suez policy, NATO membership; out-of-area conflict (from the Falklands to Iraq), and the adjustment to new global roles. This wide-ranging and broadly-based account is designed for students and for the general reader.

https://gendocs.ru/docs/12/11303/conv_1/file1.pdf

A Military History of Britain: From 1775 to the Present

This thesis utilizes a narrative approach by presenting a biography of Reggie Walker, the South African 1908 Olympic sprint champion to illustrate the interactions between nationalism and Empire during the late Victorian and Edwardian periods and to explore the ongoing tensions between amateurism and professionalism. At the start of the twentieth century, nationalism was often extended to include countries like South Africa, which consisted of four British colonies at the time of the 1908 London Games, despite recent wars (1880-81 and 1899-1902) between Britain and the two Boer republics. Walker’s colonial triumph appealed to the Britons present, especially since he defeated Britain’s main rivals, the North Americans, and he was subsequently celebrated in the British media as being from British native stock. Athletic distinction also became valued in the selection of troops in the Empire with those men from public schools, who were more likely to have taken up the British sports that became a feature of colonial life, being seen as promoting the power of British masculinity. Walker himself displayed specific forms of masculinity, both in his athletic and military career, and this was reflected in depictions of his muscular appearance. As an amateur and professional, Reggie was assisted by a number of individuals, some, like Sam Wisdom, professional advisors and others, like Herbert Keartland, Rufe Naylor and James Wallace, who came from different occupational backgrounds. The collective biographies of those who interacted with Walker help explain his own biography and illuminate some of the intersections between athletes, trainers and the sport during this period. Reggie’s transition between his athletic career as an amateur and as a professional occurred during the decolonization of the British Empire and the thesis draws attention to the suggestion that the decline of amateur sport could be seen as a metaphor for the decline of the British Empire. The author draws some tentative conclusions about the implications of this research and proposes that Walker’s athletic biography can be seen as representative, in some respects, of the way that nationalism and imperialism intersected during this period.

Making the Transition: Empire, Amateurism and Reggie Walker, the ‘Little Natalian’ Sprinter.

During the 1970s, a number of prominent British and Irish footballers – the likes of which included Gordon Banks, George Best, Bobby Charlton, Geoff Hurst and Bobby Moore – played as ‘guest players’ on a short-term basis for various clubs in South Africa's National Football League (NFL), a ‘whites-only’ professional league that spanned the period 1959–1977. Coupled with this, NFL clubs from the outset also secured the services of additional foreign players of lesser standing on longer term contracts in an attempt to improve the standard of play. The strategy of importing high-profile ‘guests’ during the 1970s ultimately proved unsuccessful in sustaining the league as it disbanded after the 1977 season. Utilising archival documentation, contemporary media reports and existing football works, this essay aims to establish the reasons behind the NFL's demise. Two particular factors under consideration are the erosion of the league's entertainment value and the deteriorating economic conditions within South Af...

Long Balls in the Dying Moments: Exploring the Decline of South Africa's National Football League, 1970–1977

Using the city of Pietermaritzburg as a case study, sport is treated as a lens through which to view aspects of the political, social and economic history of Natal and South Africa. Successive, reinforcing ideologies of imperialism, segregation and apartheid created a system of inclusion and exclusion through which the cohesion of White society was promoted by regarding sport as a social service; while Black communities were largely ignored. The authorities in the main spurned the opportunity to uplift these communities through provision of facilities for healthy exercise. Instead, their main concern was territorial segregation to control behaviour and particular instrumental use was made of municipal beerhalls, a form of recreation that produced revenue for general administrative purposes. However, the ambiguities of group areas legislation in relation to social apartheid did eventually provide scope for resistance. From the 1960s onwards the struggle over recreational facilities was an important part of the anti-apartheid movement in Pietermaritzburg: through their campaigns non-racial sports organisations challenged plans for autonomous, racially defined suburbs and promoted the idea that the city was no longer the preserve of Whites.

Sport, Segregation and Space: The Historical Geography of Physical Recreation in the South African City of Pietermaritzburg

(2001). Schools, Sport and Britishness: Young White Natal, 1902–1961. South African Historical Journal: Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 223-248.

Schools, sport and Britishness: young white Natal, 1902-1961.

Extracted from text ... Zulu: The Heroism and Tragedy of the Zulu War of 1879. By SAUL DAVID. London: Viking 
Penguin Books, 2004. xiv + 467 pp. ISBN 0 670 91474 6. 
Hill of the Sphinx: The Battle of Isandlwana. By F.W.D. JACKSON. London: Westerner 
Publications, 2002. vii + 83 pp. No ISBN. 
212 BOOK REVIEWS 
The National Army Museum Book of the Zulu War. By IAN KNIGHT. London: Sidgwick and 
Jackson, 2003. xii + 294 pp. ISBN 0 283 0732 6. 
Zulu Victory: The Epic of Isandlwana and the Cover-up. By RON LOCK and PETER 
QUANTRILL. London: Greenhill Books, 2002. 336 pp. ..

Zulu : The Heroism and Tragedy of the Zulu War of 1879, by Saul David : book review Hill of the Sphinx : The Battle of Isandlwana, by F.W.D. Jackson : book review The National Army Museum Book of the Zulu War, by Ian Knight : book review Zulu Victory : The Epic of Isandlwana and the Cover-up, by Ron Lock and Peter Quantrill : book review

The outbreak of war in January, 1879, between Britain and the Zulu kingdom, alarmed the inhabitants of the Luwer Tugela division of Natal Colony. When the British column in the area advanced into Zululand, it left
them with little but the prospect of an early British victory as assurance against some Zulu counterstroke across the Tugeia. The British column did &feat a Zulu force at the Nyezane and go on to occupy bshowe, but the very
day or the battle (January 22nd) two large forces of Zulu appeared on the left bank of the Tugela above Forts Pearson and Tenedos. F.B. Fynney, the Border Agent responsible for intelligence and police in the Lower Tugela
division, reported that the Zulu king had ordered them to invade Natal. The Resident Magistrate of the division as well as the district commandant advised colonists to move to places of safety in the villages of Stanger. Williamstown (Umhlali) and verulam The British commander at the forts and the commandant turned out local tribesmen to reinforce those already watching the river drifts. The commandant also held three groups each approximately 150 men, on the high ground to move to threatened points, as well as a strong reserve at Thring's Posl, near an irnportant intersection of the road between

Paul S. Thompson

Papers

Schools, sport and Britishness: young white Natal, 1902-1961.

Captain Lucas and the Border Guard: The War on the Lower Tugela, 1879