No army in the world has a history like the British army. It has been involved in more military engagements than any other, more often, and against a different number of adversaries. It has fought both major and minor battles, sometimes simultaneously, all over the world. It has both won an empire and wound it down. It has suffered disastrous setbacks and huge defeats, yet it has lost only one war. And, except for twenty-one of its 361 years' history, it has done this with a volunteer army. Quite simply, the British army has a unique understanding of the application of military force. And military force is where the history of today's army really begins - with the close-run Battle of Edgehill in 1642, when the Roundheads were almost routed by the Royalist cavalry under the dashing Prince Rupert, and in which was sown the seed of the later, unbeatable 'New Model' army under Cromwell. Taking in Marborough's momentous victory at Blenheim, our catastrophic defeat at the hands of the Americans in 1783, and the traumas of both World Wars, Allan Mallinson shows us the extraordinary development of the British Army, and the way its past has shaped its present strengths - and weaknesses. A former cavalry officer, and now the defence commentator of the 'Daily Telegraph' and a bestselling novelist, he is uniquely placed to write a history as timely and as controversial as this will surely be.