Those of us interested in politics and current affairs generally have particularly policy areas to which we pay closer attention and therefore develop greater knowledge of.
One of the vitally important areas of government policy which I don’t know enough about is defence. I read the Strategic Defence and Security Review when it was published, but its aim is not to act as a primer for the uninitiated, and it doesn’t do so.
Wishing to gain some knowledge (not least because the Lib Dems will shortly be voting on our future defence policies), therefore, I asked the BBC’s Defence Correspondent, Caroline Wyatt, for some recommendations of books and other publications to allow me to get up to speed. She kindly obliged, and has agreed that I can share some of her recommendations here on Lib Dem Voice.
The book which best fits the sort of primer I was looking for is probably Charles Heyman’s The Armed Forces of the United Kingdom 2010-2011. While this was published before many of the current government reforms, it looks like a good foundation from which to start. The same author’s book focussing solely on the Army is more up-to-date.
For a global perspective, Caroline recommends The Military Balance, published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies. At £280, it’s a serious investment, but looks like an invaluable resource.
For more technical detail, particularly on military hardware, Jane’s Defence Group is Caroline’s recommendation.
The United Kingdom National Defence Association produce regular pamphlets on a range of defence-related issues.
A more critical view of the state of Britain’s defence establishments is provided by Lewis Page in his 2007 work, Lions, Donkeys And Dinosaurs: Waste and Blundering in the Military.
Turning to the specific and often controversial issue of defence procurement, Caroline recommends the following books.
- Jack Fairweather’s A War of Choice: Honour, Hubris and Sacrifice: The British in Iraq
- A Million Bullets: The real story of the British Army in Afghanistan by James Fergusson
- Frank Ledwidge’s Losing Small Wars: British Military Failure in Iraq and Afghanistan
A slightly more historical perspective is provided by Allan Mallinson’s The Making Of The British Army and by the more expensive Oxford Handbook of War.
Thanks to Caroline for some fantastic recommendations. I’m going to start with Heyman’s overview then move onto some of the more focussed works.
If you’ve got any recommendations of your own, please do share them in the comments.
* Nick Thornsby is a day editor at Lib Dem Voice.
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5 Comments
Surely any defence correspondent worth their salt would tell you to start with some Clausewitz and go from there? 😛
If you want good data on international military spending and the like, I would always recommend the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) who regularly publish on the division of defence spending among countries.
Thank you for this article Nick, it is exactly what is needed.
I can heartily recommend the IISS Military Balance, i have the 2008 edition on my shelf. It is more of an almanac of world military forces, with a few detailed explorations of the defence issues du-jour, but very worthwhile. I got it for £70 under a student deal, but since then the base price has more than doubled which is sad.
I would also recommend the oxford handbook of war, not that I have read it myself, but the author writes a thoroughly excellent blog on strategic euro/nato issues here:
http://lindleyfrench.blogspot.co.uk/
And was also a key part of the parliamentary insight to the SDSR:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmdfence/uc761-vi/uc76101.htm
If I could add to the reading list I’d recommend RUSI’s Future Defence Review series of papers written in the run up to the SDSR:
http://rusi.org/fdr
And Nathan Freier of the US Army’s Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute, whose Small Wars 2.0 paper I wrote about here:
http://jedibeeftrix.wordpress.com/2011/03/12/the-us-discovers-strategic-raiding-%E2%80%93-plays-catchup-with-britain/
If people are interested in the future of warfare and Britain’s role in that I’d recommend anything from Oxford’s Changing Character of War programme (ccw.ox.ac.uk). Also a fantastic book called “War from the Ground Up”, just out. Small wars journal is also worth a look.
One of the key questions is how wrong we get our procurement, still kitting ourselves for a Cold War and then unable to afford the current ones. Joe Roeber has written on this and the link to corruption.
The biggest threat to the quality, ambition, and realisation of the 2015 Defence Review:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmdfence/uc1090-i/uc109001.htm
A political class, and a people, that see Defence spending as discretionary, and thus see no ill in letting spending dip below 2.0 of GDP.
Thank you for this, and to add to the list, to understand the nature of uniformed the beast, I’d recommend: “On the psychology of military incompetence” by (then) Dr Norman Dixon, MBE, RE, PhD, DrSci