The British Army since 2000 (Elite, 202)

With the end of the Cold War and the gradual drawing down of the "troubles" in Northern Ireland, the British Army has since 2000 found itself challenged by both new and familiar conflicts, including extended combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, contingency operations in Africa and the Balkans, peacekeeping in Cyprus, and presence missions overseas, to name a few. Along the way, the British Army has periodically rethought its organizational structure and equipment, and will do so again in a deliberate fashion as part of an objective force plan for 2020.This is the theme of "The British Army since 2000", an Osprey Elite Series book authored by James Tanner, a retired British officer with recent experience on active service. The narrative systematically tackles the Army's role in the larger defense establishment, its changing force structure, the status of its regiments and corps, and surveys its recent operations. Although uniforms and equipment receive attention throughout the book, the concluding chapter talks specifically to that topic. The text is nicely supported by photographs, illustrations, and diagrams.This is an extremely readable book on a typically dry subject, Army organizational matters. Military professionals and students of the military should find it an interesting introduction to a complex topic. The narrative specifically addresses the challenges of drawing down and reorganizing forces as driven by changes in funding and missions. The general reader looking for flash and bang may find it less compelling. Recommended.

This volume, limited by size, as is typical with Osprey books, manages to include quite a bit of worthwhile information on today's ever shrinking British Army.Good ,clear, photos, many in color, and attractive uniform plates.To me, about as good as one could hope for, given the size and price constraints. If more comprehensive, I would rate it 5 stars.

An excellent book on the British Army as the 21st century starts. It is full of great text, photo and line drawings. It is simple and straight forward giving information that is first rate.

Excellent overview of the current British Military. Would have liked greater detail in some areas specifically individual units but otherwise very good.

excellent

thank you

A bit tedious, written like a MOD equipment procurement list. Could have been created by a bot. Probably more interesting summaries it there. Plates are OK but limited in scope.

good

Une nouvelle fois déçu par un Osprey...décidement, cet éditeur a vraiment baissé en qualité depuis quelques années.Ce volume n'est en fait rien de plus qu'une sorte de compilation d'informations issues de sites Internet institutionnels britanniques. Considérant à quelle vitesse la British Army a évolué ces dernières années (dissolutions, fusions d'unités etc.), il est possible de considérer que ce livre de 64 pages est déjà en grande partie périmé bien qu'il ne soit sorti qu'en 2014. Malgré cette date de publication, il n'y a pas d'informations pertinentes sur les évolutions de l'armement, des tactiques ou des entrainements engendrés par les conflits en Irak et en Afghanistan.Enfin, les planches en couleurs servant d'illustrations (en plus des photos qui émaillent le livre) sont médiocres. Il suffit de comparer avec le précédent volume sur la British Army publié par Osprey par Mike Chappell il y a une quinzaine d'années pour voir la différence...les dessins sont plus petits, certains détaillent sont franchement ratés (les décorations sont par exemple beaucoup trop petites) et la maitrise de l'artiste est tout simplement absente à comparer avec les maires du genre que sont Chappell, Lyles ou Volstad.En résumé, une déception et un volume que je vais revendre au plus vite car il n'apporte rien.

ottimo libro, molto approfondito e ricco di informazioni

a good synopsis of MoD policy and rehashes of British army guide and Army website. Some excellent photographs. The Art work However leaves allot to be desired, Its a throw back to the early osprey books. It was a very sad day when Mike Chappell retired. The plates are also split through the book not together is distracting. If this is the standard of Peter Dennis's artwork I'll give British army in Afghanistan 2006-20014 a miss.