Farwell, Byron. Queen Victorias Little Wars. Barnsley: Allen Lane, 1973 – Book/Movie Report – southern21
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Farwell, Byron. Queen Victorias Little Wars. Barnsley: Allen Lane, 1973
Farwell, Byron. Queen Victorias little wars. Barnsley: Allen Lane, 1973.
Byron Farwell was born in Manchester Iowa on June 20th in 1921. After he graduated from the University of Ohio and the University of Chicago he found himself serving in the military. During his military career he served in both World War II and the Korean War. During World War II, Farwell served as a captain of engineers attached to the Mediterranean Allied Air Force in the British Eighth Army area. Farwell left the military after serving seven active years in the military. Farwell had accomplished much during his time as a civilian, he became director of public relations and director of administration for Chrysler International from 1959 to 1971. He also found success in politics, he served 3 terms as mayor in Hillsboro, Virginia from 1977-81.
Throughout Queen Victoria’s 63-year long reign there was not a single year in which, somewhere in the world, soldiers were not fighting for her and the Empire. In this book, QUEEN VICTORIA’S LITTLE WARS Byron Farwell tells the fascinating story of the little known and astonishing small wars of the Victorian era, and of the men who fought them. At the peak of its power, the British Empire had its hands on almost ÂĽ of the world. Her influence spread out over the earth like wild fire, it came to be famously referred to as, “the empire on which the sun never sets”. What necessarily gave the British Empire her hunger for expansion, world influence, and domination?
It was fairly easy to muster up some excuse for a military campaign during the Victorian era. Perhaps a frontier could be better defended by extending its borders. Or maybe an invasion was necessary in order to protect “British interest” or to save an Englishmen that was in danger in the name of protecting the “British prestige”. British soldiers often found themselves having to suppress a mutiny or a rebellion by those who did not understand the “benefits” of British rule and, “were ungrateful for the blessings of English civilization bestowed upon them.”
These countless wars were the price of the Empire, of world dominince and of national pride, and it was usually paid without worries or remorse. Unceasing warfare became recognized as a normal way of life in the Victorian era, and in the process, the British Empire expanded tremendously in size. Despite these small wars being captivating as they are, it is the officers and men who fought them that dominate this book. With General Gough’s and Wolseley’s courage, Napier’s foolhardiness and eccentricities, they are an unforgettable group of men. Who cannot help but captivate the interest of any reader.
Farwell, for the most part, goes through the book in chronological order. I found this extremely impressive giving the fact that there could be at least five campaigns going on all at once. Farwell was also able to find the perfect balance of material to present towards the reader. Not once did I feel like I was being overwhelmed with too much information. Once you think about what all was going on during the Victorian era this could have easily been done. Very rarely did the people of Britain ever feel threatened by the Empire’s countless military campaigns. “Except for the final Boer war, all the military actions were small affairs by today’s standards: Little wars, military expeditions, rebellions, mutinies, only one of which, the Indian Mutiny, every posed a threat to the Empire.”
It begins in chapter 1, the book picks up in the year 1837 with the, “opening shots of the reign”. The chapter title is referring to the first major conflict in the Queen Victorian era and the attempt of the first invasion of Afghanistan. The British attempted to use the Army of the Indus, a tough force of more than 20,000 British and Indian troops, set off from India for Afghanistan in late 1838. After many days of hard travel through the mountains, the British reached Kabul in April 1839.
There they found no resistance as they marched in unopposed into the Afghan capital city. Although the British Indus Army marched in without resistance hostility was quickly rising among the masses in Kabul. The Afghan population soon held strong resentment towards the British occupiers. Soon the British position would be surrounded and forced to leave. They were able to convince the Afghans to allow a peaceful fallout, or so they thought. This would eventually lead to a bloody massacre in the mountain passes at the British’s expense. With very few soldiers surviving and the deaths of civilians as well British prestige took a punch the to gut. The Queen was appalled, the people of Britain were shook, something had to be done. The answer was a man who held a spot in the East India Trading Company. Major-General George Pollock was assigned command of an army from India and marched
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By: southern21
Submitted: April 23, 2018
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