Without the advantage of birth or social connections, Horatio Herbert Kitchener rose rapidly in the Army, from obscure subaltern to the most acclaimed soldier in Britain. In August 1914, in the hour of his country’s greatest need, he dutifully responded to the call to serve as secretary for war. George Cassar’s study focuses on Kitchener’s role in recognizing and framing the larger issues of the war facing his countrymen and the Allies. From the beginning he appreciated the complexities and demands of the global conflict, understanding that it would last at least three years and require the deployment of a mass army. His recruiting campaign, highlighted by the famous poster "Your Country Needs You," brought in nearly three million volunteers, a feat that no other belligerent nation came close to matching. Kitchener’s strategy was twofold. First, to defeat Germany and preserve Britain’s independ-ence, Kitchener understood that the key to victory was to treat the western and eastern fronts as one. Thus he worked closely with, and supplied armaments to, the Russian army, while pursuing careful attrition in France. His second aim was to enhance the security of Britain and its empire in a postwar world, not just against enemies but also against allies. Drawing upon a variety of unpublished sources, ranging from government documents to the private papers of leading generals and politicians, the author sheds new light on Kitchener’s controversial role in the Dardanelles campaign and the munitions crisis, his efforts to organize an Arab revolt against Turkey, his supervision of operations in Africa, and his relations with colleagues and Allied leaders. This highly readable book refutes many myths about Kitchener, which his detractors circulated after his death in 1916, and makes a powerful case that without his leadership the Entente would not have won the war.
A passionate page-turner by a soldier with something to say.
After nearly 20 years of SAS operations, including a never before published role in the infamous Bravo Two Zero patrol, Bob retired from the military to work as an advisor on the international commercial security circuit. Certain his most dangerous days were behind him, Bob settled into a sedate life looking after VIPs. Then 9/11 happened.
Bob found himself back in war zones on assignments far more perilous than anything he had encountered in the SAS: from ferrying journalists across firing lines in The West Bank and Gaza to travelling to the heart of Osama bin Laden's Afghan lair. As part of a two-man team, Bob searched for ITN Correspondent Terry Lloyd's missing crew in Basra, Iraq, while in Afghanistan, he was forced to spend the night as the only Westerner in Khost - with a $25,000 bounty on his head.
As the War on Terror escalated, Bob contended with increasingly sophisticated insurgents. But the most disturbing development he witnessed was much closer to home; namely The Circuit's rise from a niche business staffed by top veterans into an unregulated, billion dollar industry that too often places profits above lives. This is an important, pulse-racing and at times shocking testament to what is really happening, on the ground, in the major trouble spots of the world, culminating in an explosive conclusion: The Circuit is undermining the War on Terror.
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