The British Army, 1714–1783

A detailed history of the 18th century British Army's operation, recruitment, legal status and administration.

Much has been written about the British army’s many wars it fought in the eighteenth century, but no one has attempted to produce a history of the army as an institution during this period—until now. Timely and important, Stephen Conway’s perceptive study takes into account the latest scholarship as he considers the army’s legal status, political control and administration, its system of recruitment, the relationships between officers and men, and the social and economic as well as constitutional interactions of the army with British and other societies.

A key theme is order and control. How did a small number of officers exercise authority over large numbers of common soldiers? Traditionally the answer has focused on the role of a draconian system of corporal and capital punishment. Yet no institution can function through fear alone and Conway shows that the obedience of common soldiers had to be negotiated by officers who were very aware of their men’s sense of their entitlements, and their conception of military service as contractual.

By uncovering the mental world of both officers and common soldiers, Conway offers a very different view of how the British army operated between the Hanoverian succession and the end of the War of American Independence. His work will be fascinating reading for all students of British military history.

“An enormous accomplishment.” —Journal of Military History

“An essential read for anyone studying the Revolutionary War and for anyone with an interest in Eighteenth century military practice.” —The NYMAS Review