It is a truism that if history is written by the victors, then their misfortunes and misdemeanours get very little coverage; this fascinating book seeks to redress that balance. During Queen Victoria's reign, British power was at its zenith: the export trade boomed, the Royal Navy ruled the waves, huge chunks of the map were coloured red and British troops were almost permanently abroad. There were many victories but there were also disastrous occasions when the thin red line was broken, melted away, or was simply not there to begin with. The narrative is full of evocative contemporary eyewitness accounts and contains an incisive analysis of various catastrophes, including the Retreat from Kabul in 1842, the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava, the 1879 Invasion of Zululand and the Battles of Majuba Hill and Spion Kop.

Author Biography

Denis Judd is Professor of British Imperial and Commonwealth History at the University of North London. He appears frequently on radio and is a regular reviewer for most national newspapers and literary journals. Previous titles include: Empire; Someone Has Blundered (2001)