Scotland and War AD 79-1918

The nine essays in this volume, all written by specialists in their fields, do not attempt to give comprehensive coverage of the huge topic of Scots in war at home and abroad. Instead two major themes are explored from the first century AD to the carnage of the First World War. The first is the vast discrepancy between the theory and practice of war, with the often excessively optimistic expectations of the planners being confounded by chance, human error, changing political circumstances, invincible stupidity, or simply the harsh realities faced by those unfortunates who actually had to fight their battles. The later chapters trace the inexorable removal from Scottish control of all military decision-making, even at the level of home defence, by an overbearing London executive.