A combat veteran of the Vietnam War draws on oral histories, after-action reports, diaries, letters, and other archival sources to debunk the view that the junior officers who served in Vietnam were poorly trained, unmotivated soldiers typified by Lt. William Calley of My Lai infamy.

'[A] Jane Austen-meets-Bernard Cornwell novel' Daily Mail Raw recruits march under the summer sun. But on distant shores a terrible event is about to sing its siren's song to the true soldier gentlemen of Britain. For it is 1808, and the Peninsular War is about to erupt . . . Meet the men of the 106th Foot, a new regiment staffed by young gentlemen who know nothing of war. William Hanley is in the army because he has no other livelihood. Hamish Williams, a man without money or influence, is hoping war will make his name. Their friend Billy Pringle believes the rigours of combat will keep him from the drinking and womanising that are his undoing. And for George Wickham, battle is simply another means of social climbing. When the band of four are plunged into a savage war against the veteran armies of Napoleon, they find their illusions shattered and their lives changed for ever as they face the brutality of the battlefield . . . Combining the vivid detail of a master historian with the engaging characters and pulsating action of a natural storyteller, True Soldier Gentlemen is perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell, Patrick O'Brian, C.S. Forester, Allan Mallinson and Simon Scarrow. ********************* 'It's so well written, flows so well, that the detail does not drag you down . . . a fantastic read, well written, well laid out and absorbing from start to finish' Goodreads reviewer 'Having now read quite a few novels set during the Napoleonic Wars, I was extremely impressed by Adrian Goldsworthy's knowledge of the period and his ability to relate this to the reader without it reading like a history text' Goodreads reviewer

'[A] Jane Austen-meets-Bernard Cornwell novel' Daily Mail Raw recruits march under the summer sun. But on distant shores a terrible event is about to sing its siren's song to the true soldier gentlemen of Britain. For it is 1808, and the Peninsular War is about to erupt . . . Meet the men of the 106th Foot, a new regiment staffed by young gentlemen who know nothing of war. William Hanley is in the army because he has no other livelihood. Hamish Williams, a man without money or influence, is hoping war will make his name. Their friend Billy Pringle believes the rigours of combat will keep him from the drinking and womanising that are his undoing. And for George Wickham, battle is simply another means of social climbing. When the band of four are plunged into a savage war against the veteran armies of Napoleon, they find their illusions shattered and their lives changed for ever as they face the brutality of the battlefield . . . Combining the vivid detail of a master historian with the engaging characters and pulsating action of a natural storyteller, True Soldier Gentlemen is perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell, Patrick O'Brian, C.S. Forester, Allan Mallinson and Simon Scarrow. ********************* 'It's so well written, flows so well, that the detail does not drag you down . . . a fantastic read, well written, well laid out and absorbing from start to finish' Goodreads reviewer 'Having now read quite a few novels set during the Napoleonic Wars, I was extremely impressed by Adrian Goldsworthy's knowledge of the period and his ability to relate this to the reader without it reading like a history text' Goodreads reviewer

“A seminal work” on class divisions within the Union Army—“One of the best examples of . . . scholarship on the social history of Civil War soldiers” (The Journal of Southern History). During the Civil War, the Union army appeared cohesive enough to withstand four years of grueling war against the Confederates and to claim victory in 1865. But fractiousness bubbled below the surface of the North’s presumably united front. Internal fissures were rife within the Union army: class divisions, regional antagonisms, ideological differences, and conflicting personalities all distracted the army from quelling the Southern rebellion. In this highly original contribution to Civil War and gender history, Lorien Foote reveals that these internal battles were fought against the backdrop of manhood. Clashing ideals of manliness produced myriad conflicts, as when educated, refined, and wealthy officers (“gentlemen”) found themselves commanding a hard-drinking group of fighters (“roughs”)—a dynamic that often resulted in violence and even death. Based on extensive research into previously ignored primary sources, The Gentlemen and the Roughs uncovers holes in our understanding of the men who fought the Civil War and the society that produced them. Finalist for the 2011 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize

In Soldiers and Gentlemen, Westerman explores the stories of the vitally important, yet often forgotten, Australian commanding officers.

Soldiers and Gentlemen: Australian Battalion Commanders in the Great War, 1914?1918 is the first book to examine the background, role and conduct of Australian commanding officers during the First World War. Though they held positions of power, commanding officers inhabited a leadership no man's land - they exerted great influence over their units, but they were also largely excluded from the decision-making process and faced the same risks as junior officers on the battlefield. A soldier's well-being and success in battle was heavily dependent on a commanding officer's competence, but little is known about the men who filled these roles. In his groundbreaking book, William Westerman explores the stories of the vitally important, yet often forgotten, commanding officers. Theirs is a story of the timeless challenges of military leadership, and this book prevents them from slipping from the public memory to enhance our knowledge of the conflict.

In this contribution to Civil War and gender history, Lorien Foote reveals that internal battles were fought against the backdrop of manhood. Clashing ideals of manliness produced myriad conflicts when educated, refined, and wealthy officers found themselves commanding a hard-drinking group of fighters.