- Hardcover: 316 pages
- Publisher: HarperPress; First Edition edition (3 April 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0007212844
- ISBN-13: 978-0007212842
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 14.8 x 3.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
344,664 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #50 in Books > History > Other Historical Subjects > Historians > Holmes, Richard
Dusty Warriors: Modern Soldiers at War (Text Only)
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Product Description
Review
‘Richard Holmes is a first-rate writer and with this exciting, affectionate account of his regiment at war he has set a standard for other military authors to aspire to.’ Daily Mail
‘…the action is superbly described…gripping…an important milestone for future generations wanting to understand the British Army and the post-invasion turbulence of Iraq…essential reading.’ Sunday Times
‘You will not be able to put it down…thought-provoking and profoundly perceptive…it is a piece of contemporary military history written with the author's trademark fluency, pace and wit…’ Spectator
Praise for ‘Tommy’:
‘Holmes is one of our foremost military scholars and a skilled writer who knows his audience well. This is excellent popular history: scholarly, highly readable and utterly absorbing.’ Daily Telegraph
‘Monumental … Every page of this is worth reading.’ Time Out
‘Where Holmes’ book comes brilliantly to life is in his use of first-hand accounts of the trench experience … It is Holmes’ achievement to make this familiar landscape come alive with the humanity of those who fought in it.’ Times Literary Supplement
‘Holmes has produced yet another fascinating, balanced and original book of a highly emotive subject. ‘ Sunday Telegraph
Praise for ‘Redcoat’:
‘“Redcoat” is not just a work of history but of enthusiasm and unparalleled knowledge. This is a wonderful book, doing justice to men who have long deserved a chronicler of Richard Holmes’s skill.’ Bernard Cornwell
‘It would be hard to exaggerate the excellence of this book. Vivid, comprehensive, well-written, pacy, colourful.’ Simon Heffer
‘A wonderful book, full of anecdote and good sense. Anyone who has enjoyed a Sharpe story will love it.’ Bernard Cornwell, Daily Mail
‘Beautifully written, “Redcoat” is a vivid account of squalor and suffering almost beyond belief, for the men, their wives and followers, and their horses. One of the best chapters is a description of barrack-room life that will turn a few stomachs in this more fastitidious age.’ John Canon, Times Literary Supplement
‘“Redcoat” is the story of the British soldier from the Seven Year War through to the Mutiny and Crimea. It is consistently entertaining, full of brilliantly chosen anecdotes and rattles along at a good light infantry pace.’ David Crane, Spectator
‘All the best-known soldier writers are discussed here, and their anecdotes are told with enthusiasm and aplomb … This is an army from another world, and “Redcoat” is a splendidly entertaining, moving and informative description of its strengths and foibles.’ Hew Strachan, Daily Telegraph
The Daily Mail
'vivid, gripping...highly emotional reading...Dusty Warriors is essential reading. Richard Holmes is a first-rate writer.'
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
73 of 73 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Richard Holmes is a distinguished military historian, best known for his TV series for the BBC, including "War Walks" and "Wellington: the Iron Duke", as well as for more than a dozen books on various aspects of the history of the British Army. Unusually for an academic, he's also a soldier, of 36 years standing, and is Colonel of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment. In summer 2004 the PWRR were sent to southern Iraq. Richard Holmes visited them there, during a period which saw a lot of fierce fighting and one of the regiment's soldiers win the Victoria Cross. He gathered diaries and e-mails from officers and men to compile a first-hand record of their time in Iraq. This book, "on that windswept headland somewhere between journalism and history" as he puts it, is the result.
One of Holmes's great strengths as a military historian is his understanding of, and sympathy for, the private soldier, the ordinary infantryman (and these days also woman) on whom the grand plans of generals and politicians ultimately depend. This comes over in a big way in "Dusty Warriors". In many ways the book is like the soldiers themselves: not macho, not gung-ho, not at all what civilians would expect really, but instead professional, cynical, humorous, searingly honest and grimly realistic. To a demilitarised society like ours where most people have no contact with the military, and no experience of danger, much of the detail will be shocking. But it's how it is. This is a world away from Hollywood and fictional accounts of special forces. This is a real army, our Army, people like us, doing a difficult and dangerous job.
It's also a job that most of the country doesn't even know is being done. Holmes says he wrote this book because the media's coverage of the Army's work in Iraq is so poor. His is not a book about the rights and wrongs of invading Iraq, or of continuing a British presence there now. This is something that the soldiers don't discuss, so for the most part neither does he. He quotes an officer as saying they are "apolitical - but not amoral". He is of course an enthusiastic supporter of the Army as an institution. But he's much too fair, and too good a historian, to pretend that the Army is perfect. He's simply describing what British soldiers are doing, how they're living (and sometimes dying) and what is being done in Iraq in our name, now.
I'm a journalist, the ultimate civilian, and I've never wanted to be a soldier. But I have had the opportunity over the years to see the British Army at close quarters in the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Iraq and elsewhere. And I visited another regiment in the same area of Iraq in 2003. Richard Holmes's book rings totally true. This is as accurate an account of what it's like to serve in the modern British Army as you will find anywhere. And the people who emerge from it are very, very impressive. I can't recommend "Dusty Warriors" highly enough.
One of Holmes's great strengths as a military historian is his understanding of, and sympathy for, the private soldier, the ordinary infantryman (and these days also woman) on whom the grand plans of generals and politicians ultimately depend. This comes over in a big way in "Dusty Warriors". In many ways the book is like the soldiers themselves: not macho, not gung-ho, not at all what civilians would expect really, but instead professional, cynical, humorous, searingly honest and grimly realistic. To a demilitarised society like ours where most people have no contact with the military, and no experience of danger, much of the detail will be shocking. But it's how it is. This is a world away from Hollywood and fictional accounts of special forces. This is a real army, our Army, people like us, doing a difficult and dangerous job.
It's also a job that most of the country doesn't even know is being done. Holmes says he wrote this book because the media's coverage of the Army's work in Iraq is so poor. His is not a book about the rights and wrongs of invading Iraq, or of continuing a British presence there now. This is something that the soldiers don't discuss, so for the most part neither does he. He quotes an officer as saying they are "apolitical - but not amoral". He is of course an enthusiastic supporter of the Army as an institution. But he's much too fair, and too good a historian, to pretend that the Army is perfect. He's simply describing what British soldiers are doing, how they're living (and sometimes dying) and what is being done in Iraq in our name, now.
I'm a journalist, the ultimate civilian, and I've never wanted to be a soldier. But I have had the opportunity over the years to see the British Army at close quarters in the Balkans, Sierra Leone, Iraq and elsewhere. And I visited another regiment in the same area of Iraq in 2003. Richard Holmes's book rings totally true. This is as accurate an account of what it's like to serve in the modern British Army as you will find anywhere. And the people who emerge from it are very, very impressive. I can't recommend "Dusty Warriors" highly enough.
26 of 26 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Another winner from Prof Richard Holmes, telling the tale of the PWRR Battle Group's work in Iraq in 2004. Told largely in the soldiers own words, this book gives a real insight into the life of a modern soldier on an operational tour. The down-to-earth language of soldiers of the British Army conveys the atmosphere of the fighting and the tension of the peace without glorification or trying to bullshit the reader. As someone who was there I can testify to the truth of the accounts, and assure you that the memories came flooding back.
Thoroghly recommended.
Thoroghly recommended.
26 of 27 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Dusty Warriors is a watershed in the description of the difficulties and tribulations confronting modern soldiers. In the complicated international environment an average 18 year old from Hampshire can find himself an intermediary between political and religious conflicts around the world over the course of a brief 4 year miltary career. Professor Holmes expertly descibes the challenges facing this new breed of 21st Century warriors who are facing the same geographic, physical and moral challanges as their well lauded WW2 contemporaries. The quiet times of a 6 month tour are described alongside the hectic and fearful moments in contact with a ruthless and determined enemy force as well as the hearfelt impact of the loss of their brothers to enemy fire and accidents. A true classic of 21st Century history this is a must read for the general public and historians alike. As one of Profesor Holmes Dusty Warriors myself I cannot recommend this book enough, a classic of our times he has done the soldiers of 2004 a true and worthy service. A grateful Tiger of the Sands...
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Dusty Soldiers
I wish I could write a review of this book that was as good as the book itself. It's a fly on the wall look at the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment (PWRR) on a tour in Iraq... Read more
Published 14 months ago by John Middleton
DUSTY WARRIORS - RICHARD HOLMES
A stunning bird's eye view of a contemporary British Infantry Regiment, undertaking its duty on our behalf and in the most trying of circumstances. Read more
Published 16 months ago by I. C. Davidson
Dusty Warriors
A very gripping book written with great insight. I particularly liked the style of using short sharp eye witness accounts of the soldiers involved in each incident. Read more
Published on 16 May 2010 by Mr. R. D. Crewdson
More regimental history than reality
23 reviews all in praise of the master; lets be different, shall we?
If you want something approaching an official regimental history of the Prince of Wales Royal... Read more
If you want something approaching an official regimental history of the Prince of Wales Royal... Read more
Published on 17 Sep 2008 by P. Andrews
Can't see the desert for the sand at times
Richard Holmes hits the nail on the head in his preface when he discusses the challenge in striking the right balance between journalism and history. Read more
Published on 7 Aug 2008 by SAP
Enthralling book from soldiers' first hand accounts
As both an eminent historian and the Colonel of PWRR, Richard Holmes had unique access to the first hand accounts of the soldiers across the battalion featured in this story and... Read more
Published on 3 April 2008 by Richard Butlin
Cap Badge at its best
Richard Holmes was the Colonel of the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, a new regiment assembled out of the historical regiments of South East England. Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2008 by Charles Vasey
Good but slightly bias.
A cracking book if you want to understand the mentality and courage of the average soldier responding to a difficult situation. Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2007 by A. J. Grogan
It's that bloke off the telly
Good read! I had expected this to be heavy going but the author does a great job interspersing his own narrative with quotes from the guys who were there. It is hectic. Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2007 by kevarms
Filling the void
Dusty Warriors is an excellent look at the deployment of an infantry battalion to Iraq in 2004. It covers preparatory training, deployment and some actions of the unit -although it... Read more
Published on 22 Aug 2007 by Philip Spiers
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