Soldiers of the Queen is something of an ambitious concept from the outset. Not only does Manning promise to cover every major conflict embarked upon by the British Army during the reign of Queen Victoria, but in order to do so he draws upon an exceedingly impressive catalogue of first-hand accounts. Using this kind of primary source would be challenging enough if an author was covering a single war, however to pull together so many wide ranging regions and times would appear at first glance to be all but impossible.

The level of research put into this book is a credit to Manning’s enthusiasm for the vast project. From the mid 19th Century conflicts of the Crimea and China, to the veldt of South Africa in the 1st and 2nd Boer Wars, Manning pulls together a wide range of written sources into a fascinating and extensive piece of work. Not only does this volume cover the fighting itself, Manning also successfully breaks down the prose into well-considered chapters.
Each chapter covers an aspect of Victorian campaigning, be it the appalling conditions of colonial outposts in the harshest of climates, the transportation to war in the horrendous troopships of the era, or the march to the front and fighting itself. In dividing the account as such, Manning succeeds in giving each chapter a chronological progression that makes for a more coherent read. Picking out any given chapter will allow the reader to be taken through from the start of Victoria’s reign to the end, complete with explanations of the evolution of that chapter’s subject.

The way in which Manning makes use of the first-hand accounts is also effective, as he fleshes out the primary sources with enough background to make good historical sense, but not so much as to take away from the central information – that of the letters and diaries of the soldiers themselves. If a criticism had to be levelled at the book, I found that in some cases the first-hand accounts drawn from widely different conflicts were sometimes too closely bound together within a chapter. Leaping from the scorching battlefields of the Sudan back to the freezing winter of the Crimea in the space of two hundred words does very occasionally jar with the reader.
However given the sheer volume of information that Manning successfully imparts to the reader within the book, such a criticism is hardly one that can dent what is otherwise a very informative and well written piece. For a keen Victorian historian, Soldiers of the Queen will provide a new perspective courtesy of the accounts that add a fresh depth to half-forgotten battles. Even for one whose knowledge of the period is less complete, the book is well written and does not assume the reader has already studied the conflicts in depth.

The very nature of using such first-hand accounts ensures that anyone with an interest in British history cannot help but find new levels of amazement for the harsh and dangerous lives that were lived by our Army during the 19th Century. The research ensures we learn of men living and dying in the desert, the jungle and on the plains of the Crimea. As the author notes within the volume the tenacity of these men and the enforced discipline of the British Army ensured the control of the largest empire the world has ever seen.

If you are interested in the period already, I would heartily recommend it. If your background is more in military history like my own, I can testify that reading this kind of ‘oral history’ is exceptionally fascinating. Even if you are not one for history, it is difficult not to be drawn in by the strength of character that these men demonstrated over decades of brutal conflict. Manning does credit to the men who it is obvious from his writing he has the utmost regard for. Well researched and well written, Manning provides an opportunity to view the reality of the time, allowing for a greater respect of these Soldiers of the Queen and ensuring a complete and excellent book.

Reviewed by Jon Owens

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