The Long Arm of Empire

"This is the first full history of Naval Brigades - the intrepid sailors of the Royal Navy who brought their unique skills ashore in support of the army in a wide variety of 'small wars' and larger campaigns. Since there were no major ship-to-ship actions during the period of Pax Britannica, Naval Brigades were at the heart of the action in the Victorian period, providing heavy artillery and machine gun support as well as an opportunity for Royal Navy officers to gain combat experience and earn promotion. The Brigades constituted a flexible means of imperial intervention wherever the navy could take its ships or gunboats." "Richard Brooks analyses the strategic importance of Naval Brigades drawing on first-hand accounts to evoke the experiences of the officers and men who formed them. He vividly describes the reckless daring of Sir William Peel who led Brigades in both the Crimea (where they won ten Victoria Crosses) and the Indian Mutiny as well as the dogged courage and sense of humour that was to characterise Naval Brigades in Zululand, Egypt, the Second Boer War, the Boxer Rebellion in China, and other conflicts."--BOOK JACKET.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.