Best of British

In this collection of short (5,000-6,000-word) pen portraits, writes the author, 'I wanted to present a number of "Great British Commanders" as individuals; not because I am a devotee of the "great man, or woman, school of history", but simply because the task is interesting.' It is, and so are Michael Clarke's choices.

- Kate Green

Readers may wonder how he selected his 33: 'My title is deliberately ambiguous. Some of these characters are indeed regarded as "great" commanders. Some are not so great—I am interested in elements of failure as well as success—but they have been commanders at some time in British history.' Your reviewer would add that some were evidently born great, some achieved greatness and some had greatness thrust upon them—and bore it awkwardly.

Prof Clarke, founding director of the Centre for Defence Studies at King's College London and latterly director general of the Royal United Services Institute for defence and security studies, remains our most acute commentator on military affairs today. Naturally, he says, he would have wished for more space to include more individuals, and he apologizes to King Aethelstan but less so to Richard the Lionheart. Across two millennia of British history, however, 'these are the people whose stories I wanted briefly to tell'.

To begin with, he chooses Boudica/Boadicea, Queen of the Iceni. He could have chosen Caratacus, who anticipated Boudica by a couple of decades and who was more successful in fighting the Romans, at least initially, but Boudica's gender compels and she was certainly a good deal bloodier than Caratacus.