The Imperial Army Project

This work is valuable to academics and graduate students alike who study the British Empire's military effort in the twentieth century. * Brad St. Croix, Canadian Military History *
Review from previous edition Douglas Delaney's masterly book shows that the creation of a series of interoperable armies across the British Empire was no accident. Rather it was the result of a highly successful imperial project which contributed significantly to the victories won in 1918 and 1945. This book is an important contribution to both military and imperial history. * Gary Sheffield, Author of The Chief: Douglas Haig and the British Army and Forgotten Victory: The First World War: Myths and Realities *
This is a hugely ambitious and successful book. In explaining how the British imperial military coalition worked, Delaney also explains how it was that the people of a small island off the north-west coast of Europe were able for so long to defend an empire that spanned the globe. It should be compulsory reading for anyone interested in the history of the British Empire in the era of the two world wars. * David French, Author of Raising Churchill's Army: the British Army and the War against Germany, 1919-1945. *
How did the Imperial General Staff manage to secure the cooperation of the sometimes fractious and increasingly autonomous Dominions and India in standardizing the ways in which they could operate together in war almost seamlessly? Delaney's beautifully written study is based on extraordinarily thorough research that clearly explains how the Imperial Army Project succeeded in moulding Empire-Commonwealth armies that could and did fight as one through two world wars. * J.L. Granatstein, Author of Canada's Army: Waging War and Keeping the Peace. *
Delaney's depth of knowledge and acute comparative analysis are on full display with The Imperial Army Project. He pivots easily from one national army to another, each with its own peculiarities, and then returns to the British, who tied it all together. This is a masterpiece of scholarship that adds exhaustive archival research to the existing literature and creates something completely new. * Tim Cook, Author of Shock Troops: Canadians Fighting the Great War, 1917-1918 and Fight to the Finish: Canadians in the Second World War, 1944-1945 . *
The Imperial Army Project is a masterful study. Douglas E. Delaney skilfully shows how the armies of Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa and India spent four decades developing national armies that were compatible across the British Empire. This interoperability allowed for the efficient combination of military forces during the two world wars. Britain did not, and need not, stand alone. The empire stood together. Indeed, it this comparative approach that makes Delaney's a must-read work. * Dr Karl James, Head of the Military History Section, Australian War Memorial *