Redcoats and Courtesans

"[This] story will tell the birth of the modern British army? and of how and why it began. It will chronicle its dramatic growth within the space of two reigns, from a small force of foot and horse guards, which Charles II raised and paid out of his own pocket to protect his person and safeguard his throne, to a standing army of over three dozen famous regiments. This army saw active service on the Continent, in the colonies and on the African mainland, where at Tangier it would win the first battle honour to be inscribed on a British regimental colour. It is a story of wars, plots and rebellions, of fire and plague, of love and romance, and of two kings? I have attempted to place the army in its political and social setting, and to show how the events in which the regiments were engaged were shaped and influenced not only by the sovereigns but also by the men and women who surrounded them"--Preface.