The Royal Engineers at Chatham 17502012

The Royal Engineers at Chatham 17502012 by Peter Kendall )

Chatham, on the River Medway in Kent, is a site of international military significance. It has been vitally important for the defence of the nation for more than four centuries, ever since the Royal Navy used the river here as a safe anchorage for mooring their warships and a dockyard was built. In this superbly illustrated book, using previously unpublished archives, Peter Kendall tells for the first time the story of the defences that protected the dockyard and the key route to London, from substantial lines of earthen ramparts and ditches to major citadels and innovative forts. Part of his narrative focuses on how the Medway area developed a major role in the storage of explosives and artillery, how the first training school for the Royal Engineers was founded at Chatham in 1812 and how the soldiers were trained in siege exercises, which were huge spectacles attracting thousands of spectators. The author gives the human side of the military training and conflicts, with his descriptions of the life endured by the new recruits and the terrible conditions in barracks that were gradually improved at Chatham and elsewhere, particularly following on from the Crimean War.

'a compelling account of how the fortunes of engineering in the British army have changed over the centuries' * E & T *
'superbly illustrated'
.. exceptionally well illustrated, reproducing numerous plants, diagrams and images, dominated by forts and other buildings, many from national collections. The book will be essential reading for students of the Victorian Army and the Victorian fortress. -- Professor Andrew Lambert * British Journal for Military History, Volume 1, Issue 1, October 2014 *

Peter Kendall is a team leader in English Heritage's national planning department, whose responsibilities include the heritage aspects of the Chatham Dockyards.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781848020986
ISBN 10	1848020988
Title	The Royal Engineers at Chatham 17502012
Author	Peter Kendall )
Series	English Heritage
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Historic England
Year published	2012-10-15
Number of pages	192
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.