The British Way of Warfare has become a point of debate and discussion in military history and strategy. Basil Liddell Hart first wrote about the ‘British Way in Warfare’ in 1932, and these ideas have been updated and challenged in the work of Michael Howard and David French. However, if the crucial role of Empire and Commonwealth in this story has been noted, it is too often a footnote. The social history of this story, from the perspective of colonised and decolonised peoples, is still emerging.

This lecture from Professor Yasmin Khan will think about British warfare from the other end of the telescope by considering Asian non-combatants and camp-followers in the 19th and 20th centuries.

This free lecture is part of the Rewley House Lecture Series, coordinated by the Director of Research Dr Nihan Akyelken. These lectures provide an opportunity to experience the extraordinarily diverse research interests of academics from across and beyond the Department, and to participate in multidisciplinary debate.

Professor Yasmin Khan is a historian whose research focuses on the history of the British in India, the British Empire, South Asian decolonization, refugees and the aftermath of empire. She has also written about the Second World War and the imperial dimensions of the conflict. Yasmin is the Course Director of our part-time MSt in Historicial Studies.