A Soldier’s Kipling: Poetry and the Profession of Arms

Rudyard Kipling was one of the most versatile writers of the Victorian age
a journalist, storyteller, historian and poet. One of the major subjects of his poetry was the British army and the way it waged its campaigns during Queen Victoria’s ‘little wars’, and it is this aspect of his writing that Edward Erickson explores in this absorbing and perceptive study. Kipling’s military poems offer insights into the profession of arms and how soldiers were trained and fought in distant expeditionary campaigns
they bring to life the world of the Victorian soldier in the most evocative way. Although not a soldier himself, Kipling wrote about timeless themes of military and wartime service, the experience of combat, unit cohesion and individual courage. A Soldier’s Kipling is an original contribution to the understanding of Kipling’s work and his times, and it should lead to a fresh appreciation of a facet of his writing that has not been focused on so closely before. AUTHOR: Edward J. Erickson was born in Norwich, NY and is a Scholar-in-Residence at the Clark Center for Global Engagement, State University of New York at Cortland. He retired from the US Marine Corps University as a professor of military history and he is also retired from a long distinguished US Army career which included service in senior positions in Europe and the Middle East, in particular in Turkey and Iraq. He is one of the foremost authorities on the Ottoman army during the Great War. Among the many articles and books he has published are Ordered To Die: A History of the Ottoman Army in the First World War, Defeat in Detail: The Ottoman Army in the Balkans 1912-1913, Gallipoli: The Ottoman Campaign, Gallipoli: Command under Fire and Palestine: The Ottoman Campaigns of 1914-1918. 20 illustrations