The Royal Marines: From Sea Soldiers to a Special Force, and: By Sea, By Land: The Royal Marines, 1919-1997--An Authorised History, and: The Royal Marines: 1664 to the Present, and: A Short History of the Royal Marines, 1664-2002 (review)

The common trait shared by the books under review here is an overview approach to the history of Britain's "Soldiers of the Sea." By having a tactical focus, they also follow in a tradition of earlier histories of the Royal Marine Corps stretching back to the nineteenth century. Each volume, however, also has its own distinctive attributes.

A Short History of the Royal Marines, 1664-2002, is a succinct history of the Corps. Three retired Royal Marine officers turned accomplished historians and archivists, Major Alistair Donald, Major Mark Bentinck, and Captain Derek Oakley, MBE, are cited as the authors in the preface. Their book follows in approach two previous twentieth century short histories of the Corps: A. Cecil Hampshire, The Royal Marines Tercentenary, 1664-1964 (1964), and Major General J. L. Moulton, CB, DSO, OBE, The Royal Marines (1971; 2nd edition 1981). This volume presents a chronological overview, current through 2002 in Afghanistan, in a superbly produced and well-illustrated paperback. Its twenty-one appendixes are especially helpful in highlighting aspects of Royal Marine history and traditions, e.g., from the Corps' ten Victoria Cross winners through mess customs to associations with other Marine Corps.

Richard Brooks, a retired businessman turned historian, has previously written The Long Arms of Empire: Naval Brigades from the Crimea to the Boxer Rebellion (1999). His The Royal Marines, 1664 to the Present, is an outgrowth of this earlier work. Brooks primarily focuses on the centuries through World War I, i.e., nine of his twelve chapters are devoted to pre-1919 events and personalities; he specifically states his desire to produce a history not centered on the commandos. The main strength of this history is Brooks's research in and use of material from collections of personal papers of Marines of all ranks and grades, especially those retained in the archives of the Royal Marines Museum. Brooks thus provides a personal perspective on Marine life and operations in this branch of the naval service, primarily in the age of sail, the transition to the age of steam, and combat in the First World War.

Major General Julian Thompson, CB, OBE, in his The Royal Marines: From Sea Soldiers to Special Forces, has produced a history the opposite of Brooks. With only two chapters of twenty-six covering the era before the First World War, Thompson's is a history of the Corps in the twentieth century. Bringing the perspective of a professional officer, combat veteran, and commander of 3 Commando Brigade in the South Atlantic War of 1982, Thompson argues (as implied in the volume's subtitle) that although the current Corps is the direct descendant of its pre-1941 ancestors, those Marines would hardly recognize their World War II (from 1942) through early twenty-first-century progeny; he also emphasizes that retaining and developing the commando mission of the Second World War saved the Corps. Thompson thus has recounted how the Marines have evolved from "soldiers...