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By Trevor May
Military barracks have played an important part in the social as well as the military history of Britain. They have served many purposes, being homes, training establishments and recruitment depots, and were meant to impress (and, at times, to overawe) the local population as well as foreign enemies. Some towns, such as Aldershot and Colchester, were almost defined by the barracks located within them. This book looks at the buildings themselves, from early times to the twentieth century, and describes the life that was led in the barracks by the soldiers (and sailors) and their wives.
Trevor May is a professional historian who has written over a dozen books. He is the grandson of a corporal in the East Surrey Regiment who experienced barrack life in India in the 1890s, and the father of a former lieutenant in the Royal Engineers who built barracks in Bosnia for UN troops in the 1990s.