Quick Training for War

Osprey is proud to reissue this historically significant publication, which offers a unique insight into perceptions of how to wage war in 1914.

In this fascinating little book, Baden-Powell uses his extensive military experience and memories of service in Africa to distill soldiering down to 'the four C-s': Courage, Common sense, Cunning and Cheerfulness. With observations gleaned from his campaigns against the Zulus, the Ashanti and the Boers during the period 1876-1910 (and even from conversations with the German Kaiser), B-P discusses all aspects of military service from digging trenches and earth-works to "inculcating cheerfulness in your men." This period document gives a unique insight into the mindset of the British officer in 1914; advocating a training system that encapsulated Edwardian values, conventional military thinking and centuries of army tradition.

Quick Training For War is a perfect example of the type of war the British expected to fight and which they prepared for in 1914, and it became a standard survival guide for many British troops. Personable in tone, this is the well-intentioned, no-nonsense advice of a seasoned campaigner - albeit an officer more accustomed to scouting on the South African veldt than struggling through Somme mud.