Partly on the strength of their apparent success in ‘small wars’ such as Malaya and Northern Ireland, the British armed forces have long been perceived as world class, if not world-beating. Yet under British control Basra degenerated into a lawless city riven with militia violence and fear, while tactical mistakes and strategic incompetence in Helmand province resulted in numerous casualties and a burgeoning opium trade. In both cases the British were eventually and humiliatingly baled out by the US military.

In this thoughtful and compellingly readable book, former military intelligence officer Frank Ledwidge, a veteran of both campaigns, examines the British involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking how and why it went so wrong. With the aid of copious research, interviews with senior officers and his own experiences, he looks in detail at how British strategy is developed and how senior officers are trained. He discusses the culture of the British military and argues that at the root of these flawed operations has been a reliance on obsolete structures, approaches and tactics, a culture of not asking difficult questions and – above all – an inability to adapt to new challenges. This is an eye-opening analysis of the causes of military failure, and its enormous costs.

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Frank Ledwidge served in Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq as a military intelligence officer and in Afghanistan as a civilian justice advisor. He is currently a lecturer for Kings College, London at the RAF College, Cranwell.

"One of the most devastating books on British policy I have read." —Andrew Marr

"The author deserves applause for bluntly expressing the truths about our recent military failures that too many of those involved find it convenient to obscure… [He] concludes: “We do not currently have armed forces that are equipped for conflicts… where brutally put they are actually invaders in lands far away and of which they know really very little.” I agree. A radical shake-up of the army is needed. It is only because its prestige is so low after defeats in Iraq and Afghanistan – as Ledwidge justly characterises these experiences – that the government can get away with savaging its strength in defence cuts. If much is wrong with today’s British Army, by the time the Cameroon’s have finished there will be precious little of it left."—Max Hastings, The Sunday Times

"[Frank Ledwidge] deserves applause for bluntly expressing truths about our military failures that too many of those involved find convenient to obscure." Max Hastings, Sunday Times

"Losing Small Wars, is a savage indictment of the military leadership that got British soldiers into one impossible situation after another in Iraq and Afghanistan."—Rodric Braithwaite, Financial Times

"Lieutenant Commander Frank Ledwidge, RNR (retired), has written one of the most upsetting books I have read about Britain’s part in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Anyone who wants to understand what happened should read it." – Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, New Statesman

"It pays moving tribute to the courage and dedication of the junior ranks, but may be the rudest work on the British generals since Alan Clark's The Donkeys... Ledwidge should be read by everyone with an interest in the British armed forces and their future."—Anatol Lieven, The Times

"This brave critique by a former naval intelligence officer dares to lay blame on the top brass. Once more, donkeys in gold braid have wasted the blood of lions under their command – and the civilians in their care." Boyd Tonkin, Independent i

"[A] superb ground-breaking book... Mr Ledwidge is judicious, sceptical, intelligent and highly informed."—Patrick Cockburn, Independent on Sunday

"In many ways this is the sort of book I'd like to have written. Controversial, iconoclastic even, written by an insider, it casts a knowledgeable and critical eye over recent British military operations and doesn't shy away from exposing incompetency and naming the guilty."—Stuart Crawford, The Scotsman

"A superb and very interesting book"—Professor Anthony King, University of Exeter

"A devastating, highly readable critique of why Britain’s armed forces have fared so badly in two of the country’s most recent and controversial conflicts: Iraq and Afghanistan…..I support the author’s notion that it is a national scandal that despite the failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, no senior officer has yet been held to account." —Sean Rayment, Daily Telegraph

"Losing Small Wars is not a prescription, but a diagnosis. It is a survey of recent history and a powerful assault on a destructively self-satisfied culture. We will need to open networks and think more broadly as new types of conflict emerge and our armed forces are reduced in number. As a first draft of the history of these campaigns, this is a very good start… I unhesitatingly recommend it."—David Benest, British Army Review

"If you are interested in the future of the British Army, as well as its past, then buy this book" 5/5 —British Army Rumour Service

"Ledwidge probs the possibilities and articulates the problems with all the frankness of a soldier." Good Book Guide