Brian Holden-Reid

First Battle of Bull Run, chromolithograph by Kurz & Allison

First Blood to the South: Bull Run, 1861

The rebel yell that dispelled hopes of a quick Union victory – Brian Holden Reid looks at the battle that set the scene for the American Civil War's protracted and bloody conflict.

Why the Confederacy Lost

Brian Holden Reid opens our two-headed debate on the American Civil War by arguing that the South failed to use revolutionary methods to full advantage.

The Tank and Visions of Future War

70 years ago the massed tank battle of Cambrai ushered in the transformation of the mythology, imagery and practice of conventional land warfare.

'Yet all Shall be Forgot'

Brian Holden Reid recounts his own experiences of great military events. their literature, political significance and memory.