The author was commissioned from the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in 1962 and retired from the Brigade of Gurkhas in 1998. A member of the British Commission for Military History and a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society, he speaks fluent Nepali and is a keen horseman.

THIS WILL OVERTURN EVERYTHING YOU THOUGHT YOU KNEW ABOUT BRITAIN AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Mud, Blood and Poppycock re-examines the old myths of incompetence and unnecessary slaughter that have coloured the popular view of the First World War. In so doing, Gordon Corrigan may well shatter precious libertarian illusions, but in explaining what war is really about, how an army does its work, and by examining the facts he overturns myths and legends and gets to the truth. British casualty rates were high, but less than those of France and Germany, and there was no 'lost generation'.
Gordon Corrigan, a retired officer of the Royal Gurkha Rifles and a noted military historian, has fashioned a case for the revisionist view of the First World War which is devastating trial by evidence.
'A clear, crisp, highly readable narrative' Daily Mail