What can six battles across a thousand years of history tell us about the nature of warfare? Probably not a lot, as Allan Mallinson himself admits. In his latest book, he is not so much out to make a point but to ‘let the events speak for themselves’. In other words, leave the reader to draw their own conclusions.
The Shape of Battle obviously went to press before Afghanistan fell to the Taliban this summer, because Mallinson does not mention that event in his chapters here on Operation Panther’s Claw. This was a British-led operation in July 2009 to secure a key area of the country’s Helmand province ahead of local elections. It was a success, but how grim it is to now read of the Taliban taunting the occupying troops. Everyone knew that the British would not be there forever.
‘You have the watches, we have the time,’ the Taliban warned, and it is this same ominous idea that underpins the Battle of the Imjin River during the Korean War. Another bloody but successful British-led operation, it seems like a small victory in an ultimately losing struggle, with the battle going one way and the wider conflict another.
