ABSTRACT

Over the past two decades the historical record of Britain’s wars against a series of insurgencies has experienced a fundamental academic re-assessment, challenging established beliefs about how the British state and its institutions – in particular the British Army – have waged counterinsurgency, and questioning traditional presumptions that Britain fought its insurgent enemies according to a doctrine guided by ‘hearts and minds’ and ‘minimum force’. This article shows that hints about the murky reality behind the ‘British way in counterinsurgency’ can be seen in novels published during the post-war era, some of which used recent conflicts as their subject matter, others of which referred tangentially to previous wars. Not only were these best-selling books with an international audience, but these authors had experience with Britain’s armed forces and intelligence services, and were either directly involved in counterinsurgency conflicts, or their works indicated insight and knowledge about them. Their books provided fictional illustrations of many of the themes – coercive tactics against civilians, special operations against insurgents, inter-departmental disputes, the lack of cultural understanding, the maltreatment of detainees and the excessive use of force against suspected insurgents and civilians – that have been identified and examined by military historians and other academic specialists covering Britain and counterinsurgency.

摘要

在过去的二十年里，英国打击一系列叛乱的战争的历史记录经历了一次根本性的学术重新评估，挑战了关于英国国家及其机构——特别是英国陆军——如何发动反叛乱的既定信念，并对传统的传统观念提出了质疑。英国根据以“心灵和思想”和“最小武力”为指导的学说与叛乱敌人作战。本文表明，在战后出版的小说中可以看到“英国反叛乱方式”背后的阴暗现实的暗示，其中一些小说以最近的冲突为主题，另一些则与以前的战争无关。这些畅销书不仅拥有国际读者，但这些作者有英国武装部队和情报部门的经验，或者直接参与了反叛乱冲突，或者他们的作品表明了对这些冲突的洞察力和知识。他们的书对许多主题提供了虚构的插图——针对平民的胁迫策略、针对叛乱分子的特别行动、部门间争端、缺乏文化理解、虐待被拘留者以及对涉嫌叛乱分子和平民过度使用武力——军事历史学家和其他研究英国和反叛乱的学术专家对这些事件进行了鉴定和研究。