Although only formed in December 1992 The Light Dragoons look back to a history that began in the days of the first Jacobite rebellion. In 1922 a reduction in the Armys strength saw the amalgamation of four regiments of Hussars into the 13th/18th Hussars & the 15th/19th Hussars. Now they too have been amalgamated with a name that reverts to the titles of the four original regiments in the eighteenth century. Allan Mallinson the novelist & a former commanding officer of the 13th/18th Hussars not only follows with admirable clarity & dexterity the fortunes of The Light Dragoons predecessors in this new edition but describes the activities of the new regiment up to the minute. It is a crowded canvas which reflects much of the last two hundred & seventy years of British history. No campaign of significance has been fought in that time without the participation of one or more of the Regiments. Three for instance fought in the Peninsula one in the Crimea & three in South Africa. In the twentieth century they gained fresh honours in both World Wars & since 1945 have been fully involved in Britains withdrawal from Empire the Cold War United Nations peacekeeping & Iraq & Afghanistan. The new Postscript gives the reader a fine account of what wars in Bosnia & Iraq have involved for the Regiment & the men who serve in it & this updated history is a superb snapshot of life in war & peace for a British armoured reconnaissance regiment. Light Dragoons takes its place among the classics of this genre such as Sir Arthur Bryants Jackets of Green & Rudyard Kiplings account of the Irish Guards in the Great War.