They marched through the streets to their ships to the sounds of military bands and snapping banners. They expected to be back very soon. As the war dragged on and on Britain came to rely on its volunteer forces as much as the regular army. The problem was, the volunteers had expected to quick-step to a conventional battlefield and earn some glory for themselves rather than endure three years of guerrilla warfare. Miller (history, U. of Maine) closely examines Britain's auxiliary forces and their role in the overall imperial mission. He also describes the motivations leading men to volunteer, their role in nonconventional warfare, the sense of national emergency and the influence of popular culture, and the particular masculinity that drove the volunteers to sign up and stay. Yes, the parallels to US soldiers in Iraq are unmistakable. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)