The Rise and Fall of the British Army, 1975–2025

Join Ben Barry at this year's Chelsea History Festival as he examines the successes and failures of the British Army across the last half century.

Over the last 50 years, society, technology, the character of conflict and the British Army itself have all change greatly.

From a low point in the 1970s, the Army’s war fighting capability increased during the 1980s in the face of a prospective war with the Soviet Union. It then continued to evolve through conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, right up to the current challenges the Army faces today.

Drawing on his own personal experience, as well as a wide range of written sources and interviews, Ben Barry provides a new interpretation of this period that challenges previous narratives.

About the speaker

Ben Barry is a Senior Fellow for Land Warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Before this, he served in the Army, where he commanded an armoured infantry battalion and a multinational brigade on United Nations and Nato operations in Bosnia. He is the author of the acclaimed book ‘Blood, Metal and Dust: How Victory Turned into Defeat in Afghanistan and Iraq’.

About the Chelsea History Festival

The Chelsea History Festival is an annual event that aims to entertain, educate and inspire through local, national and global history.

Founded in 2019, the festival is delivered by the Chelsea Heritage Quarter, a collaboration between the National Army Museum, Chelsea Physic Garden, the Royal Hospital Chelsea and Cadogan.