Annual Booklist 2026 : Contributors
Back yet again for another instalment as we approach the countdown to Christmas, SAHRs annual booklist offers recommendations for books that you might want to think about adding to your Christmas gifts list. We've asked a mixture of scholars, enthusiasts, and soldiers to recommend their top five books on the British Army and this year's contributors have come up with a wide and varied selection. In order to inspire the writers out there as well as the readers, we've also asked them to come up with one suggestion for a book that doesn't yet exist but ought to be written.
Dr Alexander S. Burns
Alexander S. Burns is an Assistant Professor of History at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he specialises in the study of early modern military history, the Continental Army, and the Atlantic World. He edited the Festschrift for the late Professor Christopher Duffy, entitled The Changing Face of Old Regime Warfare, and won the 2025 SAHR Chapple Prize with his first monograph, Infantry in Battle, 1733-1783.
Brigadier Shaun Chandler
Brigadier Shaun Chandler is Head of the British Army's Leadership, Education and Development Group (LEDG), where he oversees leadership development, professional military education, and lifelong learning across the service. Having served in a range of command and staff appointments in the UK and overseas, he is particularly interested in how armies learn, adapt, and prepare leaders for an increasingly complex world. His interests include military history, institutional learning, leadership, and the changing character of war.
The Leadership, Education and Development Group exists to help the Army think, learn, and adapt. Bringing together leadership development, professional military education, and lifelong learning, LEDG prepares soldiers and officers for the challenges of an uncertain future while ensuring that the Army continues to learn from its history, its operations, and its people. Its role is to develop the intellectual, moral, and professional foundations of fighting power, helping to ensure that today's Army remains ready for tomorrow's challenges.