In A Guide to the Volunteers of England 1859-1908, the second of his 'Guides' series, Ray Westlake presents details of the several branches of the Victorian system that saw men from all walks of life give up their spare time to prepare for any invasion, should it take place.

102 manly colour plates taken from various contemporary sources, illustrating the many and varied uniforms of The British Volunteer Force 1859-1908. This part-time military force which came into being to meet the mid-nineteenth century fear of French invasion. It survived and grew for fifty years until in 1908 it was renamed and remodelled as the Territorial Force. Composed initially of middle-class and often middle-aged gentlemen who elected their own officers and paid for their own uniform and equipment, the Volunteer Force soon became youthful and working-class, with appointed middle-class officers, with a a Government subsidy, and a minor military role as an adjunct to the Regular Army. Lively commentary from expert Ray Westlake on each plate enhances their usefulness for the modern uniformologist.

This work records the various Rifle Volunteer Corps (RVC) that were created throughout England, Scotland and Wales as a result of the formation in 1859 of the Volunteer Force. Listed under the counties in which they were raised and numbered are the RVC that were accepted by the War Office.

Originally published in 1975, The Volunteer Force is a study of the part-time military force which came into being to meet the mid-nineteenth century fear of French invasion. It survived and grew for fifty years until in 1908 it was renamed and remodelled as the Territorial Force. Composed initially of middle-class and often middle-aged gentlemen who elected their own officers and paid for their own equipment, the Volunteer Force soon became youthful and working-class, with appointed middle-class officers, a Government subsidy, and a minor military role as an adjunct to the Regular Army. This book examines the origins of the Force, the transformation in its social composition, the difficulties in finding officers who were ‘gentlemen’, the ambiguous status, of the Force both in the local community and in the Regular Army, and the political influence which the Force exerted in the early twentieth century. Above all it is concerned with the reasons for and the implications of enrolment; publicists argued that the Force was the embodiment of patriotism, and an indication of working-class loyalty to established institutions.

Lt.-Gen. Sir Garnet Wolseley commented that history would record the formation of the Volunteers Movement as one of the most remarkable events in the century. In this study of the Rifle Volunteer Movement, the author Ian Beckett has drawn from a wide range of primary source material such as official, regimental, local and private repositories. He has been able to put into perspective the Movement within the structure of the Victorian and Edwardian social, political and military affairs from its formation in 1859 to its absorption in the Territorial Force in 1908.