Welcome to our highly anticipated ‘Chief of Army History Conference 2017’ series of videos.  The conference was held in Canberra on 19-20 October 2017, and was sponsored by the Army History Unit. Now in its 24th year, the conference saw some of the world’s most prestigious military historians presenting on the theme  ‘The Skill of Adaptability: The Learning Curve in Combat.’ Topics ranged from the Boer War through to modern conflicts such as the War in Afghanistan.

We hope you enjoy the presentations which the speakers have generously agreed to share with us.  The presentations represent the speakers personal views and are not the official view of the Australian Army or any other organisation. This presentation on 'Imperial policing to guerrilla war: the British in South Africa 1899-1902' is delivered by Professor Ian Beckett.

About the presenter: Ian Beckett is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he has been Chairman of the Council of the Army Records Society since 2000, and is also Secretary to the Buckinghamshire Military Museum Trust. He is on the executive council of the Buckinghamshire Record Society, and is on the editorial boards of Small Wars and Insurgencies, and of two monograph series, Insurgency, Counter-insurgency and National Security (Routledge), and The History of Military Occupation (University of Illinois Press). He has previously held chairs in both the UK and the US.