Focusing on real soldiers rather than stereotypes, this book looks at the lives of more than 30 fighting men through the ages, from a Chinese soldier in the "terracotta army" of the Emperor Quinshi Huangdi, a Crusader, an American Indian brave, a French Foreign Legionnaire and a British Tommy on the Western Front, to a Japanese kamikaze pilot of World War II. There is a colour photograph of each soldier's uniform, the weapons he used, and the equipment he carried in his kit-bag. Answers are offered to questions such as how the soldier was recruited, what happened if he was wounded, and why he was prepared to give his life.