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Armies are one of history’s great paradoxes. They are institutions of immense power, capable of creation and destruction on a continental scale, yet we often fail to see them as what they are: distinct historical phenomena, born of specific crises and ideas, that profoundly shape the societies that create them. An army is not just a tool of the state; it is often a mirror, a crucible, and a motor of social and political change. This is the central theme of a fascinating conversation on the Explaining History podcast with Barney White-Spunner, a former senior British Army commander and author…