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The British armed forces are currently engaged all over the world in 'peacekeeping operations'. How do we avoid these missions turning into long-term entanglements, like the current situation in Iraq? The former Liberal Democrat leader, PADDY ASHDOWN, was a Royal Marine in the 1960s and the UN's High Representative in Bosnia more recently. In his new book, he discusses the successes and failures of peacekeeping operations. He talks about what lessons have been learned and what lessons keep being forgotten and reveals the strategies that are required to avoid another Iraq-style disaster. Swords and Ploughshares: Bringing Peace to the 21st Century is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

GENERAL SIR MICHAEL ROSE is one of Britain’s most decorated and experienced soldiers. In his new book, he assesses the strategy which brought George Washington’s rag-bag army of insurgents victory against the might of the British Army in 1775, and draws parallels with the strategy that has been used against the US forces in Iraq today. As a former Director of UK Special Forces and Commander of the UN Protection Force in Bosnia, Rose’s experience of counter-insurgency warfare leads him to argue that when the USA entered Iraq in 2003, it made the same mistakes that the British had made over 200 years before. He explains that the Americans are learning now, as the British did then, that sheer military power is not enough. He also shows how, while the British Army learned from its mistakes to become one of the world’s most effective counter-insurgency forces, the US Army seems to have forgotten the lessons of its founding fathers. Washington’s War: From Independence to Iraq is published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson.

When Britain and America went into Afghanistan in 2001, they claimed that the liberation of women would be one of their main priorities. Did they deliver? Award-winning Pakistani journalist and documentary filmmaker, SHARMEEN OBAID-CHINOY, finds out what life is like for the women behind the burqa. She argues that the liberation of Afghan women is mostly theoretical, despite the advances in Kabul where there are female journalists and politicians. Tribal customary codes still rule supreme and the position of women is dire and unchanged. Her documentary for Dispatches, Afghanistan Unveiled, is broadcast on Thursday 17 May at 9.00pm on Channel 4.

RICHARD LITTLEJOHN is well known for the forthright views he sets out in his newspaper columns. In his latest book, he gives his account of the last ten years of New Labour. He talks about what he sees as the barmy bureaucracy, the petty interferences and the suffocating regulations – as well as discussing Britain under Gordon Brown. Littlejohn’s Britain is published by Hutchinson.