Not really a book, more a collection or roll call of facts and figures, still it did make an interesting read and reference source.
I started reading this at the same time as I was reading the Donald Featherstone book. This one was more to my liking. Only very minor criticism is that the text under the illustrations was a straight repeat from the main body of the text, so nothing new was added.
The tricky thing with wargaming this battle is the allied outflanking move which came as a surprise to the French having traversed terrain that was considered impassable and the subsequent river crossings that involved undefended and defended bridges and fords, combined with the fighting on the other flank in the broken terrain on the hillside.
The outflanking move can be based on unit arrival on the tabletop with perhaps restrictions on French deployment and relocation beforehand.
The river crossings and the fighting in difficult terrain need for further consideration. The first step will be the refining of the map that I obtained from the book Military Dress of the Peninsula War.
Published in 1991 and I've probably had it since then, but only now got around to reading it as part of my ongoing research into wargaming aspects of the Peninsula War. You'd think this book would be perfect, but initial impressions are less so.
The introduction to the Napoleonic period is too general and should focus specifically on the Peninsula War. The same applies to the chapters on infantry and cavalry, brief as they are, they cover aspects not relevant to the Peninsula, such as the British cavalry at Waterloo. What is missing are those things unique about the Peninsula War as distinct from other areas of the Napoleonic Wars.
There are references to wargames rules, but without specifying any rule set, except to a figure scale of 1 to 10 (page 17, rationale being that this is "essential to have correct tactical groupings of companies"). My preferred rules have 1 infantry figure represents 120 men. So the subsequent discussions are at a lower level than what I game at.
There is a discussion of creating wargame rules, but again for the whole Napoleonic period, however there are mechanisms the author stresses that could be used to create the troop profiles unique to the Peninsula War. A lot of that feeds into unit characteristics as I know them in Napoleon's Battles. The author did mention WRG rules and it could be that those rules have generic units (as in veterans are all the same regardless of nationality). I should go and find my copy of those rules to confirm that but will rely on my vague memory and that the WRG rules cover the whole Horse and Musket period.
The book does provide decent summaries of possibly the major and some minor battles of the Peninsula, but only those that have a British presence. The author upfront states his bias toward the British army. You would certainly have to say British troops and the generalship of Wellington was superior. Unfortunately, some of the maps are too fine in detail to be useful (it is an A5 booklet, and the old way of drawing contours quickly fills in the spaces with clutter).
There are a lot of factors in the Peninsula War that don't readily appear on the tabletop, specifically appalling weather, appalling terrain, frequent surprise attacks (aided by the weather or terrain) and poor intelligence.
One thing (page54) that does intrigue me and would seem to have particular value for campaigns is his idea of Fighting Assessment Charts.
My next book has been inspirational and given me another lead to follow as well.
I paid $4.95 for this a long, long time ago. I have dipped into it occasionally for inspiration and now I think it's time has come (almost).
This is a classic and one of my all-time inspirational books for the Napoleonic period. As part of my research into what is now the 1813-14 campaign, I read chapters 7 and 8 and have now gone down a Battle of Vittoria rabbit hole.
In this book I found a very useful map of the Battle of Vittoria and think I can readily adapt it for Napoleon's Battles.
Continuing my research, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Chapters 17 to 22 covering the period after the Battle of Vittoria to Napoleon's abdication.
Published in 1974 and I've no idea how I came into its possession, but I'm glad I did. Maps are excellent. The text most informative and inspiring. The chapter on the east coast activities were very interesting as was the coverage of the Battle of Toulouse. The latter so much so that I am now working on a scenario for that.
My Orthez inspired research continues.
This 2002 publication was an uncorrected proof copy and contained no maps, although it did intend to do so. This didn't bother me as my previous book had supplied what I needed.
I only intended reading Chapter 17 - Pyrenees: The Invasion of France, July-November 1813. However, I enjoyed it so much I went on to read the final chapter Bascara: Peace and Thereafter.
What was unique about this book was the coverage of the political (especial Spanish) and diplomatic aspects of the closing stages of the war. It didn't concentrate on the day-to-day location of forces as the first book I read or only minutiae of a privileged officer's life contained in the second book. However, it was "spiced up" by the inclusion of various passages related to the fighting based on eyewitness accounts, something that was missing in the other books.
The destabilizing effect of the French occupation on both Portugal and Spain was detailed and that it led to the loss of Americas and further civil strife. Both countries were much the poorer for their involvement in the Napoleonic Wars.
I've had this book for thirty years, give or take, I may have read it in the past or dipped into it, but a recent post in the Napoleon's Battles user group provided the necessary inspiration for me to read this book cover to cover.
It was first published in 1925 and reprinted in 1994. My copy had a stamp saying: "This book was warehouse damaged and is now being sold at a special price." Not sure what the damage was, but the book does have two flaws. The images included are very poor quality (the one on the cover is probably the best). This is a pity as the author went to some trouble to photograph the battlefields. Maybe the 1925 edition had better reproductions. However, more serious is that there are no maps at all. Given the subject of this book, I found it a serious disadvantage. Not to be at a loss, I searched my library for suitable books that might have maps as well as a Google search.
In the last and least likely book I found just what I was looking for:
The inspiring post was a scenario for the Battle of Orthez, February 27, 1814. It can be found here:
At this time it also lacked a map, and part of my reading was an attempt to work out what the terrain was like. The answer appears to be rolling hills with spurs and ravines. Perhaps significant at a battalion level, but perhaps less so at the brigade level represented by Napoleon's Battles (and at one inch is 100 yards).
While reading this book I was constantly distracted by ideas for a campaign and how to represent the various overarching aspects. These included:
The weather (obviously given the campaign season).
The need for Wellington to wait until funds arrived (and also to hold ports at which such ships could arrive in safety given the weather) noting also that funds were needed to pay the muleteers on which the Allied army depended for its transport.
The risk that Spain would come to a separate peace with France (which would make for a very interesting situation).
The need to keep the Portuguese happy (they were demanding their own army structure, rather than being just brigades attached to British divisions).
The bulk of the book is providing background (and importance of securing various places by siege or storm) and the manoeuvring leading to the battle. Hence my need for a map.
It took me a while to understand "the Gaves." It was not defined in the book, or in the map and it is not a word you can Google. My old French/English dictionary came to my rescue and provided the obvious answer: (n,m) torrent, mountain stream (in the Pyrenees). Just as an aside, the same word (n,f) means crop (of birds). I will go with the former meaning, but continuing the French lesson: le gave and la gave have two distinct meanings, but les gaves requires context.
The actual battle, like some others when Soult had not been forced to retire by being outflanked on his right), was initially hard fought with the Allied attacks held until they were able to break through the centre. There was then a successful rearguard, but it eventually fell apart leading to a rout, with the French saved by nightfall and lack of allied cavalry to lead an active pursuit. The terrain was both an aid and a hindrance.
My thinking had gone from trying to conceive of a Snappy Nappy style game to a more Scharnhorst (of the Blucher ruleset) pregame map manoeuvre. There is still the idea of being able to portrait various encounters with differently scaled rulesets, from something like Songs of Drums and Shakos for very small-scale skirmishes, through to Napoleon's Battles for the big battle. Other rules popular at the club (if I was to go that way) are Sharp Practice and General d'Armee.
At the very least I am now painting my way through a heap of Portuguese infantry, picking regiments based on locations I visited last year. The particular interest in this campaign is also aided by having visited the area as part of a battlefield tour in the mid 1990s (for which I must find my photos). The tour was more about Soult's counterattack across the Pyrenees in 1813.
Now I am reading A Guards Officer in the Peninsula.
Hot on the heels (or is that tail?) of Bomber, Mark B lent me this book. It is something different...
This book has the subtitle "Hell in a very small space" which is certainly a good description of the place under siege.
This book was published in 1966 and I wondered if the author had published an updated edition with the release of files etc since the conflict. Nope. His entry in Wikipedia makes for interesting reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_B._Fall and also explains why there was no sequel.
The book has a lot of detail about French troop movements during the siege, almost down to the platoon level. The Vietminh are more handled at the division and sometimes battalion level. Lots of anecdotes and the author was well connected having been in Indochina during the 1950s and later, as well as having access to a range of people, including Ho Chi Minh.
What comes across in the book is the bravery of the combatants, as well as the ultimately pointless slaughter.
The politics are interesting as one forgets that people making decision in the 1950s have been shaped by events going back to the 1930s.
I'm glad I was too young (just) to avoid the wider conflict.
My posts labelled "book review" ain't really book reviews, just me making a note of something I felt relevant to this blog and also to seek closure.
I used to measure the success of a holiday by the number of books I finished reading (always in single digits, but that is beside the point). A book read represents closure and nowadays that is more important to me, retirement having significantly reduced the import of holidays.
Also I am working through my accumulation of stuff while trying not to add to it.
This book I bought for the price of $A4.95 in the early 1980s and carted it around ever since. It is best described as a coffee table book, but the author. Susanne Everett, at least at the time of publication, was married to John Keegan, the military historian. This book is about cultural history centred on Berlin between the wars. Lots of names, most of which I didn't recognise, but enough to keep little sparks of recognition firing.
In playing Weimar I was reminded of this book and thought it would be a good time to read it. Of course I couldn't find it. Searching was futile and I gave up. Then it appeared! Kind of a reverse Murphy's Law.
It is 200 pages, but about 100 pages of images, mostly photos but some posters.
Of course it covers the Nazi's sublimation of the arts, either by causing talent to decamp or by simply imposing their own, which would be mostly horrid expect for perhaps two films Leni Riefenstahl: Triumph of the Will and Olympia, neither of which I have seen. They also produced some striking posters, most if not all of which would be banned in these enlightened times for displaying swastikas (often in abundance) or for representing hate speech.
Written before the fall of the Berlin Wall it makes for an interesting historical perspective. I am sure the same book if written today would draw parallels between the rise of the fascism and what we are observing today. The book is oblivious to this of course, but the parallels are plain to see, at least the seeds.
Book read and some interesting background provided for the next game of Weimar in which I will be playing the KPD - the Communists.
Not sure whose other Iliad it might be, but this was a retelling by Vitezslav Kocourek, translated by Vladimir Varecha and beautifully illustrated by Jiri Behounek. From around 1993/4 and I reckon I have had it since then as well. Finally read (and enjoyed).
I've had an interest in Greek mythology for a long time, probably inspired by movies such as Jason and the Argonauts and the cartoon series Hercules. I note both of these date from 1963 and would have been running in Australia probably into the early 70s. My first ancient army was WRG's Later Hoplite Greek based on the Tin Soldier Hellenistic range, an army I am still using and still adding to.
Renewed interest in Greek mythology was spurred by watching Kaos on Netflix, which got me to read Gods, Heroes and Men of Ancient Greece by W. H. D. Rouse, followed most recently by watching The Return (a movie based on Odysseus and the Suitors). By happenstance I came across my copy of The Odyssey as well as this book on the Iliad. Rather than start at the end, I thought I should start at the beginning.
Now, and more relevant to this blog, I have the boardgame Troy by Donald A Dupont published in 1977. It has five scenarios in ascending complexity. The first two have been played a few times long ago and I am hoping to revisit the game soon.
Not really a cookery book or a detailed consideration of the campaign and battle, but an insight into myth making, misinformation, maintenance (and destruction) of power as well as the life of Napoleon.
A fine review can be found here:
https://avonnapoleonicfellowship.blogspot.com/2012/03/fine-dish-but-watch-for-bones.html
I found this book particularly interesting given what we now experience as alternative facts, real facts, mis and dis information and the lies of those seeking power (or trying to retrain it).
A passage in the book I thought was an excellent observation started with myths are useful. "They can assuage the bitterness of a defeat, or deny it altogether, and foster a sense of solidarity. Yet myths tend to outlive their usefulness, and in the long run, through their mindless repetition, they breed complacency, and deaden rather than inspire the mind." (Page 213)
How apt for our times.
This was a book I purchased in April 1984 for $7.95 from Mary Martins in Adelaide. I have now finished reading it. I hasten to add I really only started to read it when Richard and I started playing Kingdom of Heaven.
.png)
Excellent read containing two intertwined stories. There is a good summary with plenty of detail on the Ark Royal's service combined with the search to find (spoilers) the wreck.
What the Dark Valley does to understand the roots of WW2 this does for WW1.
It is a complex subject and this book certainly doesn't try and hide that. As with The Dark Valley, the parallels to current events and attitudes are disturbing. While there is not social media, there is the popular press and public opinion; at times ignored and also used as justification. Politicians and leaders seemed more focussed on the "good for their country" rather than staying in power, however if you are a monarchy or absolute ruler, the thought of not being in power probably doesn't enter the thought process.
The feeling that time was running out motivated some countries; the belief that war would be a short lived glorious enterprise; the resignation that it was inevitable or that it was in the hands of others; the denigration of some countries importance while building up that of others; wonderful levels of hypocrisy.
I read this two years ago and in looking at Christopher Clark's new book I recalled I might have read something of his before and found this unpublished post. Published now.
A Xmas present for myself which amazingly I have finished reading well before next Xmas. A non trivial task with a 500 page book on a complex subject.
I am a fan of Anthony Beevor's books and have enjoyed them all except perhaps the one on the Spanish Civil War. I got lost in that book with all the acronyms describing the various parties in the war. The same could happen with this book, but I had the benefit of knowing more of the names, factions and geography based on other readings and perhaps most of all, having played numerous games on the area and subject, most recently Reds! and Red Star White Eagle.
At times reading this book it was as if present day fighting in Ukraine was a mere continuation of the conflict that was always simmering and was finally unleashed by the pressures of WW1 on the Russian Empire.
Exceedingly brutal and inhumane.
The book's conclusion sums things up perfectly:
"Spiritual values never stood a chance against a fanatical determination to destroy all those of the past, both good and bad."
"All too often the Whites represented the worst examples of humanity. For ruthless inhumanity, however, the Bolsheviks were unbeatable."
I think a lot of that inhumanity was subsequently spread around the world and is still with us today.
