What are you currently reading ?

[Ithoriel]

Just started Swords and Cinema: Hollywood vs The Reality Of Ancient Warfare by Jeremiah McCall

[kipt]

Finished "Bold Dragoon: The Life of J.E.B. Stuart" by Emory Thomas.

Type A personality, invented himself, large ego but also an outstanding (most of the time) cavalry officer/general.

Well done.

[Steve J]

Beneath the Lily Banners: The War of the Three Kings. About half way through and I'm liking what I'm seeing of how the rules will play. They have a lot of detail which will take some getting used to, but it all seems very logical and is explained well. I will need to order some new die to play the game though, as I only have one D8 and D12.

[Big Insect]

I just grabbed a free Kindle sample of it to see what all the fuss is about. Will see if I can get thought the opening. I do enjoy some Asian inspired sci-fi and fantasy, though often find the concept and setting more interesting than the story itself.

I'd recommend Marko Kloos if you haven't read him already. I've been enjoying his Front lines and Palladium Wars series. Military science fiction but does a good job of balancing action with suspense, character and plot. I find a lot of military fiction writers get carried away writing the action and just keep dialling that up unrealistically. Marko takes a more measured approach.

I'll try giving Marko Kloos a go - thanks for the recommendation

[Orcs]

Reading the second book in the 'Parthian Chronicles".  The first two have been a good read. The author Peter Darman  pays some attention to the history, but full of Derying-do like the Bernard  Cornwell's "last Kingdom' series 

[kipt]

Finished volume 84, No. 3 of "The Journal of Military History".

Articles include:
The Military Revolution and the Ancient Origins of the Trace Italienne

Rivers, Rails and Rebels: Logistics and Struggle to Supply U.S. Army Depot of Nashville, 1862-1865

"To Did and Burrow like Rabbits": British Field Fortifications at the Battle of the Aisne, September to October 1914

An Evaluation of Allied Intelligence in the Tactical Bombing of German Supply Depots during the Normandy Campaign, 1944

Aircraft Carriers versus Battleships in War and Myths: Demythologizing Carrier air Dominance at Sea

as well as others plus about 90 pages of book reviews.  Always interesting.

[Srpz2116]

I'm working my way through a bunch of things on the Fifth Ashanti War (1900).

I just finished "Letters from a Bush Campaign" by Journalist David Martineau Haylings, who followed one of the relief columns on its way to rescue some besieged British-led troops.

He adds in some very interesting and more human details that I haven't seen in other books I've read on the conflict, like playing cricket while surrounded by dead bodies or losing sleep while engaged in a ironic and futile fight with a mosquito trapped in his anti-mosquito net.

Unfortunately I find the author himself to be a little tiresome. He's certainly a man of his times, to put it nicely! It would have been far more interesting to get a more personal insight into the individuality of some of thousands of logistics personnel carrying all the equipment and maybe even some of the Ashanti soldiers but, for the most part with only scarce exceptions, they are treated more as a monolith on account of Martineau Haylings' views on race and imperialism.

Now I'm reading the official correspondence and reports related to the war, which has some very interesting AARs (very useful for my Ashanti Campaign wargame project I plan to start making soon, too!)

[kipt]

Finished "Battlefield: Farming A Civil War Battleground" by Peter Svenson.

A book I read quite some time ago and just reread.  The author bought 40 acres of land in the Shenandoah Valley and it turned out his 40 acres was part of the Cross Keys battlefield.  Very well written between his amateur efforts to farm hay and descriptions of the battle.  His 40 acres were where General Trimble (Confederate) held off and then counter attacked the Union left.  Trimble was in his 60's, but very aggressive.

Stonewall Jackson was at Port Republic at this time and Ewell's division was told off to hold Fremont's forces.  Trimble was a Brigadier under Ewell.

Enjoyable and it looks as though this will be a battle I will recreate.

[Chris Pringle]

I'm working my way through a bunch of things on the Fifth Ashanti War (1900).

I haven't tried the Fifth Ashanti War, but I did have a taste of the Third when we fought Amoaful as one of Mark Smith's splendid Christmas specials:
http://bloodybigbattles.blogspot.com/2016/12/2nd-ashanti-war-amoaful-1874.html

May your own Ashanti campaign give you as much entertainment as this gave to us!

Chris

Bloody Big BATTLES!
https://groups.io/g/bloodybigbattles

[Srpz2116]

Thank you! That certainly looked like a lot of fun.

Knowing me, I'll probably succumb to temptation and end up doing the Third War as well, not to mention all the civil wars from 1875 until the British invasion in 1895 on top of the 1900 Campaign. Besides, once I get the figures for the latter I only need some West Indians and Black Watch and then 1874 is sorted!

[Techno II]

Listening to the Beeb's adaptation of LOTR.......Again.

Cheers - Phil

[Raider4]

The instruction leaflet for a MICKE desk

[Duke Speedy of Leighton]

Redwall

[kipt]

Finished going through "They Were There" edited by Philip Van Doren Stern.  It is a book of drawings of the ACW by artists at that time, which drawings typically were turned into wood cuts for the papers.  Captions under the pictures were the only text, baring an introduction by the author.

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Gaveup on Rider haggard a week or two ago - reading the Black Seas Rules and complete John Buchan cannon.