What are you currently reading ?

[Steve J]

Osprey Campaign 358: The Balkans 1940-41 (1) which focuses on the Greco-Italian War to just before the Germans entered the conflict. The second volume will cover this part. An excellent book on a neglected campaign that has lots of useful bits for the wargamer. Well worth getting IMHO.

[kipt]

Finished Vol. 84, No. 4 of "The Journal of Military History", October 2020.

Articles include
Irregular Warfare in Late Medieval Japan: Towards a Historical Understanding of the "Ninja" (Ninja assassins in black throwing shuriken are a "modern" invention).
The Survival of France: Logistics and strategy in the 17809 Flanders Campaign,
A "Century of Peace" That Was Not: War in the Nineteenth Century,
A Resolution of the Debate about British Wireless in World War I, (J.R.R. Tolkien served as a signals officer with the Lancashire Fusiliers),
Seeds of Victory: Satisfying the Needs of the Red Army and the Soviet State during the Formation of the Kursk Salient, February-May 1943.  (Discusses how the newly liberated Soviet civilians were mobilized to support the army - food, transportation, maintenance of roadways, etc.)

Also almost 100 pages of book reviews (where I often find books I want to order).

Always articles of interest; published 4 times per year.

[kipt]

Finished "Bazaine 1870: Scapegoat For A Nation" by Quintin Barry.

I like all his books and this is not an exception. Bazaine was a victim but one France evidently needed at the time.  But the trial was ludicrous.

Bazaine's history from the Foreign Legion, through Mexico, North Africa, etc. is well described.  (Barry takes exception to Geoffrey Wawro's comments about Bazaine in a couple of places).

A good book (another book) on the Franco-Prussian War.

[kipt]

Finished "High Seas: Stories of Battle and Adventure from the Age of Sail" edited by Clint Willis.

This is a collection of excerpts from well know authors: Patrick O'Brian, C.S. Forester, Frederick Marryat, Herman Melville and 9 others.  the editor evidently makes his living by gathering excerpts from famous books and reprinting them, as he has done 7 other adventure books (all topics) by himself and 5 more as Series editor.

Good authors so good stories.  Some really give a feel for ships under sail in terrible storms.  Glad I wasn't there.

[Ithoriel]

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

If you are a cinephile who knows little to nothing about ancient warfare but what you've seen in movies and wonder how accurate that all is, this is the book for you. If you don't watch movies or already know a bit about ancient warfare this isn't going to tell you much.

Perfectly readable but as a cinephile and "ancients" geek it didn't tell me much.

[kipt]

Finished "Tullahoma: The Forgotten Campaign that Changed the Course of the Civil war, June 23-July 4, 1863" by David A. Powell and Eric J. Wittenberg.

This is about Rosecrans campaign against Bragg after Murfreesboro in Tennessee.  Brilliant strategy by Rosecrans that made Bragg essentially abandon Tennessee without a major battle by outflanking Bragg's right flank.  Outstanding Federal cavalry and mounted infantry actions that beat and embarrassed the Confederate cavalry.

This is where Wilder's Lightening Brigade made its name.  They were mounted infantry (and I had a relative in this brigade).

For less than 600 casualties (to Bragg's approximate 5,000 - dead, wounded, missing/captures, deserters) Rosecrans totally outmaneuvered the Army of the Tennessee.

Highly recommended for ACW historians.

[kipt]

Finished "Wellington's Favourite Engineer: John Fox Burgoyne: Operations, Engineering, and the making of a Field Marshal" by Mark S. Thompson.

Burgoyne was the son of General Burgoyne who surrendered at Saratoga.  This book is abut his early career up to and a bit through Waterloo (he was not there).  He was in most of the Peninsular War and did go to America.

Some good discussions of engineering, and a long chapter on the siege of Burgos.  This siege Wellington tried to rush, to the frustration of the engineers involved.

Good small book (and I was an engineer officer in the service, so very interesting to me, although we did not go into sieges...)

[kipt]

Finished "Defending The Arteries Of Rebellion: Confederate Naval Operations in the Mississippi River Valley, 1861-1865" by Neil P. Chatelain.

A good book that gets into tactical riverine actions.  I didn't realize how many ironclads and gunboats the Confederacy attempted to construct.  The ironclads were mostly destroyed before they got into action, but many gunboats and rams.

Some good wargames in this book if one is into ACW naval actions.

[kipt]

And finished an Osprey, "Malplaquet 1709" by Simon MacDowall and illustrated by Graham Turner.  Typical Osprey for text and maps.

Seems to have a little more insight into history than I am used to for Osprey, which is good.

Really tempted for this period to be my next venture.  Doing ACW now but close to done (Ha!).

[Hwiccee]

Seems to have a little more insight into history than I am used to for Osprey, which is good.

Sadly this is often full of errors or not supported by good evidence

[kipt]

Finished "Failure In The Saddle: Nathan Bedford Forrest, Joseph Wheeler, and the Confederate Cavalry in the Chickamauga Campaign" by David A. Powell.

A book that looks into the failures of the Rebel cavalry during this campaign.  Forrest was new to the job of Division and then Corps command, and liked to get into the action.  At one point he charged Union infantry with his escort troop plus a detachment, rather than attending to a Corp commander job.

Joseph Wheeler, although West Point trained, more or less did what he liked.  Direct, specific orders from Bragg went unheeded.  Wheeler removed his troops from direct contact with the Union army at the most inconvenient times.

Cavalry duties during the ACW were scouting and screening flanks and the heads of columns.  These two commanders did a poor job of it (although Forrest was a bit better, being more aggressive by nature).

Bragg received a lot of criticism for the failures before, during and after Chickamauga, but a lot of the blame should rest on the use of the cavalry by these two commanders. 

[Steve J]

Case White: The Invasion of Poland 1939 by Robery Forczyk

A few chapters in and so far looking at the Polish problems in the lead up to the invasion. So far so good and plenty of good background info as to why the Polish forces fought as they did, due to being hampered by lack of equipment and poor doctrinal plans to deal with invasion, whether by Germany or the Soviet Union. Highly recommended.

[Leman]

Currently having another look at Glory Halleluiah Black Powder ACW supplement. Going solo these days means I will have more time to ponder the ACW subleties of the game.

[kipt]

Finished "Attack On The Redan" by Garry Douglas Kilworth.  A novel set in the Crimean War with the hero a sergeant of the 88th, but part of a scout/spy unit.  Our hero is Jack Crossman, whose real name is  Alexander Kirk, the bastard son of a baronet who he had never gotten along with and who would not support him.  So, he enlisted under an assumed name.

This is evidently number 5 of a series I had not heard of, and there may be one more.  This one printed 2003.

Fast reading and interesting.

[kipt]

Finished "The Green Curve" by Ole Luk-Oie.

Hans Christian Andersen's character "based upon a folk tale telling of a mysterious mythic creature of the Sandman who gently takes children to sleep and, depending on how good or bad they were, shows them various dreams".

It is the pseudonym of MG Ernest D. Swinton.  He was one of the driving forces behind the creation and adoption of the tank, and may have given the name tank to the machine.  It was based on him seeing a Holt tractor earlier.

"In April 1918, while on a tour of the US, Swinton visited Stockton, California to publicly honour Benjamin Holt and the company for their contribution to the war effort and to relay Britain's gratitude to the inventor. Benjamin Holt was recognized by the General at a public meeting held in Stockton".  Which is interesting to me as I went to U.O.P. in Stockton.

Swinton also wrote "The Defense of Duffer's Drift", a military classic on minor tactics.

"The Green Curve" is a collection of short stories, fictional, about the British army at the human level.  It has the Boer War, a fictional story of an invasion of Britain by the Germans, the repair of a bridge and its subsequent destruction by early helicopters, a view into the method of a commanding general and several others.  Very entertaining.

[kipt]

I received a book from a friend (retired Marine Colonel), "Letters on Artillery".  It was printed in 1988 as FMFRP 12-7 in order to "ensure the retention and dissemination of useful information which is not intended to become doctrine..."  The booklet does not give the author.

At first I thought is would be tactical use of artillery by and for the marines and how history would support this work.

However it is a straight copy of the translation by COL N.L. Walford, R.A in 1898 of the book (same name) by Prince Kraft zu Hohenlohe Ingelfingen, which I also have (as well as his Letters on Infantry and Cavalry).  I realized this once I opened it.  However, since I am heavily into the FPW I read it again.  Lots of comments about the Austro Prussia was on 1866 and the FPW, both empire and republican battles.  I found it still to be interesting and applicable to our TT games (table top).

[kipt]

Finished Issue 64, January 2021 of the "Gettysburg Magazine".  Issued twice a year and the articles this issue include:

"Ours Was A Desperate Position To Hold": A New Look at the 1st Rhode Island Cavalry at Middleburg,
The Art of Command and Intelligence: Jeb Stuart in the Gettysburg Campaign,
Henry Heth and His Division at Gettysburg on July 1,
Disaster on the Flank: The 17th Connecticut Infantry

and others.

Always has good and sometimes great articles.

[Steve J]

1809: Thunder on the Danube, vol 1 by John H Gill.

A period and campaign I know little about, but so far a very easy and enjoyable read, which is good, given there's a wealth of detail in there.

[Leman]

The First and Second Italian Wars 1494 - 1504, by Julian Romane. This is not some dry dusty work but a bit of a rip roaring read that focuses on characters. You won't find much information on armies, weapons, armour and tactics here.There are two maps showing northern and southern Italy (but not very clearly - probably lifted from a Victorian work) and one for the battle of Fornovo (despite lots of other battles and actions featuring in the book). There are some black and white illustrative plates in the middle, but mostly contemporary portraits and woodcuts, some castle photos and again what look to be Victorian interpretations of battle and armour. However, the writing is quite gripping as Romane weaves the events into a story revealing the humanity (or lack of) in the main characters. Sometimes reading up background information for a period can be quite tedious. This book is not that, but it is for those who want more storyline background than the barebones military nuts and bolts. I would suggest that this is a good backup to the works of F L Taylor, Oman and Mallet et al. For a good read highly recommended. For a starting point to wargaming the period, not so much.

[Ace of Spades]

Just finished 'Waterloo', a book from 1915 by a Dutch author; Callenbach. His uncle served in the 5th battalion of the National Militia at Quatre-Bras and Waterloo. The book is a compilation of papers left to him by his uncle, stories he told and some background the author scrounged from sources available at the time. How much of it is 100% true is hard to say but an expert on the period (Erwin Muilwijk) told me that most facts are at least plausible and seem to be in line with the official history. it certainly gives a personal touch to the Dutch contribution to the battle.
Not sure if it's available in English...

Cheers,
Rob