And another; "Covert Warriors" by WEB Griffin, book 7 of the Presidential Agent Series.

A captured US officer is rescued by our not official agents.  Spetznaz, a crazy US President, 5 star hotels, all make a fun read.

One to go which should be finished tomorrow.

And finished the last "Hazardous Duty" by WEB Griffin.  Book 8 of the Presidential Agent series.  This is where I will stop.  There is evidently another book, written by two other authors, but does not have all the characters that have been developed in the first 8.

The President, who is somewhat off his rocker, decides to bring back Castillo (who was forcibly retired) to take care of the Mexican Drug trade and the Somali pirates in extra legal ways.  In addition, Castillo is dealing with the Russians who are still out to get him.

The Russians are dealt with and the group (including the President's Cabinet members) delays acting on the President's issues.  The book ends as a sort of MASH TV program - silly.

When I started on my Talavera project I turned first to the Histories of the Peninsular War by Oman and Napier.  Both provide a succinct overview but Napier is the lesser of the two and isn't easy reading, in part because of his prejudice.  Fortescue's History of the British Army was another initial source but he added nothing to Oman, which is not surprising as the two men are said to have exchanged material.  Fortescue's maps are exemplary and you'll not find better 110 years after they were produced. 
So I looked for accounts elsewhere and found that, other than the Osprey book, there were only two books on the battle in print.  The first is Andrew Field's 'Talavera – Wellington's First Battle in Spain', Pen and Sword, 2006, the other is Peter Edwards' 'Talavera – Wellington's Early Peninsular Victories 1808-1809', The Crowood Press, 2005.
Andrew Field's account comprises 11 quite short chapters in 163 pages and jumps straight in at April 1809, when Wellesley was named commander British forces in the Peninsula, and starts the reader off with a short overview of the situation.  A description of the respective armies follows, with another chapter on the commanders.  Chapter 4 provides an overview of the tactics of the French and British, predominantly the latter, some of which is debateable I think, and then we are into the campaign plans followed by three chapters describing the various phases of the battle itself, which take up a mere 54 pages, excluding annexes.  The final three chapters provide a description of the consequences of the battle, a critique and a tour of the battlefield, which would be useful for those visiting it but is otherwise a bit superfluous. The Annexes provide a list of British infantry regiments and their successor regiments, orders of battle of the three armies and, finally, casualties.  The principal personalities are illustrated throughout, together with others depicting incidents in the battle. There are also photographs of the battlefield as it is today.  There are 10 maps, none of which of the battle are to scale and, other than for very basic orientation, are almost worthless.
Peter Edwards is altogether more ambitious as, although concentrating on Talavera, he covers more ground in 12 Chapters in 239 pages.  Edwards starts with a look at Wellesley's career as it was in 1807 and the situation in Spain and Portugal and outbreak of the Spanish resistance by mid-1808.  The following three chapters cover Wellesley's arrival in Portugal, the Battles of Rolica and Vimiero.  The Battle of Corruna, Spanish defeats and the Treaty of Cintra are dealt with in a single chapter, which is fine as none are really the subject of the book.  The nature of the respective armies and their commanders is largely ignored and the remaining six chapters deal with the Talavera campaign and battle in 117 pages, 63 of which are devoted to the battle itself.  Appendixes comprise casualty returns for Talavera and Wellesley's despatch.  Edwards book lacks orders of battle and other than a single picture of a British infantryman, has no illustrations.  The five maps are all taken from Fortescue and are works of art in their own right.  They are all to scale and show topography in detail.  They are, unfortunately, reproduced too small to be read easily.  Fortescue's originals are in a separate volume and fold out.
Both books are useful and complement each other although if I were to chose one, it would have to be Edwards'.  I found his more readable generally, though that has to be a subjective view, but his is also more comprehensive and covers Talavera, in as much detail as Field, as well as Rolica and Vimiera.

Vanished Kingdoms by Norman Davies.

Quote from: Steve J on 02 November 2022, 06:31:17 AMVanished Kingdoms by Norman Davies.

What is it about? 

The subtitle is 'The half-forgotten history of Europe'. In a nutshell he takes a look at oft forgotten kingdoms that existed in history that today have largely been forgotten about, as they became swallowed up by larger Nations etc.

Finished "The Darkest Hour: Volume 2: The Japanese Offensive in the Indian Ocean 1942 - The Attack against Ceylon and the Eastern Fleet" by Michal A. Piegzik.  the title says it all.  Lots of pictures, maps, airplane colors, etc.

Very interesting.  I read Volume 1 some time ago.

QuoteThe subtitle is 'The half-forgotten history of Europe'. In a nutshell he takes a look at oft forgotten kingdoms that existed in history that today have largely been forgotten about, as they became swallowed up by larger Nations etc.

How are you getting on with it? I started a few years back, and put it down. In part as it was quite heavy going and in part because it was just quite heavy. Neither of which made it a great bed time read. But I do keep seeing on the book shelf - not least due to it being about 4" thick!

QuoteVanished Kingdoms by Norman Davies.

FWIW - you might also want to try:

An Atlas of Extinct Countries: The Remarkable (and Occasionally Ridiculous) Stories of 48 Nations that Fell off the Map by Gideon Defoe.

An Atlas of Countries That Don't Exist: A Compendium of Fifty Unrecognized and Largely Unnoticed States by Nick Middleton.

Nowherelands: An Atlas of Vanished Countries 1840-1975 by Bjørn Berge.

Cheers,

Geoff

I'm enjoying it Fred, but have only just started and dip in and out of it during the day and at night.

Geoff, thanks for those recommendations, all of which sound very, very tempting!

WW1 air novel. 'Winged Victory'. V M Yeates. Classic tale of Sopwith Camel pilot, combat and disintegration.
LOL! Some editions have SE5 on cover! Read several times.

QuoteFinished "The Darkest Hour: Volume 2: The Japanese Offensive in the Indian Ocean 1942 - The Attack against Ceylon and the Eastern Fleet" by Michal A. Piegzik.  the title says it all.  Lots of pictures, maps, airplane colors, etc.

Very interesting.  I read Volume 1 some time ago.

OK these could definitely be worth a look.....Its a very interesting campaign which I have gamed previously: https://betweenthelines10mm.blogspot.com/2021/01/operation-c-japanese-carrier-raid-on.html

Considering that the IJN was near the top of its game in April 1942 Sommerville did a pretty good job of keeping most of his fleet intact.

 

 

QuoteOK these could definitely be worth a look.....Its a very interesting campaign which I have gamed previously: https://betweenthelines10mm.blogspot.com/2021/01/operation-c-japanese-carrier-raid-on.html

Considering that the IJN was near the top of its game in April 1942 Sommerville did a pretty good job of keeping most of his fleet intact.

Yes.  What would be really interesting to know, as alt-history, is what would have happened if Somerville's attempt to ambush the Japanese Carrier raid on Ceylon through a night air attack had resulted in a battle and what conclusions the Japanese would have had, whatever the outcome, as another piece of evidence of a security breach became evident. Would the British have been overwhelmed or would they have got a sneak attack in first that put half the Japanese carriers at the bottom of the ocean before they realised what hit them.  What would the ramifications have been for the Coral Sea, Midway and the Aleutians?

Quote from: fred. on 02 November 2022, 05:48:46 PMHow are you getting on with it? I started a few years back, and put it down. In part as it was quite heavy going and in part because it was just quite heavy. Neither of which made it a great bed time read. But I do keep seeing on the book shelf - not least due to it being about 4" thick!

A problem that doesn't get the attention it should. Heavy volumes and low evening energy levels are an uncomfortable combination.

Quote from: hammurabi70 on 03 November 2022, 12:11:01 PMYes.  What would be really interesting to know, as alt-history, is what would have happened if Somerville's attempt to ambush the Japanese Carrier raid on Ceylon through a night air attack had resulted in a battle and what conclusions the Japanese would have had, whatever the outcome, as another piece of evidence of a security breach became evident. Would the British have been overwhelmed or would they have got a sneak attack in first that put half the Japanese carriers at the bottom of the ocean before they realised what hit them.  What would the ramifications have been for the Coral Sea, Midway and the Aleutians?

Have a look at this article about Operation C which talks about the above scenario: https://www.armouredcarriers.com/battle-for-ceylon-hms-indomitable-formidable

Its a really good site that goes into painstaking detail about British (mainly armoured) carrier design and operations.