by RNS | Feb 18, 2023 | Beating Tsundoku
René Chartrand, The Armies and Wars of the Sun King 1643-1715 Volume 5: Buccaneers and Soldiers in the Americas (Helion, 2022)
René Chartrand continues his wide-ranging survey of military activities during the pivotal reign of Louis XIV. In this volume, we leave the cockpit of Europe for the turbulent Americas where regular and irregular warfare coexisted cheek by jowl. It is a fascinating and often eye-opening journey.
Chartrand sets his stall with a chronology of military events in the Americas through the long 17th Century. He notes that this theatre became an integral part of Louis’ imperial vision before narrating the background of French involvement in the Americas, where they competed with the Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, and English for control. Chartrand turns to the evolution of the buccaneers, men who were ‘left behind’ in the Caribbean islands then grouped together as the ‘Brethren of the Coast’ to form a powerful if ungovernable force. The Spanish, in particular, attempted to crush the buccaneers and were met with ferocious brutality in return.
We move on to the imperial power games in the Americas, starting with Louis’ ambitions in the Caribbean and Central America. Chartrand walks us through the early stages in the West Indies and Panama, folding the buccaneers into the international action. Then came the Dutch in 1674 with their powerful navy to fight the French in a war that lasted four years and saw several Caribbean islands change hands, though it was the French who came out on top. Chartrand’s attention turns to the ‘Peace’ of the 1680s, a term that did not apply to the Spanish as perennial targets of the French supported buccaneers. Their operations also extended into the Pacific region. France versus England and the Anglo-Spanish follows with King William’s War affecting the Caribbean in the 1690s. The French also encountered the Portuguese along the Amazon during this period. After a brief hiatus, war continued into the 18th Century with The War of the Spanish Succession. The intensity of the fighting from Florida to Rio de Janeiro is traversed nimbly by Chartrand’s episodic narrative style as he zooms in and out of key events.
The chapters switch from the narrative to surveys and analyses that read like extended appendices. Chartrand ponders the value and distribution of money before moving on to a survey of private and metropolitan forces in the Caribbean and the organisation of French marines, including uniforms and weapons, though just about every aspect of the soldier’s world is touched upon. The buccaneers are given similar treatment in my favourite chapter of the book. Surveys of militias and fortifications follow. The actual appendices cover artillery, maroons, and some aspects of buccaneer life.
This is easily my favourite volume so far in this Helion series exploring the Sun King’s wars. You could argue that there are two books here: there is action aplenty to follow in Chartrand’s engaging narrative section, and his survey of various aspects of the wars illuminates the narrative by digging a wee bit deeper into the soldiers who fought – his chapter on the buccaneers was very useful given how often they influenced events. The artistic support provided by Helion is first class too, incorporating contemporary illustrations mixed with excellent commissioned colour plates of some of the soldiers. There are too many jump-off points for further study in the text to list here, suffice to say this volume stands on its own as a worthwhile read and will spark many reading forays into the jungles and islands of the Caribbean region at the turn of the 18th Century.
by RNS | Feb 7, 2023 | Beating Tsundoku
Stephen Turnbull, Mongol Warrior versus European Knight (Osprey, 2023)
‘Europe’s fate is in the balance’ feels like a modern state of affairs with massed tanks on the borders and warplanes clouding the skies, but in the 1240s it was the Mongol hordes that threatened a developing medieval Europe, and only the knights of Eastern Europe stood in their way. In this book, part of Osprey’s Combat series, Stephen Turnbull surveys the armies facing off and the battles they fought in this pivotal campaign.
Turnbull begins with a brief introduction to the war that eastern Europe should have anticipated but tragically did not. The mysterious Mongols of the Far East turned west in 1237 breaking across Rus before pouring into Hungary and the eastern European principalities in 1241. However, Turnbull challenges the common belief that the Mongols were an unstoppable force and only their retirement from Europe saved the day. The knights, he argues, were also not the clumsy oafs we might think they were.
An assessment of the two sides follows. Turnbull considers status, recruitment, motivation, command, control, organisation, weapons, dress, and equipment, highlighting the differences and similarities. Nowhere was the difference more apparent than in tactics, with the European knights’ close order charge set against the fluid Mongol tactics of feigned retreat and envelopment, though Turnbull argues they were better in close combat than previously thought. By the 13th Century, Mongols had also become more adept at siege warfare, as Kyiv found out in December 1240.
Turnbull turns to the Battle of Liegnitz, fought on 9 April 1241, which was a significant Mongol victory. This battle featured a Mongol smokescreen that debilitated the Polish cavalry. Also in 1241, the Mongols defeated the hubristic Hungarians at Muhi. After narrating those two battles, Turnbull moves on to the ensuing sieges in 1242 at Estergom and Székesfehérvár. At Estergom, the knights held out in the citadel, which could not be breached. Then, at Székesfehérvár, the Mongols faced the Knights of St John, who held out seemingly quite easily. The Mongols, however, destroyed many smaller settlements. Then they left. No one is quite sure why, but Hungary was devastated in their wake. In his analysis, Turnbull highlights Hungary’s rebuilding programme while noting that the Mongols were not the invincible force they claimed to be as seen in the subsequent attacks on Hungary that met with little success.
Osprey books can sometimes be a wee bit dry but not this one. Turnbull writes an engaging and insightful narrative mixed with thought provoking arguments, particularly about the Mongols, a subject he knows well. He is helped by his subject matter with this jarring clash of military cultures and the massive stakes involved, and his text is illuminated by Osprey’s customary excellent artwork. For me, the best Osprey books make you want to read more, and this one certainly fits that bill.
by RNS | Feb 1, 2023 | Beating Tsundoku
Gareth Glover & Robert Burnham, The Men of Wellington’s Light Division (Frontline, 2022)
The Light Division of the British Army was engaged in almost every encounter with the French in the Peninsular War. Operationally, that tells us something about the calibre of the soldiers who fought, but much of modern military history centres on what was it like to fight in this war; we survey war from the ground up. Fortunately, Glover and Burnham have uncovered multiple previously unpublished accounts from members of the 43rd Regiment of the Light Division and collected them in this volume for our enlightenment and enjoyment.
BUY NOW
The authors set the context for their sources with an annual history of the 43rd Regiment from their arrival in the Peninsula in 1808 through to their role in the Waterloo campaign. Fourteen accounts of varying lengths and quality follow, all written by officers with one exception, Private John Timewell who kept a journal of his actions in the Peninsula and the 1814 American campaign. Each chapter begins with a potted biography of the source and a note on any technical problems, mostly related to accuracy. The accounts are also well annotated with background information and clarifications on particular details. The accounts themselves offer valuable insights into military life in Wellington’s army, not just combat operations, although the latter provides the thread linking the accounts. Most of the accounts are letters, adding complexity to the soldier’s lives as domestic affairs rarely stop for wars and battles.
Glover and Burnham have collected a most useful anthology of primary sources, and they handle them with due caution, highlighting discrepancies where they appear as they inevitably do when hindsight is involved. Admittedly, this isn’t quite ‘ground level’ observation from the view of the common soldier – literacy and record-keeping were more within the purview of the officer class – but it is probably as close as we can get for the period. Nevertheless, for careful readers seeking to discover what it was like to be a part of Wellington’s army, this collection will inform and entertain.
by RNS | Jan 24, 2023 | Beating Tsundoku
Raffaele D’Amato & Andrea Salimbeti, Post Roman Kingdoms (Osprey, 2023)
The Dark Ages is a term long out of favour for the period between the end of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of the organised mediaeval world. But in some ways, it is still apt because of the lack of sources and artefacts. In this useful survey, Raffaele D’Amato and Andrea Salimbeti extract what they can from the evidence to reveal Britain and Gaul undergoing often violent reconstruction and the military means by which they did so.
In their introduction, the authors stress the importance of a transitioning sub-Roman period rather than a neat break with the Roman empire, though they subsequently talk mostly in terms of Post-Roman. We can see that transition in the helpful chronology the authors provide before getting into their more detailed survey. That begins with Post-Roman Gaul. The authors outline the history of the region with Roman authority collapsing amid armed migrations. We should, however, expect the retention of some Roman military methods in the new era, and so it proved, particularly with regard to titles and unit designations even as the main armies collapsed.
The action switches to Post-Roman Britain and the rise of the warlords in the wake of the Roman military evacuation. The authors visit the stories of Ambrosius and Arthur before touring the new kingdoms and moving on to their military organisations. That includes an interesting review of army sizes, illustrating how difficult the sources are to work with for this period. Archaeology is placed front and centre for the authors’ descriptions of equipment, arms, and clothing, though here too difficulties emerge with the paucity of finds and their interpretation. And there the book ends abruptly except for an excellent bibliography for a book of this type.
Post-Roman Kingdoms achieves its purpose in surveying the military aspects of the ‘dark ages’ in Gaul and Britain. The evidence is well laid-out, and though the authors sometimes edge into very technical territory with their sources, they just about keep the reader on track, informing without overwhelming. This being an Osprey book, you would expect quality illustrative support by way of artefact photographs and imaginative colour plates, but these are better than most Ospreys I have read, particularly the artwork. Overall, anyone interested in the post-Roman period of military history will find this book an excellent starting point for further exploration.
by RNS | Jan 18, 2023 | Beating Tsundoku
Les Brown, British Escort Destroyers of the Second World War (Seaforth, 2022)
Destroyers were the workhorses of the Royal Navy throughout World War II. They performed numerous tasks as part of the battle fleets and on their own. In this Shipcraft series book, produced mainly for modellers, Les Brown surveys those destroyers tasked with escort duties and offers his views on the wide range of model kits on the market with examples from experts who have built them.
BUY NOW
Brown begins with an overview of RN escort destroyers that were designed to fill a gap between fleet destroyers and the slow corvettes, sloops, and corvettes that were deemed inadequate for serious escort work. The two main classes of escort destroyer Brown covers are the Town and Hunt class vessels, but there were quite a few more that also receive coverage. Brown details the armaments, propulsion systems, and other design features, and I found the compromises made between what was requested and what was practical particularly interesting.
As is customary with the Shipcraft series of books, the modelling section occupies the middle chapters. Brown surveys, with pros and cons, the available kits in many different scales, ranging from 1:1250 to Deans Marine’s 1:96 designed primarily for radio control modellers. He also reviews the accessories you can buy for these kits. The mouth-watering Modelmaker’s Showcase follows where top model-makers show off their skills, including a stunning scratch-built radio-controlled Hambledon in 1:72 scale. This chapter flows into a series of side-view images of individual destroyers, showing their camouflage patterns and the colours used. Brown discusses camouflage then details the modifications added to many of the destroyers along with some technical drawings. A useful selection of books and websites for further investigation concludes Brown’s book.
I haven’t yet read a Shipcraft book that I did not like, and Brown’s addition to the series is no exception to that trend. Brown clearly knows his stuff and how to write it down even for the less technically knowledgeable reader. The accompanying photographs, artwork, and models illuminate the text to produce a satisfying read as well as a very useful guide to modelling these hardy vessels.
by RNS | Jan 6, 2023 | Beating Tsundoku
Laurence Spring, Campaigns of the Eastern Association (Helion, 2022)
Oliver Cromwell is unquestionably one of the most famous names in English history. After all, he led the army that all but won the Civil War at Marston Moor in 1644 and dealt the coup de grâce to the Royalists the following year. Maybe. But Laurence Spring wants to put Cromwell back into the context of the Eastern Association from which he emerged, while emphasising the other deserving players in the drama. This book is the result.
Spring begins with Oliver Cromwell appointed to captain a troop of horse and join Essex’s army. Then we are off into the war, shadowing Cromwell within the broader context of operations in which he was involved. Cromwell, though a divisive character, was tasked with raising a regiment of horse to defend the counties of the Eastern Association in February 1643. Spring’s attention is with the army as it moves on to the siege of Reading and beyond. He then returns to Cromwell and brings his narrative up to speed with wider events. This also allows Spring to analyse Cromwell’s actions and his sometimes dubious self-promotion.
In July 1643, the Earl of Manchester took command of the Eastern Association. Spring discusses the internal problems of the army and narrates its operations through 1643. Army reorganisation continued in the winter, then it besieged Newark to open the 1644 campaign season. That resulted in a serious reverse, but undaunted, Manchester kept up the pressure through the capture of Lincoln. Spring follows Manchester to the siege of York, which in turn led to the momentous Battle of Marston Moor with Cromwell commanding the left wing of the Parliamentarian army. Spring analyses that battle, and Cromwell’s pivotal role, in considerable detail. Following Marston Moor and York’s fall, Spring traces the campaigns of Crawford and Manchester then the Newbury campaign, which did not go to plan and led to recriminations in the ‘Winter of Discontent’.
Newbury proved to be the last straw dividing Cromwell from Manchester, an argument that led to mutinies in much of the army and the formation of the New Model Army for the 1645 campaign season. That opened with Cromwell sent to the west to aid Waller then into Oxfordshire with his own command. Spring leaves him there to follow Crawford and other commanders as they merged into the new model army, thus creating a national army and ending the Eastern Association in all but name. Spring concludes with a brief account of Cromwell’s rise after the war and a survey of others connected to the Eastern Association. He adds some appendices on Eastern Association cornets, a commentary on the colour plates of flags included in the book, various administrative and organisational aspects of the Eastern Association army, the Journal of Colonel Montagu’s Regiment, and a list of captured Royalist colours. A lengthy and very useful bibliography occupies the last few pages.
There is no doubting Laurence Spring’s credentials as a military historian of the early modern period. He is also an engaging writer, one who is able to analyse effectively while maintaining his narrative. This is therefore a fascinating book but probably not for beginners in English Civil War studies; Spring can get into the weeds at times. He also leans into his primary sources a bit too easily where a historian’s oversight might be more useful. Nevertheless, Spring’s understanding of his subject and his ability to transmit that to a wider audience makes this a valuable and enjoyable book.
