by RNS | Jan 27, 2022 | Beating Tsundoku
Christina Holstein, Verdun 1917 (Pen & Sword, 2020)
There are sadly quite a few contenders for the most savage battle of World War I, but for the French, Verdun stands above them all. Most historically aware people will have an understanding of Verdun as the battle in 1916 in which the Germans promised to bleed France dry, and nearly succeeded. Less well-known is the French fightback that took many months to accomplish. Christina Holstein has written two other guidebooks to Verdun, but this one covers the French offensives as part narrative and part tour guide.
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Holstein’s book is split into two sections. The first part narrates the battle, beginning with preparations for the planned French counter-offensive in December 1916. That was a staggering success, but the Germans were far from finished, though under their new commander General Ludendorff, they did little but tidy up the lines with minor counter-offensives. Moreover, the French had to endure the fierce winter in their captured positions. In March 1917, the Germans began their offensive to retrieve lost ground. The French barely held on, but their morale was shattered, leading to the infamous mutinies in April. The French were immobilised temporarily but prepared for a new assault. Except, that came from the Germans in June and lasted for a month until the French recovered. Then, in August, the artillery opened up again on both sides before the French launched a new offensive with 420,000 men behind a barrage from 2,000 guns. Of note here was clearing tunnels of German defenders, a grim business indeed even with the hell outside. As with seemingly every battle on the Western Front, the further men pushed at Verdun, the more resistance they met, including some successful German counter-attacks with storm troops in the lead. Nevertheless, the French August Offensive was deemed a remarkable victory
The second part of the book is a guide to the battlefield for the modern tourist. This begins with practical advice suitable for most hikers in that part of France. Then, after some more specific guidance – no lethal souvenirs, please! – we are into four driving and walking tours. Those include the major sites for the battle, hospitals, post-war cemeteries, and some post-war descriptions. Holstein also offers some snippets of information relating to the sites, and more source material to add to the atmosphere. Photographs, maps, and GPS locations complete the guide for each tour.
I’m not that familiar with Pen & Sword’s Battleground series, having no real desire to tour WWI battlefields, but Holstein’s latest volume works as more than just a guidebook. She has written an engaging and assured text sprinkled liberally with observations from the men who fought there. Those first-hand accounts illuminate the action, and in many cases, the horror of Verdun on both sides. Holstein’s book works well even for us stay-at-home readers who just want to know more about Verdun, and I think it would be indispensable for those who would visit the battlefield and surrounding countryside.
by RNS | Jan 25, 2022 | Beating Tsundoku
Anthony Tucker-Jones, Tank Battles of the Cold War (Pen & Sword, 2021)
Anthony Tucker-Jones observes in his introduction that while many might think tank warfare ended with World War II, the plethora of tank on tank operations from 1946 to 1991 suggests otherwise. This is partly because of a second misunderstanding, that the Cold War applied outside of Europe; it didn’t: wars have scarred the globe from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. In Tank Battles of the Cold War Tucker-Jones surveys where the action was hottest, then reaches a surprising conclusion that should concern modern tank proponents.
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Tucker-Jones covers tank combat in chronological order, beginning in Indo-China, 1946-1954, where the French mistakenly believed they could batter the Viet Minh into submission and took half a dozen tank regiments with them to do the job. They failed, illustrating the fact that tanks do not work in all environments. We then move into proper tank battles with the Arab-Israeli wars, the first of which started in 1948, the second in 1967, and third, the Yom Kippur War, in 1973. The Korean War, 1950-1953, also saw conventional tank warfare. Tucker-Jones goes back into the jungles of Vietnam to assess US and ARVN tank warfare efforts, which did not prove particularly successful, though the NVA managed better towards the end of the war. After a short trip to Suez, 1956, and back to Vietnam, Tucker-Jones lands in the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971. This was not the first time these neighbours had fought with tanks, but this war featured the largest tank battle in the theatre. Another lesser known tank war was the Ethiopian Civil War, 1974-1991, while elsewhere in Africa, in Angola from 1975 to 2002, and the Chadian-Libyan War of 1978-1987, tanks were also deployed – in the latter example, Toyota trucks did more damage than Libyan tanks! If Africa proved difficult terrain for tanks, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan proved almost impossible. More fruitful ground for tanks was the Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988, though this proved mostly attritional through lack of tactical and strategic ability. The 1990s saw tank warfare in the Gulf War and in the former Yugoslavia. Tucker-Jones concludes with chapters on Soviet tank exports during the Cold War and his argument that by 1991, the age of tanks was over because they were too vulnerable. He also pays homage to the T-54/55 as the most ubiquitous tank of the Cold War. His appendices cover Cold War armoured units, Chinese and Soviet tracked armour, and Soviet anti-tank weapons.
Taken at face value, Tank Battles of the Cold War consists of well-worn narratives, but they are told from the tank warfare perspective, which adds an interesting layer to some of these conflicts where tanks were not the main weapon. Moreover, as you work your way through Tucker-Jones’s well-written and engaging text, you can trace the development of the main tanks used in the various wars. Tucker-Jones doesn’t get bogged down in the technical minutiae of tanks, which is good for the non-specialist, but he clearly knows his material. That makes his conclusion, that the age of the tank is over, all the more surprising and controversial. This book, then, is a notable introduction to tanks in the Cold War for various reasons and highly recommended.
by RNS | Jan 23, 2022 | Beating Tsundoku
Philip Matyszak, Greece Against Rome (Pen & Sword, 2020)
We are used to the story of Rome’s expansion, the piece by piece accumulation of land and power until an Empire was formed. The empire that Alexander the Great left behind, the Hellenistic world, also fell victim to Rome’s advance. That is a story usually told from Rome looking out, but Philip Matyszak tells the story from the Greek perspective; of how mighty kingdoms fell to an insignificant city state from the west that became an unstoppable juggernaut.
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Matyszak begins with the death of Alexander and the three states that emerged from the collapse of his empire: the Seleucids, Macedonians, and Ptolemaic Egypt. They remained culturally part of the Greek world of Alexander, but war between them proved irresistible. Matyszak surveys this world in 250 BC with Rome rising and Carthage falling in the west, neither of which was of much concern to the powerful Hellenistic kingdoms. They were too busy fighting each other and creating the rich Hellenistic culture that forms a background for much of what Matyszak narrates. As late as 220 BC, the Hellenistic kings seemingly had no idea what was coming.
Rome’s rise is well documented, but Matyszak brings that story into line with the Hellenistic kingdoms. Rome’s incredible victory over Carthage in the Second Punic War might have had little effect on the Hellenistic world if it hadn’t been for the intervention of Philip V of Macedon on the losing side. The lesson he learned was not to make an enemy of the Romans because they seldom extended forgiveness. They turned him into a puppet king and moved on to deal with Antiochus III of the Seleucids who had designs on Greece that did not please Rome. They crushed him at Thermopylae in 191 BC. Antiochus expected an end to the conflict as he fled east, but he was wrong, and the war continued on land and sea. The critical battle came at Magnesia in 190 BC; the Romans won, and Antiochus had to sue for peace.
We move into the period 185 to 175 BC when new kings emerged in the Hellenistic world to play new power games. But this time, the Romans were major players. Matyszak takes us on another tour before settling in Greece, where the Romans were about to assume control after Pydna in 167 BC, and Coele-Syria where the Egyptians fought the Seleucids. Antiochus IV then got caught up in a civil war in Judea and became squeezed between Rome and the rising power of Parthia in the east. The result was the rapid decline of the Seleucid kingdom. The Romans then completed their conquest of Greece in 148 BC and were bequeathed Pergamom in 133 BC. From then on, notes Matyszak, the Hellenistic world fell apart, beginning with the Seleucids being reduced to bit part players, then Egypt rapidly descended into a shambles of its own making. Meanwhile, Rome had its own internal struggles to deal with, which the Hellenistic leaders could not take advantage of because of their squabbles. When the Romans again paid attention in the east, it was to end the last surviving Hellenistic kingdom through the defeat and subsequent suicide of Cleopatra.
The Hellenistic period was one of the more complex eras in ancient history and more than one historian has failed to tell its story with any clarity. In addition, those kingdoms are often seen in relation to the rise of Rome, as peripheral entities somewhere in the east. Matyszak competently tackles both issues. He has written an engaging text that reads like a sweeping novel at times, and he puts Rome on the outside of the Hellenistic world, so that its insidious intrusion becomes more creeping and menacing, if that’s possible. Thus, Greece Against Rome is a refreshing and readable take on a fascinating story.
by RNS | Jan 20, 2022 | Beating Tsundoku
Peter C Smith, A-10 Thunderbolt II (Pen & Sword, 2020)
It’s an ugly thing, no doubt about it; it has a bulbous front tapering back to two cylindrical external engines perched awkwardly in front of its tail. But if you are driving a tank as an enemy of the United States of America, the A-10 “Warthog” would be the last thing you want to see or are likely to. That is because the A-10 packs a serious punch from missiles, bombs, and a 30mm cannon jutting out from its nose. To see one of these offload on a target, as this reviewer has, is an unforgettable experience. Peter C Smith loves this plane and tells you everything you want to know about it in this engaging book.
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Smith begins with a self-penned poem that highlights the virtues of the A-10 as a no-frills destroyer of tanks. That sets the tone for a lengthy panegyric on this sturdy, little plane. There are various origin stories for the A-10 but the necessity of supporting ground troops, especially against tanks, required a specialized plane despite the Air Force’s opposition. The deficiencies of available alternatives led to the development of the A-10; a process Smith takes us through in painstaking detail. In March 1976, the USAF accepted the A-10 into service.
Although part of the USAF, the A-10 remained generally unloved. Smith is keen to point out that criticism was based on ignorance; the A-10 had one job and did it perfectly. He then deconstructs every aspect of the plane: airframe, engines, weapons and ordnance etc. Next, we are into how the A-10 was deployed – wherever the threat of tanks, the Hog had to be available – and used, developing tactics for assault and evasion. With action came A-10 variants and upgrades, but the A-10’s frontline use diminished, at least temporarily. Smith surveys the Air Reserve and National Guard operations with unit histories and camouflage schemes included.
Justification and vindication for the A-10 came with American wars in the middle east. Despite some reluctance to send them, again based on prejudice, the A-10s proved themselves against tanks, stationary targets, and Iraqi helicopters; not a single A-10 was lost to Iraqi aircraft and only five were lost overall in Desert Storm. After the Gulf Wars, the A-10 served in the Balkans, Haiti, Afghanistan, and post-war Iraq. Smith gleefully notes that rumours of the A-10’s demise have been greatly exaggerated, and that they have a future with continued modifications. There has also been discussion on using them as ‘Firehogs’ to fight America’s growing wildfire problem, though that seems doubtful, as does a role for them in storm penetration work.
If you are a fan of the A-10, then this is the book for you. Smith details every aspect of the ‘Hawg’ but doesn’t get bogged down too much in the technical minutiae that sometimes makes these books a slog to all but the most dedicated. This text is enjoyable, with little vignettes of the A-10 included among the tables and charts, though Smith sometimes slips into unnecessary political opinions. The book is also lavishly illustrated with colour and monochrome photographs and taken as a whole must be considered the definitive work on the A-10.
by RNS | Jan 18, 2022 | Beating Tsundoku
Julian Maxwell Heath, Before the Pharaohs (Pen & Sword, 2021)
We all know the Ancient Egyptians, or at least we think we do. The pyramids, sphynx, and the trail of fabulous temples along the Nile are well-known, but we seldom, if ever, look past the ‘golden age’ of Ancient Egypt to examine what came before. Julian Maxwell Heath has done that for us by looking at stone age Egypt. It is a surprising journey in many way, but one that is also strangely familiar.
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Heath divides the Stone Age into its archaeological constituent parts, working his way down from the Lower Palaeolithic from c300,000 BCE to the Predynastic Period that ended in 3000 BCE. He then begins his survey of the peoples that populated the land we call Egypt and their tools and artefacts. He covers all the main regions of Egypt, though perhaps obviously, much of the time we are in Egypt’s barren deserts. Along the way, Heath digs into the various mysteries and enigmas that archaeology has uncovered but not yet solved. Among these is the artwork left behind on rocks and walls, and many in fascinating caves with emotive names, for example, the cave of the beasts and the cave of the swimmers. The meaning of this art still eludes us, though Heath presents some interesting theories – for the uninitiated, Heath supplies some useful line drawings to help us.
And so it goes; we learn how these early Egyptians lived and died and Heath speculates on what that meant to them. They left enough to show that their lives weren’t too much different from other stone age groups, including leaving megaliths and stone circles behind to suggest a curiosity about their universe. The early Egyptians also indulged in warfare, while in times of peace, farming became a mainstay. As the book draws to a close, Heath sees more connections between the Naqada culture and the Egyptian culture with which we are more familiar. We can see this in some of the artefacts and their decorative elements that are recognisably Egyptian, of which mace heads are striking examples. And that is where Heath leaves us, on the brink of Ancient Egypt.
Before the Pharaohs is a well-written and informative study of the Egyptian stone age. It is not too loaded with archaeological jargon and data, though an archaeology student would still be happy to read it, and you get the feeling reading this of being in the company of a knowledgeable and amiable tour guide. If there is a downside to Heath’s survey it is the lack of finds that would obviously excite the informed public reader who is presumably the target audience; there is a certain similarity runs through the various periods, though Heath does provide a sense of development as the clock runs down to what we know as Ancient Egypt. Nevertheless, Heath’s openness in laying out many of the questions we have about the period, and his willingness to acknowledge how much we do not know, keeps his book ticking along quite enjoyably.
by RNS | Jan 15, 2022 | Beating Tsundoku
William Shepherd, The Persian War (Osprey Publishing, 2019)
(Reviewed by Dom Sore)
In The Persian War, William Shepherd sets out to cover that conflict through the liberal use of Herodotus’ work interspersed with other historic sources. That results in a book some 511 pages long consisting of twelve chapters, bibliography, and index. There are also two sections of photographs, archaeological artifacts, terrain, and modern takes on ancient technology, and a section of maps. Of those, the two maps in the initial section are basic but include a very handy index of places to help you visualise where the forthcoming action takes place. The main text is nicely laid out in chronological order, making it much easier to follow what is happening. After the Introduction, the next two chapters deal well with the rise of the Persian Empire and Athens respectively. Further maps are interspersed amongst the text where necessary, mainly to aid battle descriptions, and provide useful visuals. William Shepherd does a good job of fleshing out Herodotus with the other sources available to generate a more coherent narrative that more matches the reality as we know it.
The use of large sections of Herodotus is laudable; however, it does somewhat interrupt the flow of the narrative as a whole. The principal method of the book is to use those parts, though cutting them down a little would have helped the reader appreciate them more. This is especially notable when compared to the author’s own writing, which has a great flow to it. This is a book more useful for reference than an enjoyable read. It is also neither an examination of Herodotus nor a straight history of the Persian War. What is does is provide you with the information you need to start examining parts of the war in greater detail, points you to the other sources you may wish to reference, and if all you need is an overview, gives you enough knowledge to understand what happened. It is therefore a welcome, if somewhat frustrating, addition to my library.
