The Battle of Alamein: Turning Point, World War II

Book Description

In this superb history, two seasoned journalists unfold the decisive campaigns of the desert war that began with the Italian invasion of Egypt in September 1940 and ended with the mass surrender of Axis forces in Tunis in May 1943.

Writing with great verve and style, John Bierman and Colin Smith create a stunning panorama peopled by some of the most glamorous, dangerous and mysterious figures in the war. At the center of this sweeping narrative stand two heroes, German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the notorious "Desert Fox," and the British Lieutenant General Bernard "Monty" Montgomery, whose showdown at the little Egyptian railway stop of El Alamein is one of the great moments in military history. Bierman and Smith have interviewed scores of survivors and tracked down hitherto overlooked primary sources to craft a historic narrative that reads like a novel. Here too is the remarkable true story of the shadowy Hungarian adventurer Laszlo Almasy, the prototype for the romantic English patient of Michael Ondaatje's novel.

Triumphant tactical warfare, an exotic backdrop, wrenching personal conflicts both inside and between the armies-The Battle of Alamein has it all. This is military history at its absolute best.

Customer Reviews:

Good literary intro to the desert war.......2004-03-13

Much has been said and written about Alamein and what role this battle in the desert played in the outcome of the Second World War, but The Battle of Alamein (also known by its alternative title - War Without Hate) by John Bierman and Colin Smith is not merely another presentation of the well known story. Bierman and Smith have collaborated to produce a lucid and riveting tale of what has often been called the turning point of WWII for the Western combatants. Whether this belief is strictly true or not, it is clear that the German Army, in this case represented by the Afrika Corps (and its Italian ally), went from a victorious and seemingly unbeatable army to a broken, to a retreating and utterly spent group of soldiers discarded by their leader.

The Battle of Alamein is more than a story of the major engagements so well known and oft told, it is also a story of little known elements that played important, if somewhat side-stage, roles in this first major tactical victory for the British Army (represented by the 8th Army in this case). It is in fact this component of the book that makes it most compelling. Bierman and Smith tell, with considerable literary style, of how the British Long Range Desert Group, founded and initially lead by the 30's desert adventurer Ralph Bagnold, went through several incarnations which ultimately developed many of the most important desert warfare tactics used by the 8th in its victory over Rommel. The reader also learns about a behind the lines sabotage group formed from German Jews that caused considerable havoc to the German forces, despite considerable loss to their own little band. But the victors are not solely presented. The reader is taken down an equal number of paths that explain both well and lesser known exploits of the Afrika Corps and the Italian Desert Army.

As a chronicle of the combat itself The Battle of Alamein quite often falls short. There are a number of errors and misstatements but the background and sidestories larger make up for this deficiency. Thi is a work crafted in a way amateur historians can enjoy and have their interest piqued - professional or more serious amateurs should approach it open minded and willing to accept some "issues". If the reader wants a great one-two punch try Rick Atkinson's Army at Dawn in combination with The Battle of Alamein. The former is a 5 star effort of serious historical value and literary flair, while The Battle of Alamein, while flawed, delivers a sound and fun 4 star read.

Prepare to be entertained!.......2004-01-22

The European title of this book is far more relevant and accurate.

Alamein, war without hate.

This book proves that History can be entertaining. There are no doubt better researched and more detailed accounts of the desert war. I doubt if any come close to being this readable or have its style. Bierman and Smith prove that English belongs to the Englishman.

The authors have been able to give a general history of the whole desert war in what amounts to a "cracking read". For those who desire a concise and highly entertaining account of a very different war than that fought in other theaters, this is a must. This book will certainly fulfill the function of a first read in this sector of operations. I wouldn't take other reviews too seriously when they refer to inaccuracies in this work. It bothers me not that an MP40 is referred to as a Shmeisser etc. There is a definite place in our bookshelves for introductory histories. Once ones interest is fired up by books of this ilk, it will encourage one to seek greater detail in more comprehensive books.

One of the most pleasing aspects of this book are the delightful footnotes that appear on nearly every page that give one fascinating insights into the characters and events in the desert war. The bottom line is that the book is just so damm readable that I could not put it down. It has kindled an interest in a theater of war that has never really engrossed me.

Go out and buy it and be prepared to be entertained!!

Excellent Read.......2003-08-31

Having read numerous Eastern Front narratives recently, I felt as if I needed a change of pace. This book did the trick. The Commonwealth's troops and Rommel's Afrika Corps had somewhat of a chivalry between them. This is in glaring contrast to the hellish Russian steppe battles. As an earlier reviewer states, the authors do not use all 400+ pages to write about the actual Alamein battle. For anybody new to the North African war, this is an excellent primer. The side stories alone are quite interesting... almost Stephen Ambrose-ish. A recommended follow up book would be Rick Atkinson's "An Army at Dawn" which begins with Operation Torch, loosely where "Alamein" breaks off.

Well written, badly researched popular history.......2003-02-21

The Battle of Alamein is actually more than a retelling of that battle (hardly THE turning point of WW2; but in fairness to the authors this is the US title), rather it's an overview of the desert war. As an overview of the British and Italian armies of the period, it's acceptable: as a military history it is less successful. This work suffers from a typical problem authors encounter (usually unwittingly) when they use interviews almost exclusively. This is naturally the fallibities of human memory. After more than 50 years events can become clouded, rearranged or distorted.
Errors of fact especially regarding equipment and tactics, are rife in this work, revealing the authors' lack of research. German tanks are described as diesel-powered and superior to British equivalents-wrong on both accounts. Additionally German ranks and unit designations are flat wrong; and are ascribed to interviews with German veterans. An example: A german veteran supposedly calls his unit's weapons "Schmeissers" and "Spandaus". No German veteran would ever do so. Either he was editing for his audience, or his interview was recast for the book; both are unacceptable for a history. But the most spectacular mistake is that the authors seem to be blissfully unaware that Winston Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty before he became Prime Minister! They also go easy on Montgomery where he is most subject to a dispassionate critique. Namely, his lackluster pursuit of Panzer Armee Afrika as it retreats across Libya. Here we read a version of the "Great Man", where Montgomery is well intentioned but badly served by his subordinate commanders, and a worn-out Eighth Army. Frankly, that IS a commander's job-to drive his forces if required to find, fix and destroy the enemy. If his forces were exhausted, then the under-fueled, under-fed and under-armed Axis forces were the walking dead.
For a casual reader the information on the Italian Army in the desert might be enlightening, however if the authors submitted this as a history paper to me I'd give them a C+. Not recommended.

History of the War in North Africa.......2003-01-30

John Bierman and Colin Smith are semi-retired journalists who live on the island of Cyprus in the Mediterranean. They collaborated on "Fire in the Night", a wonderful biography of Orde Wingate, a few years ago, and this is their second venture together. It's a very good book, with only one real criticism from me: given it's a history of a battle, it spends relatively little space discussing that battle.

The war in Libya was one of the last chivalrous conflicts in history. Almost all commentators agree that the Germans here were much less Nazi-like in the North African desert than anywhere else. The German commander, Erwin Rommel, the famed Desert Fox, wouldn't allow SS troops into the region, and insisted on treating enemy wounded and prisoners fairly and compassionately. The British generally responded in kind, and the army in Egypt was often shocked by the appearance of a soldier who'd been serving in Britain, seen houses bombed, and came out to the theater hating the Germans. The new arrivals were likewise shocked at the admiration the veterans had for the Germans.

The war went on for more than two years, if you count the British campaign against the Italians in the winter of 1940 and the Allied campaign in Tunisia in the spring of 1943. The heart of the campaign, and the book, was the year-and-a-half-or-so-long struggle between the British and their Commonwealth Allies on the one hand and the Germans and their Italian Allies on the other. The book spends a great deal of time dealing with several of the larger battles from the first part of the campaign, notably Crusader and Gazala. When you get to the Battle of Alamein itself, the book is half over.

Strangely, the battle of Alam Halfa, gets only cursory mention. This is odd, given that some people think that this was the first (or second) stage of the actual battle. Instead, the meat of the book describes "Supercharge", the British attack on Rommel's forces which finally, conclusively, defeated the Germans in the North African Desert.

One of the reviews above says that the authors are uncritical of the leadership personalities in the war. I don't think this is particularly fair: the authors spend a considerable amount of time telling you of Rommel's mistakes, and failures, and health problems. They also spend a good deal of time detailing the mistakes made by various British commanders, and Churchill comes in for his share of criticism. When we get to Montgomery, he's relatively gently dealt with, but this *was* the period of his greatest success. I've never completely agreed with the Correlli Barnett theory that Monty was completely a figment of his own fantasies, and a lousy general. Here, vain, self-promoting, and stubborn as he was, he comes across as the man who used all of these characteristics to defeat the Afrika Korps, and win the battle. It's a fair, balanced appraisal, and not that favorable, but it shows why he won the battle.

Like I said, the one criticism is the way the book is structured. The actual portion of the book that deals with the battle in the title is only 80 pages, maybe, of 400. The introduction to the war, and the early campaigns, take up individually almost as much. There are little sidebars with interesting personalities from the war, writers and poets and so forth. You learn of the woman who served in the French Foreign Legion at Bir Hacheim, the Hungarian nobleman adventurer who was the basis for the book The English Patient, and a score of other participants in the war. There is a prologue and an epilogue detailing reunions and commemoration ceremonies that are still being held with veterans from the war. This part is especially well done.

I enjoyed the book a great deal. I just wish they'd spent a little more time on the battle itself.

Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War
Average customer rating:

A terrific book on the Revolutionary War

Saratoga's Slow Pace!

A well orchestrated handling of a key revolutionary battle

Awesome Book!!

Great book!

Saratoga: Turning Point of America's Revolutionary War
Richard M. Ketchum
Manufacturer: Owl Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
General | Revolution & Founding | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0805061231

Book Description

In the summer of 1777 (twelve months after the Declaration of Indepence) the British launched an invasion from Canada under General John Burgoyne. It was the campaign that was supposed to the rebellion, but it resulted in a series of battles that changed America's history and that of the world. Stirring narrative history, skillfully told through the perspective of those who fought in the campaign, Saratoga brings to life as never before the inspiring story of Americans who did their utmost in what seemed a lost cause, achieving what proved to be the crucial victory of the Revolution. A New York Times Notable Book, 1997Winner of the Fraunces Tavern Museum Award, 1997

Customer Reviews:

A terrific book on the Revolutionary War.......2007-03-03

I love to read Richard Ketchum who is an excellent writer. This book is, probably his best. I have re-read it four times, each time getting more out of it. If you want to know a lot about the American revolution and relationships with England during that period, you cannot go wrong with this excellent book.

Saratoga's Slow Pace!.......2006-06-06

I have always been interested about Burgoyne's ill-fated 1777 campaign to divide the colonies. Over the years the campaign and battles have been the subject of many articles and short descriptions, but relatively few full length of books on the subject. Ketchum is trying hard here to be a Steven Ambrose or David McCullough it seems. He is writing a history for the general reader, and not the military historian.

The detail of this book is great, but often the digressions the author launches into are hard to follow. I don't understand why over 50 pages were devoted in the beginning to Benjamin Franklin's silly diplomatic mission to Montreal. Don't we have enough amusing Franklin antedotes in other books without adding to them here. There seemed no point to this long introduction because he reaches Montreal and finds the American invasion has floundered anyway!

Like several other readers here I found the lack of detailed maps very bothersome. With all the descriptions of terrian and movements described here, not to have several good maps to keep track of the action just buries the reader in a lot of needless details. To get to the actual battles of Freemans Farm and Bemis Heights we have to plow through a lot of endless stories and details before the real action starts. Again, I would have liked less on background and more on the actual events themselves.

There are also some confusing references to units in action. At Hubbardton Ketchum mentions an offcier from the 53rd British Grenadiers. This is a confusing reference as no such unit exists. What is really meant here is the detached grenadier company from the 53rd foot which forms part of Acland's combined grenadier battalion. Ketchum describes earlier that this unit was formed from elite companies of parent regiments that were left back in Canada, but with a confusing reference like this the reader can easily get mixed up. The correct reference would have been an officer from the detached grenadier company of the 53rd. This way we know that its a detached company from that parent unit, and not another whole battalion that has suddenly gott'en into Burgoyne's command! Perhaps this was an editing mistake, but its sloppy none the less. Again, details about Franklin we don't need, but details about correct regimental names are important here. Little mistakes like this detract from an otherwise impressive work. Ketchum is also weak on describing a lot of tactical details of battle. Like many Civil War historians the emphasis seems to be more on story telling and human interest than on important details of combat of the period.

The long narrative does make it difficult to keep track of the momentum of the campaign. Ketchum would have done well to cut back on a lot of superflous details, and given us the action on page 150 instead of 300. I would recommend the reader to have reference to several shorter articles on the Saratoga campaign to support this lengthy study. Otherwise its easy to get lost in the thick woods of the book.

A well orchestrated handling of a key revolutionary battle.......2006-03-29

A detailed analysis of a battle that may very well represent the turning point of the Revolution. Key participants are brought to life and the inter-relationships of these individuals were particularly interesting. Many of the myths are debunked and the credit for what was a remarkable victory for America and a devastating defeat for the British appropriately apportioned. This, in fact, will surprise even knowledgeable readers.

Awesome Book!!.......2005-12-21

Being from the upstate New York area and having visited the Saratoga National Historical Park and Schuyler House countless times, I enjoyed learning more about the battles that occurred around my hometown. That is why I bought this book. The book was captivating. I could not put it down and was sad that it was over. I felt like I was there with the soldiers experiencing everything they did. I love how the author uses the actual wording from those who kept journals and such. It really brings the book to life. Highly recommended!

Great book!.......2005-04-13

Not since Anthony Beeevor's STALINGRAD, have I read a war history book that is as gripping, as involved and detailed, without being boring. Ketchum's book on the Battle of Bunker Hill was pretty good, too.

Average customer rating:

A good overview of the Normandy Invasion.
DDay from the British Perspective

D-Day (Turning Points in History)
Martin Gilbert
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Finest Hour : The Battle of Britain
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ASIN: 0471423408

Book Description

"The Allied landings in 1944 had all the prospects for disaster. Churchill thought he would be woken up to be told of massive casualties. Eisenhower prepared a somber broadcast announcing that the enterprise had failed.

The specter of failure was always present. After a failed landing the Nazi regime would have regained the ascendant. New, terrifying bombs and rockets were ready to be launched. Long-distance submarines were in the final stage of development. The last million Jews of Europe were listed for deportation and death.

Failure at Normandy could have given Hitler the chance of continuing to rule western Europe, particularly if the United States, bloodied and defeated in Normandy, had decided-after two and a half years of focusing on Europe-to turn all its energies to the ever-growing demands of the Pacific, leaving Europe to its own devices. Had that happened, I doubt if I would have been alive to write this book, or free to express my opinions without fear of arrest."
—Martin Gilbert

Customer Reviews:

A good overview of the Normandy Invasion........2007-10-05

This is a good overview from the British perspective of the Normandy Invasion. Gilbert points out that Churchill prepared the way for a return to France after the defeat in France. He did this by fostering the French Resistance, making guerrilla raids on the coast, and letting the captive population know the real news. When the Americans did enter the war, the British led the way in leadership on the invasion. Gilbert insists that it was not Churchill who was a critic of the French option rather than the soft under belly of Europe.

Gilbert does a good job of portraying the strategy of the invasion, rather than of the actual fighting. The actual invasion is covered in only three of the ten chapters. The rest details the preparation and the end result. As Gilbert reminds us, if the invasion had failed, the population of Europe might have led very different lives. A good read.

DDay from the British Perspective.......2004-06-23

I found this book to be a fast and excellent read. Where Ambrose's DDAY is a minute by minute tactical read of this moment in history, Gilbert focuses on the overall strategy and illuminates key points during the invasion. Gilbert also introduces a novel concept to American readers, Montgomery as an outstanding leader, loved by his men, and not just the prima donna other books and movies have made him out to be. Gilbert also makes a solid effort to accurately account not just for the lives lost by the Allied troops but also by French civilians prior to, during, and after the invasion. This is a well written account of DDay and worth the time to read.

Saratoga 1777: Turning Point of a Revolution (Praeger Illustrated Military History)

Average customer rating:

Saratoga 1777- very good overview
Good text. Excellent maps, minor quibbles
Excellent British Summary of the Battle
editors and printing
Author's comments

Saratoga 1777: Turning Point of a Revolution (Praeger Illustrated Military History)
Brendan Morrissey
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Strategy | Military | History | Subjects | Books

General | Americas | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0275984516

Book Description

The Saratoga campaign was a watershed, and is widely believed to have been the turning point of the American War of Independence. For the first time British regulars were beaten in open battle by equal numbers of Americans. The Continentals bore the brunt of the fighting, supported by 'hordes' of militia who proved adept at attacking detachments or lines of communication. Expectations that Loyalists would swell British numbers, or take control of subjugated areas, proved groundless. And as so often throughout this war, the weather favored the Americans: a late thaw delayed Burgoyne, while rain saved Herkimer, held up Breymann, and sabotaged the retreat. Defeat cost Great Britain more than an army. The after-shock in America (on both sides) and Europe eventually lost George III his American colonies.

Customer Reviews:

Saratoga 1777- very good overview.......2006-05-31

As a collector of toy soldiers I found Morrissey's book well written and very well illustrated. It is a very good overview of the Saratoga campaign which leaves the reader wanting more. In the back of the book there is a section entitled "Wargaming the Saratoga Campaign." I think that it would be helpful for military modellers and war gamers if in the future there would be more detailed information on the manner in which field fortifications were constructed.

Good text. Excellent maps, minor quibbles.......2003-08-12

A fairly new resident of New York State, this book opened up my eyes to many of the events in my area. I'm an amateur in Militray History. I know the difference between a smoothbore and a rifle, but I had to look up what "refusing" a flank entailed. I can't accurately comment on the veracity or completeness of the book. It seemed convincing and fully fleshed.
Illustrations are good, though not stellar. They have a lot of information in them, but are all of the "action" type. I'd like to have a few of whole formations, rather than complete chaos.

Maps are excellent, the one complaint is that many of the 2page 3D maps have their center of interest in, well, the center, where the binding runs through them, forcing you to stress the cover. I had no problems reading the keys or understanding the color coding, nor any issues with the placement of the illustrations. I would recommend reading over the maps _before_ reading the main text. It will aid your understanding greatly.

As far as the text goes, I found it concise and engaging, much more accesible than many history books, even the popular types. In neither pandered to the neophyte, nor assumed a degree in hsitory. Granted, You'll need some companion information on 18C. warfare to fully enjoy it, but it is readable enough on it's own.
My only quibble is the _occasional_ use of surnames of officers rather than units in the text, when those surnames are not used on the maps. However, the meaning of the author can be gleaned from the maps, while enhancing your understanding of the battlefield by forcing you to actually study them.
I'm taking a day trip to Bear Mountain next week to check out the forts. Hope he writes one about the earlier battles around NYC.

Excellent British Summary of the Battle.......2001-07-06

I've been waiting a long time for a book like this - one that combines effective, very good writing, with excellent photos, maps, and illustrations. That is a tribute to the Osprey style of Campaign books, but also to Mr. Morrissey as well. I enjoyed his text very much. I had no problem with the British slant (as Mr. Morrissey described himself on this site), even as an American who grew up not far from where events depicted occurred. I hope that the NPS and NY State make this excellent book available for purchase at the Battlefield and other nearby, related State sites.

I do have one small quibble. Mr. Morrissey observes that the Jane McCrea incident was overblown and not as a strong factor in mobilizing rebel forces as has been depicted by other, usually American, sources. Maybe he is correct with regard to the incident strictly by itself. Even though Miss McCrea may have been killed by an errant American shot, it's propaganda value must be viewed in the context of other "related" incidents that occurred.

One day prior to Miss McCrea's death, a loyalist family was wiped out by Burgoyne's indians in the Argyle area of Washington (then Charlotte) County, not far from Fort Edward. The killing party was reported to be the same as the one blamed for McCrea's death. The murdered victims consisted of John Allen, a farmer; his wife, Eva Kilmer Allen; Eva's young sister Catherine Kilmer; the Allen children, two very young boys (one an infant); and two African-Americans, a girl and a young man. Although the family were loyalists, all citizens in that part of the County quickly heard the news. That news coupled with the reported killing of Jane McCrea caused widespread alarm to Loyalists and Whigs alike. Given that General Burgoyne had earlier issued a proclamation warning the citizenry that he would unleash his savages on the recalcitrant population - the fact that loyalty to the King apparently meant nothing was not lost on anyone. Therefore, the effect of the massacres (even if Jane McCrea's was not what it was initially reported as), I think, should not be treated lightly.

Regardless of that, I would eagerly recommend this book to others interested in the events. The book is a wonderful teaching aid. Although I've read much on the events (as a direct descendant of Eva and Catherine Kilmer's father, and a former Washington Co. resident), this book added much to my understanding of the battle and related events.

editors and printing.......2000-12-30

These Campaign books, like all other publications, are printed in forms ( a series of imposition pages, later folded into a book). This limits the number of color pages based on cost of printing, retail price etc. So, the color pictures/graphics may not match up to the text unless the editor and author design the book to do so. That can be cost prohibitive. To solve the problem, you should see a refering page number, within the text, which "points" you to where to find the accompanying picture or map. This is the cheapest and easiest way to go.

Author's comments.......2000-11-15

As the author of "Saratoga 1777" I thought I would add to the review by William C Roege Jnr, to give further help to anyone thinking of buying it. [NB: I had to provide a rating in order to get the review accepted, so I have repeated Mr Roege's 3 stars - personally, I'd say 4 was fairer, but then I'm biased!]

1) Mr Roege is correct in observing that the book is written from "the other side of the hill." My main objective with this book and my others on Boston and Yorktown - I hope to cover all the campaigns of this conflict in due course - is to show the war from a British perspective (as opposed to a British bias). More recently, this conflict has been covered almost exclusively by American authors, who often make false (if understandable) assumptions about how and why British commanders and politicians did what they did. The Revolutionary War generated some amazing mythology, much of it still widely accepted on both sides of the Atlantic, and I do try to debunk some of these myths by offering alternative interpretations and accounts of events to set the reader thinking (even if he/she does not agree with my views).

2) If some of the sentences were too complex, I apologise - that is my fault, as well as the editor's, although I suspect some of it may just be a trans-Atlantic "thing" (two nations separated by a common language and all that). Or maybe my vocabulary and syntax have been influenced by the more verbose and complex sentence structures of 18th century writers - I certainly didn't write like that 20 years ago when I graduated and started work!

3) In answer to his criticism of the maps (actually the three bird's eye views, or BEVs) the purple should have been crimson, to indicate the three North American ethnic groups - Loyalists, Native Americans and Canadiens (sic)- fighting for the British and differentiate them from the Regulars. As crimson, I suspect it would have been more obvious who it represented, but it was omitted from the caption boxes for reasons I cannot explain. In fact, I have already mentioned to the publisher that the colour generally on the BEVs is much darker in the book than it was on the proofs.

4) It was impossible, due to limited space and colour pages, to break down the fighting at Hubbardton any further. I had to lose a colour plate and some b/w illustrations - and bargain hard - in order to get a fourth BEV (the series norm is only three) and to get the extra maps to show the fighting of September 19 (the book has 11 maps, as opposed to the normal five).

5) Placement of BEVs/maps relative to the text is based on where the groups of colour pages can fall within the book (eg Map 1 had to be in b/w to keep it at the front of the book). Every effort is made to put them in the right place, but given the restrictions of the format, sometimes it is just not possible, especially where a lot of illustrations or maps relate to one particular passage of text.

6) The landscape photos aim to show as much of the battlefield as possible, to give the reader an idea of the "lie of the land" and why things happened the way they did (often not obvious to a modern-day audience). In an ideal world, Mr Roege's suggestion would help, but often it is difficult to superimpose arrows etc where there are extreme contrasts - eg light skies and dark forests - in close proximity, as in most of these photos.

As a general remark, the aim of the Osprey Campaign series is not to provide the "last word" on any particular event, but to collate current knowledge and latest research into one volume and thereby stimulate thought and further reading (as it did for Mr Roege). I would like to thank Mr Roege for his time and trouble in reviewing my book. His criticisms are noted and I will keep them in mind when writing future titles for the series.

Turning Points In Military History
Average customer rating:

A solid review of military history

Informative but somewhat superficial

Great narrative overview of military change

Turning Points In Military History
William Weir
Manufacturer: Citadel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

A solid review of military history.......2007-07-14

I give this book 4 stars. It covers a lot of ground and connects a lot of topics, but there is room for improvement. For starters, there could be more (or any) illustrations to help the reader understand what he is trying to describe--for example, the petard (pg 57). Also, he often discuss battles that, while incorporating relatively new technologies, do not introduce anything new. These discussions are enough to whet the appetite for more study, but don't seem to contribute to the book's theme. For example, Gustavus v Wallenstein, pg 101.
Having read this book immediately after Carnage and Culture, I was interested in Weir's disparaging comments regarding C&C's theme (that the western way of war dominates) on pg 28, stemming from the battle of Parthians v Romans (Crassus). However, the rest of the book could be a rehash of the arguments from C&C, as there is not a single turning point cited that is of non-western origin. Finally, the book ends with a non-sequitur of a discussion of the state of Iraq in 2004. While it would be good opinion page material, it seems to have nothing to do with a turning point in military history.
Overall, a solid book that covers the history of how the modern military got from clubs to precision guided munitions.

Informative but somewhat superficial.......2007-04-10

This book is very informative, but somewhat superficial. It covers the evolution of military equipment and tactics from the Stone Age to 2004, and does this all in only 263 pages. To do this the book must of necessity be somewhat superficial and to some degree this superficiality is both its strength and weakness. It is strength because the reader is not subjected to a dense tome on military history and strategy and a weakness if one is interested in a more in-depth treatment. For the general reader, I think that the strength outweighs the weakness. Air power and sea power are discussed in addition to land warfare.

The book is organized along a time line starting in the Stone Age, with edged stone weapons and simple spears and bows. It then goes on to warfare conducted by urban centers, starting with the Greek city-states. A constant theme is how the organization of armies evolved, starting with poorly controlled masses and on to the organized Greek phalanx and Roman legion and how this resulted from the development of new weapons and tactics. This book covers a lot of history in addition to a discussion of military tactics. It emphasizes how historical trends led to new ways of fighting. For instance, how the European wars of the Reformation led to the development of standing armies and how the costs involved led to limited wars. This changed with the French revolution, with the formation of a national French army.

The style of writing is clear and this should be a quick and entertaining read for those interested in military history, although experts may find the material a bit superficial.

Great narrative overview of military change.......2005-09-25

Weir's book is an easy to read historical narrative covering the history of military change from pre-history to the present. If you're looking for a general overview, without getting into the theoretical aspects of military revolution or revolutions in military affairs, this is the book for you. At the same time it would certainly be a first choice if you want a top line perspective before descending into the depths of more academic and detailed works such as William H. McNeill's THE PURSUIT OF POWER, which Weir frequently cites throughout his own book. The book's strength is its ability to easily explain the generally accepted turning points around which military strategy and tactics evolved. Another good point about the book is that, although it recognizes the influence of technology, it also recognizes that it's more than technology and addresses those points throughout the book. He even admits that, "Not all turning points are created by new weapons. Sometimes it's a matter of attitude." He also includes separate chapters on the impact of gunpowder, the evolution of warfare at sea, the development of standing armies, limited warfare, and nations in arms. What Weir really provides is a good synthesis of notable turning points that, sometimes over time, seriously change the way war was fought.

The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville--Pacific War Turning Point, Volume 2 (Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in WWII)

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Informative,but...
"In a League of its Own"

The Solomons Campaigns, 1942-1943: From Guadalcanal to Bougainville--Pacific War Turning Point, Volume 2 (Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in WWII)
William L. McGee
Manufacturer: BMC Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Bougainville, 1943-1945: The Forgotten Campaign
The Amphibians Are Coming! : Emergence of the 'Gator Navy and Its Revolutionary Landing Craft, Volume 1
Touched with Fire: The Land War in the South Pacific
Clash of The Carriers: The True Story of the Marianas Turkey Shoot of World War II
Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway

ASIN: 0970167873

Product Description

FROM THE BACK COVER

THE SOLOMONS CAMPAIGNS, Volume 2 in William L. McGee's three-part series, AMPHIBIOUS OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC IN WWII, follows the new landing craft crews featured in Volume 1, THE AMPHIBIANS ARE COMING!, as they move up the Slot with each new campaign. All the Solomons Campaigns, from Guadalcanal to Bougainville, are described.

THE SOLOMONS CAMPAIGNS - The Major Turning Point in the Pacific War. The U.S. halted the Japanese advance at Midway and the Coral Sea. But in the Solomons, the U.S. not only stopped them, they began pushing them back!

Part I, The Southern Solomons covers the bloody six-month struggle for Guadalcanal. The relationship between ground fighting, naval warfare and air combat is described in considerable detail as first one side and then the other gains the advantage. Seven major naval engagements are recounted.

Part II, The Central Solomons chronicles the amphibious operations in the New Georgia Islands group including the five separate landings at Rendova, Segi Point, Viru Harbor, Wickham Anchorage, and Rice Anchorage, plus three more significant naval battles and the occupation of Vella Lavella.

Part III, The Northern Solomons recounts the seizure of the Treasuries, the Choiseul Diversion and the Bougainville campaign, plus two more significant naval battles.

Lessons Learned, Finally, the many valuable lessons learned during the Solomons Campaigns are summarized, ranging from logistic support and force requirements to offshore toeholds and leapfrogging. Most became doctrine in later Pacific campaigns.

Customer Reviews:

Informative,but..........2002-11-07

William L Magee's account of these pivotal and complex series of battles in the Solomon Islands during the Pacific War,is both detailed and informative. His research has obviously been indepth and displays accuracy. I was disappointed, however, at the degree of 'redneck' language. Terms like 'Japs', 'Nipponese', 'sent to their ancestors',and others cheapened the quality of the rest of the text. US dead and injured were treated with respect in the book, why not the Japanese? Surely an historical account written in 2001 doesn't have to sound like the script of a John Wayne movie of the 1950's!

"In a League of its Own".......2002-02-07

Author, WWII Navy veteran and military historian William L. McGee has done it again! His Volume I, "The Amphibians Are Coming!" was a fabulous work, but Volume II, "The Solomons Campaigns" is in a league of its own.

Readers get a firsthand account of the way it was done with LCIs, LCTs and LSTs as they hauled the Marines, Army and Air Force and their tools of war in the Pacific Theater.

Navy and coast guardsmen can more fully appreciate the role they played in those flat-bottomed, hard-riding sand and coral scrappers.

This volume covers Guadalcanal, Tulagi, Gavutu, Savo Island, Cape Esperance, Santa Cruz, Tassafaronga, Rennell Island and the Russells from the beginning to the bitter end.

The part most readers will be enlightened by is Chapter 9, "Lessons Learned in the Solomons" by the Army, Navy and Marines. These lessons were beneficial to later Pacific campaigns.

This is a great source book for abbreviations, acronyms, ship and aircraft designations, code words, map symbols and listings of amphibious ship and craft. The book also provides the best possible use of maps and charts to illustrate the action. Most pages include photos of the event written about--some shown for the first time.

I highly recommend "The Solomons Campaigns" by William L. McGee to those who served in the South Pacific or to those who have a special interest in the Pacific Theater of WWII.

Get your copy now!

Book Description

The 1968 Tet Offensive was the decisive battle for Vietnam. Masterminded by the brilliant North Vietnamese General, Vo Nguyen Giap, it was intended to trigger a general uprising in South Vietnam. However, the bloody fighting for Saigon, Hue and other cities actually resulted in a catastrophic defeat for the North. In this excellent assessment of the key battle of the Vietnam conflict, James Arnold details the plans and forces involved and explains how, despite the outcome of the battle, the American people and their leaders came to perceive the war for Vietnam as lost.

Customer Reviews:

History is messy and controversial!.......2006-02-08

Veitnam hasn't quite receeded into the mists of time--not when every media talking head compares the current Iraqi and Afghani situation to South Vietnam in 1968! James Arnold's "Tet Offensive 1968" is an excellent summary of one decisive battle.

Remember--in war it is never whether you win or lose the battle. If everybody claims that you've lost, you have. The news media thrives on neagtive news--bad news sells. Since at least the American Civil War (when most of the northern newspapers strongly sympathized with the slave-owning and Democratic south) the news media has had a vested interest in painting the American military as inept, corrupt, and just plain rotten. The US Army blames the news media for "losing the war" in Vietnam. The news media of the period counters that "the establishment" (JFK and especially LBJ) lied to them and to the American people. There's some truth to these charges. Arnold manages to clarify the murky details without too much finger-pointing. Fact: LBJ committed ground troops in 1965 because the old foreign policy failed in Vietnam. By 1967, the Johnson Administration considered Vietnam a lost cause, but couldn't see a way to get out of it. The first chapter in "Tet Offensive 1968" explains this quite well, and the last chapter details the immediate aftermath.

Arnold spares neither the media nor the government--or the military. The media reporting was incompetent. There was a flawed foreign policy. As for military action, nearly every principle of warfare was violated. I salute the guys on the round in Vietnam for achieving anything positive with all of these factors against them.

The nuts and bolts part of Osprey books are usually quite good--excellent values for the money. Us amateurs have limited time and money, so the 96 information and image-packed pages give excellent returns for spent resources. I pay close attention to the index and to "recomended reading," as well as publication date. This book was published over 15 years ago, and more information has come out, but for the casual historian, this is enough. After all, "Tet Offensive 1968" is about a single battle lasting a few weeks. The Vietnam tragedy lasted from the 1920's and still clouds America's judgement.

We still have a flawed foreign policy. Our news media still has trouble getting the story right.

I liked the full-color illustrations of the Tunnels of Cu Chi, the assault on the American Embassy in Saigon, and the battle for streetfighting in Hue City. I did question some equipment details--the cartridges for the Soviet-made RPD and the US M60 machine guns are different and do not interchange. The NATO cartridge fires its heavier bullet faster than the Warsaw Pact cartridge, producing 50% more projectile energy at the same range. Or, how about the 82mm vs 81mm mortar thing on page 33: the information I have is that the British WW2 three inch Stokes, the German WW2 8cm, the Warsaw Pact 82mm and the NATO 81mm mortars can all use each other's shells because they are the same shells. There are some adjustments required to the firing tables due to different trajectories and some of the modern shells produce peak chamber pressures too high for older mortars, but the shells will work. Mortars are simple. I stress this because one of the Vietnam myths is that the AK-47 will fire both 7.62 and 5.56 NATO rounds. I disproved this while attending the First Infantry Division's Unit Armorer Course during August 1984, but I still occassionally run into this. Today's veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan know better, having hands-on experience with the real thing. The caption on Page 30 in "Tet Offensive 1968" says that the RPD (which is chambered for the Soviet M43 7.62x39mm round fired in the AK-47) fired the same ammunition as the US M60 (which uses the 7.62x51mm NATO cartridge). The M43 casing is 39mm long and the NATO case is 51mm long and fatter--no way you can cram the bigger cartridge into the RPD! The RPD was a light-weight belt-fed automatic weapon and the AK series uses a detachable magazine--they are effective and reliable, but cannot use ammunition other than what they were designed to fire! I should take points off for this, but as I've said, this myth is common among Vietnam vets.

Even with some technical errors, this is a worthwhile addition to my library. I like it.

One of the first Osprey's is one of the best.......2005-03-23

The 'Campaigns' of Osprey have gone through numerous changes over the years, with the first looking very, very different from the newer ones. Yet even though the new generation of Osprey Campaigns look far better and is far more organized, the core of all books remains its content, and Tet Offensive 1968 is very strong in that category.

Arnold gives a good overview of the events leading up to campaign, including what the effects of President Johnson's continual belief in sucsess would bring to the US public when Tet finally erupted. The opposing armies section in this volume is especially well done, including US and ARVN tactics and roles in the war and the NVA tactics, all of which played a major part in Tet. He does not seem biased in any way, giving a fair and insighted look into each side's forces, though he has a nagging case of calling the North Vietnamese the 'Communists" (they are, but I didn't see him calling the Americans the 'Capitalists'!).

All of these are backed up by very good photographs and a few good illustrations, such as the US GI, the Vietcong guerilla, ARVN militia, weaponry, and whatnot. One minor omission is the lack of a good picture of Vo Ngyuen Giap (the NVA Supreme Commander), but then again there are far more places to get this.

The actual campaign itself is covered very well, with the author's clear and flowing writing style adding greatly to the content. As can be expected with early Osprey Campaigns, the 2D maps are not very good compared to the newer ones (South Vietnam Military Regions - Page 18, The Assault on Saigon - Page 42, The Bien Hoa - Long Binh Area - Page 51, Targets of the Tet Offensive - Page 63, and Hue - Page 71). The only one that actually looked good, and was useful enough for me to use often was the Targets of the Tet Offensive map, which showed all military and non military targets hit, and on what day. Every other map, though nice to have, is not really used when reading Tet Offensive 1968.

The content of the campaign (if it can be called that) section is NOT general synopsis of the fighting in the two major regions of the Tet Offensive: Saigon and Hue. It IS, to my pleasant surprise, mostly a series of synopsis' of 'sub-actions' in the overall battle, such as the NVA attack on the US embassy, the NVA attack on the Saigon radio station, and of squadrons and platoons running to the rescue at Bien Hoa. It shows how the battle was really fought instead of saying 'This battalion moved here, defended this from this, and this battalion was ambushed by that battalion as it came to relieve...', you understand. It gave me a real insight to how Tet was fought, and was very enjoyable to read. A particularily intresting story is that of general Westmoreland standing in the rubble of the US embassy saying that everything was OK to beleagured and confused journalists - portraying how misled the world believed the Vietnam War to be going. Hue is similarily covered.

When it shifts focus from Sagion and Hue to the country in general, Arnold makes it clear that in almost every action the NVA and Vietcong suffered a defeat, so much that the Vietcong would never be half the threat as it once was due to the slaugter faced by assaulting the US and ARVN positions. He gives short one-paragraph synopsis' of battles in certain towns countrywide, never forgetting to remind us the manner of which Tet was fought (such as needing "to destroy the town to save it", in the words of an American major). It is all very insightful indeed.

Photographs in all sections are well chosen and fairly large (so we can actually see whats going on). All photographs are black and white in typical Opsrey format, and several notable ones include Westmoreland trying to assauge the press (Page 56), an arieal view of the Citadel of Hue (Page 69), a large picture of a 'Mini Tet' (page 86-7), and pictures of the battle in Saigon (Pages 48-9).

Finally to Osprey's prestigious 3D maps, a factor that makes this series so popular. In this case, there are no 'traditional' 3D Maps (to my initial dissapointment), just 3D pictures of the Cu Chi caves (pg 10-1), the attack on the Saigon Embassy (pg 46-7), and Street fighting in Hue (78-9). Each picture (each meticulously detailed and colourful) has a very long caption describing the event/structure, and the Embassy attack is covered in minute detail (and is, among Arnold's selected stories, very informative and interesting). But upon thinking, it is preferable to have 3D images of the general fighting instead of a painful 3D painted rendition of Saigon or Hue (as Osprey didn't have computer terrain graphics yet, first debuted in Marengo 1800). Regardless 3D MAP lovers, don't weep over this loss.

All in all, this is a very solid Osprey packing all you need to know about Tet (I am satiated with my knowledge of it personally). Any fan of Ospreys MUST include this on the bookshelf, as well as any layman historian interested in this important event. It is a buy you will not regret.

High level view of Tet.......2004-02-14

The book is a high level view of the Tet offensive. There are lots of pictures and maps. The battles of Hue and Saigon are documented well. The Khe Sanh fight and other battles are not as well documented.
Peter Arnett's classic line, that he invented, and no military man ever said, "We had to destroy the village to save it." is included.
We won the battle, but lost the propaganda war, and thereby the whole war.
It is a good book for someone who wants to start learning about the Tet offensive.

Worthwhile Read.......2003-12-26

The Tet Offensive, 1968, by James Arnold is a short, concise, but interesting history of the critical offensive that led to the American withdrawal from Vietnam. While set in the traditional Osprey style, the book deviates from the ususal Ospery book in its focus on the political implications of the offensive.

Arnold points out that if one judges the battle from the perspective of the original aims by the North Vietnamese that the offensive was an unambiguous failure. However, what the North Vietnamese, nor for that matter the Americans, did not anticipate were the political implications of the offensive. Juxtaposed against General Westmoreland's statements that the United States was winning the war, the growing mistrust of the military and the mistaken reporting of the taking of the American Embassy, the offensive led to a loss of political will to continue the war.

Arnold does a fine job discussing all of the above as well as the essential military details. For a history of the Tet Offensive, the book is a worthwhile read.

Defeat into Victory.......2001-10-23

If ever there was a significant military action, it was the Tet Offensive. Its impact on the American psyche was immense as it played a major role in the American pullout from Vietnam. Though the US forces were able in the end to crush the Viet Cong/ North Vietnamese Army offensive in 1968, the scale of the attack unerved the US political and military authorities as they were unable to convince the US public that they had won the battle. It was possibly the first battle to be decided by television coverage and the precursor to the present-day situation. The book on the whole is well presented with many photos of the battles. There a re diagrams and maps, which are useful and its in my view one of the best Osprey titles in the "Trade Edition" series that I have bought.

Megawatts and Megatons: A Turning Point in the Nuclear Age?

Average customer rating:

Good look at the international scene
Different subtitles, same book?
Comprehensive, Sci, American level treatment of nuke power
Accurate excerpt!?

Megawatts and Megatons: A Turning Point in the Nuclear Age?
Richard L. Garwin , and Georges Charpak
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

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Megawatts and Megatons: The Future of Nuclear Power and
Nuclear Energy: Principles, Practices, and Prospects
The Making of the Atomic Bomb

ASIN: 0375403949
Release Date: 2001-10-02

Book Description

For nearly sixty years the menace of nuclear war has hung over humanity, while at the same time the promise of nuclear energy has enticed us. In Megawatts and Megatons, two of the world’s most eminent physicists—French Nobel Prize laureate Georges Charpak and American Enrico Fermi Award–winner Richard L. Garwin—assess with consummate authority the benefits of nuclear energy and the dangers of nuclear weaponry.

Garwin and Charpak begin by elucidating the discoveries that have allowed us to manipulate nuclear energy with increasing ease. They clearly and concisely explain complex principles of fission and fusion pertaining to nuclear weaponry and the generation of nuclear electric power. They also make a strong and eloquent argument in favor of arms control. More than ten thousand nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union, together with a similar number in the United States, have the capacity to destroy the world many times over. The “nuclear club” of nations is growing, with India and Pakistan its latest members and Iran, Iraq, and North Korea striving for admission. Even the possibility of a single weapon in the hands of a terrorist group—or a lone
terrorist—poses a threat that we cannot ignore.

Meanwhile, nuclear power already provides one-sixth of all electrical energy in the world—France, for instance, derives 80% of its electricity from reactors— but nuclear power has met with great resistance in the United States, where the specter of the Three Mile Island breakdown still looms in the public’s consciousness. Garwin and Charpak take a temperate, rational tone in evaluating the benefits of nuclear energy. They show how it can provide an assured, economically feasible, and environmentally responsible supply of energy in a way that avoids the hazards of weapons proliferation.

Cogently written, passionately and carefully ar-gued—and featuring explanatory technical drawings as well as illustrations by the world-famous French cartoonist Sempé—Megawatts and Megatons is a thoughtful and important primer on two of the central issues of our time.

Customer Reviews:

Good look at the international scene.......2006-08-27

This book covers the science, history, current practice and issues of nuclear power and nuclear weaponry. The first several chapters go over the science of nuclear fission and fusion, and the technology used to harness it. This is accompanied by a short history of the development of nuclear weapons and power. The rest of the book then looks at the state of the nuclear industry around the world, both from a commercial, political, and technological standpoint, and how this compares with other energy systems such as the oil industry, coal industry, etc... The book covers the different types of reactors in existence and under design. The authors also give a good history of nuclear accidents, both in the reactors, and accidental release of radioactive waste. The book ends with chapters on how nuclear power has affected international relations, and what options exist in this area for the future. Overall a good book to read; highly informative and comprehensive. One minus that I found is that the authors are found of citing facts and figures and reproducing tables and graphs, without always including the corresponding references in the text. Instead, all the references are listed at the end of the book.

Different subtitles, same book?.......2003-11-09

You might think Megawatts and Megatons subtitled "The Future of Nuclear Power and Nuclear Weapons" (paperback) would have different contents than the one subtitled "A Turning Point in the Nuclear Age" (hardback), like I did; however, with the exception of a new couple-page "Note to the Paperback Edition," I saw no differences. I'd suggest not falling for Amazon's Buy Both on these two, because you'll probably be disappointed to find out you got two editions of the same book.

Comprehensive, Sci, American level treatment of nuke power.......2002-06-07

Although its authors fail to recognize that worldwide oil+natural gas extraction will certainly peak before 2015, this book is very timely. Garwin & Charpak write (p. 246) "We believe that one of the highest duties of society as a whole is to assess and to choose its destiny. In this book our goal is less to prescribe than to inform our readers of the options as we see them ... In considering nuclear energy we do not in any way intend to denigrate other approaches to providing for the needs of society -- including renewable energy, improved efficiency to reduce energy needs, and the like. Nevertheless, all these options will have direct and indirect effects on the environment." Nuclear power for electricity generation is one of their threads, the other is weapons and arms control which Garwin has worked on for many years mostly to point out the futility of defense against weapons not delivered by missiles and against missiles after decoys are deployed.

The book compares the success of nuclear power-plants in France (where reactors produce 80% of the electricity) with the perceived failures in execution in the US. The authors consider both direct (once through) disposal and reprocessed fuel cycles, outlining costs in energy and radioactivity release of both, and the mixed French experience with reprocessing and breeders. They note that advanced reprocessing has the potential to reduce waste volume and long-term radioactivity, at the expense of doubling release today (p. 198). They advocate research into uranium separation from sea-water, noting that early experiments are very promising that this can meet growing power needs for hundreds of years. Of course, what we really need are about 40 years of growth to bridge the world to a mix of fully sustainable electricity sources and to take up the growing slack from declining oil+natural gas. The authors first consider the bridging contribution of coal, arguing (p. 232) that CO2 sequestration is certainly feasible at the cost of reducing power-plant net energy output by 30-50%. Coupled with oil+gas decline, sequestration would reduce anthropogenic CO2 generation to levels well below the lowest 2100 projection of the IPCC (perhaps explaining the seemingly comatose response of Cheney/Bush to the Kyoto process). They discuss reactor concepts like the inaccurately named "energy amplifier" sub-critical, accelerator assisted thorium concept of Rubbia, but less discussion of nearer term developments such as the pebble bed modular reactors that seemed until 4/02 to be on track in South Africa. Both approaches are said to attain passive safety. If such designs are not debugged urgently, we will have to depend on expanded use of derivatives from technically "ancient" light-water reactors derived from submarine power-plants.

The authors also discuss opportunities for terrorists to divert enriched fuel from reprocessing and waste disposal, and note how attractive disposal sites will be for future warriors after all but the plutonium has decayed! They do not discuss the vulnerabilities of existing reactors, but do advocate burying the next generation of power-plants. A chapter on safety also advocates distributing potassium iodide tablets to saturate thyroids of those near power-plants undergoing "an incident"; failure to do this in a timely fashion at Chernobyl produced the criminally high incidence of childhood leukemia. (Until rationality overcomes PR, you can buy suitable KI on the Web. A single dose is useless!) They compare nuclear industry hazards to other industries, tabulating (p. 202) that the relative probability of dying from even a Chernobyl accident is minute compared to cardiovascular disease or "medical errors in hospitals". They discuss the effects of radiation at Chernobyl in detail. There are only a few typesetting errors, and a number of not funny cartoons; the illustrations are clear and useful. It is likely that for the next few decades, our choice in the US will be either a nuclear reactor within 50 miles or electricity rationing through extremely high prices. I plan to use this book in my upcoming college-freshman level energy course for non-science majors ..., and recommend it as a solid introduction to a complex but very real conundrum for our technically challenged society.

Accurate excerpt!?.......2002-04-30

If the second sentence of Chapter One is an accurate excerpt from this book, it is seriously flawed:

Excerpt from Megawatts and Megatons : A Turning Point in the Nuclear Age

Chapter 1

ATOMS, ELECTRONS, AND NUCLEI

All matter is an assembly of atoms. A liter of water, for example, contains about 1026 atoms of hydrogen and oxygen.

Book Description

The battle of Newbury was the turning point of the English Civil War. By August 1643 the King’s cause was very much in the ascendant. Parliament armies had been crushed at Adwalton Moor and Roundway Down and the Royalists had taken Bristol. When they summoned Gloucester to surrender on 10 August the city’s only hope was a Parliament relief army. The London Trained Bands joined the Earl of Essex’s expedition and when battle was joined at Newbury the Londoners more than held their own against the best of the King’s cavalry. With the citizens of London so firmly committed to Parliament’s cause and the King’s cavalry no longer invincible the balance of power had shifted irretrievably.

Customer Reviews:

Not One of Osprey's Better Volumes.......2003-03-23

Osprey's Campaign #116, First Newbury 1643, covers an action in the second season of the English Civil War. This book is obviously designed to appeal primarily to English audiences and hence, seems more narrowly focused than most other volumes in this series. American readers may ponder not only why this battle is described by the author as the "turning point" of the war, but also why such a seemingly minor action merits a book in the same series as Waterloo, Kursk and Gettysburg. The author spends the bulk of the volume relating events leading up to the battle then spends less than 10% on the battle itself. Furthermore, the author's plodding writing style and inattention to detail will surely make a murky situation even more opaque. First Newbury 1643 should only be purchased to round out one's Osprey collection, since it is not one of the better volumes in this series.

First Newbury 1643 begins with a rather lengthy eight-page introduction, followed by a brief section on the art of war in England in 1600-1650. The sections on opposing commanders and opposing armies comprise another 18 pages. The bulk of the campaign narrative focuses on events leading up to the Battle of Newbury, with only eight pages of text covering the battle itself. There are three 3-D Bird's Eye View maps of the Battle of Newbury and five 2-D maps (England in 1643, the siege of Gloucester, the march from Gloucester to Newbury, the march from Newbury to London, and England in late 1643). Perhaps the best parts of this book are the three well-done battle scenes: a parliament sally during the siege of Gloucester, cavalry clash at Newbury and Parliament infantry at Newbury.

Reading the first thirty pages or so of First Newbury 1643, I was struck by this author's seeming inability to describe military history in other than the most mundane terms (e.g. "on such-and-such a date, this body of troops marched here, and then on the next day, they marched there..."). The author incorporates huge chunks - actually far too much - of several contemporary accounts into his narrative and is constantly switching between 17th Century and 21st Century English in the same paragraph. As for describing the Battle of Newbury, not only does the author make no mention of casualties, but he seems at a loss to explain the significance of any of the events described. The description of First Newbury - a minor battle that ended inconclusively - as the "turning point" of the war appears ludicrous. Surely the battles of Marston Moor or Naseby were more significant and decisive. Overall, this book is superficially attractive but poorly-written and historically lightweight.

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