Reading Matters

In my long lay-off from gaming over the last few months, I did a fair bit of reading around the subject. One was the sister volume to an old Duffy, favourite, one a fortuitous bargain find, and one a surprisingly readable academic work.

So first up, the Duffy. This was the Army of Maria Theresa, originally published in the 70s. I think I read it just the once back in the day. I'd been given the Army of Frederick the Great for a birthday/Christmas present* (close in date so could have been either or both). I read that to death. It was a reference book for a good while - copying the maps in the back for games, and having the book propped open on the regimental pen portraits as a painting guide. A friend had the M-T book as he built up an Austrian army. The book is now out of print and people are asking silly prices on Amazon. I found a good copy on Abe Books for £20, which must be about what it was sold at 40 years ago. In latter years, Duffy updated this work in his magisterial 2 volume history, Instrument of War and By Force of Arms.

* My what a present that turned out to be, leading me into the wonderful world of Dr Duffy's writings.

Apologies for the poor quality image. I'll try to get a better shot next time I'm in the cabin.

Whilst the two-volume work (Instrument of War and By Force of Arms) goes into much, much, more detail, the earlier one is still a great read. If you are at all interested in mid-18th century European warfare, it is a fabulous place to start if you can find it for a reasonable price. Duffy is a real Theresiaphile - he readily admits that. But this does not blind him to the Kaiserlicks shortcomings, nor does it make him underestimate the Prussians*** (he is clearly not a fan of Old Fritz). I wonder if David of the Ragged Soldier blog has been influenced by Duffy. [I nearly wrote the Ragged Trousered Soldier].

*** Late Edit: A slight correction is due. In the second edition of the Army of Frederick the Great, Duffy upgraded his assessment of the Prussian light troops. To be fair though the original poor opinion was amended by Duffy following the discovery of more favourable assessments from the Austrian side.

Duffy (as the name suggests), is a real Son of Erin too, and has great affection for the Wild Geese in Maria-Theresa's employ. Amongst the many pearls in the book, I particularly like the following anecdote.

It's always the Prince de Ligne isn't it?

The next book was a bit of a surprise. A pleasant surprise. I bought the book for the same reason as Monty Python's Mrs Smoker bought a piston engine: "Because it was a bargain"**. A £20 book sold by Naval and Military Press for £5. No brainer. It was a pleasant surprise because I was expecting it to be the usual Anglocentric battle history that you see so much of. You know the type, an allied army with the British forming half or less of it, fights the French, there being some kind of British blunder, 90% of the book is about the British and there's next to no mention of the Allies. I'd read the same author's work on Ramillies, and was not really impressed (no British blunder however).

** Talking of which, Freeview Channel 91 have been showing the Python series from 1969 on.

Better than I expected!

James Falkener's the Battle of Fontenoy, 1745: Saxe against Cumberland in the War of the Austrian Succession, is not that book. It gave a pretty fair account of all combatants: British, French, Dutch, Austrians and Hanoverians. It is also somewhat kind to Cumberland - though he gives a good rationale for this. I felt like I'd learned something. What makes this a bonus buy for wargamers are the orders of battle in the appendices and the reproduction of a detailed contemporary battle map. As soon as Mr Heroic and Mr Ros start selling their fine 6mm Seven Years War figurines again I shall start to build up French and Allied armies.

If you've read the Charles Grant book on Fontenoy, this map will be familiar.

All of this has persuaded me to pre-order his forthcoming title on Prince Eugene from Pen & Sword books. Like the M-T book, this is a firm recommendation from me.

Third in the list is a Helion book on the ECW. Specifically this one:

I think this started out as Martin Bennett's PhD thesis back in the 80s. Despite that it is much more readable than you would expect. Even though it doesn't devote relatively much space to a narrative of the war, I am enjoying it. Still got a long way to go, so I still might change my mind. Good on the background of the Royalist Commissioners of Array and the methods of financing the war effort, and on the make up of the officer class. Bennett analyses the social background of both the Commisioners and the officers. The book explains how incredibly small the Royalist regiments were - not through attrition, but right from their heyday. 17 identified horse, and 15 foot regiments totalled 5,000 men! So far I've enjoyed all the Helion regional ECW histories that I've read.

So, to sum up, a 'comfort read' and two pleasant surprises. A good result.