Book Reviews

As the number of posts on this blog is gradually building up, I felt I ought to try and organise it a bit better. So I'm trying out the Google Blogger 'Pages' function. This, my first such page, is for all my book reviews, listing them as links in various categories. I'll start out by listing them alphabetically, by the author's surname, and see how that works!

Some of these reviews are posted whilst or directly after reading the book in question, whereas others may be older, or written up from notes taken when I first read the book. Entries that don't have an active link are either books I'm currently reading, or books I have read, but haven't got around to reviewing on this blog as yet.


NAPOLEONIC 
Adam, Albrecht Napoleon's Army in Russia.
Barbero, Alessandro - The Battle (Waterloo).
Belloc, HilaireNapoleon's Campaign of 1812, and the retreat from Moscow.
Bonaparte, NapoleonClisson & Eugenie. The young Napoleon tries his hand at romantic fiction.
Bonaparte, Napoleon - Memoirs, ed. Somerset de Chair.
Bonaparte, Napoleon - Military Maxims of Napoleon, ed. David Chandler.
Britten Austin, Paul - 1812, Napoleon's Invasion Of russia. A real masterpiece: a 'word film', collated from myriad firsthand accounts, available in both three-volume and single-volume editions. A shorter review of this epic meisterwork can be read here.
Britten Austin, Paul - 1815, The Return of Napoleon. An exciting account of Napoleon's landing in and journey through France.
Broers, MichaelNapoleon's Other War, Bandits, Rebels and their Pursuers in the Age of Revolutions.
CarruthersNapoleon on Campaign.
CaulaincourtWith Napoleon in Russia.
Chandler, David - The Campaigns Of Napoleon. A classic! A very short review can be read here.
Chandler, David - Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars.
Chandler, David - Napoleon. Brief mainly military biog.
Chandler, David, Ed. - Napoleon's Marshals. A compilation of 26 short biogs by various eminent authors.
Chandler, David - Waterloo, the Hundred Days.
Clayton & O'ConnellBonaparte & the British. Catalogue of the excellent 2015 British Museum print show, with various essays.
Cordier, Sylvain, Ed. - Napoleon, The Imperial Household. An amazing catalogue of a travelling exhibition, celebrating the splendour of Bonaparte's court.
Cornwall, Bernard - Waterloo [currently on 'pause', part way through reading this!].
Dawson, Paul LNapoleon's Imperial Guard, The Infantry, uniforms and equipment.
Dawson, Paul LNapoleon's Imperial Guard, The Cavalry, uniforms and equipment.
Dawson, Paul L - Napoleon's Waterloo Army: Uniforms and Equipment.
Delderfield, R. F. - Imperial Sunset.
Delderfield, R. F. - March of the Twenty-Six. Napoleon's marshals.
Delderfield, R. F.Napoleon In Love.
Delderfield, R. F. - The Retreat From Moscow.
du Faur, Faber - With Napoleon in Russia.
de Fezensac, Lieut. Gen. - A Journal of the Russian Campaign of 1812.
Esdaile, CharlesNapoleon's Wars.
Field, Andrew - The French at Waterloo, Vols I & II. Volume I: Napoleon, his household, HQ and 1st Corps. Volume II: 2nd & 6th Corps, Cavalry, Artillery, Imperial Guard & Medical Services.
Field, AndrewGrouchy's Waterloo, the battles of Ligny and Wavre.
Field, AndrewWaterloo, The French Perspective.
Franklin, JohnQuatre Bras (Osprey Campaign Series).
Funcken, L. & F.The Napoleonic Wars, parts I & II,  (Arms & Uniforms series).
Gallagher, John - Iron Marshal, The, biog. of Marshal Louis N Davout.
Gardiner, Robert - Warships of the Napoleonic Era.
Gill, John H.Thunder on the Danube. Vol. I.
Gill, John H. - Thunder on the Danube. Vol. II.
Gill, John H. - Thunder on the Danube. Vol. III.
Gill, John H. - With Eagles to Glory.
Glover, Gareth - Napoleon in 100 Objects.
Glover, GarethWellington in 100 Objects.
Glover, Gareth - Waterloo in 100 Objects.
Haythornthwaite, Philip - Napoleon's Military Machine.
Hibbert, ChristopherWaterloo.
Hofschröer, PeterWellington's Smallest Victory. A typically ornery account from Hofschröer - the military historian with several axes to grind, currently in prison, I believe! - dealing in this instance with Capt. Siborne's Waterloo diorama, casting* Wellington in a less than complimentary light.
* Please note esoteric lead-figure making pun... fully intended.
Howarth, DavidTrafalgar, The Nelson Touch.
Howarth, DavidA Near Run Thing (Waterloo).
Hussey, JohnWaterloo, The Campaign of 1815, vols I & II. Epic 'command and control' account of the fateful Hundred Days.
Ireland, Bernard - Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail.
Jakob, WalterDiary of a Napoleonic Foot Soldier.
Jomini, Antoine HenriThe Campaign of Waterloo. Abridged/extracted from a much larger work.
Korolev, AlexanderThe Great Retreat. Richly illustrated compendium of archaeological artefacts, from the route of the Grande Armée's calamitous retreat out of Russia.
Larrey, Baron Surgeon to Napoleon's Imperial Guard.
Lee, Christopher - Nelson versus Napoleon, The Long Haul to Trafalgar.
Limm, Andrew - Walcheren to Waterloo, the Vritish Amy in the Low Countries during the French Revolutionary & Napoleonic Wars, 1793-1815.
Luvaas, Jay Napoleon on the Art of War.
Mercer, CavalieJournal of the Waterloo Campaign. Reviews of both the abridged and full editions, from Pen & Sword.
Muir, RoryWellington, The Path to Victory.
Muir, Rory - Wellington, Waterloo & The Fortunes Of Peace, 1814-1852.
Nafziger, George F.Napoleon's Invasion of Russia.
North, Johnathan (Ed.) - The Napoleon Options 10 imaginary 'alternative history' scenarios.
Parquin, Charles - Military Memoirs of, The; not much of a review, but I cover this book briefly in a post on painting some AB figures, here.
Petre, F. Loraine Napoleon's Campaign in Prussia, 1806.
Roberts, AndrewNapoleon The Great.
Roberts, AndrewWaterloo, Napoleon's Last Gamble.
Rousselot/RyanNapoleon's Elite Cavalry. A beautiful collection of Rousselot plates focussed on certain key regiments of the Imperial Guard.
Scott, Sir WalterThe Life of Napoleon Buonaparte, A Biography. The single volume abridgement of Scott's epic bestseller, formerly long out of print.
Simms, BrendanThe Longest Afternoon. A superbly dramatic account of the defence of La Haye Sainte, at Waterloo.
Smith, Digby - Armies of 1812. The French and their Allies, plus Austria, Prussia, Russia and Turkey.
Strathern, PaulNapoleon in Egypt.
Talty, Stephan - The Illustrious Dead. Excellent book exploring how typhus decimated the Grande Armée during the Russia 1812 campaign.
Tarle, EugeneNapoleon's Invasion of Russia, 1812. Mid-twentieth century Russian account of 1812.
Uffindel, AndrewThe Eagle's Last Triumph.
Vernet, Carle - Uniformes Napoléoniens Uniformes Napoleoniens, 1812 Bardin regulations.
Vossler, A. H.With Napoleon in Russia, a Würtemberger cavalryman's memoirs; covers 1812-13.
Wheeler, BroadleyNapoleon & the Invasion of England, subtitled The Story of the Great Terror.
Yung, TheodoreVingt Bataillesde la Revolution et de l'Empire. Prints of Napoleonic battles.
Zamoyski, Adam1812, Napoleon's Fatal March on Moscow.
Zamoyski, AdamRites of Peace. The Congress of Vienna.


WWII 
Ambrose, Stephen E. D-Day. Just the big day itself, with a heavy weighting towards Omaha. Ambrose seems out of favour, perhaps especially in the U.S. at present (or at least on the TMP message boards). I think that's a great shame, and very largely misplaced. This is an excellent book, rich in firsthand testimony, and consummately well written, from the point of view of exciting historical narrative.
Bastable, Jonathan - Voices From Stalingrad.
Baxter, Ian - Images of War: Hitler's Headquarters.
Baxter, Ian - Images of War: The Armour of Rommel's Africa Korps.
Baxter, Ian - Images of War: Hitler's Defeat on the Eastern Front.
Baxter, Ian - Images of War: 7th SS at War.
Baxter, Ian - Images of War: Panzer Grenadiers, 1942-5.
Baxter, Ian - Images of War: Hitler’s Panther Tank Battalions, 1943-45.
Beevor, AntonyStalingrad.
Beevor, AntonyArdennes, 1944.
Beevor, AntonyD-Day, Battle for Normandy.
Birch, Gavin - Images of War: Sherman Tank, The.
Blades, Brooke S - Images of War: The Americans on D-Day and in Normandy.
Blades, Brooke S - Images of War: The Americans, from the Ardennes to VE Day.
Brown, RobertGerman Destroyers (Ship Craft, 25). Richly illustrated modelmaker ref for Z-Class German naval destroyers, on Pen & Sword's Seaforth imprint.
Calvo (illus.) - La Bète est Morte! Amazing WWII anti-Nazi French propaganda bande dessinées. Not much of a review, as yet. More just a bunch of pics and some initial thoughts.
Cawthorne, Nigel Army Of Steel.
Cawthorne, Nigel - Decisive Battles of WWII.
Cochet, François - Fallschirmjäger, 1937-41. First in a two-part series on German paratroops.
Cochet, François - Fallschirmjäger, 1942-45. Second in a two-part series on German paratroops.
Cole, LanceThe Jeep. First in the new Land Craft series from Pen & Sword, companion to the Tank Craft and other similar lines, aimed at modellers.
Dennis / Cummings (Ed.) - In Action With Destroyers, 1939-45, The Wartime Memoirs of a Commander.
Diamond, Jon -  Hell in the Central Pacific, the Palau Islands,1944
Diamond, Jon - Images of War: Montgomery's Rhine River Crossings, Operation Plunder.
Dixon, JeremyU-Boat Commanders. Brief biogs of WWII Knight's Cross recipients.
Doyle, David - Images of War: M7 Priest. Terrific book on this interesting American SPG.
Doyle, David - Images of War: M29 Weasel, tracked cargo carrier and variants.
Doyle, David - Images of War: M36/M36B1 Tank Destroyer.
Erdmann, HolgerNuts & Bolts, 32: Mittlere Geländegängige Lastkraftwagen (o), The medium cross-country lorries 3 ton (6x4) of the Reichswehr and Wehrmacht. Or, more simply, German 3-ton trucks!
Forrester, C. S.Gold From Crete (a collection of short stories set in WWII, mostly nautical, but including one about Operation Sea Lion, imaging how it would have played out had it gone ahead).
Glantz - Battle for Leningrad, The.
Glantz - When Titans Clashed.
Gonzalez & SagarraLake Ilmen, 1942. Spaniards of the Blue Division, fighting in the snows of Russia.
Goss, ChrisFocke-Wulf 190, The Early Years.
Goss, ChrisKnights of the Battle of Britain. Luftwaffe Knight's Cross recipients.
Goss, ChrisLuftwaffe Training Aircraft.
Goss, Chris - Messerschmidt Bf109, the latter years - War in the east to the fall of Germany.
Grehan, John - Images of War: Battle of Midway.
Hargreaves, RichardGermans In Normandy, The. Excellent account of the French campaign from the German perspective.
Hambucken, DenisA G.I. In The Ardennes, the Battle of the Bulge. Lavishly illustrated pictorial and textual study of the subject. Superb!
Harmsen, PeterNanjing, 1937, Battle for a Doomed City.
Harmsen, Peter - Shanghai, 1937, Stalingrad on The Yangtze.
Heath, Tim - Creating Hitler's Germany. Interesting firsthand accounts of how Nazi Germany came into being.
Heath, TimHitler's Housewives. More feminine perspectives on Germany's WWII experience.
Henshaw, John Liberty's Provenance, the evolution of the Liberty ship from its Sunderland origins.
Hewitt, NickCoastal Convoys, 1939-45.
Hillier, MarkThe Luftwaffe Battle of Britain Fighter Pilot's Kitbag.
Hitler, Adolf - Mein Kampf.
Hoffman, HeinrichWith Hitler in the West.
Jackson, Robert - M2/M3, American halftracks of the Second World War.
Johnen, Wilhelm - Duel Under the Stars. Memoirs of a Luftwaffe Me 110 pilot and night fighter.
Jowett, Philip - Images of War: Japan Triumphant: The Far East Campaign, 1941-42.
Kahn, Mark - Images of War: Kent at War, 1939-1945.
Kershaw, IanHitler. My review of the single-volume version of Kershaw's huge Hitler biog.
Koreman, MeganEscape Line, The. Fascinating account of 'Dutch Paris', a clandestine escape route for Jews, refugees and Allied servicemen in Occupied Europe.
Leckie, RobertHelmet For My Pillow (WWII memoir, source for HBO's Pacific).
Martinez, Eduardo - Images of War: Hungarian Armoured Fighting Vehicles, in the Second World War.
More, CharlesFrom Arromanches to the Elbe. The 144th Regt, RAC, from D-Day +8 to Germany.
Mulley, ClaireThe Women Who Flew For Hitler. Superb double biography of Melitta Von Stauffenberg and Hanna Reitsch.
Neely, DarrenUS 3rd Armored Div, in WWII, a lavishly illustrated pictorial history.
O'Kelly, MichaelSecond World War Explained, The. Should've been titled A Brief History of WWII.
Oliver, Dennis - Jagdpanther Tank Destroyer, German Army & Waffen SS, Western Europe, 1944-45 (Tank Craft, 8).
Oliver, DennisAchilles M10.
Oliver, Dennis - Panther Tanks, German Army & Waffen SS, Normandy Campaign, 1944 (Tank Craft, 3); and Defence of the West, 1945 (Tank Craft 18).
Oliver, Dennis - Tiger I, German Army Heavy Tank, Southern Front, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, 1942-45 (Tank Craft, 10).
Oliver, Dennis - Stug III & IV, German Army, Waffen SS & Luftwaffe, Western Front, 1944-45 (Tank Craft 19).
Oliver, DennisSdkfz 251, Kanonenwagen (Land Craft)
Oliver, Dennis - Panther Tanks, German Army Panzer Brigades, Western and Eastern Fronts, 1944-45 (Tank Craft 24)
Oliver, DennisTiger I and Tiger II Tanks, German Army and Waffen-SS, Nipornandy Campaign, 1944 (Tank Craft 25)
Oliver, Dennis - Jagdpanzer IV, German Army and Waffen-SS Tank Destroyers, 1944-45 (Tank Craft 26)
Oliver, Dennis - Panzer III, German Army Light Tank, Operation Barbarossa, 1941 (Tank Craft 27)
Paterson, Lawrence - Eagles Over The Sea, 1935-42.
Plowman, JeffreyGreece, 1941.
Plowman, Jeffrey - Tank Attack at Monte Cassino. Fascinating account of a little known action.
Ranger, AlanThe Einheits-Diesel. Excellent reference on this pre/early-war truck, with many useful pictures, not to be found elsewhere.
Rehfeldt, HansMortar Gunner on the Eastern Front.
Roberts, AndrewHitler & Churchill, Secrets of Leadership.
Roberts, John - Battleship Repulse.
Roper, Hugh TrevorLast Days of Hitler, The.
Ruff, Volker - Der Strabokran, a very specialised book on German WWII tank repair cranes!
Sajer, Guy - Forgotten Soldier, The. Ostfront memoir by French volunteer in the Wehrmacht.
Saunders, Tim - Operation Totalize. Canadians, Brits and Poles vs. SS and other Germans, in the Normandy campaign.
Saunders, Tim & Hone, RichardHitlerjugend, 12th SS Pz Div, Normandy
Shepherd, Ben - Hitler's SoldiersThe German Army in the Third Reich.
Shirer, William - Rise and Fall of The Third Reich, The.
Siedler, Hans - Images of War: Hitler's Defeat on the Western Front, 1944-45.
Siedler, Hans - Images of War: Hitler's Anti-Tank Weapons Hitler's Anti-Tank Weapons, 1939-1945
Singleton, AndyPainting Wargame Figures - WWII in The Desert.
Sledge, EugeneWith The Old Breed (WWII memoir, source for HBO's Pacific).
Speer, AlbertInside the Third Reich.
Tucker-Jones, AnthonyAllied Armour, 1939-45.
Tucker-Jones, Anthony - Soviet Armour, 1941-45.
Tucker-Jones, Anthony - Hitler's Armour, 1933-45.
Türk, Herman, Urbanke, Axel - To The Gates Of Moscow. Fabulous collection of photos and diary entries, plus contextual commentary.
Villahermosa, GilbertoHitler's Paratroopers.
Walsh, StephenStalingrad, 1942-1943, The Infernal Cauldron.
Wellum, Geoffrey - First Light. Engaging memoir of a Spitfire pilot during WWII and the Battle of Britain.


ACW 
Bostick, DouglasThe Confederacy's Secret Weapon.
Catton/GreenspanPicture History of the Civil War. This post is more about the amazing Greenspan 'battle maps' than Catton's book as a whole!
Chamberlain, Joshua LawrenceThe Passing of the Armies.
Foote, Shelby - The Civil War, Vol, I, Fort Sumter to Perryville.
Foote, Shelby - The Civil War, Vol, II, Fredericksburg to Meridian.
Foote, Shelby - The Civil War, Vol, III, Red River to Appomattox.
Foreman, AmandaA World on Fire. Britain's relations with America during the ACW.
National Geographic100th Anniversary ACW issues.
O'Shea/GreenspanBattle Maps of the Civil War.
White, Ronald C. -  A. Lincoln.

OTHER ERAS & GENERAL HISTORY
Barnett, Corelli - Leadership in War.
Brendon, Piers - Dark Valley, 'a panorama of the 1930s', prelude to WWII.
Clark, Christopher - Iron Kingdom, The. Prussia, 1600-1947.
Dodson, Aidan - German Battleship Helgoland.
Katcher & EmbeltonThe Mexican American War, 1846-1848 (Osprey Men-at-Arms series).
Sallah & WeissTiger Force, US forces on a muderous rampage in Vietnam and the subsequent cover up and exposé.
Worden, Blair - English Civil War, The.
Zamoyski, Adam - Warsaw 1920, Lenin's Failed Invasion of Europe. Excellent concise account of a little known post WWI conflict, which helped contain the Western spread of Communism.

MINIATURES & MODEL-MAKING
Chatham, Peter & Weston, StephenEarly Railways, A Guide for the Modeller.
Clark, Alex - Small Scale Armour Modelling.
Pearson, HarryAchtung Schweinhund.
Perry, Alan & MichaelMasterpieces in Miniature.
Walsh, ArthurThe Boys' Book Of Airfix.

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