Recent events have rather dampened my spirits, and during a visit to the local shopping centre my wife suggested that I buy a book in the hope that it would brighten me up a bit. I somewhat morosely agreed, and began scanning the shelves of Waterstones in the hope of something that would catch my eye.
My wife is a very clever lady, and she was absolutely right to push me into looking at the books because hidden away on the top shelf of the Military History section was a copy of WARGAMING IN HISTORY VOLUME 2. I took it down ... looked inside ... and my spirits began to revive.
The full title of the book is WARGAMING IN HISTORY VOLUME 2: THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION: DETTINGEN, FONTENOY AND LAUFFELD and it was written by Charles Stuart Grant (with contributions by Phil Olley) and published by Ken Trotman Publishing in 2010 (ISBN 978 1 907417 08 5).
I must make one thing clear ... The War of the Austrian Succession has never been high on my list of interests BUT this book reminded me so much of the first wargames book that I owned (CHARGE! by Brigadier Peter Young and Lieutenant Colonel James Lawford) that I just had to buy it.
I am very glad that I did.
The grandeur of the photographs and the sheer scale (in terms of the number of figures the size of the tabletop) of the battles that have been recreated is impressive, but first and foremost it was the enthusiasm for and love of wargaming that really shone through ... and that was what determined me to buy the book.
Having read WARGAMING IN HISTORY VOLUME 2 from cover to cover I am more than pleased with my purchase. In fact, I enjoyed it so much so that I immediately ordered a copy of Volume 1 ... and I am already giving serious consideration to buying other volumes in the series!
My wife is a very clever lady, and she was absolutely right to push me into looking at the books because hidden away on the top shelf of the Military History section was a copy of WARGAMING IN HISTORY VOLUME 2. I took it down ... looked inside ... and my spirits began to revive.
The full title of the book is WARGAMING IN HISTORY VOLUME 2: THE WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION: DETTINGEN, FONTENOY AND LAUFFELD and it was written by Charles Stuart Grant (with contributions by Phil Olley) and published by Ken Trotman Publishing in 2010 (ISBN 978 1 907417 08 5).
I must make one thing clear ... The War of the Austrian Succession has never been high on my list of interests BUT this book reminded me so much of the first wargames book that I owned (CHARGE! by Brigadier Peter Young and Lieutenant Colonel James Lawford) that I just had to buy it.
I am very glad that I did.
The grandeur of the photographs and the sheer scale (in terms of the number of figures the size of the tabletop) of the battles that have been recreated is impressive, but first and foremost it was the enthusiasm for and love of wargaming that really shone through ... and that was what determined me to buy the book.
Having read WARGAMING IN HISTORY VOLUME 2 from cover to cover I am more than pleased with my purchase. In fact, I enjoyed it so much so that I immediately ordered a copy of Volume 1 ... and I am already giving serious consideration to buying other volumes in the series!
Hi Bob,
ReplyDeleteNothing like a good book to help raise morale! (That's a wise spouse you have there, you lucky man!) I'm glad you enjoyed it and I think you'll like the series; well....at least the ones authored by Mr. Grant and Mr. Olley. There are one or two other volumes that cover the American Civil War that were written by some other gentlemen (can't recall their names at the moment). Savor every page!
Well done that woman!
ReplyDeleteAn excellent book !
ReplyDeleteI have four of the series and I can't recommend them enough. Absolutely fantastic. I'm saving my pennies for the Peninsula volume now.
ReplyDeleteMartin,
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent book, and cannot recommend it too highly.
I am thinking about buying the books in the series that deal with the American Civil War as this is a war that does hold a particular interest for me.
All the best,
Bob
Jim Duncan,
ReplyDeleteI don't know how I missed buying them before ... and the fact that I did is all down to my wife!
All the best,
Bob
Mosstrooper,
ReplyDeleteIt is - as you state - an excellent book.
All the best,
Bob
Conrad Kinch,
ReplyDeleteIf you bought them, then they must be good!
I look forward to reading the next one when it arrives.
All the best,
Bob
Waterstones/Amazon here I come thanks for raising awareness of these books glad its raising morale
ReplyDeleteFraxinus,
ReplyDeleteBe warned ... it was not cheap ... but it's effect on my morale was more than worth it.
All the best,
Bob
Just the medicine eh!
ReplyDeleteI think you will enjoy the ACW titles.
BC.
Retail therapy - but it has gotta be the right type of retail. Women, I believe, nutted out its benefits long ago. Just the thing to revive the spirits, recharge the batteries, kickstart the - well, you'll know what I mean.
ReplyDeleteNote to self: keep a lookout for such books in this town...
I do wargame in that eara having a lot of Spencer Smith figures must get myself a copy
ReplyDeleteBarry Carter,
ReplyDeleteI may well buy one or more of the American Civil War titles ... once I have read Volume 1 of the series.
All the best,
Bob
Archduke Piccolo,
ReplyDeleteMy wife's particular forte is bargain hunting. She once found an designer-label evening dress in her size on sale in TKMaxx that had been reduced from £600.00 to £40.00!
I only wish that there were those sorts of bargains available to wargamers.
All the best,
Bob
PS. Good luck finding any of these books where you live.
Johntheone,
ReplyDeleteIf this is one of the historical periods that you wargame, I think that you might enjoy this book.
All the best,
Bob
Great find, Bob. And I'm glad to hear of your reviving spirits.
ReplyDeleteI'd be hard-pressed to think of a bookstore remaining in the US where you could buy something like that off the shelf. Well, there's always Amazon of course but there's a definite appeal to browsing the shelves yourself and coming away with a treasure.
Regards,
Steve
Nice find Bob- though it has to be said I can't remember the last time I bought a book from a traditional high street book shop (not counting 2nd hand ones here)
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Pete.
Corporal_Trim (Steve),
ReplyDeleteI was astonished to see a proper, hardback wargames book on sale in a UK bookshop. The range of rules from Osprey are featured on their display stand ... but I have seen nothing like this for years. All I could assume was that someone had ordered it, and then not collected it.
Whatever the reason, I bought it ... and it has helped revive my desire to wargame no end!
All the best,
Bob
Pete,
ReplyDeleteIt was a prime example of synchronicity at work! I needed the boost ... my wife almost pushed me into the bookshop ... and the book was on the shelf.
I still do buy quite a few books from Waterstones ... but rarely from anywhere else. The rest of my 'new' books are bought via the Internet because online shops have the range of stock that high street shops just cannot carry any more.
All the best,
Bob