Amongst the books that I found during the first stage of the spring cleaning of my toy/wargames room was a copy of WHITE EAGLE, RED STAR.
The book tells the story of the Russo-Polish War of 1919-20, and was written by Norman Davies in 1972. My paperback copy was published by Pimlico (which is part of Random House) in 2003 (ISBN 0 7126 0694 7).
My interest in this little-known war stems from an article I read in a magazine many years ago, but it has recently been reinvigorated by several events. The first of these was my purchase of the DVD of the film BATTLE OF WARSAW.
The second was my participation in a re-fight of the Battle of Ivangorod. Although this was not a battle from the Russo-Polish War it was fought over the same part of Europe and showed yet again that large-scale battles can be fought on a tabletop.
The third was Ross Macfarlane's recent Russian Civil War battle report. Again this might not have been set during the Russo-Polish War ... but it could easily have been.
I am now re-reading WHITE EAGLE, RED STAR ... and who knows where that will lead.
The book tells the story of the Russo-Polish War of 1919-20, and was written by Norman Davies in 1972. My paperback copy was published by Pimlico (which is part of Random House) in 2003 (ISBN 0 7126 0694 7).
My interest in this little-known war stems from an article I read in a magazine many years ago, but it has recently been reinvigorated by several events. The first of these was my purchase of the DVD of the film BATTLE OF WARSAW.
The second was my participation in a re-fight of the Battle of Ivangorod. Although this was not a battle from the Russo-Polish War it was fought over the same part of Europe and showed yet again that large-scale battles can be fought on a tabletop.
The third was Ross Macfarlane's recent Russian Civil War battle report. Again this might not have been set during the Russo-Polish War ... but it could easily have been.
I am now re-reading WHITE EAGLE, RED STAR ... and who knows where that will lead.
Looks like a great movie. His film adaptation of the Fire and Sword trilogy was brilliant. I need to figure out if wr have a dvd player tbat can handle the format or find an american format version.
ReplyDeleteI find the Soviet Polish war more interesting for a vareity of reasons not to mention that the White Eagle Red Star board wargame was my introduction to the period.
Ross Mac,
ReplyDeleteIt is a very good war film. They did not spare any money when it came to the battle scenes. The sight of all that cavalry and FT-17 tanks was worth the cost of the DVD alone.
I hope that you can get a copy of the film. If not, a full copy is available on YouTube.
I did not realise that there was a board game with the same title as the book ... but now I do, I will try to get a copy.
All the best,
Bob
Terrific post, I shall look for that book. If Ross is referencing the same board game, a mid 1980s production from the now defunct GDW, I have that in my collection and loved playing it. A very interesting war with some epic swings of fortune. I shall look for that film on YT.
ReplyDeleteMichael Peterson,
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying reading the book, and it has already given me some ideas for scenarios.
I think that Ross Mac was referring to the GDW game that you own. I did a search on the Internet to find out how much a second-hand copy would cost ... and any that were on sale were well outside my price range.
All the best,
Bob