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Friday, 21 October 2016

Nile River Gunboats 1882-1918

Yesterday's post included a copy of the latest offering from Osprey Publishing's New Vanguard series ... NILE RIVER GUNBOATS 1882-1918 (ISBN 978 1 4728 1476 0). It has been written by Angus Konstam and illustrated by Peter Dennis, and as a result I knew that would be very good value.


The book's contents include:
  • Introduction
  • The River
    • British interests on the Nile
  • Nile Gunboat Development
    • General Gordon's 'Penny Steamers'
    • Tamai-class gunboats
    • El-Zafir-class gunboats
    • Sultan-class gunboats
  • The Nile Gunboats
    • The 'Penny Steamers'
      • Other Khartoum gunboats
      • Later gunboats
      • Protection
      • Propulsion
      • Conditions on board
      • Firepower
  • Gunboats in action
    • The 1884-85 campaign
    • The 1896-98 campaign
  • Further Reading
  • Index
This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to re-fight either of the Sudan campaigns as its coverage of the ships that were used and the service they gave is sufficiently detailed enough to satisfy all but the most ardent 'rivet counter'. I have been waiting for this book to be published ever since Osprey announced that it was being written ... and I am not disappointed by it in any way. The illustrations are excellent, and I must admit that seeing them made me give serious thought to setting aside my current Napoleonic project for a while whilst I scratch-built some Nile gunboats!
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8 comments:

  1. Old NickFriday, October 21, 2016 12:21:00 pm

    Thank you for sharing this. Noticed it before was and was curious about it. Going to pick it up now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robert (Bob) CorderyFriday, October 21, 2016 4:58:00 pm

      Mark Nichipor,

      I hope you find it as useful and inspirational as I have.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. KEV. Robertson.Friday, October 21, 2016 1:10:00 pm

    Bob,
    23 years ago two Brothers (Ron and Gordon Brown) approached me at my Stall at Parramatta Town Hall - to order a scratch built Nile Gunboat (Kitchener era) in 54mm for their Toy Soldiers...I designed and built the model with my only reference being the Movie- 'The Four Feathers' (Original Movie - starting Ralph Richardson)...a book such as the OSPREY Edition would have come in very handy at the time. My friend Gordon is now 80 and not in good health - and the Nile Gunboat was sold some 12 months ago by Ron. I enjoyed building the model. Regards. KEV.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robert (Bob) CorderyFriday, October 21, 2016 4:59:00 pm

      Kev,

      That must have been some model, and I wish that I could see what it looked like.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. Mike LewisFriday, October 21, 2016 4:18:00 pm

    Thanks for pointing this out - I am planning on producing some 54mm Gunboats next year to go with the Imperial Miniatures Sudan range so this will be useful...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robert (Bob) CorderyFriday, October 21, 2016 5:07:00 pm

      Mike Lewis,

      How big are your models going to be? I should imagine they would have to be at least 18"/45cm long x 6"/15cm wide in order to fit in with the figures.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  4. Mike LewisSunday, October 23, 2016 12:06:00 pm

    Bob

    Haven't worked out the exact compromise between scale and realistic proportions to actually be able to produce them but I am guessing that will be about the size.

    I have a laser cutter coming towards the end of the year so will be making them from a mix of laser cutting, 3d printing and from wood, metal and resin...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Robert (Bob) CorderySunday, October 23, 2016 2:05:00 pm

      Mike Lewis,

      It sounds like it is going to be a very interesting project, and I look forward to seeing the finished prototype gunboat.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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