Having known the late Dr Paddy Griffith from 1980 until he far too early death in 2010, I always tried to buy copies of his books. On my bookshelves I have:
- NAPOLEONIC WARGAMING FOR FUN (1980)
- FORWARD INTO BATTLE: FIGHTING TACTICS FROM WATERLOO TO VIETNAM (1981)
- A BOOK OF SANDHURST WARGAMES (1982)
- NOT OVER BY CHRISTMAS (1983)
- RALLY ONCE AGAIN (1986)
- BATTLE IN THE CIVIL WAR: GENERALSHIP AND TACTICS IN AMERICA 1861–65 (1986)
- HOW TO PLAY HISTORICAL WAR COUNCIL GAMES (1991)
- THE NAPOLEON OPTIONS: ALTERNATE DECISIONS OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARS (2000)
- BATTLE TACTICS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR (2001)
- SPRAWLING WARGAMES MULTIPLAYER WARGAMING (2009)
One volume that was missing and that I did want was THE GREAT WAR ON THE WESTERN FRONT: A SHORT HISTORY, which was published in 2008. When I was told that an online bookseller had a small stock of this book on sale for little more than the cost of the postage, I ordered a copy, and it has recently been delivered.
I am currently reading this book, and it is a very typical Paddy Griffith book. In his introduction he makes the point that he wants to produce a subjective rather than a sensationalist book about the Great War on the Western Front (he comments that there are far more of the latter than there are of the former), and from what I have read so far, he did what he set out to achieve.
THE GREAT WAR ON THE WESTERN FRONT: A SHORT HISTORY was written by Dr Paddy Griffith and published by Pen & Sword Books in 2008 (ISBN 978 1 8441 5764 8).
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Bob,
ReplyDeleteYes, it is good to have a comprehensive Library of books by a favored Author. I find that older books from Authors who are no longer with us command large inflated prices- this is a shame really and it is a practice which should be frowned upon. Glad you have the book now. Regards. KEV.
Kev Robertson (Kev),
DeletePaddy Griffith’s work is enjoying a bit of a well-deserved renaissance, mostly thanks the John Curry’s ‘History of Wargaming’ project.
All the best,
Bob
I think it is an excellent primer on the Western Front, and should be on the booklist for schools which teach WW1 as part of their curriculum. The last chapter on the historiography of the period is a great piece of writing.
ReplyDeleteTrebian,
DeleteI am still reading it, but it is an impressive and persuasive book. I agree that it presents a much better and balanced point of view about the Western Front than any of the textbooks I had to use.
All the best,
Bob
He did some Ospreys too - I have 'World War 2 Desert Tactics' ( Elite 162 ) , French Napoleonic Infantry Tactics' ( Elite 159 ) and 'The Vauban Fortifications of France' ( Fortress 42 ). Always an interesting read, very sad that he left us too early. How many more great books he might have written.
ReplyDeleteDavid in Suffolk,
DeletePaddy wrote a lot of stuff, and it is a great pity that he died before his true value as a military historian was realised by a wider audience.
All the best,
Bob
I read this book some time ago when it came out. It really started to overturn my understanding, not only of tactics, but also the wider areas of strategy, politics and even social attitudes. For me WW1 became much more nuanced than the 60’s “Oh what a Lovely War” view. I could go on, but this isn’t my blog and most of my thoughts are probably (in the phraseology of the time) ‘poppycock’, ‘piffle paffle’ and ‘gobble-a-duke’ anyways. Happy reading.
ReplyDeleteSteve8,
DeleteThanks for your feedback, which is very helpful. I’m still reading the book, but I must admit that from what I have read so far, it does challenge the still widely accepted view of the First World War.
All the best,
Bob