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Monday, January 2, 2012

Three good reviews for my military history books

This week I've discovered three more reviews of my military history books. My Armies of the Adowa Campaign got its fourth five-star review on Amazon:

"A very good introduction to this forgotten battle. This is the only english language book that I know of devoted to the battle of Adowa.
"Twenty years after Little Bighorn which ended in the massacre of nearly 300, the Italians suffered nearly 6,000 killed in a huge catastrophe that resulted in the collapse of an Italian government. The two battles had many similarities--mis-judged indiginous enemy's strength; allowing an already outnumbered force to be split in the face of the enemy; over-estimated ability of a modern European/American army to overcome indigenous numbers; indigenous forces armed with modern weapons (in some cases more modern than that of the European/Americans).
"However, the scale of the battle, and the Italian disaster was exponentially greater with concomitant strategic effects. Despite this, Adowa gets hardly a notice in English language military histories where the writing and study of Little Big Horn is prolific. This Osprey volume is a good start to remedy this knowledge gap of a very dramatic and horrific battle."

My Civil War book, Ride Around Missouri: Shelby's Great Raid 1863, also got a five-star review on Amazon. The reviewer gives his review the unfortunate title "a moderate success", which is actually my assessment of the raid, not his assessment of my book!

"There are a good selection of supporting illustrations, both contemporary photographs and line illustrations, along with several colour paintings. There are also some modern photographs of memorabilia, such as cannon. Unfortunately there are also a number of photographs of modern re-enactors. Unfortunately, these do nothing for me, but they probably make up a good proportion of the audience for these books. That aside, this is an entertaining and well-researched volume."

The Civil war wargaming blog Charge! also reviewed my Shelby book:

"McLachlan gives a thorough overview of the strategic situation, the troops involved in the raid, some insight into Jo Shelby’s personality and previous experience, and the Northern (and Southern) reaction to the daring incursion. Lavishly illustrated, like all Osprey books, Ride Around Missouri includes an array of vintage period photographs, original maps commissioned for the book, bird’s-eye views, first-person accounts drawn from primary sources, and the usual excellent color illustrations of men, uniforms, equipment, and events. The book is 80 pages, including the index and bibliography. It’s a useful addition to your wargaming or Civil War library."

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