RECENT AND FORTHCOMING PUBLICATIONS

Soldiers' Accoutrements of the British Army 1750-1900
Pierre Turner
The Crowood Press (2006)
ISBN 101 86126883 I
Hardback, £19.95

A book for re-enactors and modellers. It shows in detail many of the regulation accoutrements and equipment worn by the ordinary soldier of cavalry, infantry and artillery between 1750 and 1900. 85 colour plates illustrate sword and bayonet belts, pouches, water bottles, haversacks, sabretaches, sword knots and slings.

Weapon: A Visual History of Arms and Armour
R.G. Grant, Roger Ford and Steve Walton
Consultant Editor Professor Richard Holmes
Dorling Kindersley in association with the Royal Armouries (2006)
ISBN 978 14053 16195
Hardback, £25.00

This book illustrates the development of weapons and armour from early flint spearheads and axes, to the AK47, with every item of weaponry in between. It covers over 4,000 years of weapons and the warriors who wielded them, providing a detailed visual guide to the history of weaponry. The weapons include not just military but hunting and ceremonial items as well, plus the projectiles fired, be they arrows or bullets.

Hambledon Continuum

Recently published is the first catalogue published by this new imprint created in October 2005 when Hambledon and London became part of The Continuum International Publishing Group. They publish academic works on all periods of history including many works of interest to the Napoleonic enthusiast. For full details visit their website www.continuumbooks.com .

Recent titles include:

The Bourbons: The History of a Dynasty by J.H.Shennan

Culture in Eighteenth Century England by Jeremy Black

Becoming Jane Austen by Jon Spence.

The Hanoverians: The History of a Dynasty by Jeremy Black.

The French Revolution and the People by David Andress.
This is a portrait of the common people of France, in the towns and in the countryside; in Paris and Lyon; in the Vendee, Brittany and Provence. Popular grievances and reactions affected the events and outcome of the Revolution at all stages, and in turn everyone in France was affected by the Revolution.

The Bonapartes: The History of a Dynasty by William H. C. Smith
Born into an impoverished noble family in Ajaccio in Corsica, Napoleon's astonishing military career led him to crowning himself emperor and setting up a dynasty. This book shows the lasting influence exercised by the Bonapartefamily.

Wellington: A Military Life by Gordon Corrigan.
The Duke of Wellington, the most successful of British commanders, set a standard by which all subsequent British generals have been measured. This book examines his claims to greatness.

Napoleon's Men: The Soldiers of the Revolution and Empire by Alan Forrest.
This book provides a direct insight into the experiences and emotions of the soldiers who risked their lives at Austerlitz, Wagram, and Borodino.

Pitt The Younger: A Life by Michael J. Turner.

Napoleon and Russia by Michael Adams.
T his is the full story of Napoleon and his relationship with Russia, from the 1790s and Bonaparte's rise to power, through the period of Austerlitz, Tilsit and the Russian invasion, to the Emperor's fall and its aftermath. It places the critical events of 1812 in their proper context and examines the many fascinating characters Involved in the story.

Forthcoming Titles from Pen and Sword Books
This publisher has some interesting titles. Visit their website www.pen-and-sword.co.uk  for more details.

Waterloo Commanders by Andrew Uffindell (Hardback, £19.99)
The three commanders-in chief during the Waterloo campaign rank among the most famous solders in history. Rarely have three such remarkable men as Napoleon, Wellington and Blucher confronted each other on a field of battle or  had such an impact on the history of their time. Andrew Uffindell, in this readable and meticulously researched three-part biography, gives vivid accounts, of their parallel lives and extraordinary careers. The dramatic contrasts that emerge between their backgrounds, personalities and methods of command offer a fascinating insight into the secrets of leadership and into the warfare of the Napoleonic era.

The Battle of Albuera 1811 by Michael Oliver and Richard Partridge (Hardback, £19.99)

On 16 May 1811 a combined British, Portuguese and Spanish force commanded by the British general Beresford met the French army under Soult at Albuera in southern Spain. What followed was one of the bloodiest and most controversial battles of the Peninsular War. Yet despite the battle's significance in the wider campaign to expel Napoleon's armies from Spain, the story of Albuera has rarely received the coverage accorded to other battles of the war. In this ground-breaking book, Michael Oliver and Richard Partridge seek to set the historical record straight. They examine the carnage of Albuera in unprecedented detail, and they give a lucid account of the circumstances and the conflicting Allied and French strategies that gave rise to this awful confrontation. They also offer vivid portraits of the personalities and military skills of the notable commanders who took part.

Wellington Against Massena by David Buttery (Hardback, £19.99)

Wellington's clash with Massena was one of the most remarkable contests between two commanders in the Peninsular War. These two formidable generals carried on a campaign of manoeuvre, battle and attrition across Spain and Portugal in 1810 and 1811 which had a decisive impact on the outcome of the war. Wellington's reputation was enhanced, Massena's was ruined. David Buttery's close analysis of this extraordinary encounter offers a penetrating insight into the personalities of these two outstanding soldiers. Using a variety of sources, in particular eyewitness accounts from both sides, he reassesses the famous confrontations at Ciudad Rodrigo, Almeida, Busaco, the lines of Torres Vedras and the final bitterly fought battle at Fuentes de Onoro. He sheds new Iight on this pivotal episode in the Napoleonic Wars and his account corrects the one-sided view of the campaign that has survived to the present day. In particular he reconsiders the true cost of the scorched earth policy that was employed against the French.

Paul Chamberlain FINS

Napoleon is Dead: Lord Cochrane and the Great Stock Exchange Scandal
Richard Dale
Hardback £20.00

One of the earliest stock market scams hinged on the false rumour that Napoleon had been killed. It is a tale of greed, deceit and the public humiliation of Lord Cochrane, one of the greatest seamen of the nineteenth century. Was Cochrane innocent or guilty? Richard Dale reopens the controversy in his fascinating new book.

The Battle of Borodino: Napoleon against Kutuzov Campaign Chronicles
Series
Alexander Mikaberidze
Hardback, £25.00

This is an account of the battle from the Russian point of view, using Russian and French accounts never before published in English.

The Escape from Elba: The Fall and Flight of Napoleon 1814-1815
Norman Mackenzie
Paperback, £12.99

This is a classic account of Napoleon's exile on Elba and his triumphant return to Paris, analysing Napoleon’s complex and powerful personality.

Wellington’s Campaigns, edited and introduced by Ian Fletcher
Ian Fletchers recent books on Wellington's Campaigns are published by the Folio Society in three volumes:

Vol 1 The Peninsular War 1808 - 1811.  Vol 2 The Peninsular War 1812 - 1814.  Vol 3 The Waterloo Campaign.

The work comprises extracts outlining the story of Wellington's campaigns in the Peninsula and at Waterloo through the works of the officers and men who took part. Several accounts of a particular incident have been interwoven so as to provide a wider perspective on that event.  There is interlinking editorial commentary which intends to set the events in their historical perspective. 

The focus on Wellington means that the wars are viewed almost exclusively from the British perspective.  Extracts are selected to provide an overview, not just of the chief battles and sieges of the war, but of the day to day experiences and observations of the soldiers who marched with Wellington during the long years of hard campaigning. Diaries written on the spot, letters home, personal reminiscences and more formal memories of the war compiled some years after the events themselves are included.

Army Lists Digitisation project on CD and DVD

A project to publish CD and DVD versions of the Army Lists is ongoing, and copies now available include 1779, 1798-1827 and 1832-1837.  Coverage of discs for the Peninsular War period varies from complete monthly files for some years, to a few which only contain 3 months each. Prices vary from £8.99 to £10.99 depending on the number of months scanned.

In addition a single DVD for the Peninsular War, containing 34 months of the Army Lists covering the years 1808 - 1814 is priced at £39.99. Each year contains between three and six months. 

The War Office Annual Lists for 1814 and 1815 have also been issued on CD at £12.99. 

Of special interest to medal collector members are Hart’s Army Lists, of which 14 have so far been produced covering the period between 1842 and 1876, with an additional disc for 1905.  Harts Lists are priced from £12.99, with Annual and quarterly issues available.

All of the Hart’s lists, the 1814 and 1815 Annual Army Lists and the later years of the Peninsular War are searchable.

Copies of later years are also available including First World War lists. 

The copies are excellent value for money and provide material that has previously been accessible in only in a limited number of libraries. 

More information can be obtained from Your Old Books and Maps, 2 Temple Road, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire WF13 3QE, by telephone 01924 452987 or their website http://youroldbooksandmaps.co.uk.  

Men of Steel by Kenneth Crumplin published by Quiller Press  £30 (ISBN
978-1-90405794

This richly illustrated book is the first specialist account of the surgeons craft as practiced during the Napoleonic Wars. The author, a retired surgeon, explores both the background of the patients, the wounds they received and the training of surgeons. The surgeons had to work without anaesthetics often in the most difficult conditions but despite this, as the author describes, some remarkable results were obtained.