Blenheim

Lots of historical characters in this one, Prince Eugene, The Wild Geese, Louis XIV, William of Orange and the Duke of Marlborough, AKA John Churchill. Back in 1704 France ruled the world, Germany, Spain and Italy were a multitude independent states squabbling with each other, treaties were made and broken based on political and religious grounds.
England was minor military and Ireland was a part of that minor power.


Back then Democracy wasn't just a crazy idea, it wasn't even an idea, if there was a country, kingdom or fife, a king or queen was sending their troops marching of to snatch someone else's property.

As seems to be Europe's way at the end of the seventeenth century and before France had learnt the technique of surrendering at the first sound of a gun shot, Europe was divided into two armed camps, the French and the puppet states of Spain and Portugal against the rest of Europe with the Dutch and to a much lesser degree the Prussians being the powerful allied armies.

Blenheim is the focal battle of this story although there were many on the way to it and a few after, but Blenheim was the big deal. Prior to reading this book I thought the only European wide battle was Waterloo, but what do you know, if this history changing battle hadn't taken place the French would still possibly reign supreme globally.
Wow, now there is a scary thought.

As the Dutch supplied most of the manpower for the Allied armies, they also had the controlling say in what the objectives of the war were to be. Yet the allies most able generals were actually French and British. It was this very same Dutch control caused the war to be stretched out and eventual victory nearly lost as they continueously interfered with their generals far sighted objectives.

It's another good history book, as with most books it has a painfully slow first chapter or two as the back story is laid out, but after that a real page turner.

RATING 7 out of 10

ZULU WAR by Ian Knight

Another great read!

Prior to reading this book my knowledge of Zulus comprised of the movies "Zulu" and the equally excellent "Zulu Dawn", which accounts for the opening third of this book. Rather than simply retelling these famous battles, the author takes us from the root causes of this war to its conclusion in gripping style.

After a necessarily slow start describing the political background of Zululand, its many kingdoms and their unification under the famous of all Zulus "Shaka", we move onto the British army invasion. Using fictitious excuses created by the British High commissionaire Sir Henry Bartle Frere and his ally, Commander in Chief for all British forces in the colony, Lord Chelmsford they led her Majesty's forces into a war that neither Queen Victoria nor her government wanted. At the same time as this mis-adventure was about to begin, Britain was already involved in a far more serious war in Afghanistan.

Expecting a quick and easy victory, Frere was sure that the Zulus would surrender before any reprimand from Westminster arrived and that this victory would exonerate them and bestow personal glory on both.
Reliving familiar tales of the defence of Rorkes Drift and the massacre at Ishandwana described with care, the author dispels many of the myths and excuses created by the government of the day to explain away how twelve hundred of their men were routed by poorly equipped but excellently led tribesmen. "Savages" was how British soldier viewed the Zulu at the outset of the invasion, yet after Ishandwana, this perception was changed to one of supermen. A breed of men that were braver, faster and strong then themselves and after the initial victory, they also were now equip ed with the new Martini Henry rifles.

Ishandwana was the Zulus greatest victory, but by no means their only one. In fact it was not until another large scale battle and defeat at Ulundi some six months later did the tide of the war turn against the Zulu.
As is the legacy of British Colonialism around the world, when they eventually pulled out due to political pressure and the simple cost of maintaining an empire, they divided the country up into independent regions that were soon at war with each other.

With skirmishes and large scale battle fought over vast plains between the better armed white men with cavalry, artillery and Gatling guns against a fitter native force using crude but effective weapons, its easy to draw comparisons with the U.S. army's treatment of the native American Indians. And with both wars the eventual outcomes were always going to end the same way and the of a native way of life that had existed for hundreds of years.
However unlike America, the final British victory simply laid the seeds for a further war, this time against the Boers war a few years later, which would see the eventual loss of South Africa and end of empire.

8 out of 10

The Forgotten Soldier by Gus Seyer

I've read loads of books about various wars from the Roman Empire to the current crisis in Afghanistan. Some of these were good, the occasional one or two have been very good, but Gus Seyer's "The Forgotten Soldier" is by far the best book that I have had the good fortune to read.

In short this is a world war II story of a German soldier who fought on the Eastern front.

As an eighteen year old from Alsace in France, Seyer joined the German army in 1942 in the belief that he would be fighting to save Europe from the Red army. Armed with the expectation that the French army would soon be standing side by side with their German cousins in this just fight, he drove suppliers to his adopted countrymen on the front line. With the tide of the war now turning against the Axis armies, Seyer later volunteers for the the elite Gross Deutchland division.

The author admits that some of place names that he recounts have faded from his memory, yet this absence adds to the feeling of vast empty spaces that he trekked across and that now we relive with him.
Unlike most books of this genre there is little awareness of the bigger picture of the war or even of the specific battles taking place, instead we are abandoned in an area no more than a few hundred yards surrounding our hero. Actually a more accurate description of the author would be that of teenager, prematurely aged by the scenes of horror he witnessed or stumbled across, the fear of being captured by Russians and the complete deterioration of his mind and body.

Over the next three years he walks over a thousand miles in the great retreat following the loss of Stalingrad. Nearly every day is marked by attacks by either the Russians or sickness, the continuous death of friends in the most grotesque manner harden his appreciation of life, but he never causes the readers interest to waiver. In fact I was resolved to read fifty pages a day of this book, I just had to know what was going to happen next.


VERDICT 10 out of 10

Once you've read this book, pass it onto a friend and then read it again yourself as I intend to.

Killer Angels by Michael Schaara

This is a great book about the American civil war, to be precise the three day Battle of Gettysburg. Although purely factual it reads like a novel and it's main character is Colonel Chamberlain of the Union army. Through him and to a lesser degree other figures such as Generals Lee, Longstreet and Hancock the accidental clashing of two armies in what became the climatic battle of the war unfolds.

Its the kind of book I would have read and enjoyed from a purely fictional basis as the events are so clearly laid out, the relationships between friends that now find themselves fighting for causes they both believed to be just and unable to understand why their friends are prepared to go to war to stop their beliefs. At no point was slavery considered to be the reason why the South was fighting, but rather to preserve their way of life and not to have a foreign goverment tell their states what they can and cannot do. Comparisons were drawn with their war of independence against the British and that the Federal Northern army was no more than another foriegn invader, where as the North primarily fought to preserve the union.

I'm sure you all know that the Confederacy eventually lost the battle, but this book descibes how these two vast armies stumbled into each other, the doubts and fears of the officers and in some cases an absolute certain belief that the battle could only fail, yet they could not prevent it form happening, in fact they could see no option but to take part and help it fail.

Incidentally this book was turned into the movie "Gettysburg" a few years back and I have always been looking for the opportunity to complain about the Savoy cinema on O' Connell street handling of it. They had the cheek to break it into two movies and charge two entrance fees. Just because a film runs for nearly three and half hours you cant justify calling it Parts 1 and 2 and charge me twice.
My apologies for going off on a complete ramble there, my point was meant to be that the film and its script was pratically lifted word for word from the book, so if you don't have the time to read the book, then watch the film. It stars Martin Sheen, Tom Berenger and lots and lots of other people you'll recognise.

Rating 9 out of 10
If you fancy this kind of thing, give "Crazy Horse and Custer" by Stephen Ambrose a read. Its not in the same league as "The Killer Angels" but its still good.

RED STORM RISING by Tom Clancy

Red Storm Rising was a book I first read almost twenty years ago and I loved it back then. It was full of adventure and excitement of a fictional third world war fought across Europe with massed tank regiments, fictional fighter aircraft and aircraft carriers being hunted by submarines and helicopters. It was the type of story that twenty years ago couldn't be turned into a movie because its scope was so vast, but I wished it could.
Ironically twenty years later, with the technology that gave us The Lord of the Rings, an adaption of "Red Storm Rising" could easily be produced, but this technology has come too late.

Although this book was still a page turner and one of Tom Clancy's better stories, time has snatched away most of the stories impact. Although Russia still has the potential to be a war machine of terrifying strength and her deceit knows no bounds, the believability that drew me to this story all those years ago have faded away.
As with the majority of Clancy's earlier stuff the characters were no super hero's but common men thrown into desperate situations, the description of of battles and the scenery were first class, but alas I no longer believed in what I was being told could one day be true.

VERDICT 7 out of 10

UNION 1812 by A.J. Langguth

This book's full title is "UNION 1812 The Americans Who fought the Second War of Independence". The title is quite a struggle and at times this book somehow fell between being a struggle to read and then, a few pages later I simply couldnt put it down.

Bizziare?

Yes it is, but there you go.

The subject matter sounds great, less than forty years after the United States original thirteen colonies broke free from the British, these two nations were at war again.

There were invasions of Canada and the United States, Pirates, Indians and lots and political backstabbing. This story had it all.

Yes it had it all, but it just simply wasn't told properly here. The book runs for 409 pages, but if like me you wanted to know how the British were able to get into the heart of America and burn down the White, how the Americans invaded Canada and find out what the hell happened, well then I suggest that you start from page 129.

Up to this point there was too much background information about the original Presidents, their families and political infighting. Some of it was interesting for example the U.S. was a far weaker and divided country than you would have expected at this point in their history. But to be honest I just didn't care.

These 128 pages could and should have been done in 29.

Now that I have pratically murdered this book, allow me to breathe some life back into it. When the story finally gets going, it is quite an exciting read and at times it reads like a novel. Characters like the Indian chief Tecumseh, Andrew Jackson and tales of the Creek Wars are excellently brought to life.

The author points you into the direction that the American civil war, that followed fifty years later was inevitable from the moment that peace with the British was reached.

My original review of this book was to have been kinder than it has been, but having read other reviews of this book I discovered that there was a number of inaccuracies and important battles were totally ignored.

Perhaps some of the wasted 128 pages could have been used for that.

RATING 7 out of 10.

For a much better, honest and damning book of American history, please read "Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown.

RED RABBIT by Tom Clancy

Inspired by Sean Connery’s portrayal of a Russian submarine commander in “The hunt for the Red October“ oh so many years ago, I read a bunch of Tom Clancy books, such as Patriot Games, A Clear and Present Danger, and of course Red October.

However that was back in the day when the Russians could be counted on to play the nasty super power. With a slight suspicion that Clancy’s books may have lost their relevance I took up “Red Rabbit“. Written in 2002, it’s a prequel to the character “Jack Ryan“and his adventures years before he had heard of the Red October.



Red Rabbit takes place in the 1980s when Reagan and Thatcher defended the borders of democracy and it was still better to be dead rather than red. Jack Ryan is once again the hero through whom we live this adventure. He is a cross between a reluctant James Bond and an accountant, a strange mix to be sure.

Working for the CIA he has to help a Russian with a conscience defect to the west, along with his head full of top secret secrets and news of a KGB plot to kill the pope.



The story moves along at the steady and imaginative pace you would expect from this author, the description of life behind the iron curtain is interesting and at times this book is quite entertaining.

But, that’s about it. Maybe my suspicions were right and this is the type of story you can’t really appreciate it so long after Reagan’s “Evil Empire“speech. Which is a shame as I really wanted to enjoy those halcyon days of submarines, spies and lots and lots of bad guys getting their comeuppance?



VERDICT6,5 out of 10Yeah its worth a read, but Patriot Games and Red October told similar type of adventures so much better, or maybe that just my memory playing tricks on me.