I'll be honest, most of my knowledge about this history in this geographical area comes from watching Showtime's The Borgias. Not a bad show, but not always accurate. But, I enjoyed reading this because I was familiar with the events through the show, although things were obviously different and smashed together. So, this was a very quick, enjoyable read. I found it interesting and I appreciated how Romane took me as a reader through the events. It never felt overwhelming and I was able to track a lot of it, from the chronology to the main players and how they changed as people died and fortunes shifted. Very good book on the topic!
NetGalley, Caidyn Young
I'll be honest, most of my knowledge about this history in this geographical area comes from watching Showtime's The Borgias. Not a bad show, but not always accurate. But, I enjoyed reading this because I was familiar with the events through the show, although things were obviously different and smashed together. So, this was a very quick, enjoyable read. I found it interesting and I appreciated how Romane took me as a reader through the events. It never felt overwhelming and I was able to track a lot of it, from the chronology to the main players and how they changed as people died and fortunes shifted. Very good book on the topic!
NetGalley, Caidyn Young
[b]Rating[/b]: 5 out of 5 stars
Having seen glimpses of the film "Zulu" (one of my dad's favourites), when this book popped up on NetGalley I started to wonder how much I really knew. Not very much at all, it turns out! "Zulu Kings and Their Armies" is a clear and well-written history. Yes, it could have been longer, but probably not without making it far too academic and possibly a bit dull. The photos are a bonus, and the "Battle Focus" sections are particularly worth paying extra attention to. I'm very glad that I've read this book, as it has totally changed my perspective on that time and place.
NetGalley, Dawn Lewis
[b]Rating[/b]: 5 out of 5 stars
Having seen glimpses of the film "Zulu" (one of my dad's favourites), when this book popped up on NetGalley I started to wonder how much I really knew. Not very much at all, it turns out! "Zulu Kings and Their Armies" is a clear and well-written history. Yes, it could have been longer, but probably not without making it far too academic and possibly a bit dull. The photos are a bonus, and the "Battle Focus" sections are particularly worth paying extra attention to. I'm very glad that I've read this book, as it has totally changed my perspective on that time and place.
NetGalley, Dawn Lewis
[b]Rating[/b]: 5 out of 5 stars
"A careful study of the Greek and Latin of the sources sheds fresh light on how these formations were organized and worked, re-evaluating many conventional notions and leading to some surprising conclusions."
This got me in the first place.
The author has done a fantastic job of describing the battle formations.
The book is neither to cliche or boring.
This provides a different insight on the fighting skills of Greek and Roman people.
NetGalley, Sophrosyne T
[b]Rating[/b]: 5 out of 5 stars
"A careful study of the Greek and Latin of the sources sheds fresh light on how these formations were organized and worked, re-evaluating many conventional notions and leading to some surprising conclusions."
This got me in the first place.
The author has done a fantastic job of describing the battle formations.
The book is neither to cliche or boring.
This provides a different insight on the fighting skills of Greek and Roman people.
NetGalley, Sophrosyne T
There have been other studies of the reigns of Aurelian and Probus, but until now none has approached the subject from the point of view of military analysis. Yet plenty of material has survived to permit this. The author, Dr Syvanne, has made use of the military treatises that describe the tactics and strategy used by Roman army commanders at this period. He has been able to reconstruct the military campaigns of the two soldier-Emperors and their contemporaries in far greater detail than has ever been done before.
Read the full review [link=https://www.arrse.co.uk/community/reviews/aurelian-and-probus.1454/]here[/link]
Army Rumour Service (ARRSE)
There have been other studies of the reigns of Aurelian and Probus, but until now none has approached the subject from the point of view of military analysis. Yet plenty of material has survived to permit this. The author, Dr Syvanne, has made use of the military treatises that describe the tactics and strategy used by Roman army commanders at this period. He has been able to reconstruct the military campaigns of the two soldier-Emperors and their contemporaries in far greater detail than has ever been done before.
Read the full review [link=https://www.arrse.co.uk/community/reviews/aurelian-and-probus.1454/]here[/link]
Army Rumour Service (ARRSE)
A fascinating description of the largest military operation EVER on British soil.
Dan Snow
A fascinating description of the largest military operation EVER on British soil.
Dan Snow
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An Alternative History of Britain: The English Civil War
With hindsight, the victory of Parliamentarian forces over the Royalists in the English Civil War may seem inevitable but this outcome was not a foregone conclusion. Timothy Venning explores many of the turning points and discusses how they might so easily have played out differently. What if, for example, Charles I had capitalized on his victory at… Read more...
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Cataclysm 90 BC
We are accustomed to think of the late Republic as a period in which Rome enjoyed almost uninterrupted military success against foreign enemies. Yet at the start of the first century BC, Rome, outnumbered and out-generalled, faced a hostile army less than a week's march from the Capitol. It is probable that only a swift surrender prevented the city… Read more...
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An Archaeological History of Britain
Jonathan Eaton has provided the essential volume for all students of Archaeology, Classical Civilisations and Ancient History by condensing the entire archaeological history of Britain into one accessible volume. The Archaeological History of Britain takes us from the earliest prehistoric archaeology right up to the contemporary archaeology of the… Read more...
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Leadership in War
In this controversial study, Correlli Barnett examines the strengths and weaknesses of twenty wartime leaders in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He considers the extraordinary difficulties they faced, and analyses how they performed and what they achieved. Were they successful, or were they beaten down by the burden of their roles? His… Read more...
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The Sinking of RMS Tayleur
'The moment they fell into the water the waves caught them and dashed them violently against the rocks, and the survivors on shore could perceive the unfortunate creatures...struggling amidst the waves, and one by one sinking under them.' (Hereford Times, 28 January 1854) The wrecking of the RMS Tayleur made headlines nearly 60 years before the Titanic.… Read more...
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England's Medieval Navy 1066-1509
We are accustomed to think of England in terms of Shakespeare's 'precious stone set in a silver sea', safe behind its watery ramparts with its naval strength resisting all invaders. To the English of an earlier period – from the 8th to the 11th centuries – such a notion would have seemed ridiculous. The sea, rather than being a defensive wall,… Read more...
“There are moments in the past of many a man’s career that stand out clear and defined after the lapse of even many years: life pictures, the very memory of which brings back a glorious thrill of pride and pleasure. This is the feeling which vibrates through me still, when I recall that last and closing scene that crowned the hard-fought fight… Read more...
Just who did the British think they were? For much of the last 1,500 years, when the British looked back to their origins they saw the looming mythological figure of Brutus of Troy. A great-great-grandson of the love goddess Aphrodite through her Trojan son Aeneas (the hero of Virgil's Aeneid), Brutus accidentally killed his father and was exiled to… Read more...
Marcus Agrippa personified the term 'right-hand man'. As Emperor Augustus' deputy, he waged wars, pacified provinces, beautified Rome, and played a crucial role in laying the foundations of the Pax Romana for the next two hundred years – but he served always in the knowledge he would never rule in his own name. Why he did so, and never grasped power… Read more...
On the 25th October 1415 Henry Vs small and dispirited Anglo/Welsh Army destroyed a vast French Army at Azincourt. This programme looks at not just this iconic battle immortalised by Shakespeare and many other authors but the campaign that led up to this final great English victory of the 100 Years War when the Yeoman of England reigned supreme on… Read more...
On 11 July 1346 the Anglo/Welsh army of Edward III started to disembark in the bay at St Vaast in the Cotentin Peninsula. In a period of 12 months this army won 3 major battles Caen, Blanchtaque and Crecy and captured Calais, which would remain in English hands until 1558 a thorn in the side of France. This campaign was the first major chapter in the… Read more...
This magnificent book tells the story of the evolution of swords, how they were made, how they were used, and the people that used them. It doesn't claim to give comprehensive coverage but instead takes certain surviving examples as landmarks on a fascinating journey through the history of swords. Each is selected because it can be linked to a specific… Read more...
