The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History; May-October 1940 Paperback – February 14, 2012 by James Holland (Author)

I don't often write book reviews or recommendations. However, since 2015 is the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain, 1940, I would like to suggest the following as a book worthy of consideration:

The Battle of Britain: Five Months That Changed History; May-October 1940 by James Holland

There are of course dozens of books on the subject and I have read quite a few. What I like about James Holland's book is the way he addresses all elements of the period May-October 1940 to set the air Battle of Britain in context. Holland discusses not only the military situation overall but also the political situation, the geopolitics (ie the USA), the leadership, the individuals who fought on the ground as well as in the air, on the home front as well as the front lines, the technology, economics and feelings of the time. I have never had a better understanding of all of these dimensions than in reading this book.

This is not your typical "Battle of Britain" book. However I really enjoyed the full perspective it gives on this fascinating time in modern history.

Highly recommended!

Barksdale's Brigade, McLaws' Division, at Gettysburg

The four elite Mississippi regiments of Brigadier General William Barksdale's Brigade are presented next. These also are from the personal collection of Martin Robson from whom I acquired the collection in 2014. The Perry figures are based on thick Litko bases. 

Barksdale's Brigade served in Major General Lafayette McLaws' Division at Gettysburg. A very detailed account of Barksdale's charge in the late afternoon of July 2nd, 1863, is contained in the book:

"Barksdale's Charge: The True High Tide of the Confederacy at Gettysburg, July 2nd, 1863" 
Phillip Thomas Tucker, Author. Casemate Books, 2013

Tucker makes a very strong (if repetitive) argument that General Lee's Army of North Virginia came closest to achieving a breakthrough of the Union lines on Cemetery Ridge at the end of Barksdale's charge. 

Tucker argues that the experience and professionalism of the four Mississippi regiments of the brigade was very high, even by the high standards of Lee's army. He makes the case for their superior training under General Barksdale and his regimental colonels and their exceptional fighting spirit: "We have never been whipped and we never can be". Drill was emphasised and practised to a very high degree, as was marksmanship and the ability to use battlefield cover. 

Barksdale and Colonel Benjamin Grubb Humphreys of the 21st Mississippi are also noted for their superb abilities as tactical commanders. They saw and understood the opportunity presented by Sickle's placement of his Third Union Corps and took full advantage to turn the flank and press on to try to break the poorly held stretch of Cemetery Ridge that was exposed by Third Corp's total collapse. 

Overall, the attack of McLaws' Division and Longstreet's First Corp was not well coordinated and eventually ran out of steam. However Tucker insists that Barksdale's Brigade has a better claim to achieving the Confederate "High Water Mark" than Picket's Charge on the following Day.

The Mississippi Brigade lost over 800 officers and men at Gettysburg and General Barksdale was wounded towards the end of the charge and died the following day.

I am very glad to have a miniature representation of this excellent Mississippi brigade.

Brigadier General William Barksdale

August 21st, 1821-July 3rd, 1863

13th Mississippi Infantry Regiment
"The Bloody Thirteenth"

Company A -- [Co. B first year] Winston Guards (raised in Winston County, MS)

Company B -- [Co. C first year] Wayne Rifles, aka Wayne Guards (raised in Wayne County, MS)

Company C -- [Co. F first year] Kemper Legion (raised in Kemper County, MS)

Company D -- [Co. E first year] Newton Rifles (raised in Newton County, MS)

Company E -- [Co. A first year] Alamutcha Infantry (raised in Lauderdale County, MS)

Company F -- [Co. G first year] Lauderdale Zouaves (raised in Lauderdale County, MS)

Company G -- [Co. I first year] Secessionists (raised in Clarke County, MS)

Company H -- [Co. K first year] Spartan Band (raised in Chickasaw County, MS)

Company I -- [Co. D first year] Minute Men of Attala (raised in Attala County, MS)
Company K -- [Co. H first year] Pettus Guards (raised in Lauderdale County, MS)

17th Mississippi Infantry Regiment

Company A -- the Buena Vista Rifles (Chickasaw County, MS)

Company B -- the Mississippi Rangers (Marshall County, MS)

Company C -- the Quitman Grays (Pontotoc County, MS)

Company D -- the Rough & Readies, aka the Rough & Ready Volunteers (Pontotoc County, MS)

Company E -- the Burnsville Blues (Tishomingo County, MS)

Company F -- the Samuel Benton Relief Rifles (Marshall County, MS)

Company G -- the Confederate Guards (Marshall County, MS)

Company H -- the Panola Vindicators (Panola County, MS)

Company I -- the Pettus Rifles (DeSoto County, MS)

Company K -- the Magnolia Guards (Calhoun County, MS)

18th Regiment, Mississippi Infantry

Company A -- Confederate Rifles (raised in Rankin County, MS)

Company B -- Benton Rifles (raised in Yazoo County, MS)

Company C -- Confederates (raised in Madison County, MS)

Company D -- Hamer Rifles (raised in Yazoo County, MS)

Company E -- Mississippi College Rifles (raised in Hinds County, MS)

Company F -- McClung Rifles (raised in Yazoo County, MS)

Company G -- Camden Rifles (raised in Madison County, MS)

Company H -- Brown Rebels (raised in Hinds County, MS)

Company I -- Beauregard Rifles (raised in Madison County, MS)

Company K -- Burt Rifles (raised in Hinds County, MS)

21st Mississippi Infantry

Company A -- Volunteer Southrons of Vicksburg, aka Vicksburg Southrons (raised in Warren County, MS)

Company B -- Jefferson Davis Guards, aka Jeff Davis Guards, & aka Manlove’s Company (raised in Warren County, MS)

Company C -- Stephens Rifles, aka Stephens Guards (raised in Lawrence County, MS)

Company D -- Jeff Davis Guards (raised in Wilkinson County, MS)

Company E -- Hurricane Rifles (raised in Wilkinson County, MS)

Company F -- Tallahatchie Rifles (raised in Tallahatchie County, MS)

Company G -- Madison Guards (raised in Madison County, MS)

Company H -- Warren Volunteers (raised in Warren County, MS)

Company I -- Sunflower Guards (raised in Sunflower County, MS)

Company K -- New Albany Greys (raised in Pontotoc County, MS)

Company L -- Vicksburg Confederates (raised in Warren County, MS)

Colonel Benjamin Grubb Humphreys, 21st Mississippi Infantry

Company details are taken from Dunbar Rowland’s "Military History of Mississippi, 1803-1898".

1st (King’s) Dragoon Guards Regiment, 1815

The final, and by far the largest, regiment of heavy cavalry in Major General Lord Edward Somerset's 1st (Household) Cavalry Brigade was the 1st (King’s) Dragoon Guards under the command of Lt. Colonel William Fuller. This packed a punch of 588 effectives in 3 squadrons.

The 1st (King’s) Dragoon Guards are based per General de Brigade rules and were painted for me by Carl Robson using Perry 28mm figures.

All of the Reserve Cavalry were painted using as the primary text "British Napoleonic Uniforms: A Complete Illustrated Guide to Uniforms, Facings and Lace" Hardcover – May 1, 2009 by C.E. Franklin (Author). The illustrations are outstanding and enabled Carl to pick out every detail of the helmet, lace, etc. I highly recommend this book. I have shared two examples of the numerous excellent plates that fill the book, all credit of course to C.E Franklin.

Donald F. Featherstone

Donald F. Featherstone (born 20 March 1918, London) passed away 3 September. Don is considered the father of modern wargaming writing more than forty books on wargaming and military history. He wrote classic texts on wargaming in the 1960s and 1970s.

For me, as for many people of my generation, Don was our original inspiration. The pleasure of discovering his first book, "War Games" published in 1962, in the local public library in Catford, South London, is hard to describe. I checked this out so many times I wonder anyone else in Catford ever saw it.

Thanks Don for all you did for the hobby.

The Soldier's View: The Civil War Art of Keith Rocco

This is another good source of Civil War uniforms and equipment but my other favorite military artist, Keith Rocco.

Don Troiani's Regiments & Uniforms of the Civil War

I am beginning a collection of American Civil War figures in 28mm. I have a few texts already, however I just bought a copy of Don Troiani's "Regiments & Uniforms of the Civil War" for it's amazing illustrations of uniforms of the American Civil War. I recommend it strongly to anyone interested in the period. Troiani is a great artist and he does his research thoroughly. I feel very confidant using this volume as a major reference.

War and Peace

I have been heavily absorbed with all things War and Peace this summer. I am currently reading "Russia Against Napoleon: The True Story of the Campaigns of War and Peace" by Dominic Lieven. 

This is a very interesting account of the 1812 Campaign and, as important, the subsequent events of 1813 and 1814. It is written from the Russian point of view and does a particularly good job of explaining how the Russians organized their war effort and how they recovered from the fall of Moscow to take the War into Poland, Germany and eventually France.

I did not know logistics and the mobilizing and training of reserves could make such a good read, but it does here. I have read quite a few accounts of 1812, Borodino, the Retreat etc. But this is the first time that this part of the war has made such sense in its entirety. This book also makes a great companion piece to "War and Peace", supporting some of Tolstoy's views and rejecting others in a balanced way.

I found reading this book, and reading/listening to "War and Peace", was greatly assisted by the following maps and chart which are readily available on Wikipedia.

The Minard Graph

As for "War and Peace" itself,  I recently bought a new copy to replace my old Penguin paperback edition of almost 40 years ago. This time I chose the 2012 Richard Pevear, Larissa Volokhonsky translation (thanks Yanni!) and I'm well pleased with it.

I have been listening to the Louise and Aylmer Maude translation on Audible, narrated by my favorite reader, the incomparable Frederick Davidson (real name: David Case). David died in 2005 but his work lives on in this wonderful recording. There will never be a more perfect Pierre in my opinion.

As for film versions, this is tough. I wanted to like Sergei Bondarchuk's massive film of 1968. It is generally considered a masterpiece but I could not relate to the actors playing the major roles and the famous battle scenes are problematic. I thought I liked the 1972 BBC televised version but it looked very dated when I tried to watch it recently. 

I found the most enjoyable interpretation to be the 2007 mini series.

War and Peace, 2007

The international cast is excellent:

Clémence Poésy- Natasha Rostova

Alessio Boni- Prince Andrej Bolkonsky

Alexander Beyer- Pierre Bezukhov

Violante Placido- Helene Kuragin

The script follows the novel somewhat loosely but still captures the essence of the characters and the times. No substitute for the novel, but enjoyable in its own right.