Post by stuart on Oct 2, 2008 5:02:52 GMT -5
Pace Doc’s unspecified grumblings about Osprey Publishing (best told over a beer, while he cries into it), I too could tell a tale or two. To be fair most relate to the assigned artist, but sometimes I do wonder…
This particular title has just hit the booksellers over here so I expect it should be available in the States too, now or in the very near future.
The good news is that although the title specifically relates to the War of 1812, it is both generally relevant in covering the military/militia experience on the western frontier before, and realistically speaking during the Texan revolution. There is particular relevance of course in that James Bowie, David Crockett and a number of others we know and love served in the militia during that war – in fact the fictional bio of the “typical” recruit whose career takes us through the book, ends with his going to Texas and being killed in the Goliad massacre
I’ve not heard of the author, Ed Gilbert, before although according to his bio he’s a Marine veteran and college professor who’s written some books on recent Marine Corps history.
I’ve still working through the book but there are already a couple of warning signs; he begins by saying that the Scotch Irish were lowland and highland Scots sent to the Ulster plantations after having been conquered by the English! In reality of course they weren’t conquered by anybody, but were encouraged by land grants to settle there and keep the Irish in their place. Nor were they highlanders; the highlanders and the native Irish had common cultural and family links and the idea of bringing in lowland Scots planters was to form a barrier between the two.
Not entirely germane to the main focus of the book, but it makes me worry a little.
Then, in discussing artillery he refers to the Gribeville (sic) drill. Again this betrays a certain lack of some fundamental knowledge and really ought to have been picked up by Osprey at the editorial stage. The Gribevaul system was a set of standardised specifications for artillery hardware, allowing for interchangeable wheels, fittings and so on, which influenced American artillery design; but it had absolutely nothing to do with gun handling drill.
I’m finding the book interesting, but this sort of mistake does mean I have to have some reservations about the stuff I don’t already know about. On the other hand some of it does appear to be sound, so I’d welcome input from anybody else reading it.
This particular title has just hit the booksellers over here so I expect it should be available in the States too, now or in the very near future.
The good news is that although the title specifically relates to the War of 1812, it is both generally relevant in covering the military/militia experience on the western frontier before, and realistically speaking during the Texan revolution. There is particular relevance of course in that James Bowie, David Crockett and a number of others we know and love served in the militia during that war – in fact the fictional bio of the “typical” recruit whose career takes us through the book, ends with his going to Texas and being killed in the Goliad massacre
I’ve not heard of the author, Ed Gilbert, before although according to his bio he’s a Marine veteran and college professor who’s written some books on recent Marine Corps history.
I’ve still working through the book but there are already a couple of warning signs; he begins by saying that the Scotch Irish were lowland and highland Scots sent to the Ulster plantations after having been conquered by the English! In reality of course they weren’t conquered by anybody, but were encouraged by land grants to settle there and keep the Irish in their place. Nor were they highlanders; the highlanders and the native Irish had common cultural and family links and the idea of bringing in lowland Scots planters was to form a barrier between the two.
Not entirely germane to the main focus of the book, but it makes me worry a little.
Then, in discussing artillery he refers to the Gribeville (sic) drill. Again this betrays a certain lack of some fundamental knowledge and really ought to have been picked up by Osprey at the editorial stage. The Gribevaul system was a set of standardised specifications for artillery hardware, allowing for interchangeable wheels, fittings and so on, which influenced American artillery design; but it had absolutely nothing to do with gun handling drill.
I’m finding the book interesting, but this sort of mistake does mean I have to have some reservations about the stuff I don’t already know about. On the other hand some of it does appear to be sound, so I’d welcome input from anybody else reading it.
