laager50 | 28 May 2012 1:54 a.m. PST |
Armies of the Seven Years War: Commanders, Equipment, Uniforms and Strategies of the 'First World War' [Hardcover] link The book is avaiable for pre-order on amazon for £24.00 GBP and is due out the 1st June |
Sparker | 28 May 2012 4:33 a.m. PST |
Looks good
and Digby Smith (aka Otto Von Pivka) knows whereof he speaks
. |
nsolomon99 | 28 May 2012 4:41 a.m. PST |
Most welcome addition – thanks for the tip. This'll be a must buy! |
Cardinal Hawkwood | 28 May 2012 5:39 a.m. PST |
been waiting around for this for a long while..he certainly seems to know where to go to get cheap artwork for his cover,,. I don't actually expect much that will be earth shattering from Otto von P.. |
Marcus Maximus | 28 May 2012 1:58 p.m. PST |
It has been suggested to avoid this one, but I'm unsure as to why? I possibly will pick this one up, and I certainly would like to see a review of it. However, is this similar to this one? Wont it be covering the same ground? link |
clibinarium | 28 May 2012 2:15 p.m. PST |
Duffy's book is an (excellent) analysis of Frederick's army as a fighting machine, and does have some uniform info, but is more about the institution of the army. Digby Smith's book is, I assume, going to be something more like the Illustrated encyclopedia of the AWI link though hopefully it will avoid the errors of the AWI, which seemed to get it a frosty reception here. I am really looking forward to it, and will be getting a copy unless I hear that its really bad (I don't expect to). There hasn't been much preview of it which makes me somewhat sceptical of the publication date, but hopefully I'm wrong. |
Cheriton | 28 May 2012 2:16 p.m. PST |
It has been suggested to avoid this one, but I'm unsure as to why? Interesting
difficult to say. As with you I would like to hear why this was said. Also interesting, Amazon US has its pre-order price at 40% off (UK 20% off). Will follow this title with interest
P.S. Shown on the same page as "also recommended": BRITISH ARMY UNIFORMS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1751-1783 [Hardcover] Carl Franklin link As with so many titles it sounds interesting, even promising, but
BTW, It apparently begins with "1751-" in NoAm. Has it been discussed here? |
Enteburger | 29 May 2012 6:39 p.m. PST |
Hopefully it's better than his Napoleonic book |
inverugie | 02 Jun 2012 3:18 a.m. PST |
Any enlightenment as to why people are suggesting it be avoided? A review is provided here: link |
Come In Nighthawk | 02 Jun 2012 5:21 p.m. PST |
Looks like Smith's _Armies of the Seven Years War: Commanders, Equipment, Uniforms and Strategies of the 'First World War'_ is not to be released until October here in the Colonies? Anyone have any "gouge" on why the delay?? |
clibinarium | 02 Jun 2012 7:10 p.m. PST |
I had real doubts it was finished yet, and suspected October was more realistic, but that review shows that it at least exists in review copies. Sounds like a good book, though I am disappointed that it seems to have no new artwork in it, rather Knotel et al. That's great that the "classics" will be in there, but likely we'll have seen them all before. |
Mr Voltaire | 13 Jun 2012 11:21 a.m. PST |
A nice, concise book but littered with typos, no breakdown of the number of companies in a Prussian battalion and, glaringly, he has Clive of India commit suicide some decades before leaving India. Do Military Publishers not employ proof readers?? |
John Clements | 13 Jun 2012 1:25 p.m. PST |
I agree that the editing and proof reading is poor which seems to be a feature of publishing in the recesssion and many books suffer from it at present. You'll notice that some of the section headings seem hardly related to the text underneath and that's certainly something that should have been picked up and corrected. On balance, I found it a handy compendium but nothing new, and its breadth of coverage prohibits an in-depth look at most topics. |
jimchris | 14 Jun 2012 8:50 a.m. PST |
I received my copy yesterday as I had it on pre-order with Amazon. I must admit I have only had a quick glance so far but first impressions, is that it is a source book on the SYW wars rather than an illustrated encyclopaedia of uniforms, though there are some lovely plates. My reading so far is on the Spanish Army and he mentions the organisations of the Spanish Infantry but not the cavalry which I thought a bit inconsistent. Still it is early days and I will reserve judgement this I have read a bit more. |
inverugie | 16 Jun 2012 9:17 a.m. PST |
Having now thumbed through a copy at Foyle's, it is very much a compendium rather than anything approaching an original work. Most of the illustrations are from Knotel or Morier, so nothing particularly 'new' there. With the inclusion of Portugal and Spain, I was a little surprised that Denmark was omitted. Having only skimmed it, my impression was that if you are new to the period, it probably represents a reasonable starter. However, if your library is well-stocked, it's one that you can probably do without. |
EdwardG | 29 Mar 2016 6:58 p.m. PST |
Wish i had read this before I bought it. . . Too many instances of references that apply to the Napoleonic era but are irrelevant to the SYW. Incomplete and very basic; agreed that if one had no idea where to start looking for information on the period one could do worse. But one could also do so much better. And for a lot cheaper. Resurrecting a dead thread in the hopes of saving some poor fellow fifty bucks. |
Supercilius Maximus | 30 Mar 2016 9:42 a.m. PST |
Too many instances of references that apply to the Napoleonic era but are irrelevant to the SYW. I've not read this book, but would have to say that there was very much the same problem with his contribution to the Kiley/Smith AWI "encyclopedia" – officers with Napoleonic-style epaulettes, facial hair on the pioneer, the Irish filling out the ranks, etc etc. |
Charaina | 03 Oct 2019 4:34 p.m. PST |
If anyone can say, does this book have any images/info on the Schaumburg-Lippe Carabiniers? |
Camcleod | 03 Oct 2019 4:47 p.m. PST |
If it does, it's probably from this plate: link |
Ned Ludd | 17 Oct 2019 8:28 a.m. PST |
I bought this book and found an error in it about the uniform of a German regiment in French service. I then felt I could not rely on the rest of the info in the book and sold it. |