"New Armies of the Mexican Revolution Book" Topic

lifes-a-botch.blogspot.com has the cover and blurb.

That looks interesting.

Looks very interesting Mike.
Are you selling it direct or only through Caliver books?

martin

Martin

Through Caliver

I just checked the Caliver website and it's not listed yet. Do you know when it will be available? I'm more interested in the Cristero Rebellion of 1926-1929. Can you tell me if the Mexican army uniforms changed much from 1920 to 1926?

Thanks.

How long is it?
And, do you think your book does a better job than the Osprey?
If so, why?

I think it being advertised here by the author before it is ready at the shop? Enthusiasm I expect.

I think it being advertised here before it is ready? Enthusiasm I expect.

What a decidedly unhelpful post. Couldn't you have at least provided some more information, if not an outline of the book's contents then at least a blurb of some sort, to let us know the sort of new information you have been able to bring to light or what other gaps in historiography you happen to be filling?

And for what it's worth, I did not appreciate having to squint to read through the tiny backcover.

Whoa Maha, sorry to have upset you. As Martin says, just author over-enthusiasm to tell the world about his new offspring!

Pan – I haven't checked the length, but it takes a different line to the MAA. There is no historical political information – it is all about the organisation, uniforms, clothing and weapons of the Federal and revolutionary armies, with some coverage of the American forces involved in its two invasions. 20 odd photos never published before. Lots of colour 'uniform' plates, some great ones by Bruno Mugnai, some not so arty but intend just to be informative by me.

FWIW the blurb of the back cover:

‘The largest land battles (of the Mexican Revolution) …far exceeded those of other well-covered conflicts, such as the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Mexican-American War… As the conflict progressed…it grew in scope, scale and sophistication; from local uprisings to a national civil war, from small units to…armies and from ambushes to warfare prosecuted on the level of grand strategy… Guerrilla warfare, where the idea is to attack vulnerable targets using asymmetrical forces, persisted throughout but did not play the deciding role in the outcome…' Joe Lee Janssens, Maneuver and Battle in the Mexican Revolution: Rise of the Praetorians.

The years of fratricidal warfare described as the Mexican Revolution are not very well known outside of Mexico. The conflict deserves to be better known as it can arguably be called one of the first ‘modern wars'; certainly it heralded many of the major changes in warfare in the First World War.

Generally looked upon as something of a ‘Small War', comparable to the Colonial Warfare of the late 19th and early 20th Centuries, of guerrilla warfare with small bands of Revolutionaries ambushing Federales, refusing to fight ‘face-to-face' battles and disappearing back into the hills before they can be caught. This was not the case.
Breechloading and repeating weapons predominated, yet cavalry and ‘mounted infantry' reached higher numbers than the foot soldiers in some of the armies and battles. But the horseman's day was over. Here the cavalry of both Mexico and United States made their last grand mounted charges.

Appearing for the first time were motorcycles, motor trucks, armoured cars and the new 'air power' all made their first tentative appearances. The machine gun played a significant role for the first time in non-colonial warfare, heralding how it would come to dominate future battlefields.

Alongside these, wired and wireless communications, barbed wire, searchlights and trenches established their place on the battlefield in the Mexican Revolution.

This book gathers together information from disparate sources and focuses on the fighting men, and women, what they wore and what they fought with. It describes and illustrates the armed forces, their organization, uniforms, clothing, equipment and weapons to provide a guidebook to historians and wargamers seeking to know more these aspects of the conflict.

The text is supported by full page colour plates by Bruno Mugnai and the author, providing extensive coverage of the appearance of the protagonists and their weapons. Alongside these are photographs from the Elmer Powell Mexican Revolution Collection, DeGolyer Library, SMU, many unique and all published here for the first time.'

Excellent! All we need now is a full Peter Pig Mexican Revolution range!

;o)

What I didn't answer was the question when – it should be withing the next 3 weeks.

BTW Photos and a report of our MR game at Skirmish last year are featured in Miniature Wargames issue 443, including a shot on the front cover.

I hope your book will offer more than what's already been published in the Osprey book and the booklet 'Notes on the Mexican Army, 1900-1920'. Does it, for instance, cover all the various auxiliary, volunteer and irregular units that constituted a large percentage of the federal forces?

Also, what were your sources? Did you use Mexican Spanish-language publications?

Actually, a lot of the fighting was of the guerilla variety. In both 1910 and 1913 the major revolts started in many regions with guerilla resistance before revolutionary forces grew large enough and strong enough to wage conventional warfare, while in the south, and with the countless minor rebellions that constantly flared up throughout the country, it was the dominant pattern of conflict for the entire period.

I just found a review of this book on the Wargames Illustrated website. Well, it starts out as a review and then segues into an article about gaming the revolution.

It looks as though the Mike Blake book might be a worthwhile purchase for veteran Mex Rev gamers, and might make a useful companion to the new Villa Rides! rule set for those new to the subject – if we can obtain some insights into how that system works.

Strangely, the article doesn't mention either Dr Joe L. Janssens' six seminal books, nor the many posts on the Mex Rev on TMP.