"Top three Helion ECW Books?" Topic

Good morning!

As I was reading through the excellent posts here on this board, I saw that a number of Helion ECW books were recommended… and some were panned. But I didn't get a good feel as to what might be the must–haves from their collection.

What are the top 3 Helion ECW books?

I don't have that many English Civil War books in my collection yet. I have the Atlas by Lipscombe and Civil War in the South-West England: 1642-1646 by Barratt, and all of the Captain Stryker books… but nothing from Helion. As you can see I happily spend my time in the shallow end of the pool. Ha ha!

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. The Helion book about wargaming the ECW sounds very interesting… is there a preview anywhere?

The Helion Wargamers guide isn't published yet. Work starts in earnest soon.

My top 5, sorry can't just do 3. In no particular order:
Dragoons & Dragoon Operations
More Like Lions Than Men
Armies Of Ralph Hopton
No Armour But Courage
Hey For Old Robin

The latest volume "Raw Generals…" looks like it may well make it into the top 5 (haven't finished reading it yet)

As for the very beautiful Lipscombe Atlas, contains too many errors and is in serious need of an index.

'Dragoons and Dragoon operations' also has no index, and is otherwise rambling. Not worth the price.

Go to a show and look before you buy as the content and writing style can vary quite a lot.

Thank you, Keep Your Powder Dry. I took a quick peek at those and they seem to be excellent first choices for me. I think I prefer the ones that follow an army from battle to battle, and a few of them are like that; I'm especially drawn to Hey For Old Robin.

Dragoons & Dragoon Operations has a mixed review so I'll give that more scrutiny. Thanks for your input, FourDJones.

That's good advice, BillyNM… but are there a few title that you like?

I think there are a few factors here. Some of the Helion press assume no or little knowledge (the Campaigns of theEastern Association book is an example) whereas others expect some knowledge of events and personages (the new book by Lenihan is an example).
So what is your knowledge? This also is affected by the events that most interest you. I am removed by hundreds of kilometres from Kent so only slighly interested in that area. My father's side hail from East Anglia so am interested and reasonably aware of events there. So I welcome new findings.And this is most relevant to you.

Are you focused on the main armies' operations or the local operations? They overlap but the book on sieges in the Severn valley will have little to interest you if you focus on actions in (say) the south (Waller v Hopton).

Hello Redinalways!

To answer your question, I'd say I was in the 'some knowledge' range in this spectrum:

No knowledge – some knowledge – informed – well versed – TMP ECW Denizens

I'm thousands of miles removed from England, so one county versus another doesn't affect me. The books that others have suggested that sound interesting are ones that follow a certain force, such as Hey For Old Robin.

As you can see, I'm still finding my way and I'm curious to find entertaining and informative literature on the subject.

If you are interested in specific armies, then Helion are not necessarily your best option.

Parliament's main field army under Essex:
Old Robin's Foot (Partizan)
Hey For Old Robin (Helion)
Essex's Artillery Train 2 volumes (P&S Soc)
Chief Strength of the Army (Partizan)
Exceeding Toylsome – covers baggage train (P&S Soc)

Eastern Association:
Eastern Association (P&S Soc)

Waller:
Wallers Army (P&S Soc)
Campaigns of Waller's Army (Helion)

Parliament's Cornish/Devon army: 8 volumes (Stuart Press)

Parliament's Cheshire Army:
More Like Lions Than Men (Helion)

Army Newly Modelled:
Firth's 2 volumes Regimental History of Cromwell's Army (out of print, try ABE Books)

Scots
Furgol's History of the Covenant Armies (out of print, try ABE)
Reid's Scots Great Rebellion (Partizan)

Royalists less well served…
3 volumes of Cavalier Officer lists (Partizan)
Hopton's Army (Helion)