Wednesday, January 9

One to look forward to....

..I've just spotted that one of my favourite historian's, Richard Holmes, is due to publish a book on Marlborough this coming May - one to watch out for definitely... you can click on the picture to take you to the page on Amazon describing the contents.

It's always been a source of mystery to me as to why as a nation the British don't seem to revere/respect Marlborough as much as they do Wellington, or even Cromwell. As a nation we seem to have a much better knowledge of a whole host of foreign military leaders, while very few people seem to know anything about Marlborough, or the fascinating period of military history that he dominated for over 10 years.... very strange.

Here's hoping that this book, and (holding breath), perhaps an accompanying BBC series (please!!) will go some way to changing that...... either way, BBC series or not, this one is already sitting in my Amazon basket.

The painting table beckons this evening - I have enough Marlburian units now that I seriously need to consider adding some extra staff officers, so that's what I have in plan for tonight... some pictures anon.

Separately, the eagle eyed amongst you will have spotted a couple of new blogs added to the "Blogs of Note" list

~ Scott Robinson's epic blog featuring his Wars of the Deluge project (Polish and Russian Renaissance armies of quite stunning beauty - winged hussars, pancerni, and cossacks coming out of his ears...) and..

~ John Preece has also started a blog featuring his project to build a Marlburian army based on the "old school" Les Higgins 20mm figures. These are lovely, lovely figures. I think I would have been sorely tempted if I had started my Marlburian project from scratch. By the by, John also has a copy of a picture of the "Action in the Plattville Valley" from Don Featherstone's "Wargames" that is the single source of my enthusiasm for the new American Civil War project - I've emailed him to ask if I can also post a copy here, fingers crossed!

Last of all - I noticed the other day that I've just gone through 100 posts on the blog - doesn't time fly....!

3 comments:

  1. I am wondering if some of this lack of attention has to do with the books that *have* been published concerning the Duke. I read Churchill's bio of him back in the 70s and it was a mammoth 1000+ pages if I recall correctly. Chandler has also written a book on him that, although not as massive as Churchill's, is also well done.

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  2. Steve,

    Please allow me to offer my congratulations on passing post number 100.

    I find your blog to be one of the most interesting ones I read with regularity.

    I particularly appreciate the little historical insights that you offer along with your photos/posts.

    Keep it up!


    -- Jeff

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  3. Wow - hadn't seen that book coming up. Should be fantastic. I think Holmes understands the British soldier in a way many historians don't (Mark Urban is another who does). Looking forward to more Marlburian pics!

    Giles

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