Book Review: The War of Wars by Robert Harvey

The War Of Wars: The Great European Conflict, 1793–1815 by Robert Harvey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was the Great War before 1914, a two-decade long conflict with only a brief period of peace reminiscent of the Peloponnesian War of Ancient Greece. The War of Wars: The Epic Struggle Between Britain and France 1793-1815 by Robert Harvey relates the military and political history and the men who shaped the period on land, sea, and in the halls of power.

Harvey doesn’t stray from historical conscious by having Napoleon as the most prominent historical actor that he follows throughout his historical survey, but this is not the mythologized Napoleon but the one that was the politically and diplomatically inept military dictator of France. Yet until Napoleon made his debut in 1793, the French Revolution had been going on for years and Harvey documented how that political upheaval influenced the beginning of the Revolutionary phase of the Wars. Though this was a pan-European War, Harvey focuses on Britain as the primary nemesis of France in every sphere of the conflict on land and sea, as well as economics and politics. While Napoleon has become the dominate figure of the period on the French side—through Harvey brings to the fore those that preceded him and might have been better overall militarily—he brings forward numerous British military and naval commander as well as the leading politicians of the day through stark language that doesn’t hero worship nor for the most part verbally bury either.

The War of Wars covers a two-decade long period of European history in a little over 900 pages of text with battle maps situated in the front of the book. Robert Harvey not only narrates the course of events in a very readable way, he writes very informative biographical sketches for the main individuals that decided the course of events.

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Book Review: The Dead Hand Book by Sara Richard

The Dead Hand Book: Stories From Gravesend Cemetery by Sara Richard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Dead Hand Book: Stories From Gravesend Cemetery is an illustrated collection of short stories from the titular location drawn and written by Sara Richard. A mixture of melancholy, the macabre, and the creepy Richard writes as short story on a gravestone or memorial on one page of a two-page black-and-white illustration that brings the words to “life” but reveals even more to the astute observer. As a longtime fan of Richard’s art, this 96-page book did not disappoint.

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Book Review: Rogue One by Alexander Freed

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story by Alexander Freed
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The novelization of the first of Disney’s Star Wars anthology films Rogue One hit the shelves a few weeks after the film’s premiere in theaters to avoid spoilers, written by Alexander Freed based on the script by Chris Weitz and Tony Gilroy.

Freed followed the events in the script faithfully, but the narrative was improved with insights into the thoughts of the primary characters of the novel. Freed interlaced the narrative with one-time characters to add actions and descriptions to various parts of the narrative, especially the destruction of Jedha. Jyn, Cassian, Bodhi, and Kennic were the most well-rounded characters throughout the narrative with Freed making them the dominate point-of-views through more appear during the Battle of Scarif giving the event the big time feel it deserved. The added “Supplemental Data” interlaced throughout the book gives additional background information without being the dreaded “info dumps” that interrupt the narrative flow of the story.

Rogue One is the first novelization that I’ve read that is of equal quality to the film its adapted from.

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Book Review: The War of the Revolution by Christopher Ward

The War of the Revolution by Christopher Ward
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Many people confuse the American Revolution with the American War of Independence, however while the former is both military and political developments the latter is strictly for the armed conflict that was apart of the former. The War of the Revolution by Christopher Ward follows the armed conflict in eastern North America that would bring about the birth of the United States.

While histories of the American Revolution cover all facets of the conflict, for 95% of this book Ward focuses only on the military aspect on land—this includes both battlefield events and provisioning the armies—of the conflict. Save for setting up how the fighting began between the colonists and the British army in Massachusetts and interesting asides, Ward follows the maneuvers, tactics, and strategies of both sides as well as the personalities of their generals, officers, and notable regular soldiers. Originally published as two volumes, one focused on the war in the North and the other in the South, not only due to the shift of geographic emphasis that occurred during the war but also the nature of the war in each region. One interesting feature is that Ward is very detailed in describing the history of the Continental regiments from Maryland and Delaware, this is because this book is an outgrowth of a history Ward wrote about Delaware’s contribution to the Continental Army throughout the war.

The War of the Revolution is an excellently written military history of the American War of Independence that Christopher Ward developed out of a history of the participation of one of the smallest states within the Continental Army. Though roughly 70 years old, this book is a must read for those fascinated with military history whether of the United States specifically or in general.

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