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Recent Posts
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- Book Review: On Killing
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- The Blogging Year Ahead 2012
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- New Year’s Resolutions Waste My Time
- Dall’Agocchie’s Essential Actions
- My Blog’s Year-in-Review
- Separation of Church and State in Australia
- Swordplay: Context is Everything
- City in the Dust: A Story Setting?
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review Archive
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![<p><strong>Title</strong>: Pegasus Bridge<br />
<strong>Author</strong>: Stephen E Ambrose<br />
<strong>Paperback</strong>: 256 pages<br />
<strong>Publisher</strong>: Simon & Schuster 2002<br />
<strong>Language</strong>: English</p>
<p>Ambrose book is a great read for anyone with even a passing interest in the event but it is not without its faults. It’s purpose should be thought of as an introduction to this amazing event in military history rather than a definitive or in-depth history of the action.</p>
<p>Growing up on war movies and historical miniatures gaming, I’ve pretty much always been aware of the efforts of Johnny Howard‘s lads to take and hold the bridges over […]</p>](http://sleech.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/category-arts2-115x115.jpg "Review: Pegasus Bridge")
Review: Pegasus Bridge
Posted on 16 January, 2012 | No CommentsTitle: Pegasus Bridge
Author: Stephen E Ambrose
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster 2002
Language: EnglishAmbrose book is a great read for anyone with even a passing interest in the event but it is not without its faults. It’s purpose should be thought of as an introduction to this amazing event in military history rather than a definitive or in-depth history of the action.
Growing up on war movies and historical miniatures gaming, I’ve pretty much always been aware of the efforts of Johnny Howard‘s lads to take and hold the bridges over […]
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![<p>I figured that since we’re at the end of the year I’d better have a look at how this little blog has performed. None of the stats about which posts and pages were the most popular match what I expected so see. Hmmm….. Perhaps I should change what I’m doing here.</p>
<p>The first surprise is the number of people who read my blog. On average, there’s 730 page views here per month with a daily average rising steadily from 20 per day in January to 35 per day in November. I must be doing something right even though it appears […]</p>](http://sleech.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/category-random3-115x115.jpg "My Blog’s Year-in-Review")
My Blog’s Year-in-Review
Posted on 23 December, 2011 | No CommentsI figured that since we’re at the end of the year I’d better have a look at how this little blog has performed. None of the stats about which posts and pages were the most popular match what I expected so see. Hmmm….. Perhaps I should change what I’m doing here.
The first surprise is the number of people who read my blog. On average, there’s 730 page views here per month with a daily average rising steadily from 20 per day in January to 35 per day in November. I must be doing something right even though it appears […]
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![<p><strong>Title</strong>: On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society<br />
<strong>Author</strong>: Lt. Col. Dave Grossman<br />
<strong>Paperback</strong>: 416 pages<br />
<strong>Publisher</strong>: Back Bay Books (revised) 2009<br />
<strong>Language</strong>: English</p>
<p>This is a fascinating read which ultimately tries to cram too much into too small a book. Depending on which of its many and sometimes conflicting aims you are considering, it either succeeds marvellously or fails dismally. At its heart, however, the book explores what happens to men on the battlefield, what it takes to make them kill and how they live with the knowledge […]</p>](http://sleech.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Grossman_-_On_Killing-115x115.jpg "Book Review: On Killing")
Book Review: On Killing
Posted on 16 December, 2011 | No CommentsTitle: On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society
Author: Lt. Col. Dave Grossman
Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Back Bay Books (revised) 2009
Language: EnglishThis is a fascinating read which ultimately tries to cram too much into too small a book. Depending on which of its many and sometimes conflicting aims you are considering, it either succeeds marvellously or fails dismally. At its heart, however, the book explores what happens to men on the battlefield, what it takes to make them kill and how they live with the knowledge […]
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![<p>Title: A Model Victory: Waterloo and the Battle for History<br />
Author: Malcolm Balen<br />
Paperback: 304 pages<br />
Publisher: HarperPerennial (2006)<br />
Language: English</p>
<p>I was looking for a small and accessible history of the Napoleonic Wars or of Waterloo (most books on the subject are neither) when I found this gem. It’s not so much a history of Waterloo, as I originally thought, but a description of how of the Battle for the Battle of Waterloo in which various force vie to be the one who writes the history of that fateful day — a much more interesting subject as it turns […]</p>](http://sleech.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/modelvictory-115x115.jpg "Review: A Model Victory")
Review: A Model Victory
Posted on 9 September, 2011 | No CommentsTitle: A Model Victory: Waterloo and the Battle for History
Author: Malcolm Balen
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: HarperPerennial (2006)
Language: EnglishI was looking for a small and accessible history of the Napoleonic Wars or of Waterloo (most books on the subject are neither) when I found this gem. It’s not so much a history of Waterloo, as I originally thought, but a description of how of the Battle for the Battle of Waterloo in which various force vie to be the one who writes the history of that fateful day — a much more interesting subject as it turns […]
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![<p><strong>Title</strong>: Inquisition<br />
<strong>Author</strong>: Edward Peters<br />
<strong>Paperback</strong>: 362 pages<br />
<strong>Publisher</strong>: University of California Press, 1989<br />
<strong>Language</strong>: English</p>
<p>This brilliant study is immensely valuable to the amateur historian on three levels. The least of these is how it shows the Inquisition as the outcome of the legal system of Ancient Rome. It also examines in detail the organization, procedures, process and results of the various inquisition throughout an 800+ year history based on the notoriously meticulous records recently released from the Vatican Archive. More importantly, it compares the process of the inquisition to that of secular courts […]</p>](http://sleech.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/inquisition-115x115.jpg "Review: Inquisition")
Review: Inquisition
Posted on 26 August, 2011 | No CommentsTitle: Inquisition
Author: Edward Peters
Paperback: 362 pages
Publisher: University of California Press, 1989
Language: EnglishThis brilliant study is immensely valuable to the amateur historian on three levels. The least of these is how it shows the Inquisition as the outcome of the legal system of Ancient Rome. It also examines in detail the organization, procedures, process and results of the various inquisition throughout an 800+ year history based on the notoriously meticulous records recently released from the Vatican Archive. More importantly, it compares the process of the inquisition to that of secular courts […]
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![<p><strong>Title:</strong> D-Day 6 June 1944<br />
<strong>Author:</strong> Stephen E Ambrose<br />
<strong>Paperback:</strong> 656 pages<br />
<strong>Publisher:</strong> Simon & Schuster<br />
<strong>Language:</strong> English</p>
<p>D-Day is one of the few truly momentous events of the twentieth century. Ambrose book captures the experience from the recollections and memories of the poor bastards who lived through it. In this, he has created a wonderful record of the build up, execution and aftermath of the event which should be read by everyone. The book’s only fault is that it’s written by an American.</p>
<p>The strategy of the book is to start at the widest possible scale then narrow in […]</p>](http://sleech.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Ambrose_DDay-115x115.jpg "D-Day 6 June 1944 by Stephen E Ambrose")
D-Day 6 June 1944 by Stephen E Ambrose
Posted on 22 July, 2011 | 1 CommentTitle: D-Day 6 June 1944
Author: Stephen E Ambrose
Paperback: 656 pages
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Language: EnglishD-Day is one of the few truly momentous events of the twentieth century. Ambrose book captures the experience from the recollections and memories of the poor bastards who lived through it. In this, he has created a wonderful record of the build up, execution and aftermath of the event which should be read by everyone. The book’s only fault is that it’s written by an American.
The strategy of the book is to start at the widest possible scale then narrow in […]
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![<p>Niccolo Machiavelli is the odd man out on my Italian Renaissance reading list in that he is a political theorist rather than a poet and lived around 150-200 years are the other three authors on the list: Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarch. He’s also completely misunderstood by people who have only read his other famous book, <em>The Prince</em>.</p>
<p><em>Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy</em> (1517) is Machiavelli’s reactions in essay form to reading the Roman author’s history of the great Republic and looking at the political world of his own day and, in particular, of his home town, […]</p>](http://sleech.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/category-arts3-115x115.jpg "Machiavelli’s The Discourses")
Machiavelli’s The Discourses
Posted on 1 July, 2011 | No CommentsNiccolo Machiavelli is the odd man out on my Italian Renaissance reading list in that he is a political theorist rather than a poet and lived around 150-200 years are the other three authors on the list: Dante, Boccaccio and Petrarch. He’s also completely misunderstood by people who have only read his other famous book, The Prince.
Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy (1517) is Machiavelli’s reactions in essay form to reading the Roman author’s history of the great Republic and looking at the political world of his own day and, in particular, of his home town, […]
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![<p>What happens when you face an opponent who read my last post and is standing in front of you in Straight Parrying or, to a much lesser extent, Iron Gate? What do you do?</p>
<p>Meyer is not particularly clear on this point but, as he says, he gives a range of examples from which the reader is supposed to deduce the principles at work, many of which will be familiar from the section on the longsword or from other schools of rapier play. He says in general that “ you should not go out more than a hand’s breadth to […]</p>](http://sleech.info/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/category-fencing1-115x115.jpg "Meyer’s Rapier: Attacking the Straight Parry")
Meyer’s Rapier: Attacking the Straight Parry
Posted on 10 June, 2011 | No CommentsWhat happens when you face an opponent who read my last post and is standing in front of you in Straight Parrying or, to a much lesser extent, Iron Gate? What do you do?
Meyer is not particularly clear on this point but, as he says, he gives a range of examples from which the reader is supposed to deduce the principles at work, many of which will be familiar from the section on the longsword or from other schools of rapier play. He says in general that “ you should not go out more than a hand’s breadth to […]
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![<p><strong>Title</strong>: The Trial of the Templars<br />
<strong>Author</strong>: Malcolm Barber<br />
<strong>Paperback</strong>: 408 pages<br />
<strong>Publisher</strong>: Cambridge University Press, 1978 (Second edition 2006)<br />
<strong>Language</strong>: English</p>
<p>Although the Trial of the Templars is now more than thirty years old, it is still the best study of the period written in English. This is a period, a long with the Crusade against the Cathars, which is well known and studied in French but for which very little English material of any quality exists.</p>
<p>In this book, Barber has presented documentary and other first hand evidence of the arrest, trial and […]</p>](http://sleech.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/19709-115x115.jpg "Review: The Trial of the Templars")
Review: The Trial of the Templars
Posted on 25 November, 2010 | No CommentsTitle: The Trial of the Templars
Author: Malcolm Barber
Paperback: 408 pages
Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1978 (Second edition 2006)
Language: EnglishAlthough the Trial of the Templars is now more than thirty years old, it is still the best study of the period written in English. This is a period, a long with the Crusade against the Cathars, which is well known and studied in French but for which very little English material of any quality exists.
In this book, Barber has presented documentary and other first hand evidence of the arrest, trial and […]
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![<p><strong>Title</strong>: The Aegean Bronze Age<br />
<strong>Author</strong>: Oliver Dickinson<br />
<strong>Paperback</strong>: 364 pages<br />
<strong>Publisher</strong>: Cambridge University Press (1994)<br />
<strong>Language</strong>: English</p>
<p>This is a much-needed summary of current evidence and scholarship on an amazing period of eastern Mediterranean history from around 3000 – 1000 BC. Although it is now fifteen years old, it outlines the recent revolution in ideas about the period and show how the (still depressingly scant) archaeological evidence has put nail after nail in the coffin of Arthur Evans and the historians of his age. Dickinson brings to life a vibrant civilisation which traded widely […]</p>](http://sleech.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/aegean_bronze_age-115x115.jpg "Review: The Aegean Bronze Age")
Review: The Aegean Bronze Age
Posted on 22 October, 2010 | 2 CommentsTitle: The Aegean Bronze Age
Author: Oliver Dickinson
Paperback: 364 pages
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (1994)
Language: EnglishThis is a much-needed summary of current evidence and scholarship on an amazing period of eastern Mediterranean history from around 3000 – 1000 BC. Although it is now fifteen years old, it outlines the recent revolution in ideas about the period and show how the (still depressingly scant) archaeological evidence has put nail after nail in the coffin of Arthur Evans and the historians of his age. Dickinson brings to life a vibrant civilisation which traded widely […]