Ruth
Ruth’s Osprey Oscars
October 13, 2009 12:00 AM
As I prepare to leave Osprey (sob), I thought I’d celebrate my seven years at Osprey by remembering a few of my favourites from among all the books I’ve worked on. I worked on several series before moving on to the Generals, and I can honestly say I’ve loved every book I’ve worked on for some reason or other, but these have stuck in the memory. So, the winners are…
Most Death
Winner: Vanquished
Unsurprisingly, the book about battles where one army is pretty much annihilated has the most death of any Osprey title I’ve worked on. Approximate casualties: must be over a million.
Honourable mention: Alexander the Great at War: Granicus, Issus, Gaugamela, Hydaspes, rivers of blood across Asia…
Worst Brief Mention of Animal Cruelty
Winner: CAM 128: Quebec 1775, page 49.
Not the best planned campaign, resulting in“The men were now eating their belts and shoes, squirrel skins and [Captain] Dearborn’s Newfoundland dog.”
Most garish uniforms
Winner: ELI 102: Santa Anna’s Mexican Army 1821–48
I’m sorry, yellow jackets with black trim? It was like London Fashion Week, but with weapons.
Honourable mention: ELI 115: Napoleon’s Imperial Headquarters (1), these guys apparently didn’t believe in understatement and didn’t think you could ever have enough braid on your jacket/trousers/horse…
Most Beautiful Book
Winner: This is a tie between Battlescapes and Brushes and Bayonets
Both stunning, both hugely enjoyable to work on.
Most gruesome photograph
ELI 96: American Frontier Lawmen 1850–1930, page 61. Thomas Ketchum’s botched hanging in 1901 leads to decapitation…
Honourable mention:
Shadow Warriors, p.135. Yuck.
(It’s a photo of a blown-apart Panamanian from the US Invasion. Yuck is right. – Ed.)
Most Fascinating Authors
Rolling Thunder in a Gentle Land: The Vietnam War revisited
No disrespect to my other authors, you’re all fab, but this book on the Vietnam War gave me an opportunity to correspond with some fascinating people – Lam Quang Thi, Le Ly Hayslip and Bui Tin – who I would never have met otherwise. I suggest you read this book, then if you like you can buy their books and read those, and then watch the film.
Favourite cover
Young Nelsons
I can claim no input into this at all, as I was on maternity leave, but I love it!
Honourable mentions: Shadows in the Desert and No Greater Ally
Most scandalous
Chevalier d’Éon in Military Misdemeanours
There are, of course, a lot of scandalous tales in this book, but my favourite remains the transvestite French knight, who was a dragoon war hero, undercover spy and champion duellist, but enjoyed dressing as a lady, and encouraged rumours that he was a woman. To cut a long story short, following a court case that established he was a woman, he was ordered by Louis XVI to only wear dresses, which he did until his death, upon which it was established that he was in fact a man…!
Favourite artwork
Richard Hook’s samurais in ELI 125: Samurai Commanders (1) and ELI 128: Samurai Commanders (2), especially ELI 125 plate B.
Incredibly detailed and totally gorgeous.
Honourable mention: Almost anything by Angus McBride, I love his work, but didn’t work on many titles with him.
Worst scoundrel
Gregor MacGregor in Conquer or Die!
Not yet published, this will grace the bookshops next August, but I have so enjoyed reading this colourful account of British volunteers involved in Bolívar’s War of Liberation/Extermination that I had to mention it, do look out for it. Whilst some of the soldiers were honourable men, who dealt with the challenges that South America hurled at them, others were utter scoundrels, none more so than Gregor MacGregor...
So it’s goodbye from me. It’s been wonderful working at Osprey, and I shall miss the books, the people and the office terribly.
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