Joe
Smoke on the Water!
March 24, 2011 12:00 AM
I’ve got to admit it, I love reading about warships blasting one another to fragments. It is like a clash of titans, each side firing cannons that would devastate entire regiments of infantry, and this month Osprey is releasing two classic match-ups from two very different eras of naval warfare.
First up is CAM 230: Nile 1798: Nelson’s first great victory by Gregory Fremont-Barnes, which tells the story of one of the most complete victories in the history of fighting sale. Gregory pulls not punches in his narrative, which is filled with first hand quotes and dramatic descriptions of wooden ships pounded into splinters. It also includes one of the most gruesome (though historically accurate) artwork plates, depicting Captain Dupetit-Thouars continuing to command his ship despite the loss of one leg and both his hands.
Also this month we are releasing CAM 232: The Bismarck 1941: Hunting Germany’s greatest battleship by Angus Konstam. Where as The Nile was more a slugfest, The Bismarck is a cat-and-mouse story punctuated by several sharp and destructive fights. Angus gives us the full story of the dramatic story that eventually ran the German battleship down. The book is packed with photographs of the ships at sea and several moody paintings by Paul Wright.
So if you like big ships and naval battles – it is your month here at Osprey.
COMMENTS
That's precisely why I was looking forward to march issue. That also lead to another obvious consideration: more naval battles!! There is no shortage of subjects. In particular WWII pacific war has ever been under-represented, I would like to read books about java sea for example (to mention one of less famous but nevertheless more interesting clashes of the first phase of pac. war) Also the Atlantic war it's full of themes like artic convoys or the sinking of Tirpiz. To mention just few of the first ideas that comes to my mind.
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I totally agree with you Alessio. Two years ago, I posted a thread in ww2 forum to suggest more naval titles in Campaign series, especially naval battles of Guadalcanal and convoy PQ17. When I note that Neptune's inferno by James Hornfischer is already a bestseller on Amazon.com, I am still thinking the first one at least could have a serious business potential and Osprey would not have to search for too long a qualified author ( aka Mark Stille ). The second would be a must for me ( clearly number one on my wishlist ) and I hope for other readers. The story of convoy PQ 17 was dramatic and intriguing: the very controversial decision of the British Admiralty to withdraw the escort led to a major naval disaster.
Let's hope that Osprey will take these suggestions into consideration...
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