I voted for Troy for a number reasons. My interest is mainly in ancient history, especially the less main stream areas (more books on the Hellenic world please), so i'll tend to vote for books covering that period anyway. Also, I assume that when a book appears on the book vote someone has at least expressed an interest in writing the book rather than it just being some vague market research by Osprey, so someone believes they have or can at least get enough information to write the book. Finally all the books I've ever seen on the Trojan War concentrate on the archeaology or general information on the Myceaneans and I would really like to see a book that treated it as a military engagement, especially an Osprey Campaign book.
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WHEN are we getting the Archive page for the "Book Votes"??
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Like most I was very surprised when I saw that Troy had won by such a massive margin and my first thought was to smell a rat. I thought there had been some vote rigging going on but as Osprey check for this it can't be the case.
Personally I can't see how there is enough 'factual' evidence and source material to do a campaign title on Troy. The attack on Troy is, at best, semi-factual and semi-myth. You may as well do a campaign title on the Battles of Badon Hill or Camlann. The book would rely on far too much conjecture and guess work to be a credible historical work. Either that or it would have to simply be a dull catalogue of the known archaeological evidence interspersed with extracts from Homer and friends.
The other four titles were far better choices. Three of them have appeared on the book vote before and certainly Talavera and Singapore are noticeable gaps in the Campaign series that need to be filled. For me any one of Talavera, Singapore, Fallen Timbers or The Easter Offensive would be much more worth while projects.
If Osprey thinks they can do it then good luck to them but don't overlook the other four in some mad crusade to write the impossible.
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"In the past we have been given a bit of stick for publishing Campaigns on subjects where source material is a bit thin on the ground"
Ahem. You probably mean Robert Forczyk's Amazon.com reviews (particularly the one about CAM 206 Spartacus), but I've ranted about this topic often and at length here at the blog and also at the Osprey forum. The main point I'm trying to get across is that, for Ancient History campaigns, historical relevance and availability of sources don't necessarily coincide, and that will inevitably lead to distortions. Plus Osprey seems to have gone into deep British regionalism with Mons Graupius and Boudicca, but that's another matter.
Answering the blog's question: my guess is that the main reason why "Troy" won was the time period to which it belongs (in the widest sense), Ancient History. The target audience of the Campaign series are wargamers, and Ancient Warfare seems to be the trend of the moment among that segment of hobbyists. I believe that right now, if you put any Ancient History campaign, no matter how obscure or undeserving of coverage, in a poll, it will win handily.
@clomas
"I would really like to see a book that treated it as a military engagement, especially an Osprey Campaign book."
You do realize that the only way that would be possible would be to take Homer's account as fact? And that in turn would require an Osprey Campaign series title to give factual descriptions of direct intervention in combat by several Olympian deities?
I remember Colin McEvedy's wry, perceptive intro to his own "Atlas of Ancient History" poking fun at archaeologists for providing "blow by blow accounts of prehistoric battles". This would amount to pretty much the same.
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While I disagree that " there are not many of those (holes) out there" in your WWII campaigns (Liberation of the Philippines, New Guinea, Rabaul, Northern Solomons, Aleutians), the reason for Troy to be such a big vote-getter is simple. As history and literature, it is one of the very few events that provide a basis for Western Civilization. Like the Old Testament, it is the foundation for many of our deepest convictions and attitudes.
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"Ahem. You probably mean Robert Forczyk's Amazon.com reviews (particularly the one about CAM 206 Spartacus), but I've ranted about this topic often and at length here at the blog and also at the Osprey forum."
completely agree with you Hugo. what was much worse was the Hun Warrior title. other than Napoleonics, i really like Steppe history, and when i first saw the announcement, i was really happy, but my next thought was "mmmh, there's not enough source material (both literary and pictoral!) available to do this one". and after i got it, i was prooven right, unfortunately.
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