This morning I thought I’d have a good look through the forum pages to try to draw out some of the key themes and subjects from your discussions about titles we should publish, following on from previous posts. Several hours later, I’ve finally read through them all and I think I’ve got it. I had to restrict myself to just posts from 2009, but here are a few of the things you are talking about, in no particular order with some updates on where we are with them.
New Vanguard
The Vickers 6 tonner and its many, many derivatives, multi-turret behemoths, French armour from the Char B to the Leclerc, Hungarian, Czech, Romanian, Dutch, Belgian and other small nations armour used throughout World War II (also the Italians). Phil, our Commissioning Editor for New Vanguard said:
‘You might be pleased to know that we have a NVG on French tanks of WWI scheduled for the end of 2010, and I'm looking into commissioning a DUEL title covering the Char B1 bis VS PzKpfw IV in France in 1940.’
The list goes on. Soviet Tank Destroyers like the SU76, Soviet AT and Field Artillery. Soviet mobile AA systems such as the ZSU-57-2, ZSU-23-4, SA-13 or SA-19 Grison. We had quite a lot of requests for books on Soviet Forces across the series, in Battle Orders we had Soviet Tank Forces and Motorized Rifle Divisions and there were many requests in Campaigns and the uniform series (see below). British Armoured Cars 1939-45 (but not in one volume), the Valentine, Merkava, Scorpion and Leopard also featured. You’ll be pleased to hear we will be doing the Humber Light Reconnaissance Car in 2010. The Landrover came up and we pointed you in the direction of the latest from Shire books
On a naval theme we had The U.S. Asiatic Fleet: 1902-1940 and U.S. Navy Yangtze River Gunboats. We are currently seriously looking at a proposal for Gunboats in China, so look out for that one.
Duel
Duel is one of our younger series but it is already racking up the subjects. New suggestions for technological match-ups of planes, tanks and ships include the Pershing vs. T34/85 in Korea, German 50mm Pak 38 vs. Russian T-34, Hawker Sea Fury vs. Mig-15, F-86 vs. Mig-15, the Panzerfaust vs. T-34, ME-110 Nightfighter vs. Avro Lancaster and USN Carriers vs. IJN Carriers 1943-45. Personally I’d like to do Persian Cataphract vs. Roman Legionary but apparently that falls outside the series scope. Don’t see why personally…
Men-at-Arms, Warrior, Elite
Unsurprisingly uniform books are second only to Campaign in the number of posts on topics we have missed from earliest times to modern warfare. In ancient and medieval subjects there is a lot of interest in conflict outside Western Europe which has been well covered. There was enthusiasm for the Golden Horde and Mongol opponents of Russia. Other topics included Shaolin Warrior Monks, Korean armies, The Indian and the Central Asian armies that Alexander faced, The Kushans, Babylonians and Sassanids. The latter were pretty popular across all series as the discussion here shows.
There was a good debate on whether you could cover 'Homeric Warfare' or 'Dark Age Greece', the Trojan wars and the Sea Peoples. Particularly for Troy the sources are thin and there would be an element of conjecture to the work? If that is made explicit by the author at the beginning is that a problem?
There was also general enthusiasm for Africa and in the medieval world forum for Armoured Knights of the Sahara:
‘I would really enjoy an Osprey title on the military forces and traditions of the Empires of Mali and Songhai, who controlled most of the trade routes between Europe and sub-Saharan Africa for centuries. From their capitals in Timbuktu and Gao, leaders like Sonni Ali, Sundiata and Mansa Musa dazzled European and Arab chroniclers with their wealth and power. These armies relied on heavily armored cavalrymen supported by light cavalry, infantry and camel troops from many tributary nations. The Empire of Songhay was conquered in 1591 by a Moroccan army composed mainly of Spanish soldiers (both Christian mercenaries and Moorish exiles) with artillery and other firearms. Fascinating stuff!’
Moving onto the Renaissance which is never far from my thoughts now we have begun work on Field of Glory: Renaissance, we had plenty of interest in books on the Italian wars, the French Gendarmes, Spanish Tercios and German Reiters.
There was interest in the British Navy at the time of the English Civil War and one writer pointed out ‘three massive gaps’ in our coverage:
There are no Men-at-Arms on the Swedish army of the great Northern war.
There no titles on the armies of Iran c. 1500-1800?(The Safavid periods etc).
Why are there so few renaissance era Men-at-Arms titles?
In the Napoleonic forums there was a huge list of future titles for our editors to look at including Napoleon´s foreign troops like the Swiss regiments, Italian Légion Piédmontese, Légion du Midi, Tirailleurs du Pô and so on. Also the uniforms of the United States Navy and Marines during the times of the Barbary Wars, the Quasi-War against Republican France, the War of 1812, and the campaigns against pirates in Caribbean in the 1820s. Moving on into the nineteenth century French Zouaves and Italian armies in the period of the 1830s through to 1871 have also been requested.
Inevitably a lot of requests across periods are for the armies of the smaller nations involved in conflicts. These are sometimes difficult to do and are not commercially viable on their own. We will continue to look for different ways we can publish titles such as the armies of Greece, Belgium, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland/Liechtenstein 1939-1945. One title that was requested was on the Brazilian Expeditionary Force (BEF) in Italy and we are working on this title right now.
Other requests included French Forces in Indochina and the war in Vietnam before the American involvement, Men-at-Arms on the Soviet Army as we have for NATO forces; Elite titles on Soviet Commanders, the Soviet Air Force and Navy, South Lebanese Army, and Commonwealth Armies in Afghanistan.
In the modern forums there has been a lot of discussion about updating books on contemporary forces that have changed in the ten or more years since titles were first published. Units ready for this treatment include Australian & Canadian forces at war 1975-2009 as well as the British Army and NATO forces.
There have been a few requests for books on the Victoria Cross recipients similar to the titles in the Elite series on the Medal of Honor. There are no plans to do this but our sister publisher Shire has some appropriate books.
Finally in the uniforms section was a debate on less ‘serious’ subjects with a suggestion that we should cover the A Team!
Campaign
Again there was enthusiasm for Iran and the various dynasties centred on that area. Currently we are working on a big hard-back here at Osprey on Iran at War, starting with the Safavid dynasty. So keep your eyes peeled for that.
Other suggestions for battles and campaigns in the ancient and medieval worlds included Tyre, Hydaspes River, Zama, Carrhae and Gelon at Himera in 480. A popular request was for the battles of Alexander the Great’s successors and convincing arguments were made for Alesia and Masada. Also the Diadochi wars, the battles of Ipsus (301 BC) and Raphia (217 BC), Aquae Sextiae (102 BC) and Vercellae 101 BC. Early formative Islamic battles like the battle of Karbala 680 and the battle of Qadisiyya 636 were also mooted. In the medieval requests were the Battle of Verneuil 1424, the last major English victory of the Hundred Years' War, as well as Battle of Neville's Cross in 1346, when the English defeated the Scots and captured their king, David II.
Moving just across the water we have had requests for the O’Neill Rebellion in Ireland, which began so auspiciously for the Irish with victories over the English at Moyry Pass and at Yellow Ford, and ended with the disaster at Kinsale and the Flight of the Earls.
There was a lot of appetite for more Ottoman topics:
‘The battles of Chaldiran 1514 & Raydaniya 1517 show that the Ottomans fought armies of their own faith and background. Along with Kosovo 1389, Varna 1444, Mohacs 1526, these all were major victories for the Ottomans.’
Moving across a bigger pond we have had many, many requests for Fallen Timbers 1794 and associated battles and I’ve already started to ask for it. Other battles in the US that are popular include (in no particular order) Battle of the Wabash, Battle of the Wilderness, Roger's Raid on St. Francis, Bushy Run 1763, Cowpens 1781, Savannah 1779, Pensecola 1781, Chesapeake Campaign/Ft. McHenry 1814 and Dade's Massacre 1835.
In the Napoleonic era requests include Walcheren 1809, Buenos Aires 1807, Bergen-op-Zoom 1814, Siege of Saragossa, Borodino, Eylau, Friedland and my own request: Talavera.
In the World War I forums there were some great suggestions including the Battle of Baku between Ottomans/Azerbaijani/Dagestani and British/Armenian/White Russians, Mesopotamia, Tannenberg and Caporetto. A subject that we have been discussing a lot recently is the wars in South America, particularly between the world wars. There is a lot of interest in wars like those of the Triple Alliance and Gran Chaco and we are busy assessing whether the time is right. Our coverage of WWII is vast but there is still more to do, including the Liberation of Manila and more generally the US Army efforts in South West Pacific, Phillipines, Solomons, New Guinea, New Britain, Leyte and Luzon. Others included Algeria, French Morocco 1942 and other Vichy French campaigns, Operations Torch, Husky, Salerno and Crusader (this is coming in April 2010) as well as Khalkin Gol (also coming soon). Hong Kong, Malaya and Singapore, Operation Nordwind (coming in July 2010) and the Battle of the Java Sea were also discussed.
Moving into the modern era we had requests for and discussion on Dien Bien Phu, Modern African Wars (a personal favourite of Mike’s), Modern conflicts in Central Asia, the Sri Lankan War and the Chechen Wars.
Raid
This is another new series and is not out until September but we are already getting requests. The first two are for the Jaywick Raid (Z Special Unit) and Roger's Raid on St. Francis which is more of a massacre than a raid! Kate has already acted on some of the suggestions from her blog post and there will be more news soon.
Aviation
In the aviation forum there were several requests for more on the Russian Air Force as well as specific requests for Iranian F-5E Units during the Iran-Iraq war, the Boulton Paul Defiant, Arab Mig-23 Units, the Tornado, Harrier, more Mirages, the Stirling Bomber, SM 79 units of WWII and the Jaguar.
New series
There are always suggestions for new series some of which chime exactly with our thinking. For example:
‘Would anyone else be interested in Osprey publishing a series of biographies of famous leaders? There are several Osprey books that use historical figures as a 'hook', such as Attila and the Nomad Hordes, but these books tend to cover a wide subject. Personally I would like to see a book specifically on Attila, his life and battles, and many other leaders. I suspect books on Napoleon and Wellington would fly off the shelves’
Command begins in May 2010 with Manstein and Napoleon, followed by Patton and Julius Caesar. We have a full series planned covering both well-known generals and those less celebrated. Expect more details on the website soon. And:
‘I'd like to see a multi-volume series on grenade launchers, rifle propelled grenades and separate grenade launchers’
‘I would like to see a series dealing with small weapons. What about titles such as US M1 Garand, M1 Carbine, German Panzerfaust and British Sten?’
Weapon is out September 2010. Again, keep an eye on our website for more details on the first subjects to be covered.
And what about:
‘It seems to be that the New Vanguard series is the only one that is technically oriented rather than being devoted to wars, campaigns, battles, uniforms, or warriors. However, with the exception of a few books about helicopters, there are no books in the series about aircraft. Is there any interest in adding aircraft to the subjects in the series, or perhaps starting up a new series devoted to development and description of warplanes?’
Air Vanguard anyone? Watch this space…
We’ve had a few requests for both What if/Alternate History and Legends both online and at shows. We have looked at both but in both cases wonder how you would feel about books that are more conjecture than historical fact. How would you feel about that?
Anyway keep using the Forums for title requests and suggestions as well as discussions on anything else military history related. We’ll keep looking at your suggestions and seeing what we can do with them.