*
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 28, 2024, 02:28:35 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Donate

We Appreciate Your Support

Members
Stats
  • Total Posts: 1686490
  • Total Topics: 118102
  • Online Today: 857
  • Online Ever: 2235
  • (October 29, 2023, 12:32:45 AM)
Users Online

Recent

Author Topic: Interesting forthcoming Osprey on Latin America  (Read 2530 times)

Offline Von Stroheim

  • Scientist
  • Posts: 357
Interesting forthcoming Osprey on Latin America
« on: March 14, 2018, 02:09:18 AM »
Not sure where to post this  but it encompasses the Interwar period including the Banana wars etc. Latin American wars during the first half of the 20th Century

https://ospreypublishing.com/store/military-history/upcoming-books/preorder-3-months/latin-american-wars-1900-1941

Offline Arlequín

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 6218
  • Culpame de la Bossa Nova...
Re: Interesting forthcoming Osprey on Latin America
« Reply #1 on: March 14, 2018, 06:10:34 PM »
41 years of the history of the wars of an entire continent in one Osprey, that's err... ambitious to say the least.  :?

Offline carlos marighela

  • Elder God
  • Posts: 10759
  • Flamenguista até morrer.
Re: Interesting forthcoming Osprey on Latin America
« Reply #2 on: March 14, 2018, 07:49:57 PM »
41 years of the history of the wars of an entire continent in one Osprey, that's err... ambitious to say the least.  :?

Ambitious? Thoroughly fucking pointless if you ask me. What’s the typical Osprey? Forty-eight pages, including an intro, a summary, eight pages of colour plates, typically a couple more as plate commentaries. You’re lucky if you get fifteen pages of text and into that they want to cram sixteen conflicts? Of course, that’s not even the entirety of conflicts for the time period in the region.

I bear Phillip Jowett no ill will but it would be a massive, multi volume task to give any value, even as an introductory piece to all of those conflicts and I’m betting he speaks neither Spanish or Portuguese. Missed opportunity, several times over.

Em dezembro de '81
Botou os ingleses na roda
3 a 0 no Liverpool
Ficou marcado na história
E no Rio não tem outro igual
Só o Flamengo é campeão mundial
E agora seu povo
Pede o mundo de novo

Offline Arlequín

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 6218
  • Culpame de la Bossa Nova...
Re: Interesting forthcoming Osprey on Latin America
« Reply #3 on: March 14, 2018, 10:29:36 PM »
I know, but I'm trying to get into practice of being a role-model for my grandson, in the "if you can't say anything nice..." way. Ospreys tend to fall short when they only cover one conflict and even if the author speaks the language concerned, or is even a nativo, it's no guarantee of quality research in any case. 

 ;)

Offline carlos marighela

  • Elder God
  • Posts: 10759
  • Flamenguista até morrer.
Re: Interesting forthcoming Osprey on Latin America
« Reply #4 on: March 14, 2018, 11:01:11 PM »
I know, but I'm trying to get into practice of being a role-model for my grandson, in the "if you can't say anything nice..." way. Ospreys tend to fall short when they only cover one conflict and even if the author speaks the language concerned, or is even a nativo, it's no guarantee of quality research in any case. 

 ;)

I’m going with the ‘call a spade a spade’ model with my children. :D

I agree that Ospreys are really introductory primers, the Ladybird Books of wargaming/military history and one’s expectations should never be set too high but this is really taking the piss. It looks like a quick and nasty grab for cash. The Jowett co-authored volume on the Chaco War was a huge disappointment.

Not that there’s a lot of competition for the subject matter in English. There is a fairly awful, US published, almanac type affair covering much of the same terrain* that came out a few decades ago and then there are the somewhat spotty Adrian English tomes but English is, apparently, at least able to read the original or at least second hand source material. His short works on the Leticia War and the Peru-Ecuador conflict are reasonable primers and I’d recommend those over this.

It does make me giggle to see that have included an illustration of a cangaceiro on the front cover, despite there being no reference to the subject in the list of topics and despite the cangaço phenomenon not being a war or even a civil conflict in the strictest sense. Almost certainly a nod to the Foundry volume on Inter-war conflicts.


* It’s a hefty two-volume work for what it’s worth, which isn’t much but it does show you how ‘ambitious’ the Osprey title is.

Offline Arlequín

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 6218
  • Culpame de la Bossa Nova...
Re: Interesting forthcoming Osprey on Latin America
« Reply #5 on: March 15, 2018, 07:50:01 AM »
I wouldn't single out this book though, there are a few in the range that have been equally 'ambitious',  Medieval European Armies being the one that comes immediately to mind, albeit that's about thirty or so years old.

The two newer Spanish Civil War ones are almost as hopeless as the original single volume one, despite being written by a Spanish speaker and with original source material reasonably available. He was the guy who wrote The Bay of Pigs book though, so y'know?

I always like the pictures.  :)

Offline carlos marighela

  • Elder God
  • Posts: 10759
  • Flamenguista até morrer.
Re: Interesting forthcoming Osprey on Latin America
« Reply #6 on: March 15, 2018, 10:16:05 AM »
I wouldn't single out this book though, there are a few in the range that have been equally 'ambitious',  Medieval European Armies being the one that comes immediately to mind, albeit that's about thirty or so years old.

The two newer Spanish Civil War ones are almost as hopeless as the original single volume one, despite being written by a Spanish speaker and with original source material reasonably available. He was the guy who wrote The Bay of Pigs book though, so y'know?

I always like the pictures.  :)

Ah, the Bay of Pigs Osprey!  My fave. Written by a Cuban-American Brigadista fanboi. So balanced, so well written....such a twat. I look forward to future works. Torture Centres of the Argentine Navy, Elite no 792 Death Squads of the Salvadoran Civil War, etc, etc.

The David Nicolle one on the Portuguese overseas empire was another huge disappointment. Ambitious? Four hundred years and four continents all in forty-eight pages. Still the Embling illustrations were vaguely nostalgic at least for those of us able to remember Playboy magazine in the 1970s.

Offline Arlequín

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 6218
  • Culpame de la Bossa Nova...
Re: Interesting forthcoming Osprey on Latin America
« Reply #7 on: March 15, 2018, 09:26:31 PM »
David Nicolle knows his armour and weapons, but is not so hot on how they were employed and given to flights of fancy. Gordon Rottman is consistently good, albeit that he's lived a lot of the era he writes history about. He's probably my favourite, which gives away how anally detail-orientated I've become. Leigh Neville is another good one, granted he's a recent conflict guy, which is somewhat easier to source, but he's thorough though all the same.

Offline Sparrow

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1302
Re: Interesting forthcoming Osprey on Latin America
« Reply #8 on: March 16, 2018, 06:20:58 AM »
Although not anything to do with “inter war” the Osprey efforts on the Thirty Years War are a great example of the best and worst. The 2 volumes in the Swedes and the book on Lutzen are brilliant and a “go to” on the subject if (like me) you struggle with text in German or Swedish. The books on the Impeial Army are just awful.

Since my mother told me “if you can’t say anything nice don’t say anything at all” I’ll refrain from further comment.  ;)
Put your trust in God and keep your powder dry!

Offline Arlequín

  • Galactic Brain
  • Posts: 6218
  • Culpame de la Bossa Nova...
Re: Interesting forthcoming Osprey on Latin America
« Reply #9 on: March 16, 2018, 11:00:29 AM »
... but I am led to believe that the book on the Tercios was quite outstanding? There's authors and Authors I guess. Should be some editors in the mix though somewhere too.

It does annoy me a bit that I do have to cross-check any particular title for truth, as best as I'm able at least. I used to take it all on trust, but having uncovered several glaring errors in one a while back, I'm suspicious of them all.

Offline Plynkes

  • The Royal Bastard
  • Elder God
  • Posts: 10212
  • I killed Mufasa!
    • http://misterplynkes.blogspot.com/
Re: Interesting forthcoming Osprey on Latin America
« Reply #10 on: March 24, 2018, 11:56:55 AM »

It does make me giggle to see that have included an illustration of a cangaceiro on the front cover, despite there being no reference to the subject in the list of topics and despite the cangaço phenomenon not being a war or even a civil conflict in the strictest sense. Almost certainly a nod to the Foundry volume on Inter-war conflicts.


Yeah, but those guys are so cool.* What Osprey artist wouldn't want to paint one? "I mean, social bandits are kinda like revolutionaries. Can I draw one? Pleeeeeease!" :)


*Though old Lampião himself did somewhat undermine his own cool factor with those school-swot specs of his.

With Cat-Like Tread
Upon our prey we steal...