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Post by macbeth on Jul 12, 2021 0:26:27 GMT
I finished "A Gladiator's Tale" in the lead up to the weekend and then dived into "Nemesis" by Anthony Riches (more famous for his Empire series set in the Early Imperial Roman period). Nemesis is about a close protection officer going rouge to take down an organised criminal gang. I found myself unable to tear myself away from it and was up late finishing it. In addition I was casting my eye over 'Castles and Tower Houses of the Scottish Clans 1450-1650' one of the Osprey Fortress series that I found at Lifeline Booklovers Lane a very much discounted secondhand bookshop (the books are donated and the funds go to keep Lifeline running).
I am now a few pages in to 'Empire of the Black Sea: the Rise and Fall of the Mithradatic World' a history of the Pontic Kingdom which covers not just the life and career of the most popular Mithradates.
Cheers
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Post by hammurabi70 on Jul 18, 2021 17:43:09 GMT
Just received in the post a memory stick containing all the SlingShot issues from 1965 to 2020! Woof, this is going to be a treasure trove, a mountain of material to go through... yippee! Do keep us updated on how useful you find this; I wondered about obtaining a copy.
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Post by timurilank on Jul 18, 2021 18:27:21 GMT
Just received in the post a memory stick containing all the SlingShot issues from 1965 to 2020! Woof, this is going to be a treasure trove, a mountain of material to go through... yippee! Do keep us updated on how useful you find this; I wondered about obtaining a copy. I have mine since a year and frequently refer to it. There are a number of in depth works covering the lesser known armies which is useful and some have influenced changes to the army lists.
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Post by macbeth on Jul 19, 2021 0:15:38 GMT
Late last week I finished off 'Empire of the Black Sea' - a very good read. The Festival of Mithradates Eupator continues with Adrienne Mayor's "The Poison King" which is a biography of the man, more positively slated and fleshed out with speculative text. Very enjoyable (especially to those of us that are card carrying members of the PFJ ) and she even references some of the historical fiction about the man - specifically 'He Died Old' by Alfred Duggan - although this is more a long essay about the man rather than a novelisation 'The Last King' - by Michael Curtis Ford 'The Grass Crown' by Colleen McCullough I note that she does not mention the travesty that was written by Conn Iggulden ("Empire: The Death of Kings") where Julius Ceasar meets and kills Mithradates thus preventing the Mithradatic wars. Cheers
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Post by nangwaya on Jul 19, 2021 4:43:12 GMT
Do keep us updated on how useful you find this; I wondered about obtaining a copy. I have mine since a year and frequently refer to it. There are a number of in depth works covering the lesser known armies which is useful and some have influenced changes to the army lists. I highly recommend it hammurabi70. The amount of information is staggering, and I cannot imagine anyone on this forum, that would not find something useful. There is also a well worked out index file that avoids having one browse almost endlessly all the issues. Want to know which issues have articles on 4th Century BC Battles or Middle Eastern People, or practically anything you can think of? Check the index, and it will tell you which issues to go to, where in the issues to look, how many pages the articles are, who wrote them, etc..
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Post by gregorius on Jul 19, 2021 23:31:12 GMT
I note that she does not mention the travesty that was written by Conn Iggulden ("Empire: The Death of Kings") where Julius Ceasar meets and kills Mithradates thus preventing the Mithradatic wars. Cheers Surely not! Iggulden has no shame 🙄. Cheers,
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Post by macbeth on Jul 20, 2021 23:35:46 GMT
I note that she does not mention the travesty that was written by Conn Iggulden ("Empire: The Death of Kings") where Julius Ceasar meets and kills Mithradates thus preventing the Mithradatic wars. Cheers Surely not! Iggulden has no shame 🙄. Cheers, The kindest thing I can say about Iggulden's "Emperor" series is 'Based on a true story'.
I had the first book recommended to me by a casual wargaming acquaintance, and picked it up from a remainder stall. I found the second one cheap at "Beaky's" which was a low cost secondhand bookshop in Canberra, and then the (not so) little warbands bought me the third book for father's day. At this stage I hadn't read any of them - and I am a bit obsessive with collecting and reading books. I persevered through and read all three (acquiring book 4 at some point).
Not impressed. 'The Field of Swords' (book 3) is not a book to be cast aside lightly --> It should be hurled with considerable force.
Cheers
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Post by macbeth on Jul 26, 2021 0:08:17 GMT
Over the Weekend I finished 'The Poison King' - this was a great book, somewhat more sympathetic to the Big M than many but there are those of us that have always thought that way The next cab off the rank was "Ghost on the Throne" by James Romm. This is a cracking narrative history of the period from the death of Alexander through the early years of the Successor wars. I am already 2/3 of the way through after starting the book on Saturday morning. Cheers
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Post by gregorius on Jul 26, 2021 0:45:15 GMT
After completing the latest Sidebottom opus I moved away from history and historical fiction. I quickly read the first in the Slough House series of contemporary spy novels and am now about halfway through Achtung Schweinehund! This mirrors my early teen years so closely. Cheers, So, after reliving my childhood via Achtung Schweinehund I have turned to historical fiction. This time it's Sharon Penman's When Christ and His Saints Slept. I read this about 20 years ago and felt like a return to familiar territory. Cheers, Yesterday I finished Sharon Penman's When Christ and His Saints Slept. If anyone wants to discover what the Anarchy was about then I would heartily recommend this work. Although it is historical fiction it is firmly based on the historical facts. Today I have returned to military history with Myke Cole's Legio versus Phalanx.
Cheers,
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Post by nangwaya on Jul 26, 2021 5:07:19 GMT
So, after reliving my childhood via Achtung Schweinehund I have turned to historical fiction. This time it's Sharon Penman's When Christ and His Saints Slept. I read this about 20 years ago and felt like a return to familiar territory. Cheers, Yesterday I finished Sharon Penman's When Christ and His Saints Slept. If anyone wants to discover what the Anarchy was about then I would heartily recommend this work. Although it is historical fiction it is firmly based on the historical facts. Today I have returned to military history with Myke Cole's Legio versus Phalanx.
Cheers, Just ordered the book on your recommendation. Since I have been reading the Cadfael novels, I got bit by the Anarchy bug, and even ordered some figures as I think this period is rife with gaming potential. Thanks!
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Post by gregorius on Jul 26, 2021 6:35:05 GMT
Yesterday I finished Sharon Penman's When Christ and His Saints Slept. If anyone wants to discover what the Anarchy was about then I would heartily recommend this work. Although it is historical fiction it is firmly based on the historical facts. Today I have returned to military history with Myke Cole's Legio versus Phalanx.
Cheers, Just ordered the book on your recommendation. Since I have been reading the Cadfael novels, I got bit by the Anarchy bug, and even ordered some figures as I think this period is rife with gaming potential. Thanks! Cadfael is even referenced, in an oblique manner, in When Christ and His Saints Slept. Be prepared for a long read with almost 1000 pages 😏. Cheers,
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Post by macbeth on Jul 27, 2021 4:15:42 GMT
Over lunch I finished off "Ghost on the Throne" a brilliant narrative of the Early Successor period
Romm provides an excellent story, giving plausible motives for the actions of the various players. The other interesting thing he provides is the diffusion of war elephants across the Hellenistic empire.
Prior to this I assumed (like most wargamers I guess) that after the transition from Alexandrian Macedonian to Alexandrian Imperial, elements of El just appeared in all subsequent Macedonian armies.
Cheers
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Post by ammianus on Jul 27, 2021 17:08:35 GMT
Reread: The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War
*At each rereading I have a Déjà Vu from my senior year in college;Henry Steele Commager,then the doyen of American historians was initiate a number of us into Phi Alpha Theta, an academic honor society to promote the study of History. This was the late 70's. Prior to the ceremony we had a wide-ranging discussion, and having served in the Vietnam era Army, I was struck by one of Professor Commager's quotes RE LBJ and Nixon:
"We no longer study ancient history or the ancient languages. .... But perhaps if they had really taken to heart Thucydides' account of the Sicilian expedition, which has so many parallels to the Vietnam expedition, they might just possibly have avoided some of the worst features of our involvement in Vietnam. "
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Post by nangwaya on Aug 4, 2021 15:55:00 GMT
Just stopped reading "Prince of Thieves" by Alexandre Dumas. I only have about 30 pages left, but I cannot be bothered, as I am disappointed with the book. I had high expectations, as one of my favourite books is "The Three Musketeers", but his take on Robin Hood got me to take out my old Children's Classics version and start reading that again. Although "Prince of Thieves" started out OK, I found the majority of the book was just reading about how much over-the-top fury the Baron exhibited and how incapable his soldiers were of even doing the simplest of tasks, just did not do it for me.
I would have started reading "When Christ and His Saints Slept", as that just arrived in the post this morning, but will finish off the Children's Classic first.
And gregorius is not kidding that is a big book... I ordered a hard copy on ebay, and thought someone had mailed me a cinder block when I picked up the package!
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Post by gregorius on Aug 4, 2021 23:35:11 GMT
I would have started reading "When Christ and His Saints Slept", as that just arrived in the post this morning, but will finish off the Children's Classic first. And gregorius is not kidding that is a big book... I ordered a hard copy on ebay, and thought someone had mailed me a cinder block when I picked up the package! A hardback edition would certainly have some heft! Just don't fall asleep whilst reading in bed or you could end up with a broken nose 😂. Cheers,
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