This comprehensive guide to the Confederate Navy; covers the ships and men; the organization and facilities; the strategy and tactics; and compiles the operations; including those on the Western rivers. Although short-lived; the Confederate States Navy was one of the most innovative of all time; introducing the ironclad; the spar torpedo; a nd the submersible to naval warfare; and re-defining classic strategies; such as commerce raiding for the steam age. It was a scratch force; created almost overnight and always short of resources; but its achievements were considerable.
#1112534 in Books 1981-03-19 1981-03-19Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.90 x .12 x 7.24l; .45 #File Name: 085045393348 pages
Review
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. English armies of the Hundred Year's WarBy K. MurphyThis book is a fairly detailed look at the English army at two of its most famous victories; Crecy and Poitiers; both over the French in the Hundred Years War.Though; as a previous review has stated the plates focus too much on knightly parade uniforms and not enough on practical armament and the appearance of the common soldiers; the text of this book is invaluable. Following a several page intro to the historical background the author examines the course of both battles in detail. The chain of command; cavalry; cavalry armor; infantry; mercenaries; supplies; and a final analysis of the battles are the other sections.The plates are high quality; as typical of Osprey; but six of the eight focus on the nobles and kings of both sides; only the first and last plates show us the appearance of the common soldiers (although they were understandably not as diverse or interesting in gear than the knights).Overall; this is one of the better early men-at-arms titles; made better than most because of its examination of just two battles; thus leaving room for more detail than usual.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Another lovely volume from OspreyBy Culper; Jr.My favorite time period when I was a boy was the Hundred Year's War; so it is no surprise that I would enjoy this volume. As usual; Osprey does a good job with both illustrations and text.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Old but still has valueBy JPSThis is an old Men-at-Arms title; first published in 1981; and now largely superseded with regards to the battles of Crécy and Poitiers by the two Campaign series titles devoted to these two major victories.Compared to more modern titles; it does have a few problems. First; there is no bibliography; meaning that this title cannot be used as a basis for anyone wanting to delve deeper into the subjects that it covers.Second; while the sources give huge; incredible; and varying numbers; especially for the French; these may have been somewhat exaggerated. There clearly was not 60000 foot on the French side at Crécy; although there may have been a third or perhaps half that number of poorly equipped and trained levy infantry. The French possibly did line up some 12000 men-at-arms and knights plus half that number of mercenary Genoese crossbowmen. Only these two forces seem to have had real and significant military value but both were terribly misused. Estimates for the English army tend to vary between 9000 and 14000; with between two-thirds and three-quarters being made up of archers. A similar point can be made for the battle of Poitiers where the French may even not have outnumbered the English that they had been pursuing for days as much as they had at Crécy.There are also some “glitchesâ€. I do not remember; for instance; the blind King of Bohemia John of Luxemburg was in overall command of one of the “batailles†at Crécy. Also; the Flemings were NOT “scattered by a charge of heavily armed horsemen†at Courtrai in 1302; quite the opposite in fact. It was the French chivalry that was slaughtered. Finally; Edward Prince of Wales did not have “the splendid strategic idea of bringing the greater part of Western France under English control when he initiated the “chevauchée†– which was in fact a large scale plundering expedition - that would lead to the battle of Poitiers.Having mentioned this; the title does contain some good if somewhat short descriptions of the respective armies and their components. It also presents clearly and succinctly the main factors explaining how and why the English comprehensively won against the odds in both cases; although even they did not really believe in their chances of winning before the battle. For instance; Edward Prince of Wales at one point before the battle of Poitiers even offered to surrender all of his expeditions plunder if the French would let him and his forces retreat back to Bordeaux without attacking them.Finally; there is what remains for me the main value of this book and this is the combination of sections and plates showing the evolution of arms and armour. Particularly good are the pieces and associated plates showing the transition between great helm and bassinet. Still worth a strong three stars; despite the glitches and the lack of bibliography.
