28mm Spanish Civil War Republican Anti-Tank Gun and a New Book: 'The Shattered Peloton: The Devastating Impact of World War I on the Tour de France'

I thought I'd bash out a few more Spanish Civil War figures in preparation for an upcoming game I have scheduled in a few days with the fine lads from the Fawcett Ave Conscripts. 

Here is a 37mm Bofors anti-tank gun with a Republican crew. Even though the Bofors fired a relatively light shell it could easily penetrate the armour of any tank used during the Spanish Civil War. From my reading its reliability, low profile and high rate-of-fire made it well liked by its crews. 

This is a great little set produced by Empress Games. Paul Hicks sculpts with his typical great character touches (I love the gunner who is raising his sunglasses to better see the effect of their shot.)

I decided to keep the gun in its basic green colour, without the black camo 'blobs' which are often seen in period pictures.

I have a few other SCW figures in the wings but I'll roll those out in later posts.

Also a brief book review! 

Every July for me is sheer heaven as it means that for three weeks I can bask in the summer heat while following my favourite sporting event: the Tour de France.

This year's Tour is the 101st time the event has been held. The now world famous race began in 1903 and has continued to this year uninterrupted, except for the years of the two world wars. And so upon this theme, I came across, 'The Shattered Peloton' when we were on vacation this past spring - and immediately ordered myself a copy as it focuses on another passion of mine: the Great War and its impact on the riders of the 1914 Tour.

Believed to be Guiseppe Azzini during a mountain segment of the 1914 Tour.

The book describes the start of the 1914 Tour which occurred on the 28th of June, at 3am, where 145 riders met in Saint-Cloud, a suburb near the edge of Paris.  Little did those riders know that, later that day, archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie would be assassinated in Sarajevo, beginning a spiralling sequence of events. By the end of the Tour in late July it was regarded as inevitable that a general war in Europe would soon begin -  and a few short days later the First World War began. 

French cyclists doing what they do best...

The organizer of the Tour de France, Henri Desgrange, although being fifty years old at the war's outbreak, volunteered into the French army and encouraged all French cyclists to do the same. Many of the riders from that 1914 Tour de France were killed during the war, including three winners of previous Tours. Patriotism's bitter harvest.

I won't go into any great detail regarding the book other than to say that it's a good read for anyone who enjoys military history and the sport of cycling. It doesn't break any new ground in the historiography of the Great War or for competitive cycling, but it does a nice job of joining the two disparate topics together for a very interesting and poignant perspective. Recommended.

Jean Casson & Citrine - Characters from Alan Furst's WWII Spy Thriller 'The World at Night'

Earlier this summer my lovely wife introduced me to the work of author Alan Furst with the result being that over the past few weeks I've been like a man possessed, voraciously reading any titles that I can get my hands on. For those who don't know Furst's writing, over the past twenty-five years (and sixteen novels) he has essentially re-defined the WWII espionage genre. Written in the same vein as Eric Ambler and Graham Greene the protagonists of Furst's books are often good-but-flawed men who are elevated (or destroyed) by the extraordinary events that defined the 1930s and 40s.

The first book of his that I picked up was 'The World at Night' which is about a Parisian film producer, Jean Casson, who is caught up in the 1940 German invasion of France and the subsequent occupation of Paris. Casson is a compelling character - urbane, somewhat vain, a bit of a cynic, but he has a good heart, is very loyal to his friends and to France.

After the fall of France Casson, who served as a reservist at the front, tries to continue with his life as it was, but the creeping Nazi oppression steadily wears him down and he feels he has to do something rather than acquiesce or turn away.

'It has become fashionable for Parisians to avert their eyes when seated across from Germans in the Metro.  "Yes," Casson thinks sarcastically, "That would do it - - 'the French won't look at us, we're going home.'" 

So while Casson is drawn into the shadowy world of the French Resistance we cringe at his amateur's attempts of espionage, and in this Furst at times strains the reader's credulity. How Casson manages to keep his head amongst the bewildering tangled webs set before him is amazing. Several of his clandestine missions seem ill-conceived and rather disjointed, with the reader having little real idea of what purpose they serve. Nonetheless, it is Casson's character, his Parisian sangfroid and basic humanity that make him sympathetic and enjoyable to follow.

Near the middle of the the book Casson falls in love with a long-time acquaintance, a film actress named Citrine, who represents to him all that is good and fine in life but more importantly she reminds him of France itself. She serves as both his anchor and a constant source of anxiety. 

'The World at Night' moves at a very measured pace and it would seem that not much happens. This is definitely not a action-adventure novel, instead Furst's strength is being able to convey the mood within occupied Paris and describing the evolving French reaction to their conquerors - from resignation, to shame, to indignation and then to action.  While it may have its flaws 'The World at Night' is a great read, especially for any who enjoy the period and love the streets of Paris.

I suspected that I had a figure somewhere in the 'lead reserve' that would work nicely for Casson and, as luck would have it, I discovered this great sculpt from Copplestone Castings.

In Furst's book, Casson is never far from one of his beloved Parisian newspapers so I decided to give the figure a simple mod using a bit of folded cork foil in order to provide him with a copy of Le Figaro tucked under his right arm. 

I'm not a big fan of 'slotta' style basing so I ordered some alternate slot bases in 2mm MDF from Warbases which (to me anyway) provides a cleaner profile. I then painted on a cobblestones motif in shades of grey and tinted the entire base with GW Gryphonne Sepia wash.

Casson with a Gauloises clenched between his teeth and a copy of 'Le Figaro' under his arm.

For Casson's lover, Citrine, I chose another figure from Copplestone Castings, this time from the 'Swell Dolls' pack. In order to get an idea of appropriate clothing colours I had a bit of fun looking at some 1940s fashion books Sarah had squirrelled away, finally coming away with a red autumnal theme which seems fitting to the mood of the book.

Since virtually all of Furst's books feature a different character I think I may be composing a few more of these groupings in the months to come. It's all good - they'll serve very nicely for partizan skirmish games or a bit of 'Allo 'Allo! silliness. 

The World at Night: A Novel

Alan Furst

Random House 

January 2002

ISBN: 0375758585

The Samurai Arms & Armour Collection of Richard Beliveau - Pointe-à-Callière, Montreal

The Pointe-à-Callière Catalogue and Pamphlet for the Béliveau Samurai Exhibit.

As I've mentioned earlier, a few weeks ago we were in Montreal for a little vacation, and along with getting in a great game with John, Iannick and Nicolas I also managed to visit a couple excellent museums. One was the the Ben Weider Napoleonic Collection which is on permanent display at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the other was an exhibit at the Pointe-à-Callière of Richard Béliveau's collection of samurai arms and armour.

Please forgive these poor images taken of the book. The pages are quite glossy making it a little challenging to photograph properly.

Well-known in Québec for his work in the prevention and treatment of cancer, Richard Béliveau is a university professor, researcher, author, and speaker, as well as a devotee of Japanese culture and a great collector of Japanese objects and artwork. For the first time, Mr. Béliveau is exhibiting part of his vast collection. It is one of the most important collections of samurai artifacts in the world, both for its historical value and rarity, as well as in terms of the number and diversity of items it contains.

I'm a big junkie for museum exhibition catalogues. Whenever we visit an exhibit at a gallery or museum I always try to get the associated catalogue as typically the photography and descriptive text are top-notch. The 144-page book which was produced for this exhibition certainly does not disappoint, the photography is fantastic, the descriptions informative and the overall layout very nice.

I was struck that the price of the book was only $39.95, which I think is an absolute bargain, especially for these limited print-run specialist publications. It definitely holds its own with any similar books I've seen from other print houses. If you're interested in a copy it can be purchased from the gallery book store here.

So, if you find yourself in Montreal between now and March 31st I can't recommend this exhibit more - it's absolutely stunning and well worth the visit.

A final note: This post also provides a thematic clue to an upcoming Analogue Hobbies event. I know, I'm sure you're wriggling in your seats in anticipation! More on that soon...

Book: 'The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I and the Battle the Changed the World' by Holger H. Herwig

I remember when Holger Herwig's 'The Marne, 1914' was first released in 2009. The reviews were quite favourable and it was often applauded that he utilized previously unreleased German archival material to support his work. So when I saw that the book was available in unabridged audiobook format I jumped at the chance to 'read' it.  To be clear whenever I listen to a 'dense' history in audio format I alway make an effort to get the book in paper as well (analogue format!). This way I can re-read passages, refer to any enclosed maps, footnotes, bibliography, etc. in order to better reflect on the writer's work as a whole, allowing a more balanced view.

Herwig's thesis is that the battle of the Marne "was the most decisive land battle since Waterloo" to which he follows that his book "raises a fundamental question: Was it truly the Battle of the Marne?" Okay, my first impression was that this seemed somewhat overwrought and perhaps a little pedantic but I forged ahead.
...

Book: 'The Cognitive Challenge of War: Pussia 1806' by Peter Paret

I picked up this book to take along during a recent vacation for the simple fact that, as a slim volume (only 143 pages, before notes), I knew it would not weigh a ton in our baggage. (We take and buy far too many books on our travels as it is, and while I am not a great fan of e-readers they do have their place!) 

My first introduction to Peter Paret's work was during my grad studies when I was reviewing his excellent translation and analysis of Clausewitz's classic 'On War'.  Paret is a specialist on the interconnections of 18th /19th century art, literature and warfare with particular insight to their effects on military theorists of the day, namely Jomini and Clausewitz.  Though sometimes a challenge to read his insight to the social and political environments of the Napoleonic period is very insightful and interesting.

In his book Paret examines how the crushing defeat of Prussia by France in 1806 sent a shock wave  throughout Prussian society, and how these reactive changes were not only experienced within the Prussian military establishment but also through their art, literature, music and poetry. One of the aspects which is  particularly surprising was that there was not a universal revulsion of all things French by Prussians after the Jena/Auerstädt debacle, but instead Paret describes that a significant segment of the Prussian population  welcomed the challenge to their socially-stagnant, hyper-conservative society and almost reveled in the humiliation of the once-arrogant army elites. Paret also discusses the impact that these social changes - often fueled by the pressures of the Revolution and  persistent warfare - had upon the military doctrine of both France and Prussia. He illustrates how these violent changes allowed military intellectuals such as Scharnhorst, Jomini and Clausewitz to flourish as they were tasked to reform their armies to better reflect the times. Finally, Paret describes what is perhaps as the cruelest twist of all: That the phoenix-like successes of the newly reformed Prussian army (from 1813 through to 1870), with its cutting-edge Great General Staff and access to conscripted manpower, re-created a military super-elite, spurring the often quoted remark that, "Prussia is not a country with an army, but an army with a country".  Sadly this 'army with a country' would play a critical if tragic role nearly a century later in August 1914.

It is through books like this that I feel quite humbled in my understanding of the Napoleonic period. I highly recommend this book as it helps to place in perspective the causes and reactions of the battles we so often regard in isolation.

The Cognitive Challenge of War: Prussia 1806
Peter Paret
Princeton University Press,
September 8, 2009
ISBN: 0691135819

Book: 'The Penninsular War Atlas' by Colonel Nick Lipscombe

I have been eager to get a copy of this book since first seeing a notice of it during our trip to Portugal this past autumn. So this Christmas I was lucky enough to find a copy under the tree gifted to me by our dog 'Caleb' (a very sensible hound who obviously listens to his mistress).   I thought I'd provide a few first impressions of the book for those who may be interested.

This is an impressive book, exhibiting very good craftsmanship throughout. In its slipcase it is 12 1/4" x 10 1/8" and weighs around 6.2 lbs. It is a stitched cloth-bound hardcover with 384 pages, including introduction, body, index and notes. The front cover features a colour print (Wellington in Spain by Robert Alexander Hillingford) which while nice in of itself seems to 'tart up' the book to excess. But this is just my opinion as I prefer a more understated art design.

Any who have see Greenhill's excellent Esposito/Elting 'A Military History and Atlas of the Napoleonic Wars' will be struck by the close similarities between that work and this especially regarding the map layouts and structure of the narrative.

If there was one thing that especially impressed me with this book is that it takes great pains to portray the entire conflict, with all it's actors, not limiting itself to the typical anglo-centric view that has been so prevalent. As such the author draws heavily on both Spanish and Portuguese primary and secondary sources which gives a much more cohesive and balanced view of the Peninsular campaigns. Several notable historians were involved in the creation of the book, notably Charles Esdaile  (who's own work has provided us the best recent history of the Peninsular war), which lends greater credence to the work as a whole.

So, is it worth the $86 CAD pricetag? Yes, definitely - especially for a  research library or for someone who is a dyed-in-the-wool Napoleonic Wars enthusiast/wargamer. The book helps to place in both a geographical and chronological context a very complex and diverse war. I believe it fills a long neglected niche and will probably be considered a seminal work for years to come.


The Peninsular War Atlas
Colonel Nick Lipscombe
Osprey Publishing,
November 23, 2010
ISBN: 1849083649

Note: Both Amazon.com and Chapters.ca currently have the book deeply discounted (37% and 34% respectively) so take advantage of these promotions.