Monday, January 17, 2011

Austrian Infantry by Mike Embree

Austrian Infantry (artist unknown)

I was writing yesterday about the need to learn more about the Austrian army. I had a few idle moments last night and had a look at the information that was available on my phone, which was when I found this, an admirably clear introduction to Austrian Regular Infantry.

I also noticed that it was written by a friend of mine, Mike Embree. This of course begs the question what else Mike has been hiding under a bushell.

Mike doesn't interest himself in Napoleonics these days which is a pity, but it does mean that he can devote his time to writing books about his new period, the mid 19th century. He's an active member of the Continental Wars Society. His last book, Bismarck's First War explored the Danish-Prussian War of 1864 in great detail. The conflict is an unusual one in that the methods with which it was fought are comparable with the Franco-Prussian or American Civil War, but the Casus Belli and the general air of the thing retain the whiff of the 18th century.

Mike's strength is the clarity of his prose* and his tenacity in pursuit of original sources. If the book has a weakness, it's that the publisher did not see fit to give sufficient space to the plethora of maps, etching and illustrations that Mike managed to track down. Mike has a new book in the pipeline, but more on that anon.



*I finally understood the Schleswig-Holstein question - though I'm still at a loss as to why one would go to so much trouble over two buckets of paint and a duck.



6 comments:

  1. Sir - Schleswig-Holstein - I fear you have oversimplified the issue - you have completely ignored the whole tragic episode involving the banjo orchestra and the stuffed grizzly bear. One day the truth will be clear to everyone.

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  2. Spoken like a man who believes Garibaldi died in 1882!

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  3. CK - looks like your picture link is bust...??

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  4. Hmmm...I thought so too, but on viewing it on two different computers and an iPhone, it seems to be working in some browsers and not others. Curiousier and curiousier.

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  5. I'm using FIREFOX 3.6.13 as my browser . . . and even after trying to "reload image", I do not have any idea what your photo is . . . it just isn't there.


    -- Jeff

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  6. Doesn't show for me either (Google chrome) but when I right click and say open in new tab it pops up in all its colour, if one can consider white uniformsto be glorious. Knotel? (haven't got my reading specs on)

    -Ross

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