The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Land Warfare: An Illustrated World View

I came to this book as a retired lawyer with a life long interest in history, particularly as to its military aspects. No longer required by profession to spend most of my reading time in case books, I realized that compromised health has at least one benefit, namely to pursue knowledge for its own sake. I have always believed that next to reading and basic math, the most important subject in our schools should be history, but as my sons wended their way through the educational process, I realized that this wasn't so. And where history was offered, it became disassociated with the truth, largely because of academic championing of plain wrong philosophies such as political correctness, multiculturalsim and nonjudgmental ethics. This, I found, was most concentrated at the college level. So what has that got to do with whether or not you should buy this book? A lot. If you do no more than accept what occurs on the world stage as a spectator, then pass on. But if you, like me, frequently wonder, "why?", then I recommend this very comprehensive book without reservation. For example, do you think that the extremely militant form of Islam called "Wahhabianism" is a recent thing? Farwell shows that it was the cause of the Arabian Wars of 1801 -1842. Vietnam a 1960's thing? The French waged war there about the same time that America was engaged in its Civil War. Afghanistan a today event? The British fought two wars there. War dominated the 19th Century, and a reading of this book makes it clear that the fallout from those wars are with us yet. If the French saying (translated) that, "The more things change, the more they remain the same." has any truth to it, it is exemplified time and again in this excellent work. Yes, it's big and costs a bit, but it was worth every dollar to me. It's accurate, and in being so, it is very judgmental on such matters as how the Americans dealt with the "Indian Issue", British, French and US colonialism, centuries old Islamic militarism and the frequent failure of the use of force to solve political issues. As I noted in another review, as we continue as a nation to wage war on terrorism, there is a growing need for informed Americans, both in the positions of leadership, and of those who elect them. There is much to be learned from this excellent work, and it is beautifully well-organized to permit quick access to subject matter. Of course, Farwell's writing skill is outstanding. And just think of the questions that your friends may be hesitant to ask when they see THIS book on the coffee table!

Laid out in alphabetical order, you will instantly discover how much information is packed into this rather large book. Not really well versed on a particular conflict? Look up the conflict. If there are more applicable entries for that specific conflict will be referenced for you to learn more. Necessarily written with a wide brush, there is a lot of detail packed within the entries. The scope includes all conflicts of the 19th century regardless where it occurred in the world.military terms, jargon and weapons are covered. (Reminder: The Napoleonic Wars and the ACW were also in this century covered and are also nicely covered in this volume.)This book is highly recommended as it is compiled by an expert in the period. There are no color pictures but lots of photos and illustrations that really aids in the understanding of many of the listed subjects.

Byron Farwell is an author well know to those of us with interests in Victorian armies, wars and leaders. Most of his books are narrative histories, well written and enjoyable. Surprisingly, this single volume encyclopedia is just as interesting (as encyclopedias go, that is) in it's own way. Open up the book to any random page, pick an entry and start reading. Soon you'll be jumping to entries referenced by the first, and soon an hour is gone as you read up on some obscure battle in some obscure war and now you'll just have to learn more about it! Very much recommended to anyone with an interest in the period.

This is a comprehensive reference. Farwell's gift to all with 19th century military interest. Highly recommended.

Farwell's entries are short but informative. He has information that I, a dedicated student of 19th century colonial warfare, had never heard of. This is an excellent introduction to the subject.And the reader who finds Mnr Farwell to his taste will find more in Queen Victoria's Little Wars and The Great War in Africa.

The magnum opus of the late Byron Farwell, a retired British officer and historian. If you want to know anything about land nineteenth century land warfare, this is the book for you. Written in an unadorned flowing style the book is a pleasure to read and not simply to use as a reference work. A valuable work that should serve to give background information in the development of the military art in the nineteenth cenury for the student of any particular conflict, be it the Napoleonic Wars, the Civil War, etc. The production quality of the book is quite high, with the pages being printed on heavy, high quality paper and with an excellent binding. In an age of shoddy publishing I was pleasantly surprised by this book.