This is where to find reviews of works covering longer time periods or which are of more general use in the scenario design process.
Carey, Brian Todd Warfare in the Ancient World Leo Cooper Ltd (30 Sep 2005) ISBN-10: 1844151735 ISBN-13: 978-1844151738 and Warfare in the Medieval World Pen & Sword Military (20 Oct 2011) ISBN-10: 1848847416 ISBN-13: 978-1848847415
A two part series (although he has used different publishers for each volume) in which Professor Carey looks at the evolution of warfare in general and battle in particular from the emergence of the first Near Eastern civilisations through to the 30 Years War. In doing so he has applied a common methodology to look at the way practices have evolved over time. There are reconstructions of 54 key battles complete with several maps for each showing how they unfolded. This is very much a “Stone, Scissors, Paper” approach, and has strengths and weaknesses.
On the plus side he is very clear and consistent and this makes the adaption of his reconstructions to Field Of Glory Digital easier. However his broad brush method can lead to generalisations and does mean that in some areas his descriptions and understanding lag behind the more recent research of historians on particular periods, for example I found that his treatments of the Byzantine and Late Roman armies were over 10 years out of date, having been overtaken by the work of John Haldon & Hugh Elton respectively.
Given the size of the topic he is covering however this was probably inevitable. If you were going to buy only two books to support your scenario design work these two would be the ones to get, or at any rate the two to get first.
Cule, John The Timechart of Military History Worth Press Ltd (15 Nov 1999) ISBN-10: 1903025001 ISBN-13: 978-1903025000
This is a good book for getting your head round what happened when and what was going on where in relation to other events. Very good for filling in the gaps in those obscure periods.
The sections on battles and tactics are not its strongest point however. Like a lot of large format coffee table books it seems to have had a fairly large print run so can often be picked up on Amazon second hand for a knock down price
Grant, Charles Stewart Scenarios for Wargames Wargames Research Group, 1st Edition (1981) ASIN: B001OOQI8E
A set of 52 generic wargames scenarios broken down into 8 different categories; Attack & Defence, Reinforcements, Rivers, Air Rail & Sea, Convoy & Ambushes, Terrain Problems, Encounter battles, and finally Special Problems, this booklet is particularly useful in designing small and medium sized wargames scenarios to look at specific wargames problems such as rearguard actions. With a few exceptions most of the scenarios can easily be adapted for “Field Of Glory Digital” use.
Kennedy, Hugh Muslim Spain and Portugal: Political History of Al-Andalus Longman; 1 edition (6 Dec 1996) ISBN-10: 0582495156 ISBN-13: 978-0582495159
A good up to date overall history of the Muslim period in the Iberian peninsular straddling the time periods covered by the “Field Of Glory Digital” “Wolves From the Sea”, “Oath Of Fealty” & “Storm Of Arrows” modules. A good starting point to get your head round the history of the period. Kennedy has a good understanding of the Islamic military in this period although there is not quite so much detail here as in some of his other books.
Haskew, Michael & Jorgensen, Christer & McNab, Chris Fighting Techniques of the Oriental World 1200-1860 Amber Books Ltd (15 Oct 2008) ISBN-10: 1905704968 ISBN-13: 978-1905704965
A good overview of campaigns and battles concentrating on Central Asia and the Far East. Particularly good on Chinese and Manchu battles I plan to use this book along with “Eight Banners and Green Flag” to do a series of scenarios on the wars of the Manchu’s in Burma and Central Asia.
Jamil, M Abun-Nasr A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period Cambridge University Press; 3rd edition (20 Aug 1987) ISBN-10: 0521337674 ISBN-13: 978-0521337670
A good general history of North Africa from the time of the Arab conquest until modern times. Good for orientating yourself in regard to which dynasty ruled where and who they were at war with when. Also invaluable for understanding the intellectual basis of the various strands of Islam that different dynasties adhered to and how this impacted on their foreign and domestic policies. A strong point is the way it shows up how the age old problems of dynastic succession limited the staying power new style “gunpowder empires” from the 16th centaury onwards.
Carey, Brian Todd Warfare in the Ancient World Leo Cooper Ltd (30 Sep 2005) ISBN-10: 1844151735 ISBN-13: 978-1844151738 and Warfare in the Medieval World Pen & Sword Military (20 Oct 2011) ISBN-10: 1848847416 ISBN-13: 978-1848847415
A two part series (although he has used different publishers for each volume) in which Professor Carey looks at the evolution of warfare in general and battle in particular from the emergence of the first Near Eastern civilisations through to the 30 Years War. In doing so he has applied a common methodology to look at the way practices have evolved over time. There are reconstructions of 54 key battles complete with several maps for each showing how they unfolded. This is very much a “Stone, Scissors, Paper” approach, and has strengths and weaknesses.
On the plus side he is very clear and consistent and this makes the adaption of his reconstructions to Field Of Glory Digital easier. However his broad brush method can lead to generalisations and does mean that in some areas his descriptions and understanding lag behind the more recent research of historians on particular periods, for example I found that his treatments of the Byzantine and Late Roman armies were over 10 years out of date, having been overtaken by the work of John Haldon & Hugh Elton respectively.
Given the size of the topic he is covering however this was probably inevitable. If you were going to buy only two books to support your scenario design work these two would be the ones to get, or at any rate the two to get first.
Cule, John The Timechart of Military History Worth Press Ltd (15 Nov 1999) ISBN-10: 1903025001 ISBN-13: 978-1903025000
This is a good book for getting your head round what happened when and what was going on where in relation to other events. Very good for filling in the gaps in those obscure periods.
The sections on battles and tactics are not its strongest point however. Like a lot of large format coffee table books it seems to have had a fairly large print run so can often be picked up on Amazon second hand for a knock down price
Grant, Charles Stewart Scenarios for Wargames Wargames Research Group, 1st Edition (1981) ASIN: B001OOQI8E
A set of 52 generic wargames scenarios broken down into 8 different categories; Attack & Defence, Reinforcements, Rivers, Air Rail & Sea, Convoy & Ambushes, Terrain Problems, Encounter battles, and finally Special Problems, this booklet is particularly useful in designing small and medium sized wargames scenarios to look at specific wargames problems such as rearguard actions. With a few exceptions most of the scenarios can easily be adapted for “Field Of Glory Digital” use.
Kennedy, Hugh Muslim Spain and Portugal: Political History of Al-Andalus Longman; 1 edition (6 Dec 1996) ISBN-10: 0582495156 ISBN-13: 978-0582495159
A good up to date overall history of the Muslim period in the Iberian peninsular straddling the time periods covered by the “Field Of Glory Digital” “Wolves From the Sea”, “Oath Of Fealty” & “Storm Of Arrows” modules. A good starting point to get your head round the history of the period. Kennedy has a good understanding of the Islamic military in this period although there is not quite so much detail here as in some of his other books.
Haskew, Michael & Jorgensen, Christer & McNab, Chris Fighting Techniques of the Oriental World 1200-1860 Amber Books Ltd (15 Oct 2008) ISBN-10: 1905704968 ISBN-13: 978-1905704965
A good overview of campaigns and battles concentrating on Central Asia and the Far East. Particularly good on Chinese and Manchu battles I plan to use this book along with “Eight Banners and Green Flag” to do a series of scenarios on the wars of the Manchu’s in Burma and Central Asia.
Jamil, M Abun-Nasr A History of the Maghrib in the Islamic Period Cambridge University Press; 3rd edition (20 Aug 1987) ISBN-10: 0521337674 ISBN-13: 978-0521337670
A good general history of North Africa from the time of the Arab conquest until modern times. Good for orientating yourself in regard to which dynasty ruled where and who they were at war with when. Also invaluable for understanding the intellectual basis of the various strands of Islam that different dynasties adhered to and how this impacted on their foreign and domestic policies. A strong point is the way it shows up how the age old problems of dynastic succession limited the staying power new style “gunpowder empires” from the 16th centaury onwards.