At the Cavalier show in February I saw this book at a reasonable price and snapped it up.
France at Bay by Douglas Fermer (published by Pen and Sword) deals with the Republican phase of the Franco-Prussian War. In otherwords, events following the French defeat at the Battle of Sedan until the peace and onto the Paris Commune. This is the second in the series with "Sedan 1870" being the first dealing with events leading to and including the debacle at Sedan.
If you are looking for orders of battle etc., then this is not for you.
What it is, is a very well written history that successfully weaves the military and political developments without overwhelming or confusing the reader.
Douglas Fermer has a good narrative style that pushes the story along in a compelling manner. This is combined with a very good analysis of events and decisions that screams that he really knows his stuff, and is up to date with research. Unusually for this type of book it is a page-turner; you want to know what happens next... I say that as someone who already knew what would happen next!
A lot of focus tends to be on the battles of the early, imperial, part of the war. It is great to have such an accessible history on the post-Sedan phase of the war.
I really enjoyed this and would recommend it.
Thanks for the review Richard. Not a phase of the war that gets much attention, but there were some good battles and the 'Germans' were suffering by this point of the campaign.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
DeleteI think I counted 33 battles.
Thanks for this book review. While I am still fighting my way through the FAW and have no Prussian Armies mustered out yet, I will keep this book in mind when I reach that point in my wargaming lifecycle when I expand to the FPW.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome. You'll probably take long pauses at the Danish War and the war of 1866.
DeleteI am sure I will...
DeleteI am finding it more difficult as I get older to find history books that I really enjoy reading. So many seem to require mental gymnastics in trying to keep track of unit movements. From what you have written Richard this seems to strike the right balance.
ReplyDeleteI believe it does. It has a full timeline at the back, and helpful maps throughout. I found it a rare book where all the towns mentioned in the text can actually be found on map.
DeleteLooks like a well written book Richard. I know next to nothing about the FPW....most of what I do know comes via our local expert, Mark of 1866 and All That ( he has an unpublished manuscript all about it, you know!)
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ReplyDeleteSorry about that...had the old " double post" happen again!
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