Pretty Maps, Ugly Subject
Maps of War, by Ashley & Miles Baynton-Williams, is a bargain, and if you buy it (as I did) on the bargain shelf, it's a steal. I picked this up as part of my Warfare for Writers project, and have been happily poring over it the last couple of weeks. There was much temptation to read every single word on the maps (a trusty magnifying glass is essential, despite the size of the pages), but have resisted this manfully.
So far.
The pages are about 13.5" x 17", and several of the maps spread onto both pages, so this is a BIG book. The wars it covers begin with the War of the Rough Wooing (Battle of Pinkie Cleugh, 1547) and the 1565 Siege of Malta; and run up to America's Civil War, and the Boer War. The preponderance of the maps are in the earlier time period, rather than the later. There are nice maps from Sir Francis Drake's various raids on Spanish possessions, some of them being the first recorded representation of those places.
For those interested in Vauban fortifications, this is a rich source of examples, including in many cases the plans of the trenches of the besiegers.
For those interested in self-defense, this thing will thwart any burglar or intruder if hurled at them, especially from above-stairs. Assert your First Amendment freedoms, and strategically place some volumes where they can do the most good.
CBsIP: (a few hundred pages of student manuscripts)
2666, Roberto Bolano
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, Charles Mackay, LL.D.
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, James W. Loewen
The Light of Day, John Burroughs
Rocks of Ages, Stephen Jay Gould
The Natural, Bernard Malamud
Four Dragons, Diana Botsford
The Tools for Successful Online Teaching, Lisa Dawley