War in the East

It's a holiday weekend in the West of Scotland so took advantage of the rare fine weather to get outdoors. Shot my best round of the year on the golf course on Friday, drove down to Wigan to see Fulham grab a fine away win, then overnight in the Lake District for some walking on Sunday. Topped this by getting engaged to my partner Liz as well!

But another highlight was a parcel with my review copy of Quintin Barry's book War in the East published by Helion. This is a military history of the Russo-Turkish War 1877-78, one of the most interesting Balkan conflicts of the 19th Century. An added pleasure is that it includes several photos of mine, taken at the battlefields today.


There is only one word to describe this book, magisterial. This is the first military history of the conflict in English for over a century and it has everything you would expect. A detailed text covering the war on land and sea, coverage of the major and minor battles, together with all the context you need. Plus, something modern historians sometimes miss, lots of orbats. It also has lots of period illustrations (nearly 300) and maps.

Even I drew the line at taking this with me on a romantic weekend away, so I haven't read it yet. However, a skim read this morning was a joy.

I have the armies for this conflict in 15mm and a current, slow moving project, has been to add 28mm units using Outpost Miniatures stunning range. This is just the incentive I need to crack on.