Monday 2 September 2019

The Wild Goose and the Eagle

Of all Christopher Duffey’s books this is probably the only one I didn’t have that I wanted to own. Well now I do and I am well impressed. Of course, the book has been republished by who else but Helion and Co.

The book, like it says, is an account of the great Maximilian von Browne, son of an Irish gentleman and ultimately  a Field Marshall in the army of Austria. It traces his early years in Imperial service, and the campaigns in Italy, on the Turkish border, in Silesia and Bohemia, culminating in the Battle of Prague in 1757 where his received a mortal wound. This book was originally published in 1964 but is not at all dated. The author has written a new introduction to this 2019 edition  that sets the scene and puts the book in context when referring to his later works on the Austrian army of the 18th century.

Cutting to the chase, the book is tremendous and immensely readable and highly informative, painting the picture of an incredibly talented commander and innovator, who should be counted among the 'greats' of the 18th century alongside Marshall de Saxe and Frederick the Great. Helion and Co. are to be commended highly for their choice of this book to launch the planned republishing the complete back catalogue of Dr Duffy's masterpieces. 

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for the review Colin. I to have been extremely tempted by this volume, and following your review it looks like a purchase is on the way!

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  2. Thanks for the heads up on this Colin and I will go off to the Helion site right now.

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  3. Mr. Duffy always remembers the first duty of a historian... tell a good story!

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  4. This is one book I would very much like to read, having read others by Professor Duffy. Very readable they are, and all.

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  5. My uni library had a copy and l borrowed it a few times back in the day. It is a really great read, well worth getting.

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