From the Atacama to the Andes - a Review

 

FROM THE ATACAMA TO THE ANDES. Battles of the War of the Pacific 1879-1883 by Alan Curtis is No. 21 in Helion’s excellent and incredibly diverse ‘From Musket to Maxim’ series. The author has spent 40 years researching the Pacific War so he should know his subject, and he has used English and Spanish language sources when conducting his research. This war is definitely a rather niche subject but I would not be surprised if this book stirs up a massive amount of interest thus raising the profile of this little known (in the English speaking world at any rate) and brutal war between Chile on one side and the Bolivians and Peruvians on the other.

After a brief introduction setting the scene and a good look at the armies of the warring nations the book launches straight into the war with a serious breakdown and analysis of the campaign and all the battles on land and sea, in an impressive amount of detail, right down to a very personal level. Naval operations are the only aspect of the fighting that I knew something about, but my knowledge on the subject has now been expanded considerably. It could be said that the amount of information contained within this book is such that absorbing it is like being repeatedly hit on the head…..but in a very good way!

The chapters I found most useful are towards the end of the book, ‘Organisation of the Armies’ and ‘Uniforms’, and I am sure the same would be said of any war gamer reading them, as after reading the book I found I had another itch to scratch in terms of future projects. I was also very pleased to see a chapter providing details of all the combatants’ major warships. Having this all in one place is very helpful when cross referencing the naval operations to check on ship capabilities.

The colour illustrations are lovely and well crafted, depicting examples of Bolivian, Peruvian and Chilean troops, in all their glory in the case of the Bolivian Cuirassier regiment, to the rag tag uniforms eventually worn by most of the men from all three armies as their pre-war uniforms wore out. In addition to the colour uniform plates there are some excellent, and for war-gamers rather useful, colour maps showing some of the main land and sea battles. The book is of course laced with numerous contemporary black and white images, many of which are photographs of officers and men from the war who may or may not have survived the conflict. It is some to reflect on perhaps?

The book concludes with a whole series of detailed appendices, giving the reader an impressive amount of information on orders of battle for the major engagements and casualties for each of the three armies.
It comes as no surprise then that I wholeheartedly recommend this book and I can think of at least one person not a million miles away who will love it.

Hungary. The Winter Campaign 1848-49

I was really quite thrilled to have the opportunity to review this new book, the latest in Helion’s “Musket to Maxim” series, as I’d been waiting patiently for it’s publication for a while.

The book is a translation of the Austrian semi-official history by Johann Nobili of the invasion of a rebellious Hungary during their fight for independence, through the winter of 1848/49. There is always a danger that translations of nineteenth century (or any century for that matter) work ends up being as dry as dust and sometimes incomprehensible. This is certainly not the case here and Dr. Chris Pringle has done an exceptional job. The translation is sympathetic to modern day readers, not in the least bit heavy going, and is well written and laid out. It is an easy and enjoyable read, to the point that I found myself half way through it in no time.

One of the things that really ‘makes’ the book for me are the numerous and very detailed footnotes. These have been included liberally by Chris to expand in detail upon points that might have otherwise remained unclear from the translation, or people mentioned in the main text. So for example, many thumbnail biographies of those involved on both sides of the revolt appear throughout, so the reader can immerse themselves in the personalities of the campaign. Given how important the commanders were to the way the campaign panned out this is very useful and interesting. I certainly found these footnotes very helpful as it was possible to get to grips with what might otherwise have been a bewildering multitude of perhaps unfamiliar Hapsburg and Hungarian names.

I won’t go into any particular detail on any aspects of the war, and you will have to read the book if you want to learn more. Suffice to say the campaign was marked by a high level of ineptitude and downright disobedience on the part of the Austrians and they made hard work of regaining control of Hungary; their invading force was unceremoniously bundled back to the borders. The situation became so bad that the Emperor had to ask the Russians to help put down the revolt! Not much has been written in English about the Hungarian revolt and every aspect of this phase of the war is covered in great detail, with plenty of excellent and specially drawn maps to help the reader understand the geography and the strategic situation, as well as the battles. Orders of battle can be found throughout, both for the Austrians and the Hungarian army. Remember too that pretty much the entire Hungarian establishment within the pre war Austro-Hungarian army had gone over to the rebels so they inherited a large and effective force at the commencement of the campaign.

So, for anyone with an interest in this war, or indeed of European conflicts during the mid-nineteenth century this book is is the answer. The translation and presentation are very good indeed, so top marks to everyone concerned in getting it to the market, and I look forward to the next volume. In the meantime I shall comfortably (?) resist the temptation to start another project, as if I add anything else substantial to the lead mountain I am dead!