Book Review: Twelve Rules for Life

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A great deal of ink has been spilt on the subject of Jordan Peterson and this book. I can not add much to what has been said, but to say that I would unreservedly recommend it.

This is a self help book after a fashion and a lot of what it advises is plain common sense. There is a great deal of value in hearing good advice again and I suppose every generation has to learn the same lessons again. It’s radical firebrand stuff like tell the truth, stand up straight and pursue what is meaningful.

I found the book accessible and eminently practical. The audio version is well produced and read by the author, though it lacks the illustrations, introduction and footnotes that come with the printed edition.

This book (and the work that preceded it, but that is codified within it) helped me when I was in a tough spot with injury, work and family. It has made me a happier, more useful and ultimately a better man.

As Mrs Kinch put it, “you can’t argue with the results.”

If you want a flavour of what the book is about, you could do a lot worse than watch this video, which is about eight minutes long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDcOu...


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Review: Too Little, Too Late by Mike Embree

“Too little, too late” is Mike Embree's account of the German portion of the 1866 Austro-Prussian war which marked the eclipse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire as the pre-eminent power in German affairs and began the transition to Prussian dominance. Physically the book is a handsome hardback, weighing in at a slim 200 or so pages and illustrated with period etchings and maps.

In it, Embree chronicles the brief campaign against Austria and the smaller German powers, the fruitless victory of the Hanoverian army at Langensalza* and the defeat of the Hessians and the Bavarians. The book begins with a potted history of the period, outlining the strategic situation in broad strokes, but swiftly changes to the author's strong suit, drilling down into the detail with copious reference to primary sources.

The situation in brief is as follows, in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars, the German states banded together along with Prussia and Austria to form a loose union to prevent any recurrence of French aggression. This union was dominated by Austria and the conflict arose when Prussia seeking to wrest control of the union from that state, provoked a war in order to unseat Austria.

The composition of the opposing armies, including those of a bewildering array of minor German states (some of which barely rise to the strength of a brigade) are described in detail. The rest of the book is devoted to an operational history of this brief conflict, which lasted barely six weeks. The prose is a model of clarity and leaves the reader in no doubt as to what is occurring, though one complaint I would have would be the maps. Maps are a persistent thorn in the side of those who write (and read) operational histories – how many? Where to put them? And in how much detail?

The maps are fine and are clear, but they are all located (along with some uniform plates) in the centre of the book, rather than situated with the text which refers to them. They are also not appropriately referenced in the text, so that the reader has to puzzle out what map refers to which action based on the name of the action rather than a page number. A small point, but one that stands out in a publication as slick as this one.

What strikes me about “Too little, too late” is how contemporary it seems. Austria and her allies are constantly undone by Prussian hybrid warfare, with the canny Prussians using a mixture of diplomacy, threats, misinformation and lightning manuevre to unhinge and ultimately destroy the allied forces. The author neatly describes that mixture of traditional warfighting and diplomatic cunning in a way that makes the overall picture clear to the reader, illustrating the complexities without getting lost in the weeds. 

But for all the Austrian disasters, the Prussians do not escape some criticism and the difficulties of controlling independently minded commanders whose tactical decisions are imperiling the strategic vision - a problem any leader can relate to. 

Ultimately, this book is the best English language treatment of the campaign currently available and will be of interest to the historian and the wargamer, who will appreciate the wealth of detail on orders of battle. 

*ground which the author has covered before in a pamphlet available from the Continental Wars Society.   

Note: In the interests of full disclosure, Mike is a friend of mine.  I asked him if there was a general history that might be a good companion to this more specialised volume. He recommended "The Campaign of 1866 in Germany", the official Prussian staff history as probably the easiest and least controversial. 

The March to Kandahar

The March to Kandahar: Roberts in Afghanistan by Rodney Atwood is handsome perfect bound paperback of about 200 pages. In it the author describes the part played by Lord Frederick Roberts (famous from Kiplings poem "Bobs") in the Second Afghan War of 1878-80. The book begins with a brief summary of of the First Afghan War, the Indian Mutiny and the internecine struggles of the Afghan court prior to the war and continues with an outline of events prior to Roberts arrival.  Where the book really hits its stride is in giving a pen picture of Roberts contradictory but often admirable character and in describing the desperate nature of the fighting in Afghanistan. The result is an approachable history which is accessible to the layman.  Atwood also grapples with the thorny problem summary executions which dogged Roberts Afghan expedition and the opprobrium those attracted in the British press.

I did not come away with a definite understanding of where the author stood on this point, though he seemed to state the case fairly for both sites.

The author style is light and readable, combining the clarity of non-fiction with a novelists eye for detail and character.  

Lastly, the maps provided are clear and have sufficient detail to allow the reader to follow the narrative scattered as it is with unfamiliar names and geography.  I found it easier to follow the written account of battles by sketching the main features of the map on paper as I read. It saved me constantly flicking back and forth.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would certainly recommend it to any newcomer to the subject.  

Book Review: Treasure Island

Cover by NC Wyeth - possibly one 

of the most wonderful illustrators that has ever lived. 

Treasure Island is a great book and like many great books, grew out of a small act. Stevenson's step-son was drawing one day and his step-father looking over his shoulder, saw that he was drawing a map. They spent the day naming the places and colouring it. And from the map came the book.

It is a simple story told by a boy on the cusp of manhood and therein lies its power. Jim Hawkins is a boy telling a story to other boys and his nature is reflected in the telling. There is no navel gazing or reflection in him, he doesn't agonize over killing or worry about the morality of taking buried treasure. Unlike his contemporaries in Victorian fiction, whose scruples often verge on the priggish, Jim's moral compass is personal, his loyalty to his mother and to his friends. His is a conscience rooted in the eighteenth century, his goals are clear and their simplicity and single mindedness drive the story forward.

Wyeth again - when I was a small boy, this image filled me with indescribable dread. 

But even in this celebration of the 18th century love affair with laissez faire capitalism, Stephenson finds a place for evil. It is a grinning, grubby, chatty evil, far removed from the starkly painted moral monsters of children's fiction. Long John Silver is a murderer, a pirate and a scoundrel, but he is also charming, capable and a leader of men. Jim enjoys his company despite himself. Though Jim hates Silver for his cruelty, he admires him for his daring as all boys admire those who defy parental or scholastic authority with panache. In some ways there is little to choose between Long John and Jim, both pursue the treasure, Long John is simply willing to use brutal means to obtain it.

The Jim we meet at the beginning of the novel is a boy, bound to his mother and weighed down by childish things. By the end, he has encountered dangers, both moral and physical, and survived. He has mastered new skills and entered man's estate. For the rest of us, reading Treasure Island could be considered a vital part of that passage.

You will find a particularly fine audiobook version of Treasure Island here. 

Note: This review was originally published elsewhere. 

Review: Donald Featherstone's War Games: Battles and manoeuvres with model soldiers.

THE BATTLE OF ELANDSLAAGTE—CHARGE OF THE 5th LANCERS.*

Drawn by R. Caton Woodville

This review refers to the John Curry Events reprint, which is available here.

The Duke of Wellington once said, when asked how he had beaten the French, said that the two military machines were like teams of horses all pulling towards a common goal. The differance he said was that the French made their plans out of harness and therefore were helpless when the harness holding any particular horse broke. He on the other hand, made his plans out of rope, so that when a part of the team broke loose, he could simply tie the two ends of the rope together and carry on.

This is a book contains a great deal of rope from which any wargamer worth his salt will be able to fashion any amount of harness.

Physically, what you get for your money is a slim perfect bound paperback of 156 pages, with a glossy colour cover and illustrated within with black and white. The print quality is about standard for a print on demand publisher like Lulu, so that while the text is perfectly readable, some of the black and white photographs are a little muddy.

In these 150 odd pages, the author offers a short description of the history of wargaming, a discussion of model soldiers and where to get them, including some advice on how to cast your own using plumbing lead, organising a campaigan, creating terrain and three sets of wargames rules covering ancient warfare, the horse and musket era and moderns (in this context the Second World War).

All this will be very old hat to the experienced wargamer, but the beginner looking for a book to start off with, this is an embarrassment of riches.

Take the Horse and Musket section for example, compromise only eight pages and are very simple. There are no complicated command rules here and the sections on melee combat and morale simply refer back to the Ancients set of rules decscribed in the previous chapter. They are however, surprisingly playable and accompanied by "Action in the Plattville Valley", a blow by blow account of a small engagement as played through by the author. The account has worked examples of several key parts of the rules, morale, fire and melee combat.

I often wonder when I read accounts of war game battles, whether the game described actually occurred, not so with "Action in the Plattville Valley". It is neither neat or simple and there is a definate ring of truth about it. The same goes for the rest of the book, which is full of sentences like this; "Wargamers Warwick Hale and Peter Pringle of Chatham have worked out a simple, but highly effective means of reproducing hidden troop movements..." or "It must be confessed that the question of how to fight a successful action with natives against disciplined troops has yet to be completely solved by the writer." All the suggestions, the advice and the rules in this volume are the result of years of experience on model battlefields, straight forward and firmly grounded in what is possible.

This is all good and useful stuff, but what really distinguishes "Wargames" from other books of the sort and which makes it attractive to the elder gamer who knows his way around campaigns and terrain construction and all the rest of it, is the sheer breathless enthusiasm of the piece. I challenge any gamer to read Donald Featherstone's description of Lionel Tarr's Second World War game, his musings on table sizes or his thoughts on the fun of campaigning without feeling the itch to get back into the game.

"Wargames" is a book of suggestions, advice and inspiration. There are three workable sets of rules in it, but as the author says in his introduction there are about as many rule sets as there are wargamers and the only person you have to please is yourself. I really don't think Donald Featherstone cares if you play Ancients or Moderns or Napoleonics or what ruleset you play, so long as you enjoy your game and it's that healthy and inspiring attitude to the hobby that struck me again and again. Featherstone's love for war gaming oozes from every page.

This post was cobbled together out of an old book review and guilt at not posting to my blog more regularly. Normal service will resume once I'm home again.

*This image actually has no connection to Donald Featherstone, but I feel it is representative of his love of colonial wargaming. I am also very fond of R.. Caton Woodville.