On Land, at Sea and in the Air

Although this weekend is a long one I shall only be able to visit a single boot sale - the so called 'Lazybones' boot sale near to where I live. So SWMBO, my daughter and I headed out there this morning and all of us had a very productive day indeed!

The library has been increased by four titles and quite coincidentally they cover just about everything I am interested in at the moment which was a nice bonus.

A welcome accompaniment to my 1905 and 1914 Jane's Fighting Ships

The first title is is the Conway edition of F.T. Jane's 1912 study of the evolution of the British Battle Fleet down through the centuries and its possible role going forward. F.T. Jane needs no introduction to any naval war gamer worth his salt and although this book was very much a product of the time (remember in 1912 the naval arms race with Germany was well under way) it is a fascinating piece of history nevertheless.

Like a comfortable pair of slippers - a timeless classic covering the army in Spain fighting France

The second title is a little bit of an old friend as I have read this book countless time on loan from various libraries over the years. It is not as detailed as Oman's study of the army but is a very good starting point for any Peninsula based gaming research. My plans with C an C Napoleonics have suddenly become a lot closer to realisation!

Aircraft porn - lots of plates and technical detail and some lovely centrefolds....

The third title is is again, probably not the most detailed work on the subject but certainly adequate for my planned aerial adventures using Axis and Allies: Angels 20. the artwork is really impressive with great double page fold outs of the major types and all the technical detail I would be likely to need.

If this does not get me reaching for the wood, glue, paint and plastic card I don't know what will!

The last title, but by no means least and certainly the one I am particularly pleased to have gotten hold of. Birth of the Battleship - British Capital Ship Design 1870 to 1881 by John Beeler covers the decade of experimentation the Royal Navy underwent in respect of ship design during the years mentioned. It was a time of much technological experimentation and as a result many ideas appeared to be good on paper, less so in service (and that is probably an understatement!). There was much departmental infighting over designs etc and the Navy was usually at odds with just about everybody so the inevitably the fleet had a somewhat ramshackle appearance with seemingly an endless succession of one off designs. The book is quite a technical tome but covers the story very well and the pictures and plans etc are an absolute joy and are great source material for the potential scratch builder.

From the top then, the first title cost £1, the next two came to £1 for the pair and the last one was a whopping £2 (and yes, my tongue was planted very firmly in my cheek as I wrote that!) so the library has gone up by four titles for the meagre sum of £4.

The rest of the long weekend will have a few surprises appearing on the blog - no details as yet but I am planning on fighting not one but two games and neither of them will be the previously mentioned Napoleonic!