Another New Old Book…

Greetings…

I picked this splendid book up this week…

I have owned it before…. But it has disappeared somewhere over the years…

I was inspired to re buy it after I saw some lovely vignettes that David Bickley had posted on his blog…

https://talesfromghq.blogspot.com/2022/03/ephemera-and-other-stuff.html

I remember the book having some lovely drawings of various bits of camp and campaign life that could really fit into any period… not just the 30 Years War…

Here are a few images to wet the appetite…

I must say that it is as good as I remember it…

I don’t know quite when any of these may appear in my collections but I am sure they will…

All the best.  Aly

An edit for Rodor…

 

A New book... And a little Shiny Inspiration.

 Greetings...

Many many years ago when I was nine or ten I remember finding the whole of the Bayeux Tapestry laid out in the back of a volume of the Encyclopaedia Britannica at my Grandparents house...

I was of course mesmerised... And I still find it fascinating to this day.

Recently the History Extra Podcast has run a couple of episodes covering the possible exhibition of this wonderful object in the UK...

https://www.historyextra.com/bayeux-tapestry-exclusive-history-podcast-series/

There is also a book available... 

Of course I had a real need to buy it...

It looks very interesting and I am looking forward to reading it...

There is also an on-line version of the tapestry here...

https://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/the-bayeux-tapestry/discover-the-bayeux-tapestry/explore-online/

I highly recommend this... It feels about as close to the object as most of us will get...

I was watching a documentary on BBC iPlayer called A History of Art in Three Colours...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01l9mf8

In the first episode which is about the colour Gold...

The presenter introduces an incredibly expensive diorama/artwork made of gold and enamel... I  have to say I was somewhat blown away by its shiny beauty...

I have managed to find a few images of this rather magnificent object...

These images don’t really give a sense of the size of this piece of shininess...

Yup these are super exclusive toy soldiers...

There are some more images to be found here...

https://www.theheritagelab.in/aurangzeb-birthday-diorama/

The diorama was made by Johann Melchior Dinglinger for Augustus Strong of Saxony...

It is on show at The Green Vault in Dresden.

Here a few relevant links...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus_II_the_Strong

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Vault

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Melchior_Dinglinger

It’s tricky enough painting fine detail on a miniature... let alone doing it in enamel 

I wonder if Augustus played with this toy of his... I know I would have.

Painting is still on the slow side... I got my second Covid vaccination the other day and it has knocked the wind out my sails a bit... the first one wasn’t too bad..

I have however spruced up another unit of shiny American Civil War figures and I am just waiting for some varnish to arrive...

All the best   Aly

Some inspiration...

 Greetings...

Dave Andrews sent me a photo of his Palmyran Camel Cataphracts...

Obviously I will need to have some myself... 

Beautifully painted...as one would expect...

All the best.  Aly

A New Book... And a Terrain Idea...

 Greetings...

This book arrived in the post the other day...

Although it is not Rome verses Sassanid Persia , it does cover the battle of Nisibis.. which is a 3rd century battle with two very similar forces...

One of the photos in the book really caught my attention...

This is a photo of Carrhae (modern day Harran)...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harran

These are traditional buildings which may have been in use for at least 3,00 years...

So they are perfect for my 3rdCentury Rome /Sassanid project...

I think once I have finished the Roman buildings I am working on I shall make a few of these...

All the best.   Aly

An Old Book...

Greetings...

Yes... An Old Book.

The Great War in England  in 1897 by William Le Queux.
First published in 1894.

After talking to my friend David about this book I decided to read it again...

In my opinion this is one of the classics as far as Invasion Fiction is concerned...
Along with...
The Battle of Dorking. Reminiscences of a Volunteer... by George Tomkins Chesney. 1871
The Invasion of 1910... by William Le Queux. 1906
And of course The War of the Worlds... by H G Wells. 1898

The end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th saw a rise in the publication and popularity of invasion fiction... not dissimilar from the Red Scare of the 1950s-1960s...

The Great War in England relates a tale of an invasion from France and Russian and a heroic defence by the British nation.
If you can forgive the dated and somewhat jingoistic writing style it makes for a rip roaring and enjoyable read...

This book influenced me a lot when I was making my Shiny Toy Soldier Little Britons.

I think all of the books in my short list are still available in some form or another from Amazon, eBay or your local bookshop...

All the best.   Aly

1913 Belgian & French Military Exercises....

Greetings...

Michael Perry just sent me this YouTube clip...
So it thought I would share it.... it’s rather interesting/good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcoXi4uJiMU&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR3qjq8VXnbwJ4bq8MOHW5ov3ONEFuD7lGOhSMxNCesB3pt16a1KZ_SdIKc

All the best.   Aly

Lion Rampant... A bit of inspiration

Greetings...


This is something I was going to add on at the end of my last post but I forgot...


I was feeling very pleased with myself over how well I have been getting on with my Sassanids...
Then I asked my good friend Dave Andrews to show me his...

Yeah!...
He is a lot more focused than me...


Rather splendid aren't they...


One of the things I have done over the Lockdown is to binge listen to Mike Duncan's The History of Rome podcast...
This one of my favourite podcasts and podcasters... His description of the Crisis of the 3rd Century is one of the things that got me started on this period...
So in my opinion well worth a listen...


https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-history-of-rome/id261654474?i=1000343455256


https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/the_history_of_rome/2007/07/1-in-the-beginning-.html


All the best   Aly