Thursday, 11 February 2021

New Book: The First and Second Italian Wars by Julian Romane

 


I came across this book, published last year, whilst doing a general book search for my Christmas list. Being a fan of the early period, I took a punt and put it at the top of my list without reading a single review. I wasn't disappointed to have done so.

As well as covering the usual stuff, it has some nice chapters on the less well known stuff: such as Cesare Borgia's campaigns in the Romagna. Nothing amazingly new, nothing amazingly detailed, but nicely brought together. I also liked the extra bits such as the character studies of individuals, studies of geographic regions, and the use of poison.

I think it's a nice addition to the small pantheon of books on this much neglected period in military history. I'm guessing, like most books covering this subject, it probably had quite a small print run, so stocks will probably run out quickly, and it will probably double in price quickly in consequence. For less than £20 (in hardback) on Amazon, it's a steal. Get it! Get it quick!

7 comments:

caveadsum1471 said...

Really interesting! I'd better get onto Amazon then!
Best Iain

Peter Douglas said...

Thanks for the review. I’ll keep an eye open for it.

Independentwargamesgroup said...

Thanks for the heads up James, I better get it straightaway. I really don't understand why there isn't more information on the wars especially given the wonderful characters involved.

fireymonkeyboy said...

Thanks for the tip - I'll have to see if I can hunt it down.

carojon said...

Hi James,
On your recommendation, I ordered a copy today on Prime. I now need to explain to my wife how it's all your fault.

All the best
JJ

Gonsalvo said...

I thin I need a copy too. You are so right about the every limited sources for this fascinating era!

Mike B said...

Great find: poison in a campaign sounds very Italian Wars! My wife banned me from assassinating rivals in Total War because of the grisly noise the attack made! Revenge at last- assassinations on the tabletop!