Book Review

A Napoleonic Weekend
A video record of
Fishguard 1997

Reviewed by Ed Parker

Produced and Directed by Barrie Thomas

Barrie Thomas, ex BBC cameraman and now retired Fishguard Antiques dealer has been keeping a video record of many of the events of the 1997 Fishguard bicentennial celebrations. In true entrepreneurial spirit he shot, edited and packaged this unique record of the Napoleonic Associations re-enactment weekend in August 1997.

At the outset one has to say that for anyone who took part in the weekends events this video is a must. Many happy hours will be spent with the pause and rewind buttons searching for oneself and fellow participants. But this alone does insufficient justice to this very well produced and detailed record of the weekend.

From the Friday evening socialising in the town centre, the singing and dancing, the dialogue and communication (or lack of it) between English and French officers to arrange the surrender of the French forces the next day it's all here. The re-enacting (or acting) is unprepared, unrehearsed but a joy to watch.

Saturday - the Street parades, the ceremonies on the beach, the surrender - it's all here. The battle of Fishguard, the re-enactment of how the French could have done it, followed by the street parties and entertainment of the Saturday night. Living history encampments and the battle re-enactment of Sunday giving the British and their allies the opportunity to gain a suitable revenge.

This video is a rarity, it may well not be for the purists, for Mr Thomas has made no attempt to produce an accurate presentation of military life in the nineteenth century. But what he has done, and very successfully too, is to create a video diary of the Fishguard weekend celebrations and a unique record of a Napoleonic Association event. It's an hour and 35 minutes in duration and for the sum of £ 12 a copy can be yours from Barrie Thomas, The Hermitage, Penbanc, Fishguard, Pembs. SA65 9BJ Tel: 01348 872322

More Reader's Reviews

Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #40
Back to First Empire List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 1998 by First Empire.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com