Napoleonic News Desk

Lectures and Book News

by Paul Chamberlain

Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth To celebrate Museums and Galleries Month 2000, there will be a lecture or presentation every weekday lunchtime in May at the Royal Naval Museum. Organised by the Mary Rose Trust, they will be given by 22 of the curators, specialists and consultants that are involved with the collections in the Heritage area. Specialists from the Mary Rose are combining with others from the Royal Naval Museum, HMS Warrior (1860), HMS Victory, and the Portsmouth Naval Base Property Trust to provide this comprehensive programme. The general theme is 'turning points' as evidenced by the significant objects, events or developments in techniques and materials that can be illustrated from the collections or displays. At weekends in May there will be activities that will interest more general visitors and families, whilst at Whitsun Weekend there will be a major event with live firings of historic and replica guns. There is a tentative programme at present, with some of the topics yet to be confirmed. However, I note from the lecture list that there will be many of interest to the Napoleonic student. These are as follows: 3 May Turning Points in Naval Ordnance: From Longbow to Broadside. 8 May A Turning Point in History: The Battle of Trafalgar. 9 May The Restoration of the W.L.Wyllie Panorama of the Battle of Trafalgar: Turning Points in Museum Display; a guided museum tour. 16 May Captain Cook: Turning Points in Naval Exploration 26 May The Influence of the Carronade on Ship Design. These are just a few of the proposed topics to be presented throughout the month of May. The entire series looks very interesting and informative, covering every aspect of the naval history on display at Portsmouth, from the Mary Rose up to the present day. Each lecture will start at 12.30 and will take place in the Royal Naval Museum. Attendance is free but seats need to be reserved by contacting Flagship Portsmouth. For full details of this impressive event contact: Flagship Portsmouth Trust, Porters Lodge, Building 1/7, College Road, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, P01 31-J. Tel: 02392 861533; Email: enquiries@flagship.org.uk or consult their Web Site: http//www.flagship.org.uk Book News from Spellmount Spellmount has some interesting publications for the coming year. Lady De Lancey's Narrative: A Story of Duty and Devotion by David Miller (Spring, £ 19.95 Hardback) is the intriguing and fully authenticated story of the British Army's first professional staff officer, his beautiful Scottish bride and their doomed marriage. It includes the full text of both the 'Narrative' and the little-known 'Abridged Version', originally titled 'A Week at Waterloo in 1815 - Lady de Lancey's Narrative: being an account of how she nursed her husband, Colonel Sir W.H. Lancey, Quartermaster General of the Army, who was mortally wounded in the great battle'. Napoleon: The Man Who Shaped Europe by Ben Weider with Emile Gueguen (Spring, £ 14.95 Paperback) is a controversial and convincing biography of napoleon which explores the reasons for his bad reputation, which the author contends is unjustified; the mystery and controversy surrounding his noble but illegitimate birth; his civic and military achievements; his philosophy and character; and the actual circumstances of his murder by poisoning on St. Helena. Field of Glory: The Battle of Crysler's Farm, 1813 by Donald E. Graves (Spring, £ 16.95 Paperback) is the first full-length study of a stirring chapter in Canadian history when the largest-ever army assembled by the United States prior to the Civil War was defeated at the battles of Chateauguy and Chrysler's Farm by a forces of British, Canadian and native troops only half its size - thus preserving Canada's independence from its aggressive neighbour. Recollections of the Eventful Life of a Soldier by Joseph Donaldson (Spring, £ 24.95 Hardback) was first published in 1852. This new edition relates the story of a young soldier's wonderfully graphic, gripping and often poignant memoirs of life in Sir Thomas Picton's 'Fighting' 3rd Division - the toughest in Wellington's army during the Peninsular War. The Lines of Torres Vedras: The Cornerstone of Wellington's Strategy in the Peninsula 1809-12 by John Grehan (Summer, £ 19.95 Hardback) is the first book to examine in detail the role of one of the most important fortifications in military history. This authoritative account of the planning, construction and occupation of the Lines and of the battles, sieges and horrors of the French invasion is also an important new study of Wellington's strategy during the crucial years of the war against Napoleon. Recollections of an Old 52nd Man by Captain John Dobbs (Summer, £ 19.95) is the ultimate in rare military memoirs. Dobbs fought throughout the Peninsular War and has good claim to be the last officer casualty of the war. The Private Journal of Judge- Advocate Larpent: Attached to the Head- Quarters of Lord Wellington During the Peninsular War from 1812 to its Close by Francis Seymour Larpent (Autumn, £ 29.95 Hardback). This facsimile of the 3rd edition was referred to by Sir Charles Oman as being 'an interesting and not always discreet account of his busy life at Head-Quarters and as being the best 'for hard facts'. In almost daily contact with the Duke of Wellington, it is an excellent firsthand account of the working of Wellington's headquarters. Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire #51 Back to First Empire List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2000 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