Cassell, 2001, $29.95, ISBN 0-304-35862-2, 224 pgs., hardback

When I first picked up this book, I expected a series of battle vignettes that detailed on a minute by minute basis how someone did something spectacular. However, what you really get is a general mini-bio of an officer without much detail, which is acceptable if you never heard of the subject at hand, but nothing that you haven't read before in a number of other books.

Judging from the author's previous books, Perrett writes a lot of these mini-bios. Judging from the bibliography at the end of this book he doesn't delve too deep. He writes well enough and the 15-20 page chapters flow smoothly enough, but as for the "brief" moments of glory, they are altogether too brief and lost amongst the background and post action prose.

Now I did greatly enjoy a few chapters because I possess very little knowledge of Hector MacDonald (favorite bio of the book), James Scarlett, and Charles Townsend. On the other hand, Benedict Arnold, Louis Desaix, and Lewis Wallace held no special place because those folks are too well known for such general chapters. For example, Arnold at Saratoga receives two pages--brief indeed.

As an aside, the maps are a cut above the usual, so kudos for Cassell for that aspect.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with a book of mini-bios, and had the title reflected that sentiment, I would have made allowances. For 13 mini-bios, Perrett lists 50 books in the 'select bibliography' (including three of his own) and vague references to websites without giving the URL (i.e. www.___). Bookwise, the list is almost all secondary sources and it is suspicious that he fails to cite specific websites. For all I know, MagWeb.com was a source.

As it stands, the battlefield descriptions make for pretty good magazine articles, with the caveat that the less you know, the more valuable the information, and that the more you know, the less insightful the chapter.