'Victorian Military Campaigns', edited by Brian Bond, published by Tom Donovan Publishing, ISBN 1-871085-21-7, price £ 19.95.

First published in 1967, Victorian Military Campaigns is one of the classic accounts of British Colonial wars. It consists of a series of chapters on wars large, and small - the Sikh Wars, Third China War, Abyssinian Campaign, Ashanti War, Egyptian Campaign, and Reconquest of the Sudan - each written by a noted military historian, including Professor Bond himself, David (,handier and John Keegan.

These accounts are scholarly and concise, and are set against a background of contemporary theories and practise. The choice of campaigns is inevitably arbitrary, although for once it's actually quite nice to see the Zulu War excluded, given the prominence it has achieved elsewhere. There are maps and illustrations, although the latter have not fared too well in the reprinting process. In the years since the book was first published, so much work has been done in this field that in places it does seem dated, but it is nonetheless still worthy of serious consideration, and is an excellent starting point for anyone first turning to this rich and complex period.

Reviews

Introduction
Fearful Hard Times: The Siege and Relief of Eshowe 1879
Lord Chelmsford's Zululand Campaign 1878-1879
But Burdens Shouldered; Anglo-Zulu War Graves and Memorials in the United Kingdom
Deeds of Valour: A Victorian Military And Naval Trilogy
Warrior Chiefs of Southern Africa
Fuzzy Wuzzy; The Campaigns in the Eastern Sudan, 1884-85
Buller: A Scapegoat?
Steam, Steel and Shellfire: The Steam Warship 1815-1905
Victorian Military Campaigns
British Campaign Medals: Waterloo To The Gulf
Guns of the British Empire: Firearms of the British Soldier, 1837-1987
Reflections From The Bridge: The Victorian Sapper in Photographs
Osprey Round - Up: Colonial Titles
Pony Wars Round-Up

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