Osprey have published quite a few Colonial titles in their various monograph series over the last year, suggesting the extent to which Colonial subjects have now been absorbed into the main-stream.

Among these are Donald Featherstone's trilogy on the Anglo-Egyptian and Sudanese campaigns in the Campaign series, Tel El-Kebir 1882, Khartoum 1885, and Omdurman 1898. All of these are well- written, as one expects from this veteran wargamer, and the 'bird's eye-view' battle-maps work very well. In each case, the title battle is merely the climax of the campaign under consideration; thus Tel El-Kebir includes Kassassin, whilst Khartoum includes not only Gordon's defence of the city, but also the fighting around Suakin and the desert battles of the relief column. All three titles are excellent value and thoroughly recommended as an entree into the literature of the struggles for the Nile; there are, however, a few grumbles. The first two in the series are heavily dependent on illustrations from contemporary British newspapers. These are often very stirring, but they do sometimes give a rather distorted picture of the enemy, who are usually depicted as some wild and woolly 'native type', who is either looming terrifyingly through the smoke, or looking suitably savage and romantic as he is cut down by a stalwart Brit. Appealing as these images may he to wargamers, they are essentially the view from the winning side, and, if nothing else, fine points of costume and weapon type often go by the way. There are photographs available from both the Egyptian and Suakin campaigns, and these rather more sober images might have helped off-set the jingoism of the warartists' vision. To some extent this problem has been rectified in the Omdurman title, which does include a number of photographs. Other niggles are the fault of the series, rather than the author; some of these early Campaign titles have recycled artwork from old Osprey MAAs, and sometimes it's very out of date; some of the Mahdist types illustrated here are very wide of the mark. Osprey promise that they have reviewed their approach to the artwork in the campaigns titles, and will be using much more original artwork in future, including some epic battle-scenes. This sounds promising, as further Colonial titles are in the pipeline, including Colenso 1899, Rorke's Drift 1879, and Majuba 1881.

In the Men-At-Arms series, there have been some quite original new titles. The most conventional of these is perhaps MAA268, Michael Barthorp's The British Troops Of The Indian Mutiny 1857- 59, illustrated by Douglas Anderson. This is a thorough look at the uniforms actually worn in the field by British troops, which are particularly interesting because of the widespread mixture of ceremonial and improvised items. Since Michael Barthorp is the leading expert on the uniform of the Victorian soldier, this is a particularly important addition to the series. Ian Drury's The Russo-Turkish War 1877 (MAA 277), illustrated by Raffaelle Ruggeri, is a look at a major campaign hardly known in Britain - the destructive struggle between Russia and Turkey in the Balkans (which, incidentally, has a contemporary resonance because it involved the Bosnian Serbs). The book provides a resume of the costly fighting around the fortress at Plevna, and the usual description of the armies involved, the soldiers of whom are illustrated here by the artist in a pleasing style which manages to he crisp without sacrificing character. MAA 272, The Mexican Adventure 1866-67 by Rent Chartrand and Richard Hook looks at the ill-fated attempt by Napoleon III to seize control of Mexico, which culminated not only in a French defeat, but in the execution of the French-backed Emperor Maximilian himself. The book describes the armies of both sides, including the famous Foreign Legion, and includes some, fascinating photographs of Mexican soldiers, whist Richard Hook's artwork is full of character and well up to his usual standard- Finally, there is MAA 275, The Taiping Rebellion 1851-66, by Ian Heath, illustrated by Michael Perry. This is a hold and interesting choice of a campaign largely remembered here, as an example of European Colonial intervention in an what was otherwise an internal revolt in China - for the role of 'Chinese' Gordon and the EverVictorious Army, and the Anglo-French assault on the 'Taku Forts'. The text provides the usually excellent introduction to the subject, enlivened by some interesting photos, whilst the artwork includes Chinese Imperial troops, Taiping rebels, and the EVA and foreign interventionists. There are some nice studies of early Victorian military types, including Gordon himself, and the Taiping Rebellion is, like all this batch, highly recommended.

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

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