Windrow and Greene have just released this year's 'Militaria Directory and Sourcebook, 1998' (Windrow and Greene, 5 Gerrard Street, London, WIV 7LJ, ISBN 1- 85915-068-3, price E 16.95). In case you've missed it in the past, the sourcebook is an extraordinary catalogue of over 3000 names and addresses connected with almost every aspect of military history, from museums and reference libraries, publishers, clubs, militaria dealers, model soldier manufacturers, re- enactor and battlefield tour operators.
Almost anyone you might need to contact is listed herein; you can hardly afford to be involved in the hobby without it. Although not primarily a military book - although full of the adventures of military types! - John M. Mackenzie's 'The Empire of Nature' (Manchester University Press, ISBN 0- 71090-5227-0) may be of interest to anyone with a broader interest in Colonial attitudes and their impact on the wider world. This is an intriguing study of Imperial attitudes to wildlife, and takes British colonial Africa and India as its case studies.
It explores the way in which Europeans first exploited wild-life by blotting it out, usually for the sheer hell of it, and then attempted to preserve it, usually by designating reserved areas, from which the indigenous population - whose hunting methods had seldom been as efficient as the whites - were excluded, while Europeans continued to enjoy exclusive rights of access. An intriguing and unusual book which demonstrates the extent to which colonial attitudes continue to shape our world, even in unexpected areas like wildlife conservation.
The same author continues to develop some of these themes in 'Empires of Nature and the Nature of Empires; Imperialism, Scotland and the Environment' (Tuckwell Press, ISBN 186232-059-4, price 9.99 pounds), which is based on his lectures on environmental history at the University of Aberdeen in 1995.
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