Pengel

Seven Years War Uniform Guide

reviewed by Ken Bunger

R.D. Pengel has authored three more Seven Years War uniform guides. They are the Swedish Army in Pomerania 1757-1763, AustroHungarian Hussars, Artillery & Support Troops 1740-1762 and Prussian Regular, Irregular, and Provincial Hussar Regiments 1757- 1762. These latest three booklets are representative of the excellent standard established by the previous twenty publications in this series.

I have, for over a period of twenty years, collected all of the information I could relative to uniforms of the Seven Years War. Where I have not been able to buy the original work on the antiquarian market, I've made an effort to obtain photocopies or color slides of the material from various collections and libraries around the world. in addition, a working knowledge of French and German was necessary. However, with the publication of Mr. Pengel's series, I could have saved myself all of that trouble and a few thousand dollars.

Each booklet in the series is an extraordinarily comprehensive guide to either the uniforms or "flags" of its particular subject. As a valuable bonus, most booklets also contain a chart showing the internal regimental organization of the units described. An added feature is a Swedish order of battle for 1758 in this latest publication. All of the publications are 8" X 12", tape bound and typed rather than offset printed. Most are from 30 to 50 pages in length. The enormous amount of information is for the most part presented in the form of charts and the excellent black and white drawings by G.R. Hunt.

A welcome feature of this series is Mr. Pengel's scholarly adherence to the footnoting of sources and short explanations where those sources are dubious or in conflict with others. This format is in contrast to the all too common practice of simply adding a bibliography or even omitting sources altogether.

Previously difficult to obtain, the series is now available from The Courier (see advt. elsewhere) or from Athena Books, 20 St. Mary's Road, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DNI 2NP. The r)rintinR is done by * & M Printing Co., Birmingham B21 9PS.

* list of publications in this series is set out below. Austrain Dragoons & Cuirassiers 1740-1762 Austro-Hungarian Hussars, Artillery & Support Troops Austro-Hungarian Infantry 1740-1762 Bavaria, Saxony & The Palatinate French Cavalry & Dragoons 1740- 1762 France: Troupes Legeres 1740-1763 French Infantry Regiments 1740-1762 Maison du Roy (Cavalry & Infantry uniforms & flags) Prussian & Austro-Hungarian Flags Prussian Cavalry: Dragoons & Cuirassiers Prussian Hussar Regiments 1757-1762 Prussian Infantry Uniforms Russian Cavalry Uniforms & Flags Russian Infantry Uniforms & Flags Uniforms of the Swedish & German States: Infantry & Artillery Swedish Army in Pomerania 1757-1763

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