Central America and the West Indies

Banners in the Air: The Eighth Ohio Volunteers in the Spanish-American War, by Curtis V. Hard, edited by Robert H. Ferrell, pub. The Kent State University, Ohio 1988, pp.141, illus., maps, the original manuscript was penned by Colonel C.V. Hard and was only recently discovered, a very descriptive text with a roster for the 8th Ohio Volunteers, including rank and company attached to, the variety of photographs used is also very helpful too.

The Spanish-American War: Conflict in the Caribbean and the Pacific 1895-1902, by Joseph Smith, pub. Longman, London 1994, paperback, pp.253, maps, this is a general history of the war but with a helpful chronology of main events at the rear, a good modern primer for the new researcher of the conflict.

The Fate of the Maine, by John Edward Weems, pub. Texas A& M University Press, 1992, 1st pub. 1958, pp.198, illus., there are some interesting photographs of ship and crew, the text deals with before the sinking, the inquiry and the after events, also lists the crew members, it relates more to contemporary accounts than to modern questions of how the ship exploded i.e. was it an internal or external explosion? A good read.

United States in War with Spain and a History of Cuba, by Trumbull White, pub. International Publishing Co. Chicago 1898, pp.396, illus., obviously rushed out at the beginning of the war as it gives details of the Marine landing on June 10th from the transport Panther near Guantanamo, Cuba (4½ pages) on page 386, some nice photographs, one that shows a group of 4 insurgent officers and men with their unit flag draped behind them in a studio, the flag having on the flag pole side of the white star, in an arc the words "RIFLEROS DE LA" and on the other side of the star the word "ACERA", the letters are edged in white stitching with their centre being in, I presume, the colour of the field (blue), also it contains a good listing of U.S. and Spanish naval forces available to each side at the beginning of the war.

The Sinking of the "Merrimac", by Richmond Pearson Hobson, with an introduction and notes by Richard W. Turk, pub. Naval Institute Press, Annapolis 1987, 1st published 1899, pp.190, illus., maps, it's is good to read contemporary accounts as they bring to life characters and events and this one is no exception, as it details his imprisonment in Santiago during the siege, an interesting read.

Episodes of the Revolutionary War, by Ernesto Che Guevara, pub. International Publishers, New York 1968, pp.141, paperback, illus., it will be interesting to see if this work covers any new ground from the other titles on the same theme, hopefully it does although without needing to research this period, I have not needed to check them all out together, but at least it could yield some good quotes.

Americans at War 1975-1986: An Era of Violent Peace, by Daniel P. Bolger, pub. Presidio Press, California 1988, pp.459, illus., maps, I have this for Chapter 5, Assault on the Spice Island: The Grenada Campaign, pp.261-358, uses some sources that I've not seen quoted before and has some nice O/B's.

The War of the Dispossessed: Honduras and El Salvador, 1969, by Thomas P. Anderson, pub. University of Nebraska Press, 1981, pp.197, 2 maps, this is the book which anybody who wants to obtain a good all round knowledge of the years before and after this four day war, fall back on, chapter 7 with 20 pages is solely on the war, could make an interesting map wargame.

Commandos: The CIA and Nicaragua's Contra Rebels, by Sam Dillon, pub. Henry Holt & Co., New York 1991, pp.378, illus., using narrative largely based on Luis Fley's personal experiences in the Contra's, this work is more of an exposé of behind the scenes events that never materialised during this time, 1981-88, into print, not surprisingly.

Veil: The Secret Wars of the CIA 1981-1987, by Bob Woodward, pub. Simon & Schuster, London 1987, pp.511, illus., goes very well with the previous title and other covert actions in Central America, interesting to read about these events but it must be demoralising to work for a secret agency that is open to public scrutiny almost as soon as you have started a mission.

The Guerrilla Wars of Central America, by Saul Landau, pub. St. Martin's Press, New York, 1993, pp.215, 4 maps, covers Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala during the 70's and 80's, an easily readable general account. South America

Memoirs of Simon Bolivar, President Liberator of the Republic of Colombia and of his Principal Generals, by General H.L.V. Ducoudray Holstein, ex-chief of Staff of the President Liberator, pub. Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, London 1830, this work is in two volumes but alas I could only see available to buy volume II, which this is, pp.308, a very good contemporary account of the campaigns from 1817-1822, it would appear that the author ended up disliking Bolivar calling him cunning in his political life and dictatorial by nature, pity that I could not find the first volume.

Defensa Nacional, No's. 429-432, & 436-7, pub. Santafe de Bogota, Colombia, 1996-7, these magazines contain some helpful coloured photographs of uniforms of modern troops, alas no unit insignia plates.

In the Forests of the Night: Encounters in Peru with Terrorism, Drug-Running and Military Oppression, by John Simpson, pub. Random House, New York 1993, pp.302, illus., 1 map, most Brits will know the author as the foreign affairs editor of the BBC, this is his personal account of the trip which he made in 1992 that became television reports that were shown in the autumn of 1992 in the U.K., U.S.A., Canada, Germany and Australia, as I do not have video copies of these T.V. reports this book fills the that gap, the text helps to bring to light the internal struggle and corruption that follows in the wake of the drug cartels and the Shining Path terrorist group that happened in 1992, an interesting and easy read but by a journalist rather than a historian.

Aircraft of the Chaco War 1928-1935, by Dan Hagedorn & Antonio L. Sapienza, pub. A Schiffer Military History Book, Atglen PA. 1997, pp.142, illus. a really well researched work with numerous photographs of the various aircraft and personnel, truly a work of love and the only book on this subject a must for anybody like myself who is interested in the Chaco War, it would also appear that Antonio L. Sapienza is preparing another book, this time entitled "Historia de la Aviacion Militar Paraquaya, 1914-Presente" which is bound to be just as helpful and informative as this title, although I hope that he is offered to have it published in the U.S. or U.K. to make it widely available, rather than a little known and hard to buy book, we will just have to wait and see.

Recopilacion Militar 1839-58, by Jose Antonio Vargas, Santiago, Chile 1870, pp.731, this work publishes the decrees which relate to the Chilean Military establishment during these years, i.e. organisation, uniforms and medals among other items are published here, this will be one, or more, of the new booklets that I hope produce next year, an extremely fine source of data.

Cabalgando en la Frontera: Historia de los Blandengues Orientales,by Victor A Rodriguez Otheguy and Nelson Dellepiane, pub. Imprenta del Ejército, Montevideo, 1997, pp.221, illus. 1 map, this unit of cavalry has been in existence for 200 years serving first as a border / indian guard in the Colonial Period, through to today, it's most famous officer being José Artigas, Liberator of Uruguay, has some helpful lists of officers and details of the various campaigns in which this unit saw action in, limited edition of 1,000.

British Fiasco at Buenos Aires, by Ernest Andrade Jr. Pub. in Military History, Dec. 1987, pp58-64, contains some interesting illustrations, although the text had nothing new to give to this British expansionist adventure of the Napoleonic Wars, in fact it left out how and why people in high places thought that Spanish America, and not just the La Plata region, could be brought under British influence and how Popham was privy to these thoughts and ideas.

The Secret War for the Falklands, by Nigel West, pub. Little, Brown and Co. London 1997, pp.260, illus. a highly readable account of what was happening behind the scenes by the British, one wonders what other details there are that will have to wait become un-classified?

Two Sides of Hell, by Vincent Bramley, pub. Bloomsbury, London 1994, pp.270, illus., I am pleased that the British author did take the time to go to Argentina and interview Argentine veterans that were once his enemies about their experiences during Battle of Mount Longdon, hopefully we will see more of these type of books published as I believe that Argentine views of this war are sadly neglected by the English reading public, a very interesting book and a good insight into the Argentine viewpoint.

Escudos Provinciales de la Argentina, text by Adolfo Enrique Rodriguez, illustrated by Rubens Osvaldo Corrado, pub. Edicion del Consejo Federal de Inversiones, Buenos Aires, 1996, large format paperback, 25 full page coloured illustrations of national and state emblems, each plate has 1-2 pages of accompanying text which is very useful for dates etc. I hope that the publishers can be coaxed into producing another volume on Historic Flags of Argentina, which could include state, divisional & regimental flags from 1800-2000, this could also include colonial standards too, but is this just a pipe dream?

Miscellaneous

Warships of the World: Major classes, by Bernard Ireland, pub. Ian Allan Ltd. London 1976, pp.126. illus., has sections on Argentina (25 de Mayo, General Belgrano, La Argentina), Brazil (Minas Gerais, Tamandare), Chile (Latorre, Prat) and Peru (Almirante Grau, Bolognesi), it all helps.

The Age of the Battleship: 1890-1922, by Lt. Commander Brayton Harris, pub. Franklin Watts Inc. New York, second edition 1966, 1st pub. 1965, pp.205, illus. contains 4 chapters on the Spanish-American War with another on the U.S. Navy before that War, very interesting text.

Submarine Insignia & Submarine Services of the World, by Lt. Commander W. M. Thornton MBE with the collaboration of Capitán de Navio Gustavo Conde (Argentine Navy), pub. Leo Cooper, London1997, price £ 16.95, this is one of the few review copies of books sent to me from the actual publisher, I wish more publishers knew that they could send me review copies for this section of El Dorado, as it is it is usually left to the author to send me one from his limited supply as a friend and my thanks to all of you who have done so in the past years, but back to this title, it has sections on Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, all have coloured illustrations/photographs showing from 2-7 badges used by each country, the exception being Cuba where there is no illustration, the text covers Submarine Service/History and Submarine Insignia, both areas are most informative for these countries. The book will be sought after by militaria collectors as it covers 58 countries submarine services and I can see that most of these badges will in the future become collectable through the data and illustrations used in this work, to a greater number of people than collect them at this moment, like myself ( I have the Argentine officers 1945 pattern and a Chilean gilded 1987 associated personnel pattern badges). If you wish to buy a copy write to Pen & Sword Books Ltd, 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2AS, England, (nice one Maitland. TDH.)

My thanks goes out to these people without their help this list would not be quite as long or as interesting:

Paul V. Walsh, Neil Patterson, M. Hawkin, David Prando, Marco Dini Bruno, Texas A & M University Press, Ed Milligan, Alberto del Pino Menck, Andrew Preziosi, & Ian Sumner.

Book List

Pre-Columbian & Conquest, Colonial Period, Latin American
Mexico and Texas, Brazil
Central America and West Indies, Miscellaneous