Book Review Supplying the British Army in the First & Second World War

Discussion in 'Books, Films, TV, Radio' started by von Poop, Oct 2, 2020.

  1. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Supplying the British Army in the First World War
    By Janet Macdonald
    Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
    Pages: 224
    Illustrations: 30
    ISBN: 9781526725370
    Published: 16th April 2019
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    Supplying the British Army in the Second World War
    Pages: 223
    Illustrations: 30
    ISBN: 9781526725332
    Published: 18th March 2020
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    Curious pair of books.
    Maybe worthwhile, but not sure they quite hit the mark(et).

    I had a look at Janet Macdonald's publishing career, as you do; and it's sort of interesting.
    There's a mixed bag of equestrian stuff to start with (fair enough) & then a decade or so ago an academic interest in supplying the Georgian navy seems to have kicked in. Those books apparently well-received, but I can't help the feeling that these two spring largely from extraneous data collected during that research rather than a genuine passion for the C20th subjects.

    On the positive side, they're certainly dense with facts & figures. I mean really intensely packed with stat after stat after stat after stat, but it reads more like transcribed summaries of official papers than analysis or true enquiry.
    While appreciating that anything approaching a narrative must be damned hard to build in a couple of hundred pages while covering such vast subjects, they never quite get away from jumping from topic to topic. A couple of paragraphs on X before zooming over to comment on D, leaving you wondering about Y.

    When they touch on subjects you have (hopefully) some sort of in-depth grasp of, the suspicions rise slightly about the rest of it.
    WW2 - 'Tanks' - page & a half, reading a bit like it's compiled from a Wiki article.
    'Submersible Tanks' - strange 4 line paragraph saying 'there were attempts at submersible tanks'.
    Odd. Not relevant.

    They took me an age to read because of their disjointed nature.
    Think the WW1 one may be better, but that might spring from my relative lack of understanding of that subject.
    While I certainly wouldn't say 'don't bother', as I do think they're probably worthwhile for base information on various supply subjects & even tips as to which government department dealt with what, they never quite take off into much more useful than the statistics buried within. Those statistics give an interesting insight into how rapidly things expand in wartime, but don't become meaty enough before skipping onto the next topic.
    Crying out for more severe editing, I fear. Maybe even trimming into one volume.

    Anyway. I fear a Historian slightly out of their comfort zone.
    Obsessed with supply? Then I'm sure they'll come in handy, and have absolutely no doubt I'll use them here to check a stat or three, but the subject could take a proper Narrative history, something more in the Philip Hamlyn Williams mould.

    Cheers to P&S for the review copies.

    ~A
     
  2. Orwell1984

    Orwell1984 Senior Member

    They're both in my pile to read. So sounds like dry reading but useful reference tools. I'll move them further down the pile then ;)
     
    Dave55 likes this.
  3. Staffsyeoman

    Staffsyeoman Member

    I have both to review, but I must admit that my "spider-sense" tingled at the speed with which the WW2 volume appeared after the WW1. Radar now most certaily alerted.
     
    Dave55 likes this.

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