The American History Shelf

The Fortress Kingdom
Paul Hill
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
9781399010610, $42.95, HC, 264pp

https://www.amazon.com/Fortress-Kingdom-Aethelflaed-Edward-899-927/dp/13990= 10611

Synopsis: "The Fortress Kingdom: The Wars of Aethelflaed and Edward the Eld= er, 899-927" is the second part of historian Paul Hill's four-volume milita=
ry and political history of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom and follows the careers=
of Aethelfl d, Alfred the Great's eldest daughter, and Edward the Elder, A= lfred's eldest son, as they campaigned to expand their rule after Alfred's = death. They faced, as Alfred had done, the full force of Danish hostility d= uring the early years of the tenth century, a period of unrelenting turbule= nce and open warfare. But through their military strength, in particular th= eir strategy of fortress building, they retained their hold on the kingdom = and conquered lands which had been under Danish lords for generations.

Aethelfl d's forces captured Derby and Leicester by both force and diplomac=
y. Edward's power was always immense. How each of them used forts (burhs) t=
o hold territory, is explored. Fortifications across central England became=
key. These included Bridgnorth, Tamworth, Stafford, Warwick, Chirbury and = Runcorn (Aethelfl d) and also Hertford, Witham, Buckingham, Bedford and Mal= don (Edward), to name a few.

Paul Hill's absorbing narrative incorporates the latest theories and eviden=
ce for the military organization and capabilities of the Anglo-Saxons and t= heir Danish adversaries. "The Fortress Kingdom" gives the reader a detailed=
and dramatic insight into a very sophisticated Anglo-Saxon kingdom.

Critique: Exhaustively researched, impressively well written, exceptional i=
n both organization and presentation, "The Fortress Kingdom: The Wars of Ae= thelflaed and Edward the Elder, 899-927" is an extraordinary and unreserved=
ly recommended addition to community and academic library Medieval British = History collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be=
noted that "The Fortress Kingdom" is also available in a digital book form=
at (Kindle, $18.99) for the personal reading lists of students, academia, a=
nd non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject.

Editorial Note: Paul Hill (https://www.paulhillauthor.co.uk) is the former = curator of Kingston Upon Thames Museum in Surrey, and is well known as a le= cturer, author and expert on Anglo-Saxon and Norman history and military ar= chaeology. He has written several books on these subjects, among them The A=
ge of Athelstan: Britain's Forgotten History, The Viking Wars of Alfred the=
Great and The Anglo-Saxons at War 800-1066.

The Anglo-Saxons At War 800-1066
Paul Hill
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
9781848843691, $39.95, HC, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Anglo-Saxons-at-War-Paul-Hill/dp/1848843690

Synopsis: In the time of the great Anglo-Saxon kings like Alfred and Athels= tan, 'thelred and Edmund Ironside, what was warfare really like - how were = the armies organized, how and why did they fight, how were the warriors arm=
ed and trained, and what was the Anglo-Saxon experience of war?

As Paul Hill demonstrates in his compelling new study, "The Anglo-Saxons at=
War 800-1066", based on documentary records and the growing body of archae= ological evidence, answers these questions with authority. Hill's broad, de= tailed and graphic account of the conduct of war in the Anglo-Saxon world i=
n the unstable, violent centuries before the Norman Conquest will be illumi= nating reading for anyone who wants to learn about this key stage of mediev=
al history.

The role of violence and war in Anglo-Saxon society is explored, in particu= lar the parts played by the king and the noblemen, and the means by which, =
in times of danger, the men of the fyrd were summoned to fight. The controv= ersial subject of the Anglo-Saxon use of cavalry is also explored. Land and=
naval warfare are central sections of "The Anglo-Saxons at War 800-1066", = and also covers the politics and diplomacy of warfare -- the conduct of neg= otiations, the taking of hostages and the use of treachery.

The weapons and armor of the Anglo-Saxons are described including the spear=
s, the scramsaxes, axes, bows, swords, helmets, shields and mail that were = employed in the close-quarter fighting of the day. Among the most valuable = sections of this historical study are those dealing, in vivid detail, with = actual experience of battle and siege -- with the brutal reality of combat =
as it is revealed by campaigns against the Danes, in the battles of Ashdown=
, Maldon and Stamford Bridge, and sieges at Reading and Rochester.

Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of maps,=
tables, figures, an appendix (Rulers of the English c. 871-1066), a biblio= graphy and an index, "The Anglo-Saxons at War 800-1066" is a key addition t=
o both community and academic library Medieval British History collections = and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted for students,=
academia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subje=
ct that "The Anglo-Saxons at War 800-1066" is also avalable in a paperback = edition (9781399077156, $26.95) and in a digital book format (Kindle, $1.99=
).

Editorial Note: Paul Hill ((https://www.paulhillauthor.co.uk) is the author=
of a number of history books about Anglo-Saxon, Viking and Norman warfare,=
including "The Age of Athelstan - Britain's Forgotten History" Paul has ex= plored the strengths and weaknesses of the western military powers of the m= edieval period in each of his books, but has recently branched into a long = overdue analysis of how one particular crusading group (the Knights Templar=
) prosecuted their wars. Paul has appeared on TV in 'Battlefield Detectives=
- Massacre at Waterloo' and 'Bloodbath at Hastings' in which he focused on=
the military consequences of the challenges of the landscape.

Military History of Late Rome 565-602
Ilkka Syvanne
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
9781848848528, $52.95, HC, 432pp

https://www.amazon.com/Military-History-Late-Rome-565-602/dp/1848848528

Synopsis: With the publication of "Military History of Late Rome 565-602", = Professor Ilkka Syvanne provides a new fresh analysis of the Roman Empire i=
n the aftermath of the reconquests of Justinian I (527-65). It is often cla= imed that Justinian overstretched the Roman resources, but this analysis pr= oves that view wrong. It demonstrates that the initial troubles were largel=
y the result of the mistakes of Justin II (565-78) and that his successors,=
Tiberius II (578-82) and Maurice (582-602), not only restored its fortunes=
but were, at the time of the death of Maurice, actually poised to complete=
the reconquests of Justinian.

It was thanks to the reforms of Maurice, which were codified in the militar=
y treatise the Strategikon, that the Roman army had achieved a position of = relative superiority over all of its enemies so that by 602 the Romans had = decisively defeated the Persians, Slavs and Avars and were poised to comple=
te the project of reconquest. These gains, however, were lost when Maurice = was murdered in a military mutiny which brought Phocas to power.

"Military History of Late Rome 565-602" explains why the Roman army overthr=
ew one of the greatest Roman emperors who ever lived. This was an era of ep=
ic battles so it is not a surprise that the author also pays particular att= ention to the period tactics and analyses all of the period battles in grea=
t detail. These include for example such battles as Melitene, Constantia, S= irmium, Nymphius River, Solanchon, Lake Urmiah, Plain of Canzak, Iatrus, an=
d the epic battles of Priscus and Comentiolus in the Balkans.

Critique: "Military History of Late Rome 565-602" continues Professor Ilkka=
Syvanne's Roman military history series that began with "Military History =
of Late Rome 518 - 565". Informatively enhanced with the inclusion of maps,=
diagrams, a section of full color plates, two Appendices (The First Turkis=
h Empire; The Couched Lance Technique and the Strategikon), twenty-nine pag=
es of Notes, a six page Bibliography, and a twenty-nine page Index, "Milita=
ry History of Late Rome 565 - 602" is a prized and recommended addition to = personal, professional, community, and academic library Roman History colle= ctions and supplemental curriculum studies lists. It should be noted that "= Military History of Late Rome 565-602" is also available to students, acade= mia, and non-specialist general readers with an interest in the subject tha=
t "Military History of Late Rome 565-602" is also available in a digital bo=
ok format (Kindle, $24.99).

Editorial Note: Ilkka Syvanne (https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Ilkka-Syvann= e/a/2164) gained his doctorate in history in 2004 from the University of Ta= mpere in his native Finland. Since then he has written extensively about an= cient and medieval warfare and his publications include: 'The Age of Hippot= oxotai, Art of War in Roman Military Revival and Disaster 491-636' (Tampere=
UP 2004), 'The Reign of Gallienus' (Pen & Sword, 2019), the multivolume 'M= ilitary History of Late Rome' published by Pen & Sword and the critically a= cclaimed Caracalla. He is the co-author with Professor Katarzyna Maksymiuk =
of the 'Military History of Third Century Iran' (Siedlce UP, 2018) and the = 'Military History of Fifth Century Iran' (Siedlce UP, 2019). He was Vice Ch= airman of the Finnish Society for Byzantine Studies from 2007 until 2016. C= urrently residing in Kangasala, Finland, he has been an Affiliated Professo=
r of the University of Haifa since 2016.

Women of the American Revolution
Samantha Wilcoxson
Pen & Sword Books
c/o Casemate (US distribution)
www.casematepublishers.com
https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
9781399001007, $29.95, HC, 192pp

https://www.amazon.com/Women-American-Revolution-Samantha-Wilcoxson/dp/1399= 001000

Synopsis: With the publication of "Women of the American Revolution", autho=
r Samantha Wilcoxson explores the trials of war and daily life for women in=
the United States during the War of Independence. What challenges were cau= sed by the division within communities as some stayed loyal to the king and=
others became patriots? How much choice did women have as their loyalties = were assumed to be that of their husbands or fathers?

The lives of women of the American Revolution will be examined through an i= ntimate look at some significant women of the era. Many names will be famil= iar, such as Martha Washington who traveled to winter camps to care for her=
husband and rally the troops and Abigail Adams who ran the family's farms = and raised children during John's long absences. Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilto=
n, popularized by Lin Manual Miranda's Hamilton, was also an early activist=
working tirelessly for multiple social causes. Decide for yourself if the = espionage of Agent 355 or the ride of Sybil Ludington are history or myth.

Not all American women served the side of the revolutionaries. Peggy Shippe=
n gambled on the loyalist side and paid severe consequences. From early his= torian Mercy Otis Warren to Dolley Madison, who defined what it means to be=
a US First Lady, women of the American Revolution strived to do more than = they had previously thought possible during a time of hardship and civil wa=
r.

Critique: A simply fascinating, comprehensive, and informative study, "Wome=
n of the American Revolution" by Samantha Wilcoxson is a factual history th=
at reads with the narrative style of a deftly crafted historical novel. Inf= ormatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of eighteen pages of = Notes, a two page Bibliography, and a three page Index, "Women of the Ameri= can Revolution" is unreservedly recommended for community and academic libr= ary American History and Women's History collections. It should be noted fo=
r the personal reading lists of students, academia, and non-specialist read= ers with an interest in the subject that "Women of the American Revolution"=
is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.49).

Editorial Note: Samantha Wilcoxson (https://www.facebook.com/PlantagenetEmb= ers) is an author of historical fiction and administrator of a history blog=
.. She has written four full-length novels, three novellas, and two middle g= rade chapter books. Topics of her writing have ranged from the Wars of the = Roses to America's Civil Rights Movement. Samantha is passionate about hist= ory and exploring the personal side of events. In her writing, she urges th=
e reader to truly experience what it might have felt like to live through a=
moment in history. Samantha's most recent novel is biographical fiction fe= aturing Catherine Donohue, one of America's "radium girls." She features in=
Hauntings, an anthology published by the Historical Writers Forum.

A Contest of Civilizations
Andrew F. Lang
University of North Carolina Press
116 South Boundary Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514-3808
https://uncpress.org
9781469672496, $37.50, HC, 568pp

https://www.amazon.com/Contest-Civilizations-Exposing-Exceptionalism-Little= field/dp/1469660075

Synopsis: Most mid-nineteenth-century Americans regarded the United States =
as an exceptional democratic republic that stood apart from a world seeming=
ly riddled with revolutionary turmoil and aristocratic consolidation. Viewi=
ng themselves as distinct from and even superior to other societies, Americ= ans considered their nation an unprecedented experiment in political modera= tion and constitutional democracy.

But as abolitionism in England, economic unrest in Europe, and upheaval in = the Caribbean and Latin America began to influence domestic affairs, the fo= undational ideas of national identity also faced new questions. And with th=
e outbreak of civil war, as two rival governments each claimed the mantle o=
f civilized democracy, the United States' claim to unique standing in the c= ommunity of nations dissolved into crisis. Could the Union chart a distinct=
course in human affairs when slaveholders, abolitionists, free people of c= olor, and enslaved African Americans all possessed irreconcilable definitio=
ns of nationhood?

"A Contest of Civilizations: Exposing the Crisis of American Exceptionalism=
in the Civil War Era" is sweeping history of political ideas as Professor = Andrew F. Lang reappraises the Civil War era as a crisis of American except= ionalism. Through this lens, Lang shows how the intellectual, political, an=
d social ramifications of the war and its meaning rippled through the decad=
es that followed, not only for the nation's own people but also in the ways=
the nation sought to redefine its place on the world stage.

Critique: An impressive work of detailed and erudite scholarship by histori=
an and academician Andrew F. Lang, "A Contest of Civilizations: Exposing th=
e Crisis of American Exceptionalism in the Civil War Era" is enhanced with = the inclusion of a Prologue (The Young Men's Lyceum), an Epilogue (The Para= dox of Civilization), a four page listing of Acknowledgments, seventy-two p= ages of Notes, a fifty-four page Bibliography, and a nineteen page Index. C= omprehensive, insightful, thought- provoking, exceptional, and thoroughly '= reader friendly' in organization and presentation, "A Contest of Civilizati= ons" is unreservedly recommended as a core addition to community and academ=
ic library 19th Century American History collections in general, as well as=
supplemental curriculum American Slavery/Abolition/Emancipation studies in=
particular. It should be noted for the personal reading lists of students,=
academia, historians, and non-specialist general readers with an interest =
in the subject that "A Contest of Civilizations" is also available in both =
a paperback edition (9781469672496, $29.95) and in a digital book format (K= indle, $19.99).

Editorial Note: Andrew F. Lang (https://www.history.msstate.edu/directory/a= fl78) is Beverly B. and Gordon W. Gulmon Scholar in the Humanities and asso= ciate professor of history at Mississippi State University.

This Land Was Saved for You and Me
Jeffrey H. Ryan
Stackpole Books
5067 Ritter Road, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055-6921
www.stackpolebooks.com
9780811771665, $26.95, HC, 232pp

https://www.amazon.com/This-Land-Was-Saved-You/dp/0811771660

Synopsis: "This Land Was Saved for You and Me: How Gifford Pinchot, Frederi=
ck Law Olmsted, and a Band of Foresters Rescued America's Public Lands" by = Jeffrey H. Ryan is the story of how America's public lands (our city parks,=
national forests, and wilderness areas) came into being, the history of wh= ich can be traced to a few conservation pioneers and proteges who shaped po= licy and advocated for open spaces. Some, like Frederick Law Olmsted and Gi= fford Pinchot, are well known, while others have never been given their due=
..

Ryan covers the nearly century-long period between 1865 (when Olmsted contr= ibuted to the creation of Yosemite as a park and created its management pla=
n) to the signing of the Wilderness Act of 1964. Olmsted influenced Pinchot=
, who became the first head of the National Forest Service, and in turn, Pi= nchot hired the foresters who became the founders of The Wilderness Society=
and creators of the Wilderness Act itself.

This fascinating history emphasizes the cast of characters (among them Theo= dore Roosevelt, Bob Marshall, Benton MacKaye, Aldo Leopold, and Howard Zahn= iser) and provides context for their decisions and the political and econom=
ic factors that contributed to the triumphs and pitfalls in the quest to pr= otect public lands.

It is of interest to note that in researching this history, Ryan traveled t=
o the places where these crusaders lived, worked, and were inspired to take=
up the cause to make public lands accessible to all.

Critique: Fascinating, informative, exceptional, and unreservedly recommend=
ed for inclusion in community and academic library American Environmental H= istory collections, it should be noted for the personal reading lists of st= udents, academia, environmental activists, and non-specialist general reade=
rs with an interest in the subject that "This Land Was Saved for You and Me=
: How Gifford Pinchot, Frederick Law Olmsted, and a Band of Foresters Rescu=
ed America's Public Lands" is also available in a digital book format (Kind= le, $19.49).

Editorial Note: Jeffrey H. Ryan (https://www.jeffryanauthor.com) is passion= ate about the outdoors and the conservation of public land, whose work has = been cited in Forbes, USA Today, Appalachia and other notable publications.=
He is the author of Appalachian Odyssey (2016) and Blazing Ahead (2017).

EDITOR'S NOTE:

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Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugal= muse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publish= er, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number=
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James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

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