Hadrian\'s Wall at Osprey released

[richsc]

Just got the email, and placed an order. $20.45 US to ship it to you.<br>
<br>
www.ospreypublishing.com/...02&ser=FOR<br>
<p>Richard Campbell, Legio XX<br>
<br>
</p><i></i>

[rekirts]

I found a book at Amazon.ca called: Fortress 2: Hadrian's Wall AD 122 - 410<br>
<br>
It's by the same author as the Osprey book but the illustrator is different. Maybe it's the same book and they got a different illustrator for the North American publication. It doesn't say who the publisher is.<br>
<br>
I wish I knew if the books were essentially the same, because it would be much cheaper for me to buy the one from amazon.ca.<br>
<br>
Maybe I should just go for it and then compare notes with anyone who has the Osprey book.<br>
<br>
Wendy <p></p><i></i>

[Caius Fabius]

The book is from the Osprey Fortress series, #2<br>
you can check and see if they have the same ISBN <p></p><i></i>

[rekirts]

Thanks Caius. It does have the same ISBN number so I will order it from Amazon.ca. No exchange rate, no duty and if I order another book I want, no shipping charge.<br>
<br>
Wendy <p></p><i></i>

[mcbishop]

Picked up a copy in Newcastle today. If there is anything to say about it, it must be that it is very pricey by comparison with the English Heritage souvenir guide (which is also written by one of the acknowledged experts on the Wall) and I was distinctly unimpressed to see that the photos of Trajan's Column were straight lifts from Lepper & Frere's copies of the Cichorius plates (!), dots and all! If I were in Osprey's technical department I would be ashamed of these as it is a simple matter to digitally process screened halftones to turn them into acceptable images from which new halftones could be made. In fact, if I was the author, I'd have their guts for garters!<br>
<br>
As for the colour reconstructions... hmmm...<br>
<br>
Mike Bishop <p></p><i></i>

[rekirts]

Okay, the Hadrian's Wall books I have are:<br>
<br>
'Hadrian's Wall, the Northwest Frontier of Rome' by David Divine<br>
<br>
'Life and Letters on the Roman Frontier' by Alan K. Bowman<br>
<br>
'Hadrian's Wall in the Days of the Romans' by Ronald Embleton and Frank Graham<br>
<br>
Also an illustrated guide by A. R. Birley from 1963<br>
<br>
Currently available from amazon.ca:<br>
<br>
'English Heritage Book of Hadrian's Wall' by Stephen Johnson<br>
<br>
'Hadrian's Wall: History and Guide' by Guy de la Bedoyere<br>
<br>
'Hadrian's Wall' by Tim Mason, Phd.<br>
<br>
I like books with lots of pictures Reconstructions etc. What life was like, stuff like that. Is anyone familiar with any of the books from my second list? Are any of them worth buying? I'm still considering the Birdoswold book, also available, since that's the setting for my story.<br>
<br>
Wendy <p></p><i></i>

[richsc]

If only I could just pop over to those museum stores! I was really surprised with the one at Bath: so many books on Rome I'd never seen before! and that was inbetween all the other touristy stuff. I asked the folks at the Birdoswald store, as they had pay-for-use internet, if they would go the next step and set up a website and take orders, but no.<br>
<br>
<p>Richard Campbell, Legio XX<br>
<br>
</p><i></i>

[Robert Vermaat]

I always save up before I travel to the UK.. When in Salisbury once, I even bought a big rucksack (we were on a biking holiday) to take with me all the books I found in 2nd hand bookshops. Still use that that bag for the weekend groceries<br>
<br>
Robert <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

I bought this from Amazon. 64 pages, the text covers roman fortifications, origins of wall, anatomy of wall, construction, function, garrison and life on wall. A useful summary of wall knowledge, it includes a futher reading list, glossary and index (unlike most Ospreys). I thought the illustrations were a bit juvenile, coloring and figure composition i thought more appropriate for a youth oriented book, after I got used to them I decided it did not detract much from the overall quality of the book. overall a 'thumbs up' and a recommended buy for Osprey and Wall fans. <p></p><i></i>

[rekirts]

Ok, sounds good, so I just broke my spending moratorium and ordered that book plus the Birdoswold book from Amazon.ca. I hope this lapse is not my first step on the road to depravity!<br>
<br>
Wendy <p></p><i></i>

[Anonymous]

The book repeats a view espoused in the the various TV documentaries on the wall, that it was not intended as a defensive fortification, that it was too narrow a platform and the Roman Army fought offensively not defensively.<br>
<br>
As I stated in another thread on Hadrian's Wall I find this incredible. I envision some future historian judging the Atlantic Wall to be 'meant for another purpose other than defense, that it was too weak, and that the Germans were an offensive army who got in their panzers and destroyed their enemies using Blitzkrieg.'<br>
<br>
Armies often have to go over to the defensive, The Romans could not have been an exception. The Wall and its ditch had the approximate dimensions and characteristics of the walls of contemporary legionary fortresses (as did the Antonine Wall in comparison with turf/wood fortresses).<br>
<br>
A mere means of demarcation and commerce control would not need the contemporary defensive measures of wall and ditch. Against the type of attack the northern tribes were capable of the fortifcations of Hadrian's Wall appear to be perfectly adequate.<br>
<br>
While Nic Fields has written an adequate academic work in this book I disagree with his support of these types of conclusions.<br>
<br>
This does not mean I change my 'recommended buy' for Osprey and Wall fans. Though the handbook at the Wall gift shop and the Breeze and Dobson book are better it's a good summary of current wall information. <p></p><i></i>

[derek forrest]

I would have thought it was generally accepted that the wall would not be manned like a medieval castle under siege as in Kiplings "Puck of Puck Hill". It was intended as a means of making it difficult fo travellers to evade customs and for raiding parties to get in and out with horses / pack animals. If there was a siege it would be of the forts .<br>
There would seem to be some doubt whether there was a walk way on the top. If that was the case you would see the wall as a stone version of the Limes in Germany. <p></p><i></i>