Annual Booklist 2024 : Dr Glenn W. Price
Dr Glenn W. Price is a professional researcher and analyst with a lifelong passion for history, particularly military and political history, wargaming, and writing. Entering academia as a mature student he managed to navigate himself through a BA and an MRes and has subsequently been awarded a doctorate in history for his research on the military logistics and supply systems of the British Civil Wars. His first book, Soldiers and Civilians, Transport and Provisions: Early modern military logistics and supply systems during the British Civil Wars, 1638-1653 was published by Helion in October 2023 and was awarded 2nd place for the 2023 Chapple First Book prize by the Society of Army Historical Research.
My first recommendation is The First British Army 1624-1628: The Army of the Duke of Buckingham by Laurence Spring (Helion, 2024). Laurence Spring’s book on the army raised for wars against both Spain and France is not, as the title might suggest, attempting to argue for a new origin story of the modern British Army. Instead, it is a fascinating study of a force formed from what were then the three Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, all under the rule of a single king¬—Charles I. Drawn from extensive archival research, this very readable book details the experiences of both officers and men including recruitment, clothing, equipment, provisions, quartering, discipline and pay, and the fate of soldiers in (and out) of service in an early seventeenth century ‘British’ army, as well as more ‘mercenary’ forces raised by the crown. For anyone new to the period this is a superb starting point on the realities of soldiering in the early seventeenth century.
It is commonly imagined that medical care for seventeenth century soldiers was almost non-existent, a view I confess I shared until I encountered my second recommendation – Justice to the Maimed Soldier: Nursing, Medical Care and Welfare for Sick and Wounded Soldiers and their Families during the English Civil Wars and the Interregnum, 1642-1660 by Eric Gruber von Arni (Ashgate, 2001). Anyone reading von Arni’s work will be rewarded with a much more nuanced interpretation of the realities of early military medical care. Not simply comparing Royalists and Parliamentarian attempts at medical care within the British Isles, von Arni also looks at military expeditions overseas during the rule of Parliament and Cromwell, and the contrasts are interesting to read. Nursing, hospitalisation, diet, and recuperation are all covered, rewarding the reader with an appreciation of the efforts made (or opportunities missed) to treat soldiers during the seventeenth century.
I thought with my third recommendation I would push the edge of my period a little and suggest something with a redder hue to its coat, opting for Early Modern Systems of Command: Queen Anne’s Generals, Staff Officers and the Direction of Allied Warfare in the Low Countries and Germany, 1702-1711 by Stewart Stansfield (Helion, 2016). This book studies how British general officers and staff, at Brigade-level and higher, handled the weighty business of command during the period in practice rather than theory. However, battles and skirmishes play only a small part of the book with the work focusing instead on the individuals who directed and implemented orders, laying out the practicalities of running an army, often while working alongside allied forces, in a clear and fascinating manner. The (sometimes) successful balance between personal skills and professional expectations, or between public expenses and private graft provide the reader with a clear sense of command responsibilities (and opportunities and risks) of the period.
My fourth recommendation, and the final one from my period of study, is The English Civil War: An Atlas and Concise History of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms 1639–51 by Nick Lipscombe (Osprey, 2020). A visually beautiful production by Osprey, this work has a place of honour on my shelves not least for the plentiful quality maps within its covers – a boon to any historian (or wargamer) of the period. Its chronology and concise summary of the conflict serve as a great reference point, particularly when I need to sense-check my own recall on my period of study. Although the main title suggests an English focus, the atlas ties the conflicts into the British dimension of the conflicts well, assuring that anyone coming ‘fresh’ to the period is under no illusions of the interconnected nature of the ‘English’ wars with events and conflicts across the Stuart realms of England, Scotland, and Ireland. This book this will serve as an excellent introduction for a newcomer to the period, but also as highly useful reference material for those prolonging their stay among the conflicts of the seventeenth century.
Finally, my fifth recommendation is rather outside my own period of expertise, but well inside a period of longstanding interest: Robert Griffith’s Riflemen: The History of the 5th Battalion, 60th (Royal American) Regiment, 1797-1818 (Helion, 2019). Tracing the history of the 5th/60th, the author has written not only an excellent piece of research but also an engaging narrative that makes for an enjoyable read without sacrificing depth. This book follows the battalion from inception through to its disbandment, covering the experiences of its soldiers, detailing their recruitment, equipment, along with the skirmishes and major battles of the battalion, and much more. I would suggest anyone interested—be they historian, wargamer, or someone with a more than passing curiosity—in this regiment and its history, in the Peninsular War, or simply the Napoleonic Wars more broadly would enjoy this book, even if they never pulled a reference from it.
As for my suggestion for a book that doesn’t exist but should, my wish would be for a book that I am not sure can exist—a detailed and extensive rank and file memoir of the British Civil Wars, such as we have from later conflicts. However, unless some hitherto undiscovered diary or bundle of recollections should surface from its hiding place, I will instead opt for a revised and updated book detailing what we know of the King’s armies of the British Civil Wars, incorporating the latest findings and sources, detailing officers, regimental histories and colours, as well as covering the use of the armies in the field and as part of wider royal policy and strategy.