Book Review; Peter The Great Humbled

 

     Second in the list of books I will be reviewing is  is the above-mentioned title. In 1711 Peter the Great, no doubt feeling his oats after his smashing victory at Poltava, embarked on a campaign against the Ottoman Empire with the aim of forcing Charles XII out of the Ottoman domains and detaching a couple of Slavic provinces from Ottoman control. As one could guess from the title things went rather badly for Tsar Peter and his army. 

     Nicholas Dorrell provides in this slim volume a feast of information regarding the organization, tactics and campaign activities of both the Russian and Ottoman armies. He goes to considerable length to provide an understanding of the strength and organization of the various forces (along with due consideration of the terrible attrition that the unseasonably hot dry weather inflicted on both armies). The sumptuous illustrations and color photographs of uniformed re-enactors provide an excellent idea as to the appearance of the troops. Further information as to the uniforms of the Russian forces uniforms is provided by tables for both the foot and cavalry that details coat colors, facings and such right down to the color of the hat lacing.

       The text is written in a lively and readable style that made this a single-sitting read. Dorrell opens with an assessment of the strategic situation  then provides a synopsis of the leading characters of both armies before explaining the the strategic situation on the various fronts involved. He then follows event on the Eastern front before switching focus to the Balkan front where the campaign reached its conclusion in the disaster (for Peter) on the Prut River. 

     Battlefield maps are of average quality while the strategic maps are simply horrible. Granted most of the southern Ukraine is fairly flat so there would be little in the way of detailed terrain features, but the total lack of roads, minor rivers, and cities is unforgivable. Armies move along vague arrows with no indication as to where they were on any given date during their months-long march. The reader is left to imagine the countryside (or spend time searching Google Earth for an idea as to the landscape). This is a complaint that I have against almost all military history products of recent vintage and it is simply inexcusable in light of the availability of information in this modern era.

     In all this is an excellent source of information on a nearly forgotten conflict that came very close to cutting short the reign of Peter the Great. It brings together information that the average gamer would struggle to collect and provides enough information to allow a wargamer to assemble armies and fight the campaign in its entirety. 

      Very Highly Recommended