Featured battle : Alexandria [1]

Part of The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars

Date : 21 March 1801

A determined British attack against prepared French positions. In this engagement the 28th Foot [Gloucestershire Regiment] was attacked from both front and rear and were subsequently awarded the honour of wearing a badge on the front and back of their caps. The battle virtually decided the campaign as the French supply problem became acute and their morale suffered. The British commander Sir Ralph Abercromby was killed in this action.

The Eighth Army in North Africa

Simon Forty
This series of Images of War is intended to be all about the pictures and this book is a very good example of that genre. There are photographs taken on both sides of the conflict showing the men and their equipment. Almost every type of armoured vehicle used in the desert campaign is shown some in pristine others in a well battered state. There is sufficient text to give the photographs a context but most usefully the bulk of the writing is as captions to the photographs. A few maps and schematic drawings fill out the story. Particularly informative in an easily understood way are the comparisons between Axis and Allied guns in both range and penetration on pgs. 36 & 37. The further reading list guides the interested reader to fuller explanations of the to and fro of the North African campaign. One tiny criticism is that on page 87 the captions for the two men have switched left to right.
We thoroughly enjoyed looking at this book and recommend it to you.


Pen & Sword Military, 2019