“Arguably: Essays”, by Christopher Hitchens

816 pages, Twelve, ISBN-13: 978-0771041419

We should all be grateful that, when Christopher Hitchens was told that he didn’t much time to live, he chose to leave us with Arguably, a book of essays, for what became his final effort (and if by chance you haven’t ever read Mr. Hitchens and would like one book to stand as a proxy for his life’s work, let it be this). Arguably is a compendium of short brilliant gems, intended for either the lay or the professional reader, that comes together to form a thesis about the variations on human activity put together by a literary descendent of Emerson, H.L. Mencken, and Paul Goodman. No human activity on any subject is too small to warrant his attention.

Hitchens has the ability to present the past in such a way as to leave the general reader exclaiming “shouldn’t this be the way we handle the present?” For example, in the essay Jefferson Versus The Muslim Pirates, there is not a single mention of 21^st Century pirates operating out of mother ships, and yet every reader will make a connection between the Barbary pirates and our current circumstances. His ability to explain the past happens just outside the mother ship of current events and he leaves it to the reader to connect the two. Other essays reduce to a simplicity that have the reader wondering, in the case of a nation trafficking, Hitchens believes, in human bondage like North Korea, why immediate international pressure of the kind that ended apartheid in South Africa isn't brought to bear to end the regime of Kim Jung-Il. On the other hand, if you thought The Big Sleep had a complicated plot (4 viewings to resolve what Eddie Mars had on Lauren Bacall) you may be dazed and confused by his review of the film The Baader Meinhof Complex, although even that sorts out understandably: Nazi Fascism versus Stalinist Communism.

There are some essays, like Vietnam Syndrome, where Hitchens abandons all mental and literary gymnastics in favor of the E.M. Forester axiom: only connect. He believes the legacy of environmental poisoning there is so dire a story that he begs for the reader’s attention and is willing to make presentations as graphic as they are disturbing to get it. In literary matters, he can lift the veil of contemporary hype, and with a few deft strokes penetrate an entire phenomena (Stieg Larsson) or he can debunk the courtly mannerisms of one of the world’s greatest authors (John Updike). The Swastika And The Cedar has an action angle that is cinemagraphic (this is a voice not content to write about events and not above participating in them).

“Blackhearts: The Omnibus”, by Nathan Long

768 pages, The Black Library, ISBN13: 978-1844165100

Fantasy is at its best when theres a few rough edges on things, and Nathan Long’s aptly-named Blackhearts omnibus is a perfect example. With a cast of unrepentant (yet sympathetic) villains and a series of nightmare scenarios full of twists, turns, and rampant episodes of backstabbing-for-fun-and-profit, Long creates a thoroughly engaging storyline that more than fills the three books (and two short stories) that comprise this omnibus. In his introduction, Long alludes to the obvious similarities between his trilogy and The Dirty Dozen – condemned military prisoners offered a nebulous pardon in return for performing suicide missions – but those similarities are only skin deep. The diverse characters who make up the titular “Blackhearts” are unique individuals, and their conflicting personalities and quirks make for some fun (and occasionally tragic) character interaction in between the requisite pulse-pounding action sequences.

As with most of the Black Library’s tie-in output, action is paramount (plot-over-plod), but Long manages the not-so-easy trick of making the reader care about these largely disposable characters with only a limited amount of space to work with. Also, his deft use of several ongoing subplots help to fully flesh out the thoroughly unpleasant world his characters inhabit. And it’s a world that is familiar to any aficionado of Games Workshop’s output, but Long doesn’t stint on the backdrop as some writers might be tempted to. Instead, he incorporates as much of the “local color” as possible into things in order to firmly anchor his contribution into the greater meta-story-arc of the Warhammer Fantasy Universe (which is no bad thing, because as fantasy universes go, it’s an fleshed-out one). 

All in all, Blackhearts: The Omnibus is well worth the cost, and I recommend it to any fan of dark fantasy.

“The Napoleonic Wars: The Rise and Fall of an Empire”, by Gregory Fremont-Barnes and Todd Fisher

352 pages, Osprey Publishing, ISBN-13: 978-1841768311

This omnibus volume in Osprey’s relatively new Essential Histories line combines four previously published entries on the Napoleonic Wars in the series: The Rise of the Emperor, 1805-1807; The Empires Fight Back, 1808-1812; The Peninsular War, 1807-1814; The Fall of the French Empire, 1813-1815. Todd Fisher, the Executive Director of the Napoleonic Alliance and Chief Executive Officer of Emperor’s Press (which specializes in Napoleonic history), is the author of the first two parts; Gregory Fremont-Barnes, who is a Senior Lecturer in War Studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst (and who also wrote the French Revolutionary Wars volume in the Essential Histories series) is the author of the final two.

Each “book” follows a general format: opening with the background to the war, followed by a description of the comparative situations and characteristics of the armies involved-the French, the Austrian, the Russian, the Prussian, the British, etc. This is followed by a narrative history of each campaign, and finally a description of the situation at the end of the campaign. Short descriptions of peripheral actions (i.e., usually, except for the Peninsular War section, those where Napoleon was not present) in other theaters are also included. In addition, each “book” includes one or two “portraits”, short, self-contained biographies of soldiers and civilians. One of the portraits by Fisher, for example, is of Philippe-René Girault, a soldier-musician who served during both the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Another is of Louise Fusil, a French actress caught up in Napoleon’s retreat from Russia. Fremont-Barnes chooses a couple of politicians to profile-Canning and Castlereagh, as well as a common soldier and an artillery officer. Fremont-Barnes also presents an essay on the effect of the Napoleonic Wars on the arts, and also a conclusion giving the consequences of the wars and detailing Napoleon’s legacy.

The nature of the book dictates that it will be written with broad strokes and generalizations characteristic of a survey-type work. Armies are often described with national stereotypes-the French fight with élan, the Austrians conservative, the Russians doggedly stoic, etc. But it is unfair to compare a work like this to monographs detailing a specific battle, campaign, army, etc. Both authors present their narratives in a readable manner. Fisher is generally more sympathetic towards the French, while Fremont-Barnes leans towards the Allies, especially the British, somewhat balancing each other. But some might criticize the emphasis on the French and British as short-shifting the other participants. Fisher tends to emphasize those battles under Napoleon's purview, while in the Peninsula “book” Fremont-Barnes emphasizes those where Wellington was present. Fremont-Barnes makes greater use of contemporary quotations than Fisher does.

As is to be expected from an Osprey book, the work is generously peppered with illustrations and maps- including contemporary prints, paintings, etc. Maps of battles and campaigns aid the reader in following the action, but the volume lacks the highly detailed situation maps one has grown accustomed to with Osprey's battle histories. Oddly, for example, there was no map of the battlefield of Austerlitz included, though there was one for the campaigns up to and following that pivotal battle. The reader should not expect startling new theories about the Napoleonic Wars. Osprey books are not the proper venue for propounding new, controversial theories or focusing on political, diplomatic or social history. Osprey knows its customers and the focus is squarely on the military, and the audience for this book would mainly be the reader with a casual interest in the subject or the novice just starting out studying the era.