After a horrendous 9 hour drive through rain, floods and traffic jams, my wife and I finally arrived home from our holiday in South Wales over the weekend.
Even though we expected the break to be a complete washout we were pleasantly surprised with the weather during our stay and only had one really bad day during our week away. The holiday was just what we needed and we both enjoyed a relaxing time in a beautiful part of the country.
Just before I left for our holiday a took delivery of an ebay gem........
I can't tell you exactly how strange it felt to flip through this books' pages again and the memories that this particular book bought back for me.
I was 10 years old again. It was a hot Summers' day in 1974 and I remember seeing this title jump out at me from the shelf of my local library in Meir, Stoke-on-Trent.
I had always loved models, kits and of course figures but upon opening this very book I realised for the very first time that what I was interested in was 'justified' (for want of a better word), by the very fact that 'adults' also found my pastime interesting enough to write about it!
I must have had this book out on loan from the library continually over the next few years and it inspired me greatly.
It seems very strange looking though it now. I remember thinking how complicated it all sounded with talk of 'morale' and 'melee' ....... words I didn't even know the meaning of at that tender age!
I (and I'm sure many, many more gamers) owe Mr Featherstone a huge thank you for introducing me to this fantastic hobby which we all love.
My second holiday read was this one......
I've had this one lying around for ages but have only just got around to reading it. If you're interested (as I am) in the Normandy Campaign then I can't recommend this book highly enough. Even though it explains the landings in a straight forward, factual manner (with a good selection of maps etc) the book is also made up of mini-snippets of personal accounts from the brave men who fought there. These accounts are really quite moving and even at times amusing and it really captures the mood of the forces involved in the campaign.
A very, very good read and highly recommended..
Well that's the holiday over with for this year (though we are hoping to get away for another week if funds allow!) and time to get back to the wargames table. Still busy figure painting / basing at the moment and I also have plans to get some more scenery projects on the go so stay tuned.
Steve
Even though we expected the break to be a complete washout we were pleasantly surprised with the weather during our stay and only had one really bad day during our week away. The holiday was just what we needed and we both enjoyed a relaxing time in a beautiful part of the country.
Just before I left for our holiday a took delivery of an ebay gem........
 |
| The book that started it all! |
I was 10 years old again. It was a hot Summers' day in 1974 and I remember seeing this title jump out at me from the shelf of my local library in Meir, Stoke-on-Trent.
I had always loved models, kits and of course figures but upon opening this very book I realised for the very first time that what I was interested in was 'justified' (for want of a better word), by the very fact that 'adults' also found my pastime interesting enough to write about it!
I must have had this book out on loan from the library continually over the next few years and it inspired me greatly.
It seems very strange looking though it now. I remember thinking how complicated it all sounded with talk of 'morale' and 'melee' ....... words I didn't even know the meaning of at that tender age!
I (and I'm sure many, many more gamers) owe Mr Featherstone a huge thank you for introducing me to this fantastic hobby which we all love.
My second holiday read was this one......
I've had this one lying around for ages but have only just got around to reading it. If you're interested (as I am) in the Normandy Campaign then I can't recommend this book highly enough. Even though it explains the landings in a straight forward, factual manner (with a good selection of maps etc) the book is also made up of mini-snippets of personal accounts from the brave men who fought there. These accounts are really quite moving and even at times amusing and it really captures the mood of the forces involved in the campaign.
A very, very good read and highly recommended..
Well that's the holiday over with for this year (though we are hoping to get away for another week if funds allow!) and time to get back to the wargames table. Still busy figure painting / basing at the moment and I also have plans to get some more scenery projects on the go so stay tuned.
Steve
A good selection of books there Steve.
ReplyDeleteCheers Paul. I highly recommend the D-Day book. Excellent read.
DeleteFaetherstone's book was agreat introduction; my own entry to the hobby happened as a result of finding Joe Morshauser's book in the public Library at about age 12-13. I sill have a copy.
ReplyDeleteYes, this old book really bought back some great memories from my childhood.
DeleteJust finished reading the 'D Day' book excellant read , I reccomend his 'Berlin'
ReplyDeleteI'll be keeping an eye out for his other books as I really enjoyed this one. He's also written a book about Stalingrad which looks very interesting.
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