Catalaunian Fields AD 451: Rome’s last great battle (Campaign) Kindle Edition
Author: Simon Macdowall ID: B00RKQ62HC
Done.
File Size: 69116 KBPrint Length: 96 pagesPublisher: Osprey Publishing (September 22, 2015)Publication Date: September 22, 2015 Sold by: Digital Services, Inc. Language: EnglishID: B00RKQ62HCText-to-Speech: Enabled X-Ray: Not Enabled Word Wise: Not EnabledLending: Not Enabled Enhanced Typesetting: Not Enabled Best Sellers Rank: #162,147 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) #62 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Europe > Western #98 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Europe > France #110 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > History > Military > Other
This is a good overview of the campaign leading “Rome’s last great battle” – that of the Catalaunian Fields which opposed the armies of Attila and Aetius, despite a number of glitches, shortcuts and simplifications.
First of all, the author is careful to state upfront that “for such an important battle, very little is known about it for certain.” He also briefly mentions, quite correctly, and in the very same paragraph, to what extent the written sources are limited, “patchy”, to use his own expression, and even deficient. The main source is Jordanes. This author’s account is rather biased, and even pro-Gothic propaganda at times, to such an extent that he only tells one part of the battle of the Catalaunian Fields, the part where the Visigoths and Ostrogoths are involved. The consequence, as the author mentions, is that one needs more than the usual amount of conjecture, hypothesis and speculation to try to develop a narrative that makes sense of what happened during both the campaign and the battle.
The section on the origins of the campaign is a decent one. The main points are made, but there are also a number of glitches or, more accurately perhaps, simplifications and questionable statements.
The first of these is the author belief that, by AD 451, “whatever remained of the Roman forces in Gaul had been run down or ignored for a generation”, with Simon McDowall going as far as stating that Aetius relied “almost exclusively” on Huns and Alans for his army. This seems to be a bit of an exaggeration, to put it mildly, and a simplification on several counts.
Another solid campaign book from Osprey. In "Catalaunian Fields AD 451", Simon MacDowall covers "Rome’s last great battle" according to the subtitle. It’s your usual Osprey title with a good summary of a campaign, maps, excellent photos and color plates.
I think the author does a pretty good job with this title. Oddly enough, the battles we’re looking at were mainly fought by "barbarians" and commanded by barbarians Attila and Aetius, yet this is "Rome’s" last great battle? The author gives a short, but effective summary of the background and run-up to the battle as well as both sides’ movements to contact.
Despite a paucity of evidence and a dearth of written accounts, I think the author did, for the most part, a good job of using his own familiarization with this period to fill in many blanks. His sections on the opposing commanders, available forces as well as their weapons, armor and tactics seemed very good to me. His narrative of the battle, using the written sources and his own intuition, seemed very plausible to me.
Another thing: the photos of the probable battle field as well as the maps are quite good. I would also like to say that Peter Dennis did another excellent job with the color plates – excellent illustrations. He’s one of the best Osprey has.
The things I didn’t like are the assertions the author makes with absolutely no evidence whatsoever to go on. According to legend, St. Lupus, the bishop of Troyes, convinced Attila to leave the town be. The author then tells the reader that the good bishop actually had agreed to give Attila all the supplies and foodstuffs he needed to continue his campaign.
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