Featured battle : Bouvines

Part of Franco-Angevin War

Date : 27 July 1214

In May 1214 King John of England had been defeated by Prince Louis of France and had retreated to La Rochelle. Emperor Otto of Germany, John's ally, brought Phillip II of France to battle at Bouvines. The superiority of the German foot was not sufficient to defeat the more numerous and well disciplined French knights.

Schnellbootwaffe

Hrvoje Spajic
Anyone familiar with the super series of Images of War books from Pen and Sword may well be disappointed by this edition. True there are many images of war but in the whole book there are only ten pictures of Schnell boats. The narrative on the other hand is full of information from the detail about the boats to their strategic use. What comes across strongly is the bravery and daring of those who commanded and crewed these small warships. They attacked warships much larger than themselves, they laid mines, frequently in harbour approaches, and they sank a significant amount of convoyed shipping in the North sea. Their role in escorting Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugene in their channel dash and their actions around D day also form part of their exploits. Only brief mention is made of the people who designed and built these superb vessels which enabled the crews to use them as they did. The many maps strongly support the text.
Forget it is in the Images of War series and enjoy a jolly good read and on that basis we thoroughly recommend it.

Pen & Sword Military, 2021