This is a slim, paperback volume from Pen and Sword, written by Phillip Sidnell. However, though this book may have all the appearance of being a lightweight big of historical fluff, Mr Sidnell wears his erudition lightly, since his more scholarly work, Warhorse, Cavalry in Ancient Warfare (Also from Pen & Sword) is highly regarded in historical circles. We've all seen those 100 Greatest Military Blunders and 50 Most Stupid Military Commanders volumes that clog up the discount displays at Waterstone's when Christmas approaches, and this is certainly in a similar vein. A glance at the contents gives you the general idea, boasting seventeen chapters, beginning with "War Elephants and How to Beat Them" followed by "Ignominious Deaths," through "An Army Marches on its Stomach (and Liver)" before "Unlikely Survivors", and culminating with "Weird and Wonderful Weapons" and "Towards the Future - Robot Wars". The author writes in an engaging, amusing, even 'matey' style, which suits the content, as if it were stories being exchanged in your local pub or down the wargames club. The chapters are divided into brief anecdotes, some barely more than a paragraph, a few page or two long. Sidnell's expertise in the ancient era is clear and where he seems most comfortable, but he has managed to unearth plenty of unusual and extraordinary facts from the full breadth of military history, whether it be idiots who met uncomfortable ends, bonkers inventions, breathtaking incompetence or simply exploits that just leave you wondering what the participants must have been thinking. The book has no illustrations, which is a shame, as even a few black and white images would have added to our enjoyment and understanding of some of the more obscure items, but Sidnell has crammed a lot into some 170 tightly - typeset pages (warning: the text is rather small). Curiously, the book ends with a further dozen pages or so of ads by other Pen and Sword books, including an excerpt from another book by someone else, which we could have done without, quite honestly. (Or which would have been better used to provide those illustrations - ) But at GBP8.99, this is a witty birthday present for a chum that I would heartily recommend. Armed with its contents, you will be celebrated as either the most entertaining raconteur of unusual military lore - or the geekiest grognard at the club! I was going to say that it would make the perfect book to keep in the smallest room in the house, but the midget ninja of the title gained his fame for attacking a samurai lord from, shall we say, an unexpected direction that will have you checking your U-bend regularly! - Miniature Wargames The tone is about right, with the right mix of amused surprise and clear explanation. There are also a set of useful footnotes that provide the original sources for most of the stories. I must admit some of the incidents described were quite familiar to me (the many wounds of Alexander the Great or some of the more unusual ways in which warships sank themselves), but given that I spent most of my time reading a wide range of works on military history I was surprised just how many of the topics were entirely new to me. There are plenty of interesting snippets in here, with enough variety to ensure that any familiar story is followed by something new and unfamiliar.- History of War
