Post
by Angus Konstam » Sat Feb 02, 2013 7:19 am
I presume "Tacitus" isn't speaking about every book I've ever written, but the two Osprey booklets on The Russian Army of Peter the Great, and possibly Poltava, 1709. I've written over 50 Ospreys, and about 20 other books. Tacitus' comments make it sounds as if he's read them all, and doesn't like any of them!
However, let's presume he's on about these ones. First, they were written 20 years ago - my first ever books. Second, thanks to a long museum exchange programme with the Tower of London where I worked at the time, I had access to a wealth of Russian information, supplied by the Kremlin Armoury and their staff. That's why I wrote the Man-at-Arms books - I had unrivalled access to material, experts and objects. The result is a group of three books which represented the best available information available in Russia at the time, and yes, they're unashamedly slanted towards the Russian perspective. I speak Russian, not Swedish. Sure, historical research has moved on in the last decade or so - thats exactly as it should be. However, when written in 1993-94 there wasn't anything out there in English, and they therefore put the information out there, whene none was available. I challenge my Swedish critic to say that he's had a similar level of access to Russian sources, and that he's read Russian material on the subject before opening his mouth and criticising everything I've ever written!
That, of course, is the problem with many wargamers. They read one a book or even two, and instantly become experts, able to criticise others. I still stand by these little books, even 20 years after they were written. I also don't intend to get sucked into a lengthy discussion about this either, as frankly, life is too short! I'm sorry this chap feels this way, but I suggest he goes out and buys a copy of "Blackbeard", "Sovereigns of the Sea" or "Piracy: the Complete History" before he criticises my whole body of work over the past twenty years. Then, even if he doesn't like them, at least I'll earn royalties from him!
Angus