Author Archives: James - Page 24
The Army of Charles II by John Childs [Book Review]
The Army of Charles II by John Childs My rating: 5 of 5 stars This book is just packed with fascinating details. It also has an easy to read narrative and is engaging, not your usual dry academic style often found when PhD theses become books. The subject is very well researched and referenced, as one would expect. There are detailed annexes on rates of pay, units, officers and the units in foreign pay as well as in the Army of Charles II. There are also chapters on the separate establishments in Scotland and Ireland. The Army of Charles II Charles II of England (Photo credit: Wikipedia) The post-restoration army of Charles II is the beginning of the British Army much more than the New Model Army was. The New Model Army (NMA) was a political force as much as a…
Burning to Leave [Flash Fiction]
English: A houseboat on Lake Union in Seattle, Washington, USA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) Burning to Leave is the second round of the NYC Flash Fiction Challenge 2017. My challenge was to write a drama set on a houseboat and featuring a birthday candle. Burning to Leave is a two meaning title, see if you can work out what they are when you've read it! Burning to Leave The breeze blew the curtain, chilling the houseboat pleasantly after the daytime heat. It was cloudless with a bright full moon. Green candy-striped birthday candles fell from the packet onto the sill, one bounced into the water. Cory bowed his head to pray. After a moment he lit a birthday candle and let wax drip onto the metal sill before setting the candle down. Cory crossed the houseboat in three strides, knelt to…
This Deceitful Light by Jemahl Evans [Book Review]
This Deceitful Light by Jemahl Evans My rating: 5 of 5 stars This Deceitful Light is the sequel to The Last Roundhead and was well worth the wait. Reading it was like being back in the 17th Century. More than just history though, there's a strong mystery to it which drives the first half of the book. There's also a strong sense of underlying treachery which I'm sure drives the title of This Deceitful Light. The whole volume is held together with the background and context to Candy fighting his only duel, with Sir John Hurry, who we first met in the Last Roundhead. This Deceitful Light English: Battle of Marston Moor, 1644 by John Barker (Photo credit: Wikipedia) This Deceitful Light carries on the story of Sir Blandford Candy, his warts and all autobiography set down in his twilight…
Game of Thrones revisited [Review – NO SPOILERS]
Cover of Game of Thrones Season 1 DVD (Photo: HBO) Long term readers might remember that Game of Thrones is one of only two one star reviews that I've posted. Generally I avoid negative reviews because I don't think they help much, especially when all I've got to say is that it wasn't really my sort of thing. Game of Thrones in video As I said in my original review of A Song of Ice and Fire, there's a lot to like in the story, but there's also a deplorable level of unnecessary misogyny. This didn't sit right for me as when you base a fantasy world on history you can change it. What made me give Game of Thrones another chance was two fold. First there was a chance that the translation from book to screen had changed it…
Bonny Mary O Argyll – do you know the words?
Me in my Tam O Shanter from when I was a part-time soldier (photo: James Kemp) Bonny Mary O' Argyll is a song I remember being sung at (grown-up) parties when I was growing up. I also remember singing it with gusto from the back of army four tonners when I went on exercise with 207 Battery RA, AKA the Glasgow gunners. Some years ago I spent ages years ago trying to find all the words, to no avail. However a more recent search showed loads of videos. It seems that filming your old army pals singing it in the pub has become a thing, so I was able to decipher some of the words from a bunch of Arglls veterans on youtube! There's another traditional folk song also called Bonny Mary O' Argyll. However this version seems to have…