Sorry this isn't up yet. I forgot about it, but I'll do it today.
Here are the contestants
Here are the contestants
All right, I have something. It feels more like a review than a summary to me, but I have based it off the blurb of a real history book, 'Edward IV and the Wars of the Roses.'
Without further ado:
‘“Lions Rampant”: The Campaigns of Henry VIII, 1520-1540’ by Alexander Hickman
“Five centuries after his accession, Henry VIII remains England’s most successful warrior King. Few would even think to doubt that he deserves the sobriquet given to him in Amelia Morris’s ground-breaking biography: ‘England’s Second Conqueror’.
Yet, while there have been countless studies of King Henry, Queen Marie and the men and women who surrounded them at Court, little attention has yet been paid to the campaigns that earned Henry his title. Even less of an attempt has been made to site said campaigns in the context of the times and locales in which they took place.
This perceptive and highly readable study aims to change that. From the French campaign of 1520 through Henry’s involvement in his sister Margaret’s struggle for power in Scotland in 1526 and the Irish Rebellions of 1528-31, all the way up to the ‘crusade of Denmark’ in 1534-35, Alexander Hickman gives each season of war its place in the spotlight. Using primary sources and battlefield analysis, Hickman takes each campaign apart, deftly tracing the ins and outs of each battle and major manoeuvre. This attention to detail allows him to explain exactly why, for two decades, the Tudor armies of England ran almost unchecked through France, Scotland, Ireland and Scandinavia.
Moreover, Hickman begins his narrative with the death of the Duke of Alencon and King Henry’s marriage to Queen Marie, and ends it three years after Henry’s final return to England, with the marriages of Lady Katharine and Lord Richard of York and Normandy. This slight widening of the lens gives Hickman plenty of scope for an in-depth exploration of European politics of the period and exactly how King Henry’s success on foreign soil shifted them. Indeed, entire chapters are dedicated to illuminating the political events and diplomatic efforts that preceded and succeeded each individual campaign. As such, this book is an essential read, not just for those interested in military history, but also for those seeking to understand the shifting sands of power and politics in Europe in the mid-sixteenth century.”
I've expressed interest in participating in these contests with content from Marche Consulaire before but never get around to it. Time to fix that. I'll be writing a summary of the primary in-universe sourcebook I was using at the start of the timeline, so its synopsis is essentially a summary of the timeline's first arc. Which means it's also quite long, enjoy.
"The Founding of Modern Europe" by Ronald Hansen
Ronald Hansen's recounting of the rise of the French Empire and its eventual victory in the Napoleonic Wars is centered less around a central concept or insight into the events it explores, and more around a series of pivotal events, a chain reaction that led, as much by instinct and happenstance as by conscious design, to the diplomatic and political architecture that would undergird Napoleon's new European order, bringing stability to the continent after a quarter-century of upheaval.
The belated entry of Prussia into the Third Coalition upon hearing of the catastrophic Austrian defeat at Ulm upended the French Emperor's meticulous campaign plans. Having snuffed out the main strength of one enemy, Napoleon was suddenly confronted with a new threat, one that could, in conjunction with the Russian forces still in the field, inexorably overwhelm the French army through sheer weight of numbers. The Emperor met this challenge with his characteristic vigor, defeating his enemies in detail before they could encircle him. But in the process, his allies in Prussian-occupied Poland had been destroyed by Coalition forces. As a result, Napoleon changed his political strategy, deciding to more closely cooperate with Tsar Alexander's ambitions to secure a lasting peace on the Continent.
France's erstwhile allies in Poland and Turkey paid the price for Franco-Russian conciliation. The former saw their dreams of a revived Polish state dashed yet again, with Russia gaining authority over formerly Prussian Poland. The latter faced twin threats, with the Russians renewing their offensive efforts in Moldova and the Caucasus, while Napoleon stationed his army on the Turkish border in Dalmatia, diverting Turkish forces and distracting Britain from his next target. In the north, France and Russia turned their strength against Sweden. Russian forces expelled the Swedes from Finland, while a Franco-Danish force under Marshal Davout boldly crossed the Danish Straits to threaten Stockholm directly. A British relief army under Sir John Moore arrived too late to prevent Sweden from capitulating to the French, and Moore's army was destroyed at the Battle of Jönköping, on the shores of Lake Vattern.
News of this defeat brought down the coalition government of Lord Grenville, bringing the Pittites back to power in London. Under the Duke of Portland, the British adopted a new strategy of avoiding confrontation with the French in Europe, and instead attacking Spanish colonies in the Americas. This yielded mixed results militarily, with expeditions to Cuba and Rio de la Plata suffering reverses, while Sir Arthur Wellesley's invasion of Venezuela captured the capital and other key cities, but in doing so, united rebel forces under Simon Bolivar with the representatives of the Spanish crown, with both sides agreeing to suspend their mutual hostilities until the British invaders had been repulsed.
In the end, attacks on Spanish America were judged to be doing more harm than good, and in 1809 the Earl of Liverpool's government suspended them to focus more on bolstering a Fourth Coalition including the Austrian and Ottoman Empires. The Sultan's assistance had been bought through a combination of financial subsidies, training for the Empire's Nizam-i-Djedid army, and the use of British forces in a pre-emptive counter-coup against the increasingly restive Janissary Corps. The new Coalition strategy was to fight a delaying action against Napoleon himself on the Danube, while the main thrust of their attack struck at the French Empire's exposed underbelly in Italy.
After some early successes, this strategy also fell flat, with French reinforcements halting the Coalition's advance in southern Italy, while Napoleon's main army slowly wore down the Austrians under Archduke Charles in exhausting bouts at Regensberg, Aspern-Essling, Wagram and Pressburg. The French Emperor cemented his latest triumph by foregoing more territorial cessions from Austria, while marrying into the Hapsburg dynasty. With this move, he had co-opted both the Austrian and Russian Empires, while the less cooperative Prussia and Sweden had been truncated into irrelevance. The French now set back into a waiting game, allowing their Continental System to weaken Britain to the point where it, too, would be forced to accept French hegemony on the Continent.
For Britain, the Continental System's most pernicious effect wasn't a lack of money, but an overabundance of it. The suspension of foreign trade left domestic investors searching for new avenues of profit. For lack of better opportunities, many Britons staked their hopes on the fast-growing canal industry, which had revolutionized domestic transportation, and this optimism resulted in a speculative bubble over the early 1810's. And in October 1813, that bubble burst, erasing the savings and livelihoods of families across Britain. This recession, combined with their inability to organize another Coalition to oppose the French, forced the Liverpool government to finally seek terms.
British and French negotiators met in Madrid in 1814 to hammer out a peace deal. The British had, at least, gained the upper hand in India, while also acquiring the Cape Colony and Spanish Guinea in Africa. The French retained Martinique, Guadeloupe and the Séchelles, but otherwise confined their interests to Europe for the time being. The Sicilian Bourbons and King Joseph of Naples were left in a stalemate across the Strait of Messina, with each claiming the other's territory as their own. Spain shunned close alignment with either France or Britain, while its increasingly rebellious colonies demanded attention. The Peace of Madrid seemed a tenuous one, but it was peace, for the moment.
From a Future History timeline I am working on for fun for now. The italic parts are either from an out of universe perspective or added to the summary (which was written while the book was first getting published) much later.
'"The Legions of Apollo": A brief history of the Planetary Legions' by Mehmet Aliyev; 2927; New Samarkand, Venus, Venusian Empire
"The new book from the premier scholar of the so called "Legionary" ideologies in the Empire has finally created his magnum opus which will no doubt remain the main source book for researching the Legions centuries in the future"
-New Tokyo Times, Venus, Venusian Empire
Aliyev had written several highly acclaimed books on the original Planetary Legions of the 4th Interwar Era (2315-2392), Neo-Legions of Gaia which led the UN in the Great Legionary Rising or WW4 (2498-2503) and the infamous Legions of Hermes from the Hermetic War (2687-2707). With him finally being allowed to access the Imperial Archives for deeper research into the Hermetic Remnants that lasted into the Interregnum and the so called Legions of Zeus and Legions of Chronos that resisted Imperial conquest of the Outer System he has finally managed to compile all information of the Legions into one comprehensive book.
"The Legions of Apollo" is therefore divided into 11 sections:
1. "On planetary sovereignty and self sufficiency" and the early Legions in the late 3rd Cold War (2255-2289)
2. The Legions see combat or the 1st Colonial War (2289-2315)
3. The Legionary States and the 4th Interwar Era (2315-2392)
4. The Legions under attack or the End of the Planetary Legions or the 1st Solar War (2392-2404)
5. Resurrection of the Legions of Gaia or Revanchism in the UN or the 1st Silent War (2461-2498)
6. The Great Legionary Rising or the 4th World War (2498-2503)
7. "The Book of the Legions and the Natural Order of the Worlds" and the birth of the Legions of Hermes (2675-2681)
8. The Legionary Coup in Mercury and the early State of Hermes (2681-2687)
9. The Hermetic War (2687-2707)
10. The Hermetic Remnants and the 2nd Hermetic War on Earth and Venus (2707-2841/2729-2738)
11. Fall of Mercury and the Legions in the Outer System (2841/2850-2869)
In the first four sections Aliyev discusses the book "On planetary sovereignty and self sufficiency" by Martian economist (from European Federation colonies, of Ukrainian descent) Alexander Kravchenko, which became the basis of the early ideology of the Planetary Legions and the first form of Legionary ideology. The Book suggested that all planets should be self sufficient independent states and supposed that planets would be isolationist following this and systemwide peace would be achieved. 1st section studies the book and the history of the Legions as peaceful political organisations during the 3rd Cold War. 2nd section discusses the 1st Colonial War, which saw the Legions rebel to gain independence on Venus, Mars and the Moon, along with separate independence movements on these planets. The 1st Colonial War was a limited success for the colonials and as such at least two independent states were established on the two planets and the Moon. One Legionary, one moderate/non-ideological. The third section therefore discusses the history of the States of Ares, Aphrodite, Artemis and the Legions of Gaia (a fringe political party in the UN) and the 4th Interwar Era. In the following 1st Solar War the Legionary States were defeated and conquered. 4th section discusses the war and the death of the original Legionary Ideology. As these are events that happened centuries ago much of these sections are sourced from older works rather than fully written by Aliyev.
The fifth and sixth sections discuss the New Legions of Gaia. The United Nations had seen defeat in the 2nd Colonial War (2444-2453) against the Venusian Treaty Organisation and lose Europa to the Turkic Federation, Titan to Japan, its Lunar territories to the Lunar Republic and some territories in Mars to the Martian Congressional Republic. And the UN would also lose the 3rd Orbital War that had started after the Charon Incident in 2461 to the United Commonwealth. These two defeats in close succession, which also forced the UN out of the Outer System, led to a rise in revanchism. It was in this context that the Legions of Gaia were revived as a "nationalist" party in the UN with the goal of abandoning all off world colonies and unifying all of Earth. 5th section discusses the 1st Silent War which followed the 3rd Orbital War and the growth and eventual takeover of the Legions of Gaia, along with its differences and similarities with the original Legions. 6th section is all about World War 4, also known as the Great Legionary Rising. UN's reformation into the Earth Republic, disbanding of the Legions and history until the 3rd Silent War are also touched upon in this section. Aliyev used sources from the old Japanese State Archives in New Tokyo and Turkic Federation records of the war heavily.
The last five sections are about the Legions of Hermes. the most infamous of the Legions. 7th section is fairly similar to the first section in that it discusses the writing that inspired/formed the basis of the ideology. In this case the book "The Book of the Legions and the Natural Order of the Worlds", written by a Mercurian "nationalist" in 2675, was the basis of the Legions of Hermes. It was written shortly after the independence of the Republic of Mercury following the 4th Orbital War/2nd Lunar War. The section mostly contains Aliyev's comments on the book and comparisons to "the Communist Manifesto", "My Struggle" and "On planetary sovereignty and self sufficiency" along with early history of the Legions of Hermes. The 8th section is about the 2681's Hermetic Coup and the following six years leading to the Hermetic War (mostly written thanks to being able to access the documents captured in Mercury after the 2nd Hermetic War on Mercury). 9th section discusses the Hermetic War in depth (this section and the following ones are somewhat biased towards Venus and Venusian Empire unlike the previous ones). Aliyev used official military records from the time to write this section. The next section is about the Hermetic remnants. The ones on Luna and North America quickly transitioned away from Hermetic Legionarism while on Asia and Venus Hermetic Legions remained. The remnant on Martian orbit, which starved and partially led to the Martian Isolation along with the core left on Mercury are also focuses of this section. This section also includes the defeats of Hermetic forces on Venus and Asia. The last section focuses on two separate topics. One being the last remnants of the State of Hermes being defeated with the Fall of Mercury to Venusian Empire in the 2nd Hermetic War on Mercury. The other being the guerrilla movements in Jupiter and Saturn which took inspiration from the Legions and their defeat by the Imperial forces. Legions of Zeus and Legions of Choros were not related to the original strain of Legionary thought but with the retreat of the 2nd Outer System Authority from Venusian Imperial forces the pro-independence forces decided to style themselves after the Planetary Legions. This second phenomenon was of great interest to Aliyev who analyzed it thoroughly (if with some extra censorship from the government. Wouldn't want "rebels" to look good even if it was more than half a century ago). Access to official archives clearly helped Aliyev the most in these last 5 sections. As while there were many other books and documentaries about the first two eras of legionary thought the information on the Hermetic Era is mostly under government control. This special access is also why this book is considered the paramount tome on the Legions (especially Hermetic) in the empire as of now.
For All Time by Henry Wallace
Eighteen -years since his world defining presidency Henry Wallace reveals his life in what is considered the best presidential memoir in New England history. From his early life as a farmer to his unlikely rise from Agriculture Secretary to the vice presidency at the 1941 Socialists convention. His unlikely and tragic rise to the presidency. In For All Time Wallace seeks to give you a different side of the New World Liberator, one of tragedy and later happiness instead of god-like intellect and perfection.
Henry Wallace tells it like it is in his own way from fighting cops at the polling station to detonating the sun bomb on Caracas. The first section is about his life as a humble farm boy and him learning to not care what others thought about him, which would shape is life tremendously. The third section is about his time in the bloody 20’s fighting for equality for Catholics, women, immigrants, and left-wing dissidents. The fourth section is about his term as a congressman from 1930-1932 and how he managed to protect protesters in Albany from the tyranny of fascists. The fifth section is about his time as Secretary of Agriculture during the civil war and his attempt to save farmers from economic ruin. During this time Wallace also supported equality for Catholics, immigrants, women, and dissidents. All but one would be successfully passed. He would also support subsidizing farmers in order to help them grow more crops. The end of the section is the 1941 SNC and the rest is history. After reading this story you’ll understand why he’s on Mt. Rushmore.
“Finally an accurate portrayal of what Henry and the rest of us did in the Sugar House” - Al Mills, AG
“I remember being in the military and hearing about Henry. My parents voted for him in 41, before that they were liberals and from then on socialists because of Henry’s courage.” - George Romney, Governor of Ute
From my TL Let Freedom Ring: War, Injustice, and the American Way in my signature. It’ll go more in depth and you’ll find out why Henry Wallace is so well liked as I didn’t want to spoil everything. Also who’s on Mt. Rushmore will be not who you expect. Guess’s are welcomed (not here of course but either way they’ll be pretty interesting once the TL gets to that point where it’s built). End of the notes and shameless self promotion!
Eugene McCarthy Must Be Stopped: The Secret Alliance Between Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon by Kyle Longley
In a year of unprecedented upheaval, President Lyndon Baines Johnson was usurped as the Democratic nominee by Senator Eugene McCarthy, at the height of the Vietnam War. McCarthy, a champion of the peace movement, had outmaneuvered Johnson in the chaos of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to run as a candidate directly repudiating the leader of his own party. Kyle Longley takes his readers on a behind-the-scenes tour of Johnson's machinations during the general election, where he covertly worked with the Republican nominee, Richard Nixon, to bring about the downfall of his own successor. Despite believing Nixon to be a more able administrator, Johnson was torn between preserving his legacy, and his close friendship with McCarthy's running mate, John Connally. At the same time, Nixon was sabotaging Johnson's peace efforts, straining their secret alliance when he needed it most, all while Johnson's own vice president, Hubert Humphrey, desperately tried to bring about a reconciliation between the President and McCarthy. Eugene McCarthy Must Be Stopped vividly portrays the tragic conclusion of the Lyndon Johnson presidency, the doomed last campaign of Richard Nixon, and the upset election of Eugene McCarthy, in one of the most dramatic years in American history.
Shootout!: The Story of Albert S. Johnston, James H. Carleton, and the fight to establish a new Texas in the Indian Territory by Ryan Kilmeade and Ron Yaeger
The year is 1861, and North America is engulfed in flames and war. In the United States, the Union has torn itself asunder in a fight over slavery, pitting the anti-slavery northerners against their pro-slavery Southern brethren. In the chaos of the moment, Mexico seizes its opportunity to regain its lost territory, overrunning the war-torn Republic of Texas and reestablishing its control. Despite their efforts to try to reestablish ties with their former subjects, including appointing Sam Houston governor, some Texan remain unwilling to submit. They to hope to take advantage of the Union's trying moment, and create a new home for themselves in the Indian Territory, led by Commander-in-Chief Albert S. Johnston and their provisional president John H. Reagan. Standing in their way is James H. Carleton with his small band of U.S. soldiers, forcing him to have to choose between having to work with the Natives he has despised since birth or engaging in final last stand by himself and allowing the enemy to ultimately win. In the background of this harrowing tale is the efforts of CSA Colonel J. O. Shelby to bring aid from the CSA to join Johnston's cause, and the story of the young Texan John Wesley Hardin, otherwise known as "The Last Texan Rebel". The story of this climatic clash between two unshakable enemies can be found in Shootout!
This is a book from my TL We are all Republicans, We are all Federalists. The link to this TL is in my signature below.
My review of The Last Emperor: Joseph Bonaparte and the Rebirth of the Republic by Zacharias Galifianakis, Queenstown University Press, 2009.
As in all of his works, Galifianakis, one of the foremost American scholars on nineteenth century Europe writes this history with considerable levity. Unfortunately, his thesis rests on an improper reading of the consequences of Napoleon Bonaparte's demise at the Battle of Regensburg. This volume is thoroughly researched, and, yes, the transition to republicanism under Joseph Bonaparte had important consequences for Europe, but the reasons for these eventualities is lost in the mix.
The real source of the republican wave that overtook Europe has more to do with events outside of France than within. Indeed, it would be just as appropriate to credit the Bourbon rulers of Sicily and Spain, or for that matter, Achille Fontanelli, whose scheming produced the Italian Republic after the demise of Napoleon II de Beauharnais, the third and last monarch of the Italian kingdom established by Napoleon Bonaparte. Even James Madison and militia leaders from the U.S. state of Georgia could be said to have as much to do with the rise of republicanism as Joseph Bonaparte did, as it was the Florida War that really kicked off the decline of the Spanish colonial empire.
Despite never proving his premise, namely that Joseph Bonaparte is the father of European democracy, this is a volume of immense value to casual and professional historians alike. Galifianakis, for example, does an excellent job of exploring the intrigues undertaken by the future King of Holland against the efforts of Joseph Bonaparte to build a stable, viable French republic. This book is also worth the read for its insights into the Second War of the Spanish Succession, as well as for its thorough discussion of French support of Muhammad Ali in his war against the Sublime Porte and its reverberations, including for Cyprus and the nascent states of the Balkans.
This is a book worth the read for its insights, as well as for the extensive research that went into it. However, the conclusions its reaches are unsupported, even by the source material it referenced. Still, one admires Galifiianakis' ability to bring to life complex and dynamic historical figures in a manner that is entertaining and informative at the same time. .
Destruction, Reconstruction, and Reconciliation
Richard Taylor, Century Publishing, 1871
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President Richard Taylor’s seminal two-volume memoir, lauded by contemporaries and modern readers alike for its concise and accurate account of his experiences in the Civil War, has recently been re-published, now with additional commentary from modern historians, on the occasion of Taylor Mausoleum's inauguration in Washington, D.C.
Destruction, Reconstruction, and Reconciliation begins by briefly recounting Taylor’s childhood, as the son of Zachary Taylor. We learn of his early years and education in Springfield, Kentucky, and his experiences on the frontier, all described with rich detail. He largely ignores his time at private schools and at Harvard and Yale, and the bulk of the book is dedicated to his war experiences.
We first see the Mexican War through Taylor’s eyes, with his enlistment in 1846 and honorable discharge the next year for his arthritis. In between, the pages are packed with details about the Mexican countryside, from the people to the food to the landscape. The scene shifts from Mexico to Louisiana, where Taylor manages his father’s plantations, in Mississippi and Louisiana, while the elder Taylor serves as the 12th President. We learn how he developed misgivings about the institution of slavery, and how he expanded and curated his now-famous library.
The last third of the first volume and the entire second volume are devoted to Taylor’s civil war service, beginning with his father’s decision to come out of retirement at the outbreak of war. This spurs the younger Taylor to first, advocate for remaining in the Union during the secession convention and then to seek a commission in the Union army. Taylor eloquently describes how he reacted upon hearing the news of his father’s death in battle, and how that strengthened his resolve to support the Union.
The New Orleans Campaign, from the vivid and easy-to-understand descriptions of strategies and tactics of the Battle of Vermilionville and the Siege of New Orleans, to the descriptions of the locales he and his army pass through (many of which he had visited before the war) is an excellent window into the mind of one of the Union’s greatest generals. We learn how he fights imaginary battles in his head to prepare for real battle, his thoughts on some of the great Ancient battles, how he got the nickname “Gibraltar” (and his discomfort at the epithet) and his views on how the Northerner is a superior soldier to the Southerner (“Not because of courage, for my own experience tells me the Southerner has ample supply of that, but the Northerner has a great drive. He is fighting to preserve, which is a most powerful motivator.”) Taylor recounts, without losing his audience to boredom, how he directed and supervised the construction of canals to bypass Mississippi River fortifications prior to the Siege of Vicksburg, with a combination of an article from Popular Engineering and a travel guide. We learn how he navigated the complex world of army politics and which Union politicians and generals he admired and which he disliked. Taylor writes critically of his main opponents during the war, Edmund Kirby Smith and Braxton Bragg. His disdain is mostly concentrated on Bragg, who Taylor characterizes as a “combative, unpleasant, and incompetent man, prone to aggression against both his fellow Confederate and Union armies, often with little regard for his own position.”
Taylor’s Chattanooga-Savannah Campaign is the final part of the memoir. This section is the one most focused on battles, and Taylor once again concisely and accurately describes the battlefield movements, both his and his opponent’s, as well as Taylor’s thought process behind his decisions, and what he reasoned was his opponent’s rationale. Once again, Taylor paints a vivid picture, making the Battles at Chattanooga and Atlanta come alive.
The memoir concludes with the end of the war, and a passage containing Taylor’s beliefs on the coming reintegration of the south back into the Union. It is his belief that the freedmen be “educated well, so there can be a responsible, harmonious government”, and that “it should be the Union’s duty to reconcile the Confederate generals, politicians, and soldiers, while making a place in the South for those freed from bondage.” Destruction, Reconstruction, and Reconciliation is a detailed, gripping, excellently-crafted tale of and by one of America’s great heroes, and a great read for the history enthusiast, the Civil War-obsessed, or even those looking for a great beach read.
From my timeline, New Birth of Freedom. The title of this memoir is based off of the title of Taylor's OTL memoir, Destruction and Reconstruction. Some of the events referenced have not yet occurred. Link here, or in my signature.
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