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Title: The Armada Campaign 1588: The Great Enterprise Against England (Campaign, 86) by Angus Konstam, Howard Gerrard ISBN: 1-84176-192-3 Publisher: Osprey Military Pub. Date: 01 April, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.5 (2 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: In the fine tradition of the Osprey Series
Comment: The Armada Campaign 1588 : The Great Enterprise Against England (Campaign, 86) by Angus Konstam, and Howard Gerrard (Illustrator) is written in the fine tradition of the Osprey Campaign Series. It is written in the traditional format and describes the immediate causes and effects of the battles as well as the battle itself.
The book is well written and easy to follow. The maps are very helpful and do a good job of putting the narrative into context. When one finishes, one has a basic understanding of the wheres, whys and hows of the attempted invasion of Britain. The fact that the British protagonists are names which bring forth images of dashing and gallant pirates, such as Francis Drake, doesn't hurt.
Rating: 3
Summary: Decent but Too-Limited a Focus
Comment: The Armada Campaign 1588 is a decent summary of the Spanish attempt to invade England in the late 16th Century. As per the standard Osprey Campaign format, Angus Konstam provides succinct but accurate sections on the origins of the campaign, the opposing leaders, opposing plans and opposing warships. A detailed campaign chronology, blow-by-blow battle account and epilogue complete this survey of the Spanish expedition. Konstam concludes that the Spanish fleet maintained fairly tight defensive formations throughout the week-long fighting and while the English had the upper hand in gunnery and maneuvering, the English were unable to defeat the armada outright. Rather, the fortuitous fireship attack off Calais forced the Spanish to abandon the amphibious part of their mission and severe Atlantic storms demolished the once-mighty fleet on its return to Spain. The maps and illustrations that support the text are excellent.
However the problem with this volume is an over-focus on the English-Spanish naval battles in the channel. This campaign was merely an episode in a very long Anglo-Spanish struggle for hegemony, not an isolated event. For example, Drake's pre-emptive raid on Cadiz in 1587 inflicted far more damage on the preparations for the Armada than this account suggests. Although Konstam provides a good order of battle table on the English and Spanish fleets, there is no information on the Duke of Parma's Spanish in the Netherlands or the Dutch rebels. In fact, the Dutch fleet was far from insignificant in the campaign because it served to impede Parma's ability to mount an amphibious operation from the Netherlands. Certainly the large Spanish galleons in the Armada were no solution to dealing with shallow-draft Dutch warships that could interdict the Spanish invasion barges. Nor does Konstam mention the 18,973 soldiers that sailed with the Armada in his order of battle (there were five brigade-size tercios with the fleet). Another area that is totally ignored is that of finances and logistics. Nobody had ever supplied a fleet for extended operations with gunpowder weapons before and ammunition shortages were a major limiting factor, particularly for the British. While Konstam mentions the "Royal ships" (ie. warships owned by the crown), he does not mention how expensive it was to maintain a standing navy. Queen Elizabeth had to de-mobilize parts of the fleet in late 1587 when the Armada was delayed and then time re-mobilization in 1588 with the expected arrival of the Spaniards. Disease was another factor that caused attrition of trained crews sitting around in ports. All of these are examples of a broader view of the campaign, rather than just warships slugging it out in the channel.
Nor does the author spend much effort in discussing follow-up operations or the impact of the failure of the Armada. The English expedition to Portugal in 1589 is ignored, as is the Spanish intervention in the French civil wars in 1588-9. The Spanish expeditions of 1596-7 are mentioned, but not detailed. The loss of fifty or more warships and 15,000 or more crewmen was a catastrophe for Spain that is not spelled out in this account. King Philip II sent the hurled the best force he could afford at England and failed utterly. Reconstituting a similar force was beyond his means. Finally, the Armada Campaign was a landmark in naval history due to the fact that it set the pattern for the next two centuries of fleet battles.
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Title: Lepanto 1571 (Campaign, 114) by Angus Konstam, Christa Hook, Tony Bryan ISBN: 1841764094 Publisher: Osprey Publishing (UK) Pub. Date: 01 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: British Napoleonic Ship-Of-The-Line (New Vanguard, 42) by Angus Konstam, Tony Bryan ISBN: 184176308X Publisher: Osprey Publishing (UK) Pub. Date: 01 November, 2001 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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Title: Pavia 1525: The Climax of the Italian Wars (Osprey Military Campaign Series, 44) by Angus Konstam ISBN: 1855325047 Publisher: Stackpole Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1996 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Constantinople 1453: The End of Byzantium (Campaign Series, 78) by David, Phd Nicolle ISBN: 1841760919 Publisher: Osprey Publishing (UK) Pub. Date: April, 2001 List Price(USD): $18.95 |
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Title: Renaissance War Galley 1470-1590 (New Vanguard) by Angus Konstam, Tony Bryan ISBN: 1841764434 Publisher: Osprey Publishing (UK) Pub. Date: 01 December, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
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