For those who may be interested, the Osprey "Men-at Arms" series now includes "The Belgian Army in World War 1", (Men-at Arms 452). This is priced at £9.99, although with a little searching, can be found at a more competitive price. It follows the usual format, and is of similar quality to other Osprey publications, (which is not an unreserved commendation). I believe the subject deserves better and more thorough treatment.
I'm sorry to hear that. I corresponded with Dr. Lierneux at the Brussels Army Museum, and he said that he had some reservations about the book but didn't give the impression that the faults were too serious.
I apologise for my article on Belgian uniforms on the Landships main site. It was done in something of a rush, and I now realise it is full of errors and shortcomings. After a lot more research I believe I have ironed out the snags. I had done a lot of work on a much improved and bigger article (and had Dr. Lierneux's permission to use material from his articles in Militaria magazine) when my hard disk packed up and I lost the bloody lot, including my Graphics Suite. Until I get more time and find a Graphics Suite I can understand (Photodraw, which was ideal, is now discontinued) that's the best I can do. Sorry to all concerned.
__________________
"Sometimes things that are not true are included in Wikipedia. While at first glance that may appear like a very great problem for Wikipedia, in reality is it not. In fact, it's a good thing." - Wikipedia.
Well ..... Brussels Army Museum .... well .... it is a own story.
I am very surprised to hear that a member of that museum is able to tell anyone that there are mistakes in a book.
I have visited it last weekend and to be honest I was realy shocked about the many mistakes shown there.
Just a quick example: a) A medal bar with Belgian and French medals and orders regarding WW1 shown on a Belgian Uniform around 1870. b) A German WW1 soldier in 1917/18 uniform on guard with a British (?) rifle. c) It seems that Austria-Hungary was not involved in the WW1. I have seen all nations but none of these. d) The small exhibition of German Freikorps badges and medals is a mix of whatever.
And forgett about the shop.
I was glad that there was no entrance fee.
Facing these facts I will build my own opinion the book soon. But I am sure it can't be more worse than the museum.
It seems that others share my reservations about this book, and the quality of the illustrations in particular. The bibliography does list the articles in Militaria Magazine, and that publication is generally of a high standard. The issues are Nos. 66, 71, 160, 175, 178, 217, 219, 221 & 257. Copies can occasionally be found on ebay/fr.
I'd agree that the book should have been much better. One problem with the Men-at-Arms series is knowing what they are meant to achieve. Is this a book on the Belgian army ( i.e. uniforms / weapons / organisations ) or a campaign history ? Their similar series on the BEF concentrates more on the army and not the campaigns.
You do get the impression that it was rushed ( certainly some of the colour plates ). The two page trench raid picture is of such poor quality that it looks like it is a rough sketch and not a finished piece.
However my main complaint with the trench raid picture is not the quality but rather that two pages have been wasted when they could have been used for other illustrations ( artillery uniforms / dog carts / armoured cars etc ).
It would have been nice to see a pair of books, one covering 1914-15 and a second covering 1916-18. However that is probably asking a bit too much from Osprey for what is still a bit of niche are of interest in the war.
Its not all bad though. For about £7 from Amazon its a decent enough read and contained a number of photos that I hadn't seen before. It just could have been better.
I agree with all of your comments about this book, (and the series), and I do wonder about the resources supplied to the illustrator. The double page does indeed look more like a preparatory sketch, and does look as if it may have been prepared in haste to use up space. And yet there does seem to be information which might usefully have been included, with a little more care and attention. This seems typical of the "Osprey" approach. Some years ago a well-known author told me he would never again write for this publisher, as none of the corrections he had asked for were made to his publication, (although he has relented since then). Some years ago, I did provide some illustrations for a series on British unioforms for a magazine, and found that very little care was taken to print accurate colours, and the photographic material with which I was expected to work was of extremely poor quality, and arrived allowing very little time before the deadline. Somehow, I do not imagine that illustrators are treated any more considerately now. However, the resources such as this forum does give me some hope that there may be sufficient interest for there to be activity leading to better information. There would also appear to be some interest amongst re-enactors, so there may be sufficient knowledge and expertise to remain hopeful of a better publication, and the publications of "Histoires & Documents" seems to me to offer an excellent example of how it might be done.
