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Command #14
Garibaldi
This book looks closely at the life, military experiences and key battlefield exploits of Giuseppe Garibaldi. Born on July 4, 1807 in the city of Nice, the turning point in his life occurred in April 1833 when he met Giovanni Battista Cuneo, a member of the secret movement known as "Young Italy." Joining this society, Garibaldi took an oath dedicating his life to the struggle for the liberation of his homeland from Austrian dominance. The subsequent years would see him fighting in Brazil, in the Uruguayan Civil War, and on the Italian peninsula. Between 1848 and 1870, Garibaldi and his men were involved in a prolonged struggle that eventually led to the final unification of Italy in 1870.
64 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 23, 2017
This was my first exposure to Garibaldi. It is mostly about his military exploits and while I am not expert, Field explains aptly his strengths and weaknesses. I come away from this book wanting to know more about this romantic nationalist, utterly committed to democracy who nevertheless boosted the Italian monarchy.
February 6, 2024
Right around the same time as the American Civil War, another large modern state was uniting through warfare. In Italy, Mazzini, Cavour and Garibaldi were uniting a nation-state that had not been one polity since the Roman Empire. Ron Field, an expert and writer on 19th Century warfare turns the Osprey touch to the life and military accomplishments of Guiseppe Garibaldi, the military adventurer part of the triad. With geat colour plates by Peter Dennis, and the usual plethora of pictures, graphs, diagrams, and maps we get the story of a succession of wars, all in a short space of years between 1855-1865. Garibaldi, leading a series of forces usually dressed in the red of revolution, and often called the "Thousand"- whether 500 or over 10k actual members, moved from one battle to the next, often managing to commit the right reserves at the right moment to achieve costly victories. Big battles or small skirmishes- the essential dynamism of the man jumps off the page.
Garibaldi was a political and military force. Field shows how his brilliance had limits in both spheres, and how Mazzini and Cavour were instrumental in directing the energy where they thought it was needed most. He is a paradox in many ways, a revolutionary who created a kingdom, as Italy united under the King Piedmont Sardinia . A Mason who cooperated with Catholics . The story of Italian unification , the Risorgimento, is fascinating and will be interesting for Military history buffs and more general readers.
All the adult themes are political and nationalist here, and there are few graphic injury passages, so this is a good book for a Junior Reader over 11/12 years with an interest in history. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast this is a real treasure trove. The gamer gets several scenarios, along with basic orders of battle- I just saw pictures of a convention game of one of the battles and it was impressive. This is where an ACW Gamer can use all those extra figures they might have as the Italians , like the American North and South , were riffing off French Uniforms at the time and feature tunics and Kepis. The Modeler will get a number of build and diorama ideas, but will probably need another colour reference. The Military Enthusiast is the biggest winner, as a series of rather complex wars/political crises are explained in simple expository style, showing both the brilliance of Garibaldi and his shortcomings in a compelling way. Whether you intend to travel to Italy more, and want to know its history, or you just like learning about the 19th Century, this is a good book to read.
Garibaldi was a political and military force. Field shows how his brilliance had limits in both spheres, and how Mazzini and Cavour were instrumental in directing the energy where they thought it was needed most. He is a paradox in many ways, a revolutionary who created a kingdom, as Italy united under the King Piedmont Sardinia . A Mason who cooperated with Catholics . The story of Italian unification , the Risorgimento, is fascinating and will be interesting for Military history buffs and more general readers.
All the adult themes are political and nationalist here, and there are few graphic injury passages, so this is a good book for a Junior Reader over 11/12 years with an interest in history. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast this is a real treasure trove. The gamer gets several scenarios, along with basic orders of battle- I just saw pictures of a convention game of one of the battles and it was impressive. This is where an ACW Gamer can use all those extra figures they might have as the Italians , like the American North and South , were riffing off French Uniforms at the time and feature tunics and Kepis. The Modeler will get a number of build and diorama ideas, but will probably need another colour reference. The Military Enthusiast is the biggest winner, as a series of rather complex wars/political crises are explained in simple expository style, showing both the brilliance of Garibaldi and his shortcomings in a compelling way. Whether you intend to travel to Italy more, and want to know its history, or you just like learning about the 19th Century, this is a good book to read.
April 29, 2024
A Decent Succinct Miltary Biography of Garibaldi
Any review of this book would have to start out by making two points. The first is that this book is relatively short, as are all books in Osprey Publishing's ·command" series. Books in this series are only 64 pages in length. Plus, of these pages, very roughly a third to 40% consist of illustrations of one type or another (i.e., maps, contemporaneous
paintings of battles and characters, etc.). Hence if one is looking for an academic tome on the subject this is not it.
The second point that needs to be made about the book is that it is geared to the subject's military history and contribution. Political (and other) attributes of Garibaldi's life are not examined. This is a problem as Garibaldi's most significant contribution to European history was the inspiration he provided to the many nascent nationalist movements in Europe as well as the cause of Republicanism. This is not even touched upon in the book.
The book, like all those in the Command series, is intended to provide a military biography of the subject as well as to, very importantly, examine the subject's •style" of military command. The relevant question, hence, becomes how well does the book do in this regard? The answer is fairly well.
The book provides a decent, albeit succinct, military biography of Garibaldi, history of his role in the battles he participated in and some decent (but not necessarily thorough) insights into his •style" of command. With respect to the latter, the book shows how important being at the front of the battle line was for him and how much importance Garibaldi attributed to the psychological motivation of his men. Plus, he was willing to make great personal sacrifices in terms of sharing the deprivations of his men and sacrificing his personal safety in combat by leading at the very front of battles so often. His command •style" very much reminds one of Alexander the Great.
Where the book falls flat, however, is in its analysis of how Garibaldi interfaced with his military opponents on the battlefield as well as how military "style" differed from that of the contemporaries of his time. The Osprey Command book on Model points out, for example, instead of making use of strong points in defense like nearly all his German counterparts did, he instead used long continuous (but thin) lines. No examination of such subtleties in this book. All the more ironic as there are explicit chapters in books in this series that are supposed to cover these topics. Then again, most books in this series do a poor job in this regard. This one just follows that tradition.
In short, this book provides a pretty good succinct military biography of Garibaldi, that can be read in about two hours, despite having a few minor problems. Four stars.
Any review of this book would have to start out by making two points. The first is that this book is relatively short, as are all books in Osprey Publishing's ·command" series. Books in this series are only 64 pages in length. Plus, of these pages, very roughly a third to 40% consist of illustrations of one type or another (i.e., maps, contemporaneous
paintings of battles and characters, etc.). Hence if one is looking for an academic tome on the subject this is not it.
The second point that needs to be made about the book is that it is geared to the subject's military history and contribution. Political (and other) attributes of Garibaldi's life are not examined. This is a problem as Garibaldi's most significant contribution to European history was the inspiration he provided to the many nascent nationalist movements in Europe as well as the cause of Republicanism. This is not even touched upon in the book.
The book, like all those in the Command series, is intended to provide a military biography of the subject as well as to, very importantly, examine the subject's •style" of military command. The relevant question, hence, becomes how well does the book do in this regard? The answer is fairly well.
The book provides a decent, albeit succinct, military biography of Garibaldi, history of his role in the battles he participated in and some decent (but not necessarily thorough) insights into his •style" of command. With respect to the latter, the book shows how important being at the front of the battle line was for him and how much importance Garibaldi attributed to the psychological motivation of his men. Plus, he was willing to make great personal sacrifices in terms of sharing the deprivations of his men and sacrificing his personal safety in combat by leading at the very front of battles so often. His command •style" very much reminds one of Alexander the Great.
Where the book falls flat, however, is in its analysis of how Garibaldi interfaced with his military opponents on the battlefield as well as how military "style" differed from that of the contemporaries of his time. The Osprey Command book on Model points out, for example, instead of making use of strong points in defense like nearly all his German counterparts did, he instead used long continuous (but thin) lines. No examination of such subtleties in this book. All the more ironic as there are explicit chapters in books in this series that are supposed to cover these topics. Then again, most books in this series do a poor job in this regard. This one just follows that tradition.
In short, this book provides a pretty good succinct military biography of Garibaldi, that can be read in about two hours, despite having a few minor problems. Four stars.
January 2, 2012
Good introduction to further study on this topic. Good for understanding the chronology of the General's career too. Even mentions the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum here on Staten Island.
August 8, 2016
A good recount of the events with fine original graphics. Unfortunately the reproductions of visual sources are too small to see clearly.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews