Essential reading without agony

Regular readers should by now have grasped that I am a bit of an ECW nut. The period fascinates me. Not merely the gaming but the whole thing- the models the characters  the figure painting,  especially the history as without the history the gaming would be, for me, a pointless exercise of itself. No more than mere dice rolling. So with that in mind new ECW books passing across my ken are always welcome.
 This new one from Helion being no exception.
 The Dundar campaign and the Anglo- Scottish War of 1650-51- sometimes called the Third Civil War is a conflict I have read off and on over the years.. So Arran Johnston's book is very welcome. It is in the usual Helion format in their excellent Century of the Soldier series of which I own more than a few titles. This is a fine addition to the series.
 Physicall the book is a meaty  softback of over 200 pages so has a little more heft than some but the contents do live up to the billing.
 Mr Johnston knows his stuff.



The book covers the Dundar campaign very well indeed wit details on the armies and a god selection of colour plates and some excellent photographs of the terrain as it appears today. Indeed  the route of Cromwell's invasion of Scotland in 1650 is covered almost step by step. Oders of battle are included and the coverage of the campaign overall is very good.
 However Mr Johnston also sets the campaign in context so  there is also a potted history of Scotland during the Second Civil war and of course the political upheavals in Scotland itself. I learned thing I didn't know which for me is the benchmark for a decent history book.
 The volume rounds off the account of the war with the Worcester campaign - Cromwells Crowning Mercy which ended the Third Civil War.

Recommended reading.