Books

Marcus Tribulus Corvus, centurion of the Tungrian auxilia
ry cohort, has left Britania in order to protect his friends, wife and unborn child from the wrath of the emperor. He leads them all from Hadrians wall to Germania Inferior.

Once there he and his cohort are immediately set to clearing Tungrorum and the surrounding areas of all the bandits including the infamous Obduro and his army of 500+ bandits. However Obduro’s identity his hidden behind a cavalry helmet and his deadly Leopard Sword, rumoured to be sharper and stronger than any sword ever known by the Roman Army. Who is Obduro and how and why does he know what is going on in the city?
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Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
Rudyard Kipling - Tommy.

I’ll start this review by pointing out that this book was my own choice to review. Consider it, if you will, an experiment on my part to see if an author could take a subject which could be considered a little, how shall I put this, dry, and create an enjoyable book.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get on with it...

John Norris has taken the subject of military drumming and, I’m pleased to say, created a book which is enjoyable to read. The narrative, if somewhat erratic, is engaging and informative, the research thorough and his explanations of the relevance of his subject to the historical setting are well thought out.

He covers a great deal in the 154 pages of this book, taking us from Ancient Egypt up to the modern day and, whilst he gives us only the most tantalising of glimpses into the lives of drummers in each period, he does an admirable job of fitting a great many facts into such a short piece of work. ...

I was unsure what to expect from this rather muddled book. Ms Jackson is a freelance writer, formerly editor of “The History Magazine” and has published three other history books. There are no particular grounds to assume that she is a professional historian, however –for reasons which will become apparent.

The book shows every sign of having been cobbled together from a synthesis of the books produced by two key interrogators after the Second World War – Lt Cols Scotland and Stevens, who,between them, were influential in the establishment of the specialist interrogation functions at Camp 020, the London Cage and, after the formal end of the war, Bad Nenndorf.
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