As much as I prefer online shopping by and large, there is something lost when it comes to book shopping - the serendipitous discovery possible only when one is browsing shelves and the eye stumbles on a some hitherto unknown (to you) title on a topic of real interest.
While out on a Dollar Tree run (I wanted some of their cheap brush sets for base coating), we swung by a Half-Priced Books store. I wandered to the Military History section ter taking a detour thorough Science Fiction / Fantasy in hopes of finding the next book in Burroughs's Venus series (my hopes were dashed). As usual, the WWI section was skimpy at best, with mostly general histories and the "illustrated encyclopedias". Although I don't have one, and probably ought to pick one up for easy reference, my eyes soon fell upon this and I knew it was coming home with me:
White War, Black Soldiers: Two African Accounts of World War I contains two accounts of the war, written by African soldiers and these accounts were previously only available in French. I'm quite excited to read it for a fresh perspective on the war.
I make no promises one way or another about a Senegalese unit for my wargames.
Looks like a very interesting and unique look at WWI from a native viewpoint John. It was a fascinating and very important theatre in the war with many significant battles. The tales of Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck alone are legendary! You should get a lot of great, new ideas for your games!
ReplyDeleteI only recently learned of Paul Von Lettow-Vorbeck, and i suspect i may find myself stumbling into a new theater!
DeleteAhhh the joy of stumbling across an interesting book!
ReplyDeleteIt's one of those things that digital browsing has yet to really replicate. Digital bookshelves (usually cover images) aren't quite the same as looking at the spines of several shelves of titles.
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