Litten's Ramillies book

A section devoted to questions and answers for this period.
Post Reply
Chris Steadman
Posts: 8
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2005 2:04 pm
Location: Bexley, London, UK
Contact:

Litten's Ramillies book

Post by Chris Steadman » Thu Oct 31, 2013 4:49 pm

Hi All

At the moment I am toying with picking up a copy of Litten's Ramillies book. But it costs the same as a couple battalions worth of infantry figures. Is anyone, please, able to give a potted review of the book? In particular I am hoping that it will give details of the French OOB and deployment, and some useful situation maps.

ATB

Chris
Graf Bretlach
Captain
Captain
Posts: 146
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:27 pm

Re: Litten's Ramillies book

Post by Graf Bretlach » Thu Oct 31, 2013 6:33 pm

I have the book, but never finished reading it, it is possibly the most comprehensive book on the battle to date. (not that many anyway)
I can't vouch for accuracy but it does contain fairly detailed looking OOBS for Allies and French, lists of regiments by nationality, casualties per regiment and details on the siege of Menin.
some colour plates by Bob Marrion, good strategic maps but the battle map is disappointing, however combining the OOB, map and narrative you should be able to follow the battle quite well. Extensive bibliography which will be useful later.
He has also walked the battlefield and gives a description and B/W photo's.

is it worth it? I paid £16 for my copy, to me yes, as I collect books rather than soldiers these days.

hope this helps a little.
Dfogleman2
Brigadier General
Brigadier General
Posts: 428
Joined: Wed Apr 27, 2005 4:45 pm

Re: Litten's Ramillies book

Post by Dfogleman2 » Thu Oct 31, 2013 7:35 pm

I have it and have read all of it. I liked it. Like Graf, I do not know for sure if it is 100% accurate, but you will find more detail on this battle in this book than any other single source.
Churchill
General
General
Posts: 1519
Joined: Sat Feb 02, 2008 11:49 pm

Re: Litten's Ramillies book

Post by Churchill » Thu Oct 31, 2013 9:32 pm

Ray.
Last edited by Churchill on Thu Feb 27, 2014 11:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
Rebel
Lieutenant Colonel
Lieutenant Colonel
Posts: 207
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:40 pm

Re: Litten's Ramillies book

Post by Rebel » Thu Oct 31, 2013 11:57 pm

As part of my own research have probably read it cover to cover six or seven times over the last few months and, on the whole, I find it better than Falkner - but that is mainly due to my view that whilst good, Marlborough/the British troops could not leap buildings in a single bound/walk on water etc etc and Litten does convey the fact that - for both sides - this was coalition warfare with all it's positive and negative nuances.

That said:

a) There is no index, which is a bummer especially when the author interchanges certain names - e.g. von Elgg and Werthmüller are one and the same officer.
b) Whilst in any work you need an intro and an outro, for my taste to only spend ca.57 pages out of 231 dealing with the battle is too little, and I would rather have seen ca.100 pages on it and less on the subsequent events, but that is personal taste as the Allied "rush" through Flanders is a part of the overall campaign. There are also some inconsistencies in his narrative.
c) The bibliography is excellent.
d) The appendices are worthwhile, but when dealing with casualties the English foot are simply grouped together whilst he doesn't mention the English mounted arm at all.
d) The map showing the initial dispositions is good but misleading, especially as many readers will also be looking at Falkner's book - Despite all talk of "flat ground" and "plains" the terrain to the south of the battlefield is some 20m higher than that in the north....

The battlefield is one of the oddest I've ever traversed - We were there last month doing the battlefield photography for the new project and it was one place where you constantly lost your sense of perspective and direction. As we followed the route in on the southern attack into Ramillies, at 600 yards you could see the whole church, at 500 only the upper roof and steeple, at 400 most of the building again. Elsewhere on the battlefield you could only really orient yourself by counting the church steeples. It was fascinating though.

- Mike.

PS Ray, I paid "full whack" for my copy as well.
Graf Bretlach
Captain
Captain
Posts: 146
Joined: Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:27 pm

Re: Litten's Ramillies book

Post by Graf Bretlach » Fri Nov 01, 2013 12:21 am

Ray

Good question, I got it a few years ago.

Caliver are a specialist supplier and not always the cheapest, although they deserve support. I always google for the best deals, often Amazon, book depository or similar, I use Abe books a lot, its amazing the price differences you see.

£25 was the RRP in 2007 I only tend to buy modern books when they are on special deals.

Abe has a new paperback copy for £60 :lol: otherwise seems hard to find, so £25 is probably the best you get at the moment.
Post Reply