Book Suggestion: Maps of War

The Gods of Work are now appeased. I sacrificed time and blood to them and they granted me a boon…a 40-hour work week! With my return to normalcy comes the time to blog once again.

Monday I had enough time to actually go shopping and wandered in to a “Borders” bookstore. There, forgotten on the clearance rack was a fascinating book that has lots of cool game applications.

“Borders” had this monstrous tome on sale for only $20.00, but Amazon has it at $29.95. I suggest you look around a bit on discount shelves, due to its size this book is not likely to go home with anyone other than a gamer or map junkie.

It is 15 x 17.5 inches and weighs 7.5 pounds! Yes, it is a”coffee table” book, but that in no way diminishes its utility in gaming. Just makes it a bit hard to transport

I spoke of my interest in cartography and old maps in previous posts , but this is one of the better maps collections I have seen to date in this price range. It contains dozens of maps, all related to battle. Some are quite famous, such as the 1746 “Battle of Falkirk ,” others are more obscure conflicts like “The War of Jenkin’s Ear .”

Here is a sample: the Map of Calais circa 1750

(It did not fit nicely on the site, hence the strange orientation. )

Regardless of which conflict, these fine old maps are fascinating, both as art and historical documents.  I plan on using these maps as starting point for sieges and city design. These are real maps and reality makes for better gaming.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer