This page is temporarily a mess and will be sorted out soon. There
will also be resource pages added to each historical period page
that will list related books, movies, web sites, and other sources
of info useful in gaming the period.
Ancient
The Civilization of the Goddess by Marija Gimbutas, 1991. Before
the Indo-Europeans, there were the old Europeans, wonderful book,
history not military history.
Roman Britain
Reconstructing the Past by Alan Sorrell, 1981. Outstanding source
of birdseye drawings for modeling British fortifications Mesolithic
era to 1700's, but Roman Britain drawings were especially intriging.
Great for modeling.
Hadrian's Wall by Stephen Johnson, 1989. Color reconstructions, drawings, and photos along with detailed text are quite helpful in modeling the wall.
Hadrian's Wall in the Days of the Romans by Ron Embleton and Frank Graham, 1984, 1990. B&W illustratins and dynamic color illustrations bring the wall to life. Fast reading, lots of info.
The Roman Invasion of Britain by Graham Webster, 1980. Might be a little dry to some, but hard archeological support of the whens and wheres of the invasion.
The World of the Celts by Simon James, 1993. Complete overview of Celtic peoples, full of great illustrations and photos of reconstructions. Tons of info and supports modeling of gamings accessories. Fast reading.
The Life and Death of a Druid Prince by...okay, who borrowed my copy!
Dark Ages to Gun Powder
1066 The Year of the Conquest by David Howarth, 1977. Fast and
very entertaining to read. Interesting ideas about why things
happened the way they did, survey of the battlefield may be useful
to the modeler.
Napoleonic
Waterloo The Day of Battle by David Howarth. Told through the
eyes of men who served. What can I say, he's fun to read.
Spanish American War
Brassey's History of Uniforms: Spanish American War by Ron Field,
1998. Outstanding source for uniform information. Loaded with
Color and B&W photos as well as some color illustrations with
detailed text.
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion by Lynn E. Bodin, 1979. Osprey book, great
Uniform guide.
The Siege at Peking by Peter Fleming, 1959. Good overall history, easy read, fair detail.
The Boxer Rebellion by Paul H. Clements, 1915, '67, '79. Dry, but lots of information about the polotics and perception of the era.
The Fists of Righteous Harmony by Henry Keown-Boyd, 1991. Best of the bunch. History similar to Fleming book above, but better, more detailed and correct, with B&W photos.
James Ricalton's Photographs of China During the Boxer Rebellion ed. by Christopher J. Lucas, 1990. Interesting though dry text depicting the atmosphere during the war. The photos greatly helped in detailing models for the table top. A bit pricy and somewhat removed from the gamers focus.
World War Two
Blitzkreig in the West, Then and Now by Jean Paul Pallud, 1991.
The best book I've read about the German offensive launched on
May 10,1940. Over 600 pages and 800 plus photos with detailed,
entertaining text. Found it to be greatly helpful in putting together
gaming scenarios and as a source for modeling archetecture and
battlefields.
Hitler's Ardennes Offensive by Danny S. Parker, great overview of the battle, fast reading with lots of detail. Good maps too.
Panzertruppen Vols. 1 and 2 by Thomas L. Jentz, Totally awesome and well worth the money. History includes development and evolution of panzer formations, battle reports and first hand anecdotes by officers and soldiers, good photos, TO&Es, and charts and tables of weapons and vehicles including axis and allied armor.
Vietnam
We Were Soldiers Once and Young by Hal Moore, 19xx. Awesome account
of the Ia Drang battles.
MOVIES...
The following movies were used in some way to put a game on the
table. They are in order aphabetically by subject.
Boxer Rebellion
55 Days at Peking, 1963, good movie staring Charlton Heston and David Niven. Greatly helpful as a guide in modeling the legations of Peking. Generally useful as a uniform guide as well.
Colonial/Victorian
Nate and Hayes, 1983, Swashbuckling adventure staring Tommy Lee Jones as a cleaned-up Bully Hayes. The setting is the ultimate alternative to the traditional Darkest Africa game. The German armored warship is totally cool.
World War II
Kelly's Heroes, 1970, Clint Eastwood, Telly Savalas, Don Rickes, Carrol O'Connor and Donald Sutherland in his coolest role. A bank heist during the war. The many views of the (Yugoslav) town in which it was filmed, functions as a great guide for biulding structures for the tabletop.