Bayonet to Barrage – Weaponry on the Victorian Battlefield
I was excited when this book arrived, as this is a period of history I am starting to research for family history. I tended to stay away from anything from this period onwards as this is Warfare on an industrial scale.
This book shows how this develops over the period of Queen Victoria’s reign.
The book is broken down into chapters of the weapon and its use in battles and starts with the bayonet which the author shows was the deciding factor of the Anglo Sikh wars of 1846.
The next 3 chapters then turn to firearms with the technological advances from the flintlock, to percussion, breech loading rifles, and on to the Martini-Henry rifle.
Then we go back to fixed bayonets and then onto the maxim machine gun and then field artillery.
It is really interesting to read as the weapons and tactics change as the enemies do. I think this is a great read for anyone interested in the Victorian period and the British Army of the time.
My only disappointment with the book was that there weren’t many illustrations or pictures of equipment that must still be around in museums.
That said, I think this is an excellent read.
You can buy the book here from Pen and Sword books
Please note I was not paid to write this review but was sent a review copy of the book. All comments are my own, and the publishers have not amended the review in any way.
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