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The Battle of Kinsale. Edited by Hiram Morgan. Bray, Ireland: Wordwell Ltd., 2004. ISBN 1-869857-70-4. Maps. Illustrations. Appendixes. Notes. Index. Pp. xiii, 432. Euro 35.00.
Battles ought to be decisive. The siege actions and climactic engagement fought at Kinsale (on the coast of southern Ireland) in October-January 1601/2, destroyed for centuries the realization of Irish independence. Or did they? This magnificently appointed volume features a score of scholars who ponder the context and significance of the battle.
In terms of production values, this is a paradigm of what military history books should be: solid scholarship profusely illustrated (141 images, including 13 contemporary maps in color, a dozen manuscript reproductions, engravings, paintings, stained glass, even tiles depicting marching tercios). These are buttressed by ten appendixes that contain arcane, inaccessible and newly discovered information. Wordwell Ltd., deserves accolades and attention from historians on the...