Scots Armies of the English Civil Wars (Men-at-Arms Book 331)

EXCELLENT HISTORY AND COLOR PLATES WITH SOME BACKGROUND OF The major players, but not enough detail. I was also looking for some orders of battle for the Covenanter Army's specific battles, especially in the area around York. All in all, an informative work.

Again Osprey books do an excellent job of proving good reference and color uniform plates as always. thanks again for the research that goes into all their books

I convene a Clan tent at various Scottish Games, and this is always displayed on my table. Great illustrations and historical notes.

Thoroughly enjoyed it and reference it frequently.

Most useful in my Scottish genealogy research.

This short description of the Scottish Armies of the English Civil War was written by Stuart Reid and published by the Osprey Publishing Company as a part of their "Men-at-Arms" series. This is a handy reference to have close at hand while reading other books on the English Civil War.

This is a nicely done book but I have to ask the question, why pay $70+ dollars for a copy when I can get it brand new at my local hobby store for $19.99?

I don't think this is one of Osprey's best efforts. I'm sure some people will take issue with the title, for although Scottish Armies fought for both sides, King and Parliament during these conflicts, "English Civil Wars" is a misnomer. The contemporary name used at the time, "The Wars of the Three Kingdoms", (England, Scotland and Ireland,) would be less Anglo-Centric, but I suspect that many readers wouldn't recognise the subject.The book covers the Scottish resistance to the attempt by Charles I to enforce an Anglican style church hierarchy on Scotland, the Bishop's Wars of 1639, Scottish response to the Catholic rising in Ireland as part of the Protestant forces of the KIng, the involvement of Scottish troops in the main Civil War in England as allies of the Parliamentarians, the campaigns of Montrose as Royalist commander in Scotland itself, the Second Civil war, following the execution of Charles I, when Scotland recognised Charles II as king and invaded England, and finally, the Parliamentarian invasion of Scotland culminating in the battle of Dunbar.It follows the usual Osprey pattern of describing how troops were raised and organised, their arms, clothing and equipment, with the usual plates in the centre of the book and commentary on these at the end. What's missing is a description of the tactics of Scottish troops, or any description other than a very brief time-line of the key battles they were involved in. Presumably, the author or Editor considered that these would be well-known, or available in more detail in other works.There is a section on standards and flags of the Scottish forces, which I feel goes into much more detail than I want. What is almost totally missing is how Highland troops fitted into the Scottish forces, although this is covered in a work devoted to Highland Clansmen by the same publisher. I would like to have seen a little on Highland troops, even if only a page, and less on standards. It could also do with some modern translations of the contemporary Scots writings included, as these are not easy for modern readers used to standardised spelling to follow. That apart, it's fairly typical of Osprey Men-at-arms series, the colour plates are well up to the usual standard and if you don't know much about the activities of Scotland in the wars of the mid-seventeenth century it will provide a good introduction.

I wanted an informative reference book on the ECW Scots army.I got some 'action pics' and a lot of general background history, nothing much on organisation, unit sizes, cavalry proportions, infantry pike/musket ratios, etc.I assume there's precious little known about the scots - or not when this was published - so this was a bit of a waste of time.Live and learn.

Good clear colour plates. Text gives a introduction to Scots armies for beginners, to intermediate students of this historical period.

The book arrived on time as described, and well packed.Another in the Osprey series.The period is well covered and expands my knowledge of the ECW in Scotland.

interesting info