Official History - Military Operations - Other Theatres - DVD

[MartinWills]

OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE GREAT WAR Military Operations Other Theatres. DVD-Rom. Constantinople, East Africa, Egypt & Palestine, Gallipoli, German South West Africa, Italy, Macedonia, Mesopotamia, Persia & Togoland and the Cameroons

Naval & Military Press (In association with the Imperial War Museum) 2011

N & M Product Code: DVD03 (but found in the CD-ROM section of the N&M Web Pages)

ISBN: 9781845749620

Format: DVD-Rom Recommended System Requirements: A PC running Windows 7, XP or Vista with 512MB RAM installed and a 4X speed DVD drive. This product is not Mac OS or Linux or Kindle compatible. Fully 64 bit compatible.

Price: £225.00 (plus VAT where appropriate - £45 in the UK) – though it is available until 23rd January 2012 at a “sale” price of £180.00 (plus VAT where appropriate - £36 in the UK)

Over the last 25 years perspectives on the Great War have changed radically. Revisionist perspectives have altered our traditional view; the deaths of the last veterans have meant that the war is “beyond living memory”. The rapid growth in genealogy has ensured a wider interest than ever before coupled with a growing ability to use the internet to research soldiers who served and the ease of modern travel has begun to open up theatres of war beyond France & Flanders.

The campaigns of the Great War have been chronicled in the Official Histories and these have always provided a good general resource for historians and the cornerstone of many Great War libraries. The Western Front histories are available as reprints and have also appeared in digital format not least the Naval & Military Press (N & M) “Military Operations – France & Belgium” DVD complete with all maps.

By contrast the “Other Theatres” are less readily available. The handsome Battery Press/IWM hardback reprints are partly out of print and otherwise not so readily available these days. Separate folding maps – provided either in map cases or in pockets with the text volumes are not generally available although they provide an extremely valuable reference resource. Those exploring the various other theatre campaigns should also bear in mind, Gallipoli apart, that the campaigns are not so well documented and hence the Official Histories are amongst the foremost sources for accounts of the campaigns

Although N & M have now reprinted the text volumes with the bound-in maps reproduced in colour rather than the monochrome of the Battery Press/IWM reprints they still represent a major investment even in softback format – the softback set costing £450 and being without the folding maps but with the advantage that the bound in maps are reproduced in colour.

N & M have already issued “Military Operations – France & Flanders” as a DVD complete with all maps. This has now been followed up with “Other Theatres” which to my mind is a more valuable addition to a library as it makes available texts and maps which are not so easily accessible. N&M itself has made a major contribution to the Official History series by publishing the Occupation of Constantinople volume which had previously only existed in draft form at the National Archives at Kew.

The disc offers the following volumes:

Italy (with folding maps)

Macedonia Volume 1

Macedonia Volume 1 Map case maps

Macedonia Volume 2

Macedonia Volume 2 Map case Maps

Gallipoli Volume 1

Gallipoli Volume 1 Appendices and folded maps

Gallipoli Volume 2

Gallipoli Volume 2 Appendices and folded maps

Egypt & Palestine Volume 1 Part 1

Egypt & Palestine Volume 1 Part 2

Egypt & Palestine Volume 1 Map Case Maps

Egypt & Palestine Volume 2

Egypt & Palestine Volume 2 Map Case Maps

Mesopotamia Vol. 1 and folding maps

Mesopotamia Vol. 2 and folding maps

Mesopotamia Vol. 3 and folding maps

Mesopotamia Vol. 4 and folding maps

Operations in Persia & maps

The Occupation of Constantinople

German South West Africa

East Africa Volume 1 (Vol. 2 was never produced – though some draft chapters apparently exist)

Togoland and the Cameroons and folded maps

This represents a significant number of volumes (19 text volumes plus map cases) which are brought together in electronic format and made readily available. With growing interest in the Great War beyond the Western Front this disc presents an increasingly attractive resource. Printed copies would take up a considerable amount of shelf space and on these grounds alone a single DVD has its attractions.

The folded maps and map case volumes have all been referred to as a “map case” and condensed to a single “map case” for each theatre of war. All maps are provided in full colour. These alone can offer hours of fascinating study.

The disc is compatible with Windows XP, Vista and 7 and works with 32 and 64 bit systems. It is not designed to be compatible with Linux or Mac operating systems but it may be possible to run the disc using Windows emulators. It is not Kindle compatible. The disc relies upon Adobe Acrobat reader – a free download - and the free “ERviewer” for viewing the map cases. Both these are included on the disc as “extras”.

The single DVD comes in a standard DVD case and is very simple to load. If needed you will apparently be prompted to install “ERviewer” – though I already had it loaded. Once installed the product runs from the original disc – verified with a security agent. Whilst this may seem a little frustrating I imagine that without security protection this disc would not have been produced in the first place. During installation your anti-virus/security software may flag that it is not digitally signed but it is safe to proceed.

Some users may already have “ERviewer” installed from other products and you may need to think carefully if you have different/earlier versions installed for other products from Naval & Military Press or other publishers.

In use, an initial page opens up with a link to a page showing all the volumes and associated map sets. In addition there are links to “About the Maps”, an introductory essay on the maps (and other map sources) by military cartography expert Dr Peter Chausseaud which is wonderfully informative and an excellent read. Similarly there is also a link to an “About the Official Histories” which describes each volume and its background.

Another link called “The Official Histories” takes you to a page that opens up and shows each volume and the associated folded map sets plus a “search all histories” option. Each individual text volume opens in Adobe Acrobat Reader which offers a simple way to read and page through each volume. The folded maps open in ERviewer which, perhaps, is slightly less intuitive for the first time user.

Search Facilities

In addition to opening and simply reading the selected volume it is also possible to search for text within the volumes. The Adobe Acrobat based Search Panel appears beside the text window and can be used to search either the current volume being viewed or all the volumes on the disc. A “Search all histories” option appears on the display showing all the volumes – using it will open the last viewed volume, which can come as a surprise the first time it happens. This uses the search panel with the search option set to “in the index named Search all volumes.pdx”. Searching the currently displayed volume uses the “In the current volume” option.

Page numbering may also prove a minor frustration. Adobe Acrobat numbers pages from 1 onward – and this includes the cover and all pages not numbered in the main series such as bound-in map pages and roman numeral numbered pages. By way of example the index may tell you that you want page 263 but the adobe page number will not match – though it is not difficult to find. Using the search facility is another way around this issue.

Search is not perfect, however, and there are some anomalies of which I will cite a couple of typical examples.

Searching for 2/20th (London Regiment) finds examples in the Egypt & Palestine volumes but the instances in the Macedonian volumes are not found. Confusion between the numeral 1 and letter l also means there can be problems with units such as 1/1st etc. Whilst minor for some people these anomalies may be intensely frustrating for others! You may also find that your searches may be frustrated by differing use of spellings for places such as Greek or Serbian villages in the Macedonian volumes and places mentioned in other volumes.

Those people looking for respite from the Western Front will also be interested to learn that a search for Haig brings up a mere 31 instances across all “other theatres” volumes. Kitchener manages 523!

Printing via Adobe Acrobat Reader allows printing of selected (or all) pages of the text volumes – which includes the bound in maps/sketches. The inclusion of the maps in colour is a big plus for this issue and so many of the detailed maps and sketches are likely to be of real value in analysing a particular action as well as for exploring the terrain in the field. Printouts appear bright, clean and crisp.

Maps

The maps open initially as a page listing the maps in that section and you select the relevant map before opening it in ERviewer. Users of the old N&M map discs and other products will be familiar with ERviewer and how these maps are opened, read and printed. It is fairly easy to use though it has a few idiosyncrasies. A couple of features deserve further comment.

The “measuring” facility uses units of “cells” and “real” distances can only be established by calibration and calculation against the scale printed at the bottom of most maps. This is not difficult but can be annoying and a little time consuming.

Printing is effectively limited to the current view on screen, but this is fine for printing A4 size sections for further analysis or use in the field. Again having the maps in the original colour is a real asset.

The disc is compatible with Windows versions from XP through Vista to Windows 7 and can be run on 32 and 64 bit architectures.

Inevitably as a major commercial venture N&M have had to protect the information provided. This may create a sense of frustration for some users but in these times when any software product of value attracts software pirates and the like it is an unfortunate necessity for vendors wanting to protect their investment.

Installation

When installing following the simple instructions provided you may find that your anti-virus security may flag it as not digitally signed and hence a potential danger – this can safely be ignored. You will also be asked to accept the license agreement which is worth reading. The process may also look to install ERviewer if you do not already have it installed. Beware of any possible conflict if you have another ERviewer version installed (eg from earlier N&M discs; WFA map discs; SCS map discs etc). ERviewer and Adobe Acrobat Reader are also provided separately as an “extra” on the disc should you want to install/re-install them.

Once installed the histories can only be run from the original disc and a security agent validates the disc each time it is used, creating a short delay in start-up. This can be a little frustrating with repeated use, but at least runs automatically.

Cost issue

The decision over whether to buy this will always be difficult and I think that many of us still prefer the printed page. If you already have a significant number of the printed volumes, or only need a few specific volumes, this may not be for you. It does offer a cost effective alternative to buying the complete set of volumes and has the benefit of providing the all maps from the map cases plus loose inserted maps, which are not otherwise readily obtainable in a complete form, in full colour.

If you were to look for a single original copy of the Italy volume alone, it would cost you more than this disc costs. Paper reprints of these volumes have drifted in and out of print and often do not include loose folding maps and have not generally reproduced maps in colour. At the present time N & M also offer each title as a softback volume with bound-in maps in colour, but the larger folded maps are not available. The complete set costs a (discounted) £450 and you may find occasional further sale discounts. It is still possible to source most of the handsome hardbound IWM/Battery Press reprints which remain an attractive option, particularly for individual titles, though the maps are not provided in colour.

With the exception of Gallipoli these campaigns are not otherwise extensively documented and the Official Histories remain as core documentation, reference and reading. For many the reproduction of the maps will be a key attraction as little mapping is available elsewhere outside principal archives.

Another big plus in many cases will be the saving of considerable amount of shelf space!

Personally I can heartily commend the Official Histories for the other theatres in any format. This DVD in particular provides an attractive, compact and searchable format and is as complete as you could wish for with the inclusion of the larger folded maps. If you already have the earlier “France & Belgium” volume, you will probably want to add this companion volume to your library.

If you are simply looking to add one or two volumes of these official histories to your library, printed copies may well remain a better option, but for many the complete set plus the larger maps – all in colour will be the deciding factor in buying this set.

Further Sources

If you want to explore mapping and trench maps any further I would recommend two further acquisitions:

1) The Western Front Association Gallipoli Map DVD

2) The Salonika Campaign Society Salonika Map DVD

For detailed mapping of the other theatres beyond Salonika and Gallipoli you will need to resort to archives such as the Imperial War Museum and National Archives and Dr Peter Chausseaud indicates in his mapping essay where these can be found within the National Archives.

[bushfighter]

Well Done Martin - your review demonstrates the depth of both intellect and specialist knowledge that this Forum possesses.

Harry

[Doug504]

Hope it works better than than the Official Histories France and Belgium, If you are considering a purchase I wouldn't bother.

Doug.

[Dust Jacket Collector]

Thanks Martin. I'm not familiar with the German South West Africa volume. Was it originally part of the Official History or is it a new publication?

[keithmroberts]

Just one more boring techie point. I don't think 32 /64 bit matters as I used the CD on my laptop while I was in France last summer- and the machine is definitely 32 bit Win 7, and a bit longer in the tooth than the desktop, as I bought it pretty much when win 7 arrived on the scene. I haven't had the need to use it on the laptop since then.

Keith

Edit - no shares in N& M Press - my comment is disinterested

[Guest]

It is frustrating. It just will not run on this machine. There must be a way to temporarily switch off something, so it will run?

Mike

[MartH]

Thanks Martin. I'm not familiar with the German South West Africa volume. Was it originally part of the Official History or is it a new publication?

Its the South African one by JJ Collyer