Pavia 1525: The Climax of the Italian Wars (Campaign)

I have mixed feelings about this book. I did not have any knowledge of substance concerning Pavia before reading this account. The book seems to have good information, but my problems were with the set up and the editing of the book. The text makes references that are not always matched with the descriptions on the maps, making the text confusing until I figured out what the author was talking...more

I have mixed feelings about this book. I did not have any knowledge of substance concerning Pavia before reading this account. The book seems to have good information, but my problems were with the set up and the editing of the book. The text makes references that are not always matched with the descriptions on the maps, making the text confusing until I figured out what the author was talking about. There are numerous layout issues. Wood cuts are scattered all across the text in magazine fashion, and many are not organized near the text of the appropriate description of the battle. Many are tiny and difficult to examine the details, and are described as being inaccurate. I wish some of those were dropped so the more accurate pictures could be shown at a larger size. The more conventional abstract maps are functional and do a good enough job, but the 3D detail maps fall short of the potential. Most of the action on these two page spreads are centered in the middle of the page, deep in between the pages. This is highly frustrating. Sticking with more one page maps may be more helpful. All of this makes it tougher than necessary to understand the course of the battle. Though maybe for a battle fought in the morning mists, there is some ironic appropriateness.   hide