I've been a fan of Osprey Publishing's "Men At Arms" series for over twenty years. My first title in the series was about the British Third Second Regiment of Foot, The Buffs. I saw the book in the rack at Hub Hobby Shop (formerly on St. Broad near Washington in the city, now out in Metairie post-K), and was hooked. Hub would have the occasional title, and when they caught my eye, I'd pick them up. As my interest in Napoleonic-era wargaming grew, my collection grew.
There's three things about the series that I like:
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1. Brief Regimental Histories. Don't know who Napoleon's Chasseurs de la Garde Imperiale were? Pick up Osprey's Chausseurs of the Guard and you'll get a solid introduction. Same for The Black Watch, or The Grenadier Guards.
2. The Plates! The color plates in each volume are the series' hallmark. Each book has 8-10 pages of full-color illustrations of the subjects of that book. Many of these illustrations are based on contemporary paintings, and all are done after painstaking research. They're indespensible for period wargamers, model makers, and miniatures painters.
In addition to gamers, artists, and military history fans, the color plates in the M-A-A series offer the writer of historical fiction an incredible resource. So many periods in history are defined by their wars, and many writers don't have a full appreciation for the uniforms of that period. I'm always amazed by the number of people who try their hand at historical fiction in periods like the early 19th century that have no clue about military history. Europe was at war for so long in the late 18th-early 19th that even civilian characters in any country would invariably encounter soldiers, sailors, and marines. The M-A-A series gives the aspiring writer a visual on those characters.
3. Excellent bibliographies. For short books (they're 58-60 pages each), the authors of the series share their research with the reader. That's how I came to buy Lachoque's quintessential work on La Garde Imperiale, Anatomy of Glory - I saw the book in the bibliography of Osprey's Chausseurs of the Guard, looked it over at the library, then bought it.
Two weeks ago, I got my latest title in the series, Irish-American Units in the Civil War. The Buffs is #10 in the series; this latest book is #448. That's how successful the series has been for Osprey.
The Men-At-Arms series has spawned some spin-offs as well, on battles, fortresses, and other military subjects. I'll start with reviews of the M-A-A books, then work into the others as we go along.
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