Hi all

First let me apologize for my absence recently: this has been simply due to the high work load.  First, I was copyediting and drawing maps – after all, a man’s got to live! – and I have only recently begun work on ‘Patricians’. Sadly, this too has now been delayed, although this time there is a good reason for the said interruption:  I am proofreading ‘Valentinian and Valens’.  The book is advertised as appearing “in all good bookshops” from 30 August, so I suppose I must get on with the job …

This is one of the two lesser-known ‘evils’ of writing books.  Having to proofread your own book can be painful.  After months of forgetfulness the book arrives and you begin reading what is, in effect, a book you don’t remember writing.  At this point you have to turn into a critic and go through the book word-by-word, which can be a pretty horrific experience. In fact, if you have read any of my previous posts you should know that the other ‘evil’, which is worse and something I still have to look forward to, is the ‘indexing’ at the end.  (As Yoda would say, “Filled with joyful anticipation I am not”.) Still, if the book is to be published before Christmas, I’ll just have to get on with it!

Anyway, enough of the prevaricating …

There is another reason for the post, apart from my perpetual whinging:

It is with great pleasure that I announce my arrival on the ‘International’ scene, with an article in the Spanish magazine ‘Desperta Ferro’.

Now before you ask, I have not suddenly become an amazing linguist with an incredible ability to render my words into Spanish – sorry to disappoint.  The article was submitted and then translated into Spanish by an anonymous linguistic genius.  (I have enough trouble reading my own stuff in English:  you have to feel sorry for the translator!) If you are either a multilinguist who can speak/read Spanish or an intelligent person of the Spanish persuasion I hope that you enjoy the article.

As part of the deal I was sent a copy of the magazine in question.  This issue is mainly concerned with those aspects of the Second Punic War related to/fought in Spain.  It certainly looks impressive:  the quality of the illustrations and maps is excellent and the stature of the authors (myself excluded – and no, I’m not being modest:  buy one and have a look at the number of professors etc. contributing!) is outstanding.

Oh dear, I can see another expense coming on:  I wonder how much it is to learn Spanish at the local college … ?

Er, ‘Limosna para los pobres’?

There are others. For example, when at university we were taught that there was a division between historians based upon their political belief or, obviously, upon their personal interests. As a result, we have ‘Marxist’ history, ‘Psychohistory’, ‘Economic’ history, ‘Gender’ history, ‘Military’ history, and even attempts at ‘Postmodernism’.

Clearly, historians seeing history through such a blurred lens will almost certainly have their writings and conclusions distorted by their biased interpretations of historical ‘facts’. At the least they may have to draw very broad conclusions, as for many historical periods the surviving record does not include the type of information their speciality requires.

As a historian with a fondness for ‘military’ history I have noticed that sometimes this can lead to wild claims based upon little more than a writer’s imagination. I also have to recognise that where the sources are inadequate there is little choice but to make an ‘informed estimate’ (read ‘blind guess’) on how events turned out. In some cases I have had to do this myself.

But there is one aspect of history which forever traps the unwary.

Hindsight.

We know that the Western Roman Empire ‘fell’ in the last quarter of the fifth century. It is difficult not to interpret events as leading to this downfall, even though the people at the time did not know the impact that their actions would have.

For example, Constantius III made a great mistake in 417/418/419 (I have seen all three dates used!) when he settled the Goths in Aquitaine. These Goths quickly formed their own kingdom and their actions helped to speed the Fall of the West. Obvious, isn’t it? But actually, when you look at the condition of the Empire, the condition of the Goths, and the weight of all historical evidence prior to 417 etc., Constantius’ decision to settle the Goths was completely understandable and should not have had the consequences it did. In other words, his actions are judged unfairly with a hindsight he did not have.

My next example might be a little controversial. Therefore, I need to put in a quick disclaimer. Please note that I do not support or in any way condone the actions of the dictator that is about to be discussed. This blog is about hindsight, nothing more, nothing less.

In 1941 Hitler made his greatest mistake of his entire rule. He invaded Russia. Less than four years later Germany was in ruins and the Russians were in control of Berlin. Obvious, isn’t it? Actually, no. German, Russian, British and US military commanders believed that any major attack by the German army would result in the collapse of Soviet Russia. In fact, I remember reading somewhere that British intelligence estimated Russian resistance as lasting for only two weeks in the face of a major invasion. It was clear to everybody at the time that Russia was doomed.

Except that the weather turned early that year, and Stalin quickly realised that he needed to change his modus operandi. Military commanders removed as part of the political purges were – where they were still alive! – re-instated and these capable leaders slowly halted the German attack. Even in 1942 many thought that the Germans would still win – their summer campaigns reached Stalingrad and almost captured the Russian oilfields in the Caucasus. It was a near-run thing.

Again, hindsight has resulted in an oversimplification of historical events, with only one possible outcome being foreseen. In reality this is absurd. People – whether major political leaders or just individuals making daily decisions – cannot make decisions based upon how they will be interpreted by later historians. If anybody attempts to take all possible results of their actions into account when making decisions, they are likely to refuse to act: all actions can result in catastrophic outcomes. Even simple ones, such as when to cross a road.

Constantius made the correct decision: all of the Empire’s previous experience demonstrate that this was the correct decision in the circumstances. Constantius did not know that he would die so young, nor that after his death a series of incompetent and/or child emperors would allow the Goths to remain ‘free’ and dominate the West.

Hitler made the correct military decision: all of the knowledge and experience of both the German and Russian military commanders clearly showed that the Germans would win easily. He did not know that the weather would break early or that Stalin would show unexpected military intelligence and reinstate key commanders when they were needed.

Both of these actions are judged in hindsight – and unfairly. How many other ‘accepted’ historical judgements are based on hindsight rather than a reasonable estimate of how events should unfold?

I feel that my blog entries should be divided into three:  Work, Guitars, and Gibbering On.  In this context, the following entry should be in the ‘Gibbering On’ section!

When a friend (thank you Leon @ love2design) offered to build me a website I immediately thought of all the benefits such a website would bring: communing with readers, reader feedback, clarification of ideas, and questions from readers concerning any or all of the books I have written.

However there are some downsides to having your own website, especially when you have your own e-mail embedded in the site. Obviously I am referring to Spam.

When the spambot/spam operator first found my e-mail address it/he/she made three assumptions. One was that I was male. Congratulations! You got that one right. The second was that I am a sad, lonely character something along the lines of Jeffery Albertson – ‘comic book guy’ from The Simpsons. As a result, I began to be bombarded with spam telling me of all the available women in my ‘zip-code’. They had undoubtedly seen the ‘.com’ at the end of my address and decided that I was an American. Three assumptions, two mistakes. Well, two out of three ain’t bad!

Obviously I didn’t click on any of these spam mails as I value my life – to say that Jo wouldn’t be happy is an understatement!  She’d kill me!

I don’t know about other people’s experience in these matters, but as soon as it became clear that I wasn’t interested in any of the ‘free and available women’ on offer the nature of the spam changed. I was clearly now an unemployed American male in desperate need of a job. I began to get spam telling me of all the job opportunities in my ‘zip-code’. Strangely, as I live a couple of thousand miles away from the United States, I didn’t respond to any of these either.

After several weeks of repeated job offers the message finally sank in and the nature of the spam changed again. If I was at home at all hours of the day -  a natural assumption as I use the internet a lot – and wasn’t an unemployed man looking for a woman, then I must be an overweight woman. I am now receiving spam telling me of American celebrities’ ways of losing weight and staying fit. As I am quite fit for my age and am English, strangely I haven’t clicked on any of these spam mails either.

Alongside the ‘healthy’ spam there is now a fourth type emerging.  If I’m not overweight but am still in the house a lot, maybe I need higher education to improve my job prospects?  Did you know that you can now get a Degree online?  No, honest – a spam title told me so!  Oh dear – another set of spam going unanswered.

The question I now ask myself is this:  once the spambot/operators have realised that I’m not responding to these e-mails either, what is going to be my new demographic? Possibly a single parent in need of childminding facilities as I look for work? Maybe I’ll revert to being a single bloke in need of ‘free’ women? (And yes I do question the word ‘free’ in this context.)

Whatever it is, the fact that I have felt no compulsion to click on any of these spam e-mails has convinced me that my life is pretty good.  Nice house, wonderful son, doing a job I enjoy (most of the time).  Oh, and Jo’s not bad either!  (I’ll suffer for that one!)  Life is sweet:  Literally, ‘My Cup Runneth over’.

No, seriously – my cup runneth over: I’ve just spilt coffee over my keyboard …..

Thankfully I was young enough – just – to keep an interest in new technology without being left behind. That doesn’t mean, however, that I have to like it. I have a computer, with a new (Christmas present!) Speech Recognition Program with which I am dictating this blog.

On the other hand, I am looked upon as being odd as I still do not own a mobile phone. Both my editor and my son’s school, who send texts to warn parents of problems at school, are probably very annoyed that they have to pick up a phone and speak, actually speak, to me.

Poor, poor them. My heart bleeds.

The difficulty faced by the historian writing when such new ‘marvels’ are taken for granted is that it is very easy to forget that in ancient times information could take months to arrive at its destination. We are so used to having news broadcast 24 hours a day that the concept that we might not receive news from the far side of the world for up to 6 months is disturbing.

Yet this was the reality for the inhabitants of the Roman Empire – both rich and poor. Furthermore, when news did arrive it could easily be garbled as well as being late. This helps to explain why both emperors and generals could either be slow to react or could make very strange decisions based on information that was inaccurate and/or out of date.

This was especially a problem when the Empire divided and the emperors of East and West were informed of events in the other half of the Empire. If the Emperor reacted too quickly they could easily make the wrong decision: too slowly and their decision could be too late to affect events.

I can accept that my own decision to not own a mobile phone can leave me in a similar position. For example, just before Christmas it was very cold in the mornings. One day, the icy roads resulted in Owen’s school sending a text message to all parents telling them that the school would be closed until 10 a.m. Well, not quite all.  Obviously, I did not receive this message and was very confused when I arrived at school at 8.45 with Owen and there were no other parents or children arriving. Thankfully, Owen was allowed to stay at the school until the school officially opened.

Maybe I should get a mobile phone. Yet when I see old-age pensioners wandering around the local supermarket with their mobiles seemingly glued to their ear I find my conviction that I do not want all and sundry phoning me at any time of day wherever I am being reinforced.

And before the story above starts you start asking questions about my quality as a father, it was Owen’s own choice to stay at school. Mind you, that he didn’t want to stay with me doesn’t say much about me being a good father either when I think about it …

The other was ‘Archaic Italy’.

I still remain fascinated by the multitude of ‘tribes’ that inhabited ancient Italy, whether it is the Samnites, the Volscii, the Etruscans, or any of the other tribes and coalitions of the period.  Their long battles with Rome – and each other – can be seen as one of the major ‘What Ifs’ of history.

A key one of these is the question of what would have happened if the Samnites had defeated the Romans in their last war?  Would we now be looking back with nostalgia on the decline and fall of the Samnite Empire?  Would Western history have been drastically altered by the differences inherent in an Empire not run by Rome but by another Italian political system?

Sadly, this – and the majority of other ‘What If’ scenarios – is a short-lived query.  It is possible to theorize many alternate histories based upon a single change of circumstance.  The problem is that history as a whole does not hinge on single events, whatever the writers of books entitled ‘Battles That Changed History’ may claim – although there may be exceptions to this rule (think of Napoleon and the 100 days:  what would have happened following a French victory at Waterloo?)

In the case of the ‘Samnite Empire’, it simply wouldn’t have happened.  As far as is known, the Samnites did not have the peculiar political system found in Rome and so the chance of them converting enemies to allies by the granting of political concessions would not have worked.  As a result, Samnite manpower would have been less than that of the Romans and therefore they would have been ill-equipped to fight the almost permanent series of wars that allowed the Romans to build their Empire.

This rule can also be seen on a personal level.  In my own case, if I had studied Archaic Italy at university I don’t think I would be sat here at my computer typing a blog related to my career as a writer of history.  Too much of my life and career has been founded upon the friendships forged at University:  different University, different friendships, different outcome.

Then again, in my second year studying Archaic Italy I may have won the Lottery and would now be sunning myself in my holiday villa in Tuscany, surrounded by fawning servants, eating expensive meals and hobnobbing with the local intelligentsia.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t have Jo and Owen.  I’m happy where I am.

But if anybody has a winning lottery ticket going spare ….

When I first start researching/writing there is the elation and excitement of a new project.

Over time this usually fades into the background as the ‘daily grind‘ of research, write, research, write, research, write slowly erodes the original excitement.

In case I am becoming complacent, there then follows the horror that is indexing the previous book, as well as the eye-crossing task of proofreading the previous text.  This is made worse by the fact that over the previous months the research for the new book has completely obliterated all memory of the last book.  But at last it is over and I then move to the next phase.

By two-thirds of the way through a book I begin to look forward to the end.

Although completion of the main text is greeted with the relief and satisfaction of a completed piece of work, it is followed by the sending out of chapters for friends/relatives/experts (usually a combination of at least two!) to read through and comment.

In some peoples’ worlds this is a time of relaxation and reflection.  Not for me:  I have to draw the maps and any diagrams that are needed, and then source the photos for the ‘plates’ section.  This is a long, hard slog that is usually either overlooked or dismissed by reviewers, but which I try to get right.  The end result is a fair amount of gruelling research and drawing.

Once the comments come back from readers, any changes need to be integrated into the main text.  This is a period of anticipation:  soon, the book will be finished and sent to the publisher.

Finally there is the relief as the text, plates and maps are sent to the publisher.  All that is needed now is a read-through of the proofs and the compilation of the dreaded index (see above!), but as these are months in the future, they don’t yet count.

After a week or two of rest, the writing bug begins to bite and there is the elation and excitement of researching/writing a new project.

I am currently in the ‘anticipation’ stage:  I am waiting for comments to be returned prior to updating and sending off the text of ‘Valentinian and Valens’.  Sadly for me, however, the ‘week or two of rest’ appears to be nowhere in sight.  As I type this I am taking a break from decorating (when will scientists develop the ‘self-decorating wall’?), which is apparently counting towards my ‘break’.

Not that it matters too much:  I am already feeling the elation and excitement of writing a new book, largely due to the book in question.  Tentatively titled ‘Patricians and Emperors:  The Last Days of Rome in the West‘, the book will – hopefully – take the story of the ‘Fall of the West’  from the assassination of Aetius to the death of Julius Nepos.

I already know that the nature of the research – fiddly bits of Chronicles and Church Histories etc – means that I will probably reach the ‘daily grind‘ sooner than with previous books, but I am prepared to put up with that as I have always been fascinated by the people who oversaw the last days of the Western Roman Empire.

Sadly, I can’t escape from the seemingly never-ending cycle into which I have stumbled:  once the writing bug has you in its jaws, there’s no escape.  I have already signed contracts to write two more books after ‘Patricians’.  There’s no hope for me, but you can evade the bug’s grasp:  never, ever write a book!

This brings me to my current task. Even as I sit typing I am taking a break from drawing the maps for the new book. As some of you may know, when I was at University one of my greatest ‘gripes’ about ancient history books was the lack of maps. It was often the case that a single map at the front or rear of a book had to cover the entire scope of a tome covering decades or even centuries. Needless to say, many place names were either so small as to be incomprehensible or too ‘insignificant’ to be accorded an entry at all. Many may have been ignored as it would be assumed that the reader would know their location.

I didn’t study ‘Geography’ at school – much less ancient geography – so didn’t know where the majority of these places were. How could a budding military historian follow the strategic decisions of the great military commanders when all they had to go on were a few unknown place names?

An early map, drawn for 'Belisarius: The Last Roman General'.

On reflection, maybe I’m being too harsh. In the world of publishing the need for a large number of accurate maps is acknowledged, but as such maps can be expensive to find and take long in the acquisition, by the time that the publication date for a book is on the horizon maps are pretty low on many publishers’ list of priorities.

I now know that I am lucky. When I first started writing ‘Belisarius’ all those years ago I moaned to my other half, Jo, about how I was going to get maps for the book. By a complete fluke, she saw a ‘Drawing Package’ going cheap and decided to buy it as a Birthday present – God Bless Her! Thanks to her inspirational present I now draw all of my own maps, a factor which means that I decide on all aspects of the map-making process, including style and which places to include. It also means that the maps are included with the main manuscript, making things a lot easier for my publishers – I hope!

My method involves on average at least one map for each chapter. I feel that with ‘V&V’ I may be taking this to new extremes: I am currently drawing maps 9 and 10 for inclusion in Chapter 4. Maybe this is too far, but I like to think that it will be worth it in the end.

As of yet I have had few requests to draw maps for other people. A notable exception is Victor Davis Hanson who requested the ‘redrawing’ of maps of Belisarius’ campaigns for his upcoming book “The Savior Generals”. It was three-four days of intense work but hopefully the end result will be available soon at all good book shops. He was also a very easy author to work with: simply a few changes and the job was done.

As it was a ‘redrawing’, the price was also low. With costs in mind, I assume that many are put off having detailed maps drawn to order because of the price. Although some maps can take days, with an appropriate rise in price, simple maps cost a lot less than detailed ones. Prices can be negotiated and no reasonable terms will be refused, but please remember that this is one of my few avenues of income as I struggle to ‘make it’ as a writer. In many respects surprise at the relatively high cost is understandable, and is the main reason why I wanted to draw my own. In addition there was the problem of having a third party who may have little knowledge of the Ancient World drawing maps for me, with the chance that they could misinterpret my instructions, a bit of a problem early in the process but a potential crisis if the book is due for publication and the publisher is still waiting for ‘corrected’ maps.

Needless to say, I take great pains to establish the location of as many places as possible within my own work. If there are any places I can’t find, I work out from the text roughly where they were and then place the appropriate symbol with a question mark to indicate that this is a guess. But what I am most happy about is the style. When I first started I looked at all of the available styles, from 3D to abstract and back again. I then decided that although many of these maps looked stunning, simplicity was the key. Which is why my maps tend to be plain grey-scale with as little topographical information as possible so that the reader can find the place with ease – although when necessary, such as when the route of campaigns are dictated by mountainous terrain, contour lines and shading are included.

I feel I must be getting something right, as so far I have had no complaints about the maps in any reviews! Hmmm … now I’ve said that, watch the complaints begin!

I think that in this area I might be classed as ‘odd’ by the majority of historians. The late, great AHM Jones apparently had a superb memory and was able to recall quotes and references without having to look them up. I have seen other historians with the ability to stand in front of a crowded lecture theatre and impart knowledge without the aid of a lengthy set of notes to help them. I also know of other writers who are able to remember roughly where they read a vital piece of information and can quickly find the necessary reference. These people can read through a vast amount of information and then recall enough of that material to be able to write a good narrative including most, if not all, of the relevant information.

If you know one of these people please give them a good kick from me: I hate them with a passion they can only imagine!

I do not have their ability: my memory is appalling and I have been known to forget even the most vital details at the wrong time. Anybody who knows me well will tell you that if I remember a birthday, it’s only because Jo or Owen have reminded me.

Due to my lack of memory I have to research in very small segments prior to writing. In some respects this may be a great advantage. The period of history which I write about – the Later Roman Empire, Late Antiquity, The Fall of Rome, call it what you will – is fragmented and is not very well understood in detail. As a result, it is common for historians to write ‘overviews’ of the period: an attempt to write a ‘chronological narrative’ is fraught with pitfalls, not least the fact that very few events are well-documented and as a result the chronology itself is ‘floating’, with very few known and secure dates on which to build an account.

Due to my lack of memory I tend to focus on events in a small period for individual chapters, conducting my research on a small scale and aiming to gather every minute scrap of information from the poor surviving sources. Often these chapters cover only a single year. The advantage with this method is that it highlights areas where the ‘accepted’ chronology cannot possibly be accurate, for example when an emperor is supposed to be in Antioch two weeks before he is known to have been in Britain: ancient methods of transport are not capable of achieving such feats!

(Before you start looking, that example is fictitious and has been invented to emphasise the impact of close chronological analysis: please don’t try to link it with actual events!)

However, due to my pathetic memory the method can cause problems. One of these can be best illustrated by a common example. When I research I – obviously – try to read every pertinent book, article, web-page, etc that I can lay my hands on. I then write up the relevant chapter. Once happy, I go on to read for the next chapter. As I am reading for the new chapter I see a piece of information, often a single, throwaway line that can support a previously-written theory. Obviously, I then go back to the previous chapter in order to integrate this new insight at the relevant place.

Most of the time I am able to insert the information easily, before reverting to reading for the later chapter. I was reading a book recently when I came across such a paragraph and thought to myself: “ Aha! This is brilliant. I wish I’d thought of that! I’ll have to put that in!!” On attempting to insert the information in the earlier chapter I was dismayed to see that it was already in place – including the correct reference to the source! This isn’t the first time this has happened either.

To say that this is frustrating is an understatement.

My poor memory may also account for the fact that some reviewers have complained about the ‘repetitive’ nature of some of the work. Not the facts being presented, but sometimes I (apparently) repeat the same terminology, even within a single paragraph. I apologise. I do my best, but if my memory is playing up I won’t have been able to link the two phrases together and so haven’t ‘corrected’ the relevant sections.

No doubt any ‘memory experts’ reading this will have already reached a diagnosis of my problem and will know of ways to improve matters. If you are one of these people, please get in touch! I often wish that I had a better memory: it would help me so much in my work.

On the other hand, my poor memory allows me to forget those terrible days when Burnley FC lose: an all-too-common occurrence this season! Maybe I should wish for a ‘selective’ memory, where I can remember work-related information but forget the football results? Possibly, but knowing my luck I would forget which way round I wanted it and so still have the poor memory for work and have a perfect memory of all the disappointing football results!

In the meantime, I am writing the closing chapters of  ‘Valentinian and Valens’ and hope to hand the manuscript in sooner rather than later.  With any luck, this will not face the same delays as ‘Aetius’!

The Switch

Anorak alert:  this post is about guitars:  if you’re not interested, please don’t read!

Above is the latest product of my deranged imagination:  The Switch.  (All of my guitars have nicknames, so that Jo can moan about them individually!)

As you can see, it’s a ‘Frankenstrat’ with the traditional ‘Strat’ shape, but a different pickup layout, courtesy of Warmoth – the scratchplate – and Warman  – especially the bridge pickup.

This guitar has P90s in the neck and middle position.  These are wired to the 5-way switch as normal – but with the addition of a separate on/off switch for the neck pickup, meaning that the pickup can be switched on whatever position the lever switch is in.  In the picture below the on/off switch is ‘between’ the volume and tone knobs.

The bridge pickup is a “Warman G-rail”, and I’ll leave the description to Warman’s ebay page:

“This is a standard humbucker-sized unit that will fit in place of any humbucker. It has two coils wound as hot rails, with a strong ceramic magnet powering these that lifts the treble whilst retaining all the power, bass and mids. Each of the coils of the rail has its own individual output wires, so it is in effect a fully-fledged twin rail humbucker in its own right. Mounted on the same chassis is another coil wound with 6 individual alnico magnets, again with its own output wires so we’re looking at three coils and six output wires plus the shield.”

As you can imagine, the possibilities for complicated wiring are huge – and are available via the three switches above the volume knob.  One switches the single coil from in-phase to out-of-phase:  one switches the rail humbuckers between in-phase, single coil, and out-of-phase: and the final switch is a selector, to switch between; the single-coil ouput only; the humbucker ouput only; or combine the single coil with the humbucker output.  Thankfully, I didn’t have to figure this all out for myself – the pickup wiring diagram is available from the Warman site.

I’m not really any good at Maths, but have been assured that the G-rail by itself has 10 pickup options!

I think – but remember I’m a historian, not a mathematician! – that when combined with the two P90s – including the ability to switch on the neck pickup independently – this gives a total of 33 different pickup options!!

Not bad, especially for somebody still trying to settle on what tone he wants!  Now all I have to do is learn to play the thing!!