The firm of Brassey’s has long been known for books on the technical aspects of war, but has only recently ventured into the field of historical uniforms. Books on this subject are often characterized by illustrations which obviously display the fruits of much research, but without specifying exactly which sources have been used. Brassey’s History of Uniforms, however, provides the sort of footnotes which might be expected in a scholarly work, and this justifies the publishers’ decision to market it as a reference series.
This latest volume concerns a war not very well known in this country, but of great importance to the USA which, having provoked Mexico into war, ended by depriving her of nearly half her territory, induding New Mexico and California. The text explains the course of the war before entering on the main topic. Details of the uniforms have been derived from several sources: official regulations (not always obeyed); surviving items of uniform (surprisingly numerous); contemporary illustrations (but, in one case, could an artist who depicted a battle which never took place be relied on to represent uniforms accurately?); and, for probably the first time in war, photographs, some even taken on location. Such sources seem to be less informative for the Mexicans, as only a quarter of the book is devoted to them. Significantly, they appear to have retained the sort of elaborate dress uniforms which would not have been out of place at Waterloo, whereas the Americans, anticipating future trends, normally abandoned them for the less ornate, but much more practicable, fatigue uniforms. This was true even of their commander, General Scott, who thus belied his nickname of “Old Fuss and Feathers”. None of the victorious troops were to know that within another 15 years, many of them would be fighting one another in the Civil War.
The illustrations so vital to a book of this nature, whether contemporary photographs or modern artists’ reconstructions, are of high quality, assisted by the large format and the thorough use of colour. (However, some of the drawings of badges of rank are printed in the wrong order). To round the book off, there are a bibliography, a short index, and lists of suppliers of relevant books, models, and even of hirers of replica uniforms for anyone wishing to re‐enact the war. To judge by this example, Brassey’s new series appears to live up to the good reputation of its publisher, and would justify its purchase by libraries with appropriate interests.
