The Buffed Historian

Wars are fought by kids. We'll let that sink in for a moment. In every recorded conflict, at least from the Napoleonic Wars, when detailed records of armies began being kept en masse, to today, soldiers serving in combat have averaged around twenty-two years of age. Our brains are not fully mature until we reach twenty-five, yet nations send their young off to war, with many still in their late teens. This is an uncomfortable truth society still struggles with, and in many ways has remained oblivious to for decades, due in no small part to the film industry.  Thanks to war films, mostly from the 1950s and 60s, there has been an ongoing misconception about the age of soldiers in war. Watch any war flick prior to 2001's Black Hawk Down , and every soldier, even the low-ranking privates, are depicted as mature men in their thirties and even forties. Occasionally, you would see a young "newbie" in his late teens to early twenties, but these were always the exception. In ...

  "Hero of his country, and a vagabond reviled...for King and Queen and Country. For glory, gold, and fame. Through history he marches, Redcoat is his name!"  - from Redcoat by Forlorn Hope The year is 1879. Queen Victoria has reigned for forty-two years over the vast British Empire, the largest the world has ever seen. The Romans, Mongols, Hans, Spanish, and our longest-running nemeses, the French, paled in comparison. Covering a quarter of the world and encompassing a third of its population, the sun never sets. Rule Britannia, Britannia rule the waves  ... is more than mere patriotic verse. Since Trafalgar, seventy-four years ago, when Admiral Lord Nelson gave his life completely thrashing the combined French and Spanish fleets, the Royal Navy has been undisputed master of the seas. The Union Flag flies on every continent. (Note: The term Union Jack only applies when the flag is flown from the jackstaff of a ship) Admittedly, there has been a recent spot of trouble i...

It's been requested I compile a reading list of all my works. And since some get written out of sequence, or a stand-alone gets wedged in the middle, or I had to insert one series between volumes of another (i.e.  The Great Jewish Revolt  and  Year of the Four Emperors ), below are listed all my works chronologically. Think of it as reading one giant history. Links are included for each book's Amazon page, though you can find them in multiple formats, including audio. *Note: I will update this page with every new release.   Soldier of Rome: The Legionary   Soldier of Rome: The Sacrovir Revolt Soldier of Rome: Heir to Rebellion Soldier of Rome: The Centurion Empire Betrayed: The Fall of Sejanus Soldier of Rome: Journey to Judea Soldier of Rome: The Last Campaign Empress of Death Slaves of Fear: A Land Unconquered Soldier of Rome: Rebellion in Judea Soldier of Rome: Vespasian's Fury Soldier of Rome: Reign of the Tyrants Soldier of Rome: Rise of the Flavians Soldie...