The
Marshal Vauban WebsiteThe
Marshal Vauban WebsiteMaintained by : Chris Jones of Altofts, Wakefield, U.K. © September 1997
This page last updated : 21 December 1997
Here I review new products & books which have come to my notice. I endeavour to offer an objective appraisal which identifies for the visitor whether the book/product merits their consideration - either to purchase, obtain on library or inter-library loan, or otherwise to obtain sight of them.
If you would like to send me any item for review, I will be happy to consider it with a view to placing a review of it on this page. To discuss this you could e-mail me at chrisgjones@oocities.com.
I shall endeavour to reply without undue delay.
Windows & Mac compatible CD ROM produced by Fitzgerald Studio.Windows - 486/66 processor or better, 8MB of RAM, double speed CD-ROM, SVGA monitor & video card, sound card.
Macintosh - 68040 processor, system 7 or higher, 8 MB of RAM [12MB for PowerPC's], double speed CD-ROM drive, 256 color mode.
It is extremely pleasing to someone interested in military history, and the art of fortification in particular, to see that someone has taken the trouble to produce a CD ROM title concerned with this subject matter. The result, “The Fortress of Louisbourg, Gateway To The New World”, is a very worthwhile & informative publication which genuinely merits some praise. Given the dearth of documentary information available in the PC format concerning matters military, and combined with it’s very competitive price [about £35 with p&p], this title deserves to sell well among it’s target audience.
Louisbourg is on Canada’s Cape Breton Island - known as Isle Royale to the French. In it’s heydey, the early 18th century, it had been the third largest port on North America’s Atlantic seaboard after Boston & Philadelphia. As such it was important to both France’s expansion in the new world and it’s Atlantic fishing fleet. No wonder then that it was strongly fortified in accordance with the European model. Although built after Vauban’s death, the fortress design adhered to many of the principles established by the master fortress builder.
Louisbourg was twice besieged & captured by the English during the 18th century. And while it served as an important springboard for the campaign that led to the capture of Quebec, it’s conquerors subsequently dismantled the fortress & allowed the town to die. Eventually nothing of either remained save ground level ruins.
Then, in the 1960’s [a time of very high unemployment on Cape Breton Island] the go-ahead was given for a project long mooted by those interested in the site - the restoration of the town and it’s defences. Subsequent years have seen this project come to full fruition. A large portion of the town has been faithfully reconstructed along with the greater part of it’s fortress walls. This includes the massive barrack block which served as something of a citadel [a redan separates it from the town] and was, when built, the largest single building in the whole of North America!
The CD ROM title - both Mac & Windows PC compatible - charts the reconstruction of Louisbourg as well as detailing it’s colourful history. In addition to some Quicktime Video presentations on the course of the two sieges, and a 3-d flight through a representation of the fortress, there are numerous video clips of interviews with the researchers & archaeologists involved on the project. The necessary Quicktime software is available on the disc for download if you haven’t already got it. Also, the CD ROM presents over 500 photographs of the site, depicting the reconstructed fortress and the very many living history re-enactors who populate the place in summer, bringing it alive for those who visit. Fine use of multimedia properties are made by two panoramas on the CD - the viewer as able to visually track through 360 degrees. Particularly good, text wise, are the accounts of the soldiers’ living conditions and daily routine.
The CD ROM has a very straightforward and user-friendly interface and loads up very simply. There is no manual, but you really do not need one. The only thing lacking, on the organisational level that is, is a searchable index.
My criticism of the CD ROM is limited to one main area. While there is absolutely nothing on the CD which does not deserve to be there, I believe it is seriously lacking in hard detail about the fortress itself. I found I was craving to see substantially more as regards detailed images of the layout of the fortress. Yes, there are oodles of lovely photographs to look at, but there is no detailed analysis of fortress design. This is particularly disappointing given that there must be lots of detailed plans of the walls and fortress buildings available since they have all had to be re-built from scratch! There are only very brief descriptions of the outworks and insufficient indication of what they looked like or how they were laid out. Perhaps these are deficiencies that can be rectified in future editions?
However, despite the foregoing criticism I still treasure my copy of this CD ROM title. Nor would I doubt for a moment that it merits it’s very reasonable price-tag. So I have no hesitation in recommending it to visitors to this site. Anyway, don't take my word for it, visit the homepage of the publisher Fitzgerald Studio and view photos from the CD ROM. You can even download some brilliant Quicktime excerpts!
Overall Rating 80%
