British Naval Shipbuilding - The D K Brown Quintet book review

If, like me, you're a fan of historical wargaming, you may sometimes ask yourself why a particular nation ended up fielding the equipment it did. From the poor sod in a foxhole given a rifle of questionable value to a pilot flying the most cutting edge aircraft their nation's aerospace industry can produce (and still be of questionable value), there are reasons as to why what made it into service actually got there. After all, it can take years from initial idea to service entry and factors technological, political and financial will all have had an effect on what eventually enters service. 

This is even more evident when it comes to ships, where design and construction of a class of vessel can take decades and even a single ship can take a dozen years or longer (e.g. HMS Ark Royal, R09, ordered 1942, commissioned 1955. Although an outlier as war and technological innovations delayed construction, many recent equipment projects seem to think of a decade as just the planning stage...) So what does it take to design warships?

In the case of the Royal Navy, you have this quintet of tomes from D K Brown (along with George Moore in the final volume). Brown was a naval architect whose career peaked as Deputy Chief Naval Architect of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors by the time he retired in 1988. Before passing away in 2008, he wrote these five volumes covering ship construction for the Royal Navy from 1815 to 2002. The five titles in the series are as follows:

Before the Ironclad - Warship Design and Development 1815 to 1860

Warrior to Dreadnought - Warship Design and Development 1860 to 1905

The Grand Fleet - Warship Design and Development 1906 to 1922

Nelson to Vanguard - Warship Design and Development 1923 to 1945

Rebuilding the Royal Navy - Warship Design Since 1945

Each volume is well laid out and illustrated with plates, photographs, diagrams and illustrations. There are tables galore and, whilst it can get a little technical, the presentation and style of writing is clear enough to make even the most complicated of topics understandable to the layperson. The author's own knowledge of ship construction is very much to the fore and he does comment quite frequently with observations and asides to give additional depth to the main text. 

What is apparent when reading these books in order is the struggle those leading the Royal Navy had in ensuring that they had the best ships to complete the politically assigned tasks given them whilst also maintaining a superiority over potential enemies and not bankrupting the nation at the same time. The sheer amount of experimentation, especially in the period 1860 to 1900, betrays the image of a service bound to tradition (as in the Nelsonian manner). Indeed, there was a self-awareness that whilst the ships that entered service looked impressive, there was a growing and incessant belief that maybe, just maybe, they would not meet their own self-imposed standards in battle.

What Brown does is bring into focus the construction of ships (and boats after 1900, can't forget the submersibles) of all types. From the largest battleships to the dinkiest of escorts and miscellaneous craft, each gets a history, both technical and in the wider sense of operational requirement and use. That is not to say you'll get full service histories or class details. These books are strictly technically orientated. 

For me, the most interesting volumes are the fourth and fifth, covering the post First World War to the turn of the century. Volume four covers the build up of the fleet that fought in the Second World War and although the mythical ships of the 1920's and 30's merely get a mention, the pace of development of the ships that actually served is well covered. I am not entirely sure of his assertation that the Vanguard could have handled something like the Yamato but hey, he was a ship designer and I am just a mere wargamer. Besides, it would make an interesting battle for a Saturday afternoon... Volume five is where it really becomes interesting for me, as this was the period where money was really tight, technology was advancing faster than the construction programs could keep up, and there were paper designs galore for the Royal Navy. From the numerous carrier and cruiser projects that money would never have been made available for (never mind the cost of crewing them), to the fanciful ideas to replace the Type 42's (a bigger class, Type 43 with either double ended Sea Darts and a helicopter platform midships or an enhanced vessel with it's own flight of Sea Harriers!), there was much innovative thinking, just not a great deal of actual construction due to monetary and political considerations. Still what was built was enough to fulfil the political demands of the UK government, from the Falklands War to the Armilla patrol, the Gulf War and beyond. 

For wargamers, this quintet will provide not only understanding as to why your playing with the particular toys on the table you are but can also be used to provide a bit more verisimilitude to your games. After all, historical wargaming should include a little bit of history and you will find a great deal of that (from a technical point of view) here. It also helps hat the author adds some comparisons to foreign ships at various points.

As the volumes are clearly defined in chronological terms, wargamers have an easy choice to make so as to fit their period. Each volume is a superb reference on why specific ships were built for the Royal Navy. However, I feel that the collection should be read as a whole so you gain an understanding not only of the technological developments through the years but also the political and financial pressures that forced construction and service limitations on the Navy. 

Finding physical copies of these books was a bit of a chore, from Waterstones to wargames shows and even the Postscript book catalogue service. The price you'll pay will also vary. However, if you have a large screen tablet, you can often pick up some of these volumes on Kindle for just a few pounds. If you're a naval buff or wargamer (or both!), I heartily recommend you get your hands on these.

The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games - Book Review

Role-Playing Games have permeated popular culture since they hit the big time in the early 1970's. Computer Role-Playing Games have been around almost as long and in Bitmap Book's exemplary tome, The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games, you will journey through the rich history of the genre from it's earliest days in the mid-1970's to the cut-off point of this book, 2015. Within the 528 pages of this hefty and well made volume, you will find out just how much there is to cover. That much is evident by the message from the editor at the very beginning. Felipe Pepe has corralled 119 volunteers over a four year period to bring this examination to life and that, more than anything else, is a testament to the effort taken in chronicling the topic.

The introduction details the editor's journey with RPG's and why he wanted to complete this volume, followed by a brief explanation of the project (non-profit where all author earnings are sent to Vocacao, a Brazilian non-governmental organisation helping children and teenagers from poor areas gain education and employment) and a dedication/special thanks piece.

The list of contributors follows next, a brief bio and the initials used to identify them within each game review. The articles and guides section gives us, well, articles and guides (It's early in the morning and the coffee hasn't kicked in yet). There are some notes on how to use the book (it can be read linearly but some might not wish to to that), an FAQ on formats, manuals and the like, "What is an Old-School RPG", in which the contributor ponders the question yet doesn't really answer it, though still making several points very well. There is then a guide to ports (not the nautical kind) where several games have their various versions compared. Given the breadth of systems available back in the 1980's and 90's (and changing PC standards), these differences can be quite extreme for what should ostensibly be the same game. "Unplayable" is a wonderful piece about how modern-day players can approach older games from the point of view of teaching. This highlights the truth behind "the past is foreign country, they do things differently there" in that the methods of treating players and even the very play style of older titles will put modern-day gamers off due to changes in approach and expectations. A good example for me would be playing Goldeneye 007 on original N64 hardware compared to the XBLA re-master - the N64 controller was a good match for the title back in the late 90's but cannot hold a stick (it's a better analogy than candle, trust me) to twin analogue stick controls of the 21st century (see, told you). The original control set up is clunky and just not that nice to play (even though it was back then because we knew little better) as the twin stick approach has become the standard and twenty plus years of muscle memory tells its own tale. 

Cartography is a lost skill but an essential one for a lot of older CRPG's. It is something well covered by Scorpia in her article. I mean, imagine asking a younger gamer today to have a pencil, sheets of graph paper and an eraser to hand when playing a game, rather than just pressing a button and displaying a map??? The penultimate article is entitled "From Prussia with love - the origin of RPG's" and I can see what the author did there, detailing the beginnings of wargaming with Kriegsspiel. It's a short history, one page on wargaming, a second on the creation of fantasy games in the 1970's with Chainmail and then Dungeons and Dragons, where the focus was on individual players rather than units. 

Finally, we have PLATO (Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operations - yes, a typically 1960's title for a computer system), which was a mainframe system using terminals for user access that saw some of the earliest CRPG's ever created played by people around the world. This was an eye-opener for me as whilst I had seen reference to PLATO in previous books/articles, I'd never seen so much about the system in one place. This article does mention a book detailing PLATO and that's now on my Kindle.

The core of the book then, are the reviews sections, each neatly divided into five year blocks, 1975-79, 1980-84 and so on until the final block, 2010 to 2014, that actually continues into 2015. You rebellious scamps! Each period gets a brief introduction, notable trends are listed as well as a timeline of major tech/gaming events. The reviews that follow are either one or two pages in length where each title is discussed with regards to playing style, presentation and... foibles. Yep, some of the design choices in these games come across as just plain nasty to the player (I would say unfriendly but insta-death just for the sake of it is just nasty. But since that's how they roll (see what I did there..., forewarned is forearmed. Four armed would make that a Girallon - that one is for all you Forgotten Realms fans out there...). Some include developer quotes, little factoids and box outs detailing mods and patches that add or improve content to existing games. You also get screenshots and tips on playing the titles on modern day PC's. Each review is well written and it helps that there were so many contributors as the different writing styles and approaches make each entry feel fresh and unique. It also helps that each writer is passionate about the game they are covering, whether the game be good or bad. You may disagree with the points of view but it has to be said that each review more than makes its point and they really combine to make this book the reference on CRPG's par excellence. One thing to note: the book's title has Computer in it. This means that unless your favourite console RPG got a PC port, it ain't appearing in here. 

The back end of the book has two final sections. "Further Adventures" covers the rise of Japanese RPG's (don't worry, Bitmap have a book covering solely that topic out now, though they are waiting for re-stock at present), fan translations of titles that never officially made it to the west, and a look at titles that were never released. "Lists and Further Reading" gives you a series of "Best of" lists from various sources dating from 2014 to 2017, editors picks for 35 iconic games and 35 hidden gems, and then a further reading list for books and websites where you can learn more about CRPG's. I own a few of those books already but I know a couple more will be going on the Wishlist as well. 

The CRPG Book: A Guide to Computer Role-Playing Games is another brilliant Bitmap Books publication and one that any fan of role-playing games should have on their bookshelves. The physical quality of the book is more than matched by the content and maybe, just maybe, reading this will tempt you to go back and try some classic (and not so classic) CRPG's.

You can find out more about this title on Bitmap Books' website here. 

Sega Mania - Magazine Review

Sega Mania joins the growing list of fan-made printed magazines that continue to flourish in the digital age. Inspired (i.e. kicked up the arse to actually follow an idea - their words, not mine) by the successful launch of Amiga Addict, Sega Mania aims to replicate the tone and feel of the UK Sega magazine market of the 1990's. Oh, it's a modern day publication alright, and one that is aimed at those who either lived through the halcyon era of  "Dreamcasts and Game Gears, and sixteen bit consoles" (these were a few of my favourite things...) or are modern day enthusiasts who hark back to those simpler times. I mention Dreamcast but as the team have chosen a chronological order and are starting in 1990, it'll be a few issues yet before we start talking of Seaman...

Public disclosure first (not that Madam, I am a (semi) respectable software tester!): I received this copy free of charge. There was a shout out saying they had copies for review. I asked and, a few days later, received a very serious looking brown envelope. The views you are about to read are my own and have not been prepared or cleared by anyone from Sega Mania.

With that out of the way, what do you get for the cover price of £4.99? 56 pages (including covers) of high quality stock and great colour reproduction. Text is well spaced and there is a clean look about the design. Adverts are present but not intrusively so.

After the obligatory welcome note from the Editor, we get a history of the founding of the magazine, what inspired it and why it has ended up in reader's hands now. There's a brief retrospection on the year 1990 (31 years ago, FML!); The Asylum, a page each for introduction/commentary from the other two writers of the magazine that is funny and makes some very valid points; a news section covering both old and new news - that Master System Table is immense!; and one modern day review, Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX for the PS4. Now hold on. Put the pint glass down and think about this. Yes, it's a Sony console and this is a Sega magazine, but hey, it's still a Sega title. 

The Review Zone comes next and I like what they have done here. For each review, they have added the most recently available price for that title on eBay. If I were interested in one of these games, I'd also check out my local retro games shop, Games Galaxy in Consett, about which I have talked before. Their prices are usually decent and they have a wide range of UK and import stock. The number of times I have nearly walked out of there with a PC Engine... Sorry, I digress. 

The reviews take up 18 pages and, whilst they aren't scored, you are left in no doubt as to whether or not the game is worth playing. The following games, all released in Europe in 1990, are reviewed with the format listed in brackets:

Chase HQ (Master System)

Columns (Mega Drive)

Strider (Mega Drive)

Golden Axe (Master System/Mega Drive)

Gauntlet (Master System)

Super Hang-on (Mega Drive)

World Cup Italia '90 (Master System/Mega Drive)

Revenge of Shinobi (Mega Drive)

Submarine Attack (Master System) - a superbly honest review about a game so difficult, you can't get past the first level. I know this because I tried myself (First rule of emulation club is that no-one talks about emulation club... well, second rule actually, first rule is the VPN...).

Paper Boy (Master System) - this is in black and white because they thought it looked cool. It does!

Ghouls N Ghosts (Mega Drive)

Super Thunder Blade (Mega Drive)

Alex Kidd in The Enchanted Castle/Shinobi World (Mega Drive/Master System)

ESWAT (Mega Drive)

Space Harrier II (Mega Drive)

Following the reviews is the Music Zone, featuring a pair of cracking interviews - Duett and (local lads) Kobra Force. I admit, I had not heard of either of these before but each interview contains details of their respective Bandcamp pages and both are well worth listening to. 

Next up is the Capitalism Zone, which looks at a couple of books: Console Wars by Blake Harris (tempted by it but the writing approach does put me off. Great review though) and The Games That Weren't (already got it and reviewed here); the Retro-Bit Official Sega 6-button Mega Drive Arcade Pad (also tempting) and a note on Panini Super Play cards, one of which arrived with the magazine(!). Nineties fashion gets a page and a half, or at least, examples of modern-day retro clothing  - and boy, do I remember slap bands!

Movie Zone is two pages of film reviews, covering The Hunt For Red October (I reviewed the SNES tie-in for RVG here), Robocop 2, Days of Thunder and Darkman. I can only find fault with one thing here (and this may, as per the note that came with the mag, have been fixed as they were aware of typos and formatting issues which have been corrected for the paying customer print run). In The Hunt For Red October, Tim Curry played the Medical Officer of the boat, not the Political Officer. That was Peter Firth who (SPOILERS) Ramius kills shortly after leaving port. I know, I am a pedant, but that is one of my all time favourite films. Sorry...

The last few pages of the mag are taken up by a hilarious Ian Beale comment piece (yes, he's not real, but the point he makes is extremely valid!), a catalogue page from Index (remember them???) featuring all that lovely Sega goodness, and a letters page. Much like the style of magazines past they wish to celebrate, these are very funny, as are the replies. 

And it's that approach that defines what Sega Mania is. It's a hoot, a genuinely hilarious magazine that offers nothing but love and respect for all things Sega. I chuckled at the irreverent comments, the direct asides to the reader and the overall tone. They address the reader as one of their own, bringing back memories how the videogames magazine that existed back when I was a teenager treat the reader. 

The first issue of Sega Mania is brilliant. It's funny, more than a tad silly but, most importantly, a damn good read. You can check out their website here, where you can buy the first issue either in print or as a download. It's definitely worth the £4.99 cover price and I'll certainly be buying the next issue when it's released. Great work all round!

Was That Film Really That Bad???: The Three Musketeers (2011)

If you are of a certain vintage then any mention of The Three Musketeers will bring back immediate memoirs of Richard Lester's 1970's two-part adaptation that, in your scribe's humble opinion, remain two of the funniest, period and best cast films of all time. That has not stopped there being multiple adaptations over the years and in 2011, Paul W.S Anderson (yes, Wor Paul again), had a go at bringing the story to the silver screen for modern audiences whilst adding a clock-punk aesthetic. Now hold on, bonny people! You might presume this film is shite because Wor Paul directed and produced this but, since we are not jumping to conclusions, we must be fair and ask: was that film really that bad???

Plot wise and the core story is pretty much faithful to the book - young Gascon, d'Artagnan (Logan Lerman), heads to Paris to join the Musketeers, gets into a fight with the famous trio (Matthew Macfayden as Athos, Ray Stevenson as Porthos and Luke Evans as Aramis), then gets dragged along to stop a plot to embarrass the ineffectual King and Queen (Freddie Fox and Juno Temple) by making it look like she's schtupping the Duke of Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) and cause a war with England. Along the way, there is treachery from Milady de Winter (Milla Jovovich), sword fights with Rochefort (Mads Mikkelsen) and double dealing by Cardinal Richelieu (Christophe Waltz). By the end of the film, d'Artagnan is a Musketeer and got the girl (lady in waiting, Constance, played by Gabriella Wilde), the famous trio have re-discovered their swagger and the Cardinal's plan has been foiled. See, easy peasy. Except this is Wor Paul and, well, yes...

This intro is cool, there's no denying that.

As I said before, there are clock-punk elements, so this takes the film straight into science fiction territory. There are literal "airships", diving suits and complicated clockwork gadgets. This is not your traditional Musketeer film. Having said that, this does work in the film's favour, at least at the beginning.

Three Men and a (Mi)Lady.

You see, the introduction to the famous trio is a heist in Venice to steal some of DaVinci's drawings for a war machine. The Musketeers are effectively secret agents and their are brought to the screen quite well. It's a fun premise and, when the treachery happens, sets up the familiar "down on their luck" narrative. It also leads to a lovely exposition drop in the form of an animated flyby over France with little wargaming style figures and a voice over by Macfayden. No, seriously, this is a cool intro and works very well, not something I would usually say about an exposition drop but hey, do it with a sense of style and it'll work. The thing is, the clock-punk theme is good as long as it's believable. That sense of reality soon disappears and this film has more problems that just that.

His name is "Buck" and he likes to f...ormulate plans against France.

First up, the direction. Ever see a movie when people do stupidly long jumps and survive almost certain death just "because". Yep, just like a videogame movie, the same thing happens here. From the long floor slide Milady manages in Venice, to d'Atagnan's leap from the Tower of London to, once again, Milady's acrobatics in a second heist and her survival from that jump into the Channel, this film is full of "fuck off!" moments that make you want to shout at the screen. That includes Aramis' descent at the start of the film that would have ended up with his ankles around his earlobes if he'd done that in real life. 

"Action" scene one for Ms Jovovich.

The silliness doesn't end there though. Shortly after that landing, he deals with the troops on the gondola, gets the key he wants off the rich dude who was woo-ing a lady on said gondola, kicks dude off and then proceeds to have a bit of nookie with said lady. But in the time between dunking the dude and settling with the lady (so about five seconds), all of the blokes he's put in the water have disappeared. It's brain dead storytelling to just make something look cool. Which of course, brings me to the "airships".

Literal Air-Ships... and iffy CGI.

This is where The Three Musketeers not only jumps the shark, it ties an air bag to it to act as fighter escort to the silliest clock-punk part of the film. DaVinci invented flying ships, so naturally England and France get to build their own versions and we see them fight in the skies. Except they fight like sailing ships, blowing sodding great big chunks of wood out each other, rather than, as they do later on, hit the obvious and blatantly unprotected air bag that's keeping them hundreds of feet off the ground. This does, however, mean that we get exploding wood and dramatic explosions, but still, it's a stretch too far. I should also point out that the CGI used for these ships, as well as the city shots and (shudder) water can vary from almost decent to Fisher Price my-first-CGI level. The water effects in Venice are terrible and the shimmering in the city shots is distracting on the DVD version. Blu-Ray is better, but that only highlights how dodgy the really bad imagery is.

This just doesn't look "right".

But what about the cast you ask? 

The bit parts are decently done though again there are strange decisions abound. Dexter Fletcher has a cameo as d'Artagnan's father but plays it with an American accent(!), Bloom is suitably pantomime-like, all slimy and preening as Buckingham (but what the actual fuck is going on with that hair???), and both Mikkelsen and Waltz practically twirl their moustaches as the villains of the piece. Sadly, both are underused and their talents wasted, Waltz in particular. You know he can be mesmerising (Inglorious Basterds, Django Unchained - no surprises there, Tarantino directed both of those), yet here he is flat and, dare I say it, bored. Fox and Temple do what they can as the King and Queen, though that particular sub-plot is badly handled and almost non-existent, which is something I wish could also be said of the one cast member who has not yet been named...

Waltz demonstrating the sleep-walking school of acting.

James-fucking-Corden. Before the flaming torches and pitchforks come out, yes, he can be good at some things (but you'll need to convince me there), but in this film, he fucking destroys the scenes he is in. There is no acting as such, and his delivery is tone deaf. Unfunny and with a maniacal laugh that will grate your cerebral cortex, the only vaguely amusing scene he is in is when he gets shat upon by birds. That, however, is too late and he has already dumped mightily on this film. 

FUCK OFF!

At least we have four charismatic leads though. Well, yes, if they actually had much to do. Lerman is good value but doesn't have the screen presence of Macfayden, Stevenson and Evans and it shows. Macfayden is the highlight of the trio and plays it pitch perfectly. As Porthos, Stevenson gives it great gusto but his character (admittedly like most of them on-screen) is broad but shallow. It's a shame as he is a cracking actor and is capable of handling much more than he's given here. At least he gets to say something, as Evans sinks into the background and is left behind in a lot of scenes. It's like the scriptwriters didn't know who to create a group dynamic with three, later four, characters. 

Literally, what the actual fu...!

But then, this isn't really a Three Musketeers film. Nope. This is where Wor Paul stamps his size fifteen DIRECTOR boots on the film. Because his wife plays Milady and she gets almost equal screen time as the Musketeers. In fact, I am certain she has more lines than Stevenson and Evans combined. That Bond-like opening in Venice - after the guys are introduced in a cool and effective manner, she gets her long, slow motion floor sliding with crossbows firing over her head bit. If that wasn't enough, the extended necklace theft in the mid-section of the film has her slow-motioning several guards and another "fuck-off" moment where she jumps, spins and twirls through a complex mesh of razor wire. These feel straight out of a Resident Evil film and they really do not suit this one. It takes away from the central story of d'Artagnan and the Musketeers. 

Another action scene for Ms Jovovich.

I get why this was done, and it wasn't just to pander to the Director and his wife, but when your film is called The Three Musketeers, try and keep it about them (and d'Artagnan, obviously). There is some genuinely funny banter between the quartet and it shows promise, but not tied to the overly CGI'd mess that this film becomes. The depiction of the Tower of London looks half finished and the scene where Buckingham visits the King and we see an airship for the first time... (sobs quietly in the corner for a few minutes). And yet, there is promise, with little nods to the Lester films like background funnies (a footman being hit by a pole (with suitable "donk" sound effect) and then falling in the fountain). There is some thought in here, as well as warmth and whimsy, but it is drowned out by vapid and ridiculous approach that mirrors the way Wor Paul had with videogame movies. Credit should be given to the music though - there is a playful joyousness about the general theme which makes you wonder if maybe they should have set the tone of the movie to the same level as the music.

It looks worse in motion, if such a thing were possible.

The Three Musketeers was a $75m bet that took back $135m at the box office. Not a bomb, by any means, but not a success either. You can see where this could have worked, but they created a mish-mash of styles that looks both brilliant (the basic clock-punk aesthetic works, the filming locations and the frankly superb costumes) and cheap (pretty much anything with CGI). It's a terrible shame as I quite liked this when it first came out. As time has passed, its flaws are more than obvious (fucking Corden) and whilst it ends baiting the audience for a sequel, that obviously never happened. If it had, I would like to have seen more of the quartet, less Milady, much less Planchet and maybe a bit more fun. As it stands, this is a curio, more miss than hit, but there are snippets to enjoy, so not really that bad.

The Computers That Made Britain - Book Review

The Computers That Made Britain is the work of Tim Danton, current editor-in-chief of PC Pro, the last surviving member of the UK's once titanic trio of monthly computer magazines (Personal Computer World and Computer Shopper have sadly departed this mortal coil). In this tome, Danton details a curated list of 19 home computers that defined what it was to be a personal computer user in the 1980's. 

Published by Raspberry Pi Press, this is a no-frills book. The quality of the cover and binding is high but the stock used is straightforward paper - the only pictures in the book are those of each machine preceding its entry. This is not a criticism. It not only keeps the price to a very reasonable amount (£12 including postage direct from Raspberry Pi Publishing) but it also defines the purpose of the book. This was written to tell the tales behind each of these computers, not act as a gallery of old hardware. If you want that, I heartily recommend finding a copy of Gordon Laing's Digital Retro, one of which I bought shortly after its 2004 release.

Each machine gets a well researched and very readable entry (the order of which is determined by its review publication date in Personal Computer World) detailing the background to the machine's creation, the story of its development and a history of how it fared once it hit the streets. Also included is a section on what came next, highlighting follow-on models in byte-sized snippets. Sources consulted for each entry are also included, ranging from interviews with key figures to articles from numerous contemporary newspaper and magazines. It is here that the sheer depth of research becomes apparent and is a reminder of the huge range of computing publications that existed during that time. At the back of the book, the author has also included a handy bibliography and pointers to online resources for magazines, newspapers and videos.

What did surprise me when reading this book was how many of the machines listed I have actually used or owned (though not necessarily at the time they were released). At some point in the last thirty five plus years, I have had the Spectrum ZX81, Commodore VIC-20, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC464, Commodore Amiga and Acorn Archimedes. I have also used, to varying degrees, a Research Machines 380Z (it was sitting unloved in a corner of one of the computer rooms at Tanfield Comp and Mr Butynski very kindly allowed me to play around with it from time to time), BBC Micro (schooled at a certain age), Apple Macintosh (OK, it was an SE, but still 1980's), Atari ST, Amstrad PCW8256 and an Acorn Archimedes (A410 to begin with in the school library, then A3000's - it gets a mention again as they were awesome machines and I am still a fan of RISC OS now). Twelve out of nineteen ain't bad, and I am not counting the PC as I have never used an original IBM 5150 - the earliest PC system I got to use was a Goldstar 286 in the very early 90's, though Derwentside College used a number of Amstrad PC1512HD's in their science labs.

It's true to say that nostalgia does skew your memories. Whilst I understand that from a purely logical point of view early computers might not have been as "user-friendly" as their modern day equivalents (though that is a subject of debate), it is my humble opinion that modern computing is far less interesting. This book reminds me of what it was like back then, with a heavy dose of nostalgia of course, but also makes me lament as to how staid the general mainstream computing scene can be these days. It must be repeated, however, that this is purely my humble opinion.   

Anyhoo, The Computers That Made Britain is a wonderful introduction to the wild and wonderful state of computing and the industry itself forty years ago. Well written and highly informative, this should be on every computer fan's bookshelf. Hopefully, it will be successful enough to warrant a second volume where some of the eighty-odd other computers not selected by the Twitter poll that picked the 19 included here will get their chance in the sun.

You can buy the book direct from Raspberry Pi Press here and follow the author on Twitter here.