Chats on Military Curios

A richly illustrated tour of martial oddities, this work opens a trove of objects that once rode the battlefields and mail routes of Europe and beyond. Bronze medallions bearing the likeness of Wellington, medals from the Crimean War, tiny pistol actions and a fluttering horse amulet sit alongside postcards from soldiers in South Africa and France, each accompanied by concise histories that reveal how the items were used and why they mattered to their owners.

Beyond the brass and steel, the book includes curious papers—Cromwell’s letter announcing Naseby, a Napoleon‑III autograph, and printed broadsides that once announced a soldier’s fate. Coins from the Great Rebellion, French revolutionary notes, and even prison‑carved bone dominoes add a domestic flavor to the martial narrative. Together, the images and commentary give listeners a vivid sense of how personal keepsakes intersected with the larger sweep of military history.