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...And welcome back to ANN's Reading Matters. Our final book tonight is the "The Battle of Dershid: Last charge of the giants." by Erik Eriksen. As the Global War still rages around us, it is clearly far too early to make historical judgements about its course so far. So Eriksen's book must surely be seen as more journalism than history. Still, it is the first book to cover a decisive battle from the first phase of the war.

The author is at his best when narrating the battle and the maneuvers leading up to it. His clear crisp prose powerfully brings to life such dramatic moments as Frosty the Son of Niefel storming forward to turn the tide of battle, or the tragic failure of the Niefel Giants as they fell one by one trying to break the Ulmish line, or the cool heroism of Ulm's Master Smiths as they fired magma bolt after magma bolt into the giants; even as a pack of winter wolves broke into their rear and rampaged amongst them.

Eriksen's analysis is more controversial. He is surely right to suggest that Dershid was a Pyrhic victory for Jotunheim. But his speculation that the pursuit that led to the battle was the result of an Ulmish intelligence failure is unsubstantiated, and his assertion that the failure of the Niefels at the gates of Ulm and their fall at Dershid were the result of C'tis War Syndrome and widespread Gingerbread addiction is hotly denied by the Jotun temple authorities. Still, this is a well written and thought-provoking work that will appeal both to the amateur militatry historian and the avaerage giant in the street.

That's all we have time for tonight. Next week in Reading Matters we'll be looking at "Wot you lookin' at? The rise and fall of the one-eyed Pretender", "Give Peace a Chance: A one-page Enyclopedia of Pangaean war heroes" and "Lizards in the mist", the new best-seller from C'tis. Until then, good night.

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