Battle Victor

The first time I watched "Time Team" on tv, I thought I recognised the style used in the pencil sketches - looks just like Victor Ambrus, later I checked the credits - yep Victor G. Ambrus.

I fell in love with Victor's work when reading childrens books (many of them Australian) - all the Nan Chauncy's, Elyne Mitchell's "Silver Brumby" books, Ronald Welch, K.M. Peyton's "Flambards" series, Rosemary Sutcliff ... even his picture book version of "Dracula".

The paintings and drawings of Victor  Ambrus are familiar to several generations. He has illustrated over 300 books on classical and historical subjects in his own instantly recognisable style.Now there is "Battlefield panoramas : from the siege of Troy to D-Day". Over the years Victor has amassed what amounts to a visual record of the entire history of warfare, brought together here in one volume.

A few simple lines create a sketch

With a concise text explaining the background of each battle scene, "Battlefield panorama" is an art book.

Beginning with the siege of Troy, there's Caesar's invasion of Britain, the Viking raid of Lindisfarne, the Battle of Hastings, the bowmen at Agincourt, the Battle of Sedgemoor, the storming of the Bastille, Trafalgar and Waterloo, The Franco-Prussian War, the British Expeditionary Force in the First World War, the Normandy Landings, and the 1956 Hungarian Uprising (this takes on particular power and resonance when you know that Victor was actually there).

The Siege of Athlone in 1691

 Victor was born in Budapest in 1935. He studied at the Hungarian Academy of Fine Art, then fled the invasion, and arrived at the Royal College of Art in London. He has won the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal - twice, with 3 books.

Classic Victor - the Iceni Uprising

The Battle of Trafalgar

He has been part of the Time Team as its reconstruction artist for many years. Tony Robinson (the presenter and world's best audio book narrator) describes him as 'an archaeological alchemist - he can transform a few stones and bits of pot into a vivid world of living, breathing people'.