German Destroyers Robert Brown Pen & Sword, 2019 Reviewed by Neil Smith It must be annoying when the pretty girls get all the attention. I am talking about battleships and aircraft carriers, of course, but it is the destroyers that seem to do all the work so that the sisters can go to the
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Armies of the Late Roman Empire – AD 284-476 Gabriele Esposito Pen and Sword Military 2018 Reviewed by Bernd Biege Every once in a while a book comes along where I go “Wow!” – this is one of them. Mainly because of the splendid illustrations, scores of high quality colour photos of reenactors in
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North Korean Onslaught: UN stand at the Pusan Perimeter August - September 1950 Gerry van Tonder Pen & Sword Reviewed by Jim Graham North Korean Onslaught is the latest book in the Pen & Sword “Cold War 1945 - 1991” series, and is the second in their “Korean War” sub-series. Gerry van Tonder is
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Eyewitness Korea; the experience of British & American soldiers in the Korean War 1950 - 1953 James Goulty Pen & Sword Reviewed by Jim Graham Eyewitness Korea is a hardback of some 259 pages, the last 48 of which are the notes, bibliography and index which tells you straightaway the research which has gone
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Cold War 1945 – 1991, Angolan War of Liberation (Colonial – Communist Clash, 1961 – 1974) Al J Venter Pen & Sword Reviewed by Phillip Herbert “Cold War 1945 – 1991 Angolan War of Liberation (Colonial – Communist Clash, 1961 – 1974)” is the fourteenth book in the excellent Cold War series of books
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Useless Mouths – The British Army´s Battles in France after Dunkirk, May-June 1940 Peter Whelan Helion and Company Reviewed by Kevin Rolko The Battle of France and the Blitzkrieg in the west have been subjects of new hobby supplements for Bolt Action and Chain of Command in the recent past. Thus many a hobbyist´s focus
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Beyond Rome to the Alps – Across the Arno and Gothic Line 1944-1945 Johnathan Bracken Pen & Sword, 2018 Reviewed by Dom Sore Often when we think about the Italian Campaign we get up to Monte Cassino and the liberation of Rome and then stop. Even the liberation of Rome was overshadowed by some
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The Verdun Regiment Johnathan Bracken Pen & Sword, 2018 Reviewed by Neil Smith The Western Front in WWI is almost too big an experience to comprehend with any reasonable understanding, the killing too grinding in its manner, and often too horrific to digest in the comfort of our armchairs. But what about the
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Snipers at War – An Equipment and Operations History John Walter Greenhill Books 2017 Reviewed by Dom Sore Snipers are a strange bunch, sitting hidden for hours at a time, patiently waiting for that one opportunity to shoot before moving on to the next hide. Through history they have been revered and reviled, feared
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Italian Naval Camouflage of World War II Marco Ghiglino Seaforth Publishing 2018 Reviewed by John Laing The Germans of World War II were the very worst of allies. It is in large measure due to their vilification of the Italian war effort that we receive such a bad impression of the qualities of the
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Hero on the Western Front, discovering Alvin York’s WW1 battlefield Michael Kelly Frontline Books 2018 Reviewed by Jim Graham Hero on the Western Front is 343 pages long, including the index and footnotes, which are extensive. There are numerous illustrations, photos and maps which are generally very clear but the odd one is
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Images of War – SS Specialist Units in Combat Bob Carruthers Pen & Sword Military Reviewed by Images of War – SS Specialist Units in combat is the next book in this excellent series by Pen & Sword which covers military subjects ranging from the Crimean War to the Cold War and beyond,
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History of Terror: Russian Civil War Michael Foley Pen and Sword Military 2018 Reviewed by Jack Perry The Russian Civil War entry from the ‘History of Terror’ at its heart, is a decent introduction into the causes and events of the Russian Civil War. Replete with maps, timeline and black and white photography,
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Biafra Genocide – Nigeria: Bloodlettung and Amss Starvation, 1967-1970 Al J Venter Pen and Sword Military 2018 Reviewed by Bernd Biege People of a certain age will remember the archetypal “Biafra Children”, starved and dying infants, victims to a ruthless African war almost forgotten. In fact, few today could put a finger on a
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Refighting History: Volume 6: The Seven Years War Charles S. Grant Partizan Press Reviewed by Bruce Mulmat This impressive book is the sixth installment in Charles S. Grant’s series of books educating miniature wargamers on specific battles as well as a wealth of artwork and other information for the period. In the 167 pages
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Escaping Occupied Europe Hylke Faber, Pieter Stolk Pen & Sword History Reviewed by Jack Perry ‘’Escaping Occupied Europe’’ is the fascinating, often humorous (and very candid) tale of one Dutch student’s odyssey across a Europe under nazi-occupation as he, like many of his fellow resistance members escaped certain death
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Hitler's Brandenburgers: The third Reich's Elite Special Forces Lawrence Paterson Greenhill Books, 2018 Reviewed by Kevin Rolco Among Second World War miniature wargamers all around the world German elite units in general and the infamous Brandenburgers in particular are very popular subjects. Yet comprehensive English language unit histories are scarce. Therefore, Lawrence Paterson´s new
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Total Onslaught – War and Revolution in Southern Africa since 1945 Paul Moorcraft Pen and Sword Military 2018 Reviewed by Dom Sore Southern Africa has had as turbulent a history as any region since the end of World War 2. What makes the region different is it was dominated for much of that period
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Sparta Rise of a Warrior Nation Philip Matyszak Pen and Sword Military, 2017 Reviewed by Dom Sore Sparta, now almost impossible to say without adopting a terrible Gerard Butler voice if you are a fan of the film 300. Also home to possibly the most famous warrior nation to have existed. Empires may be
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Liberators over the Atlantic Jack Colman and Richard Colman Fonthill 2017 Reviewed by Dom Sore This is a book where the title leaves no confusion as to the general thrust of the subject covered. Liberators over the Atlantic is certainly one of those. More specifically it is the autobiographical story of one Jack Colman,
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Founder, Fighter, Saxon Queen – Aethelflaed, Lady of the Mercians Margaret C. Jones Pen and Sword History 2018 Reviewed by Bernd Biege Coming in at the 1100th anniversary of Aethelflaed’s sudden (and suspiciously convenient) death, this book manages to paint a vivid picture of the life and times of a neglected heroine. Too often dismissed
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The Iron Marshal: A Biography of Louis N. Davout John G. Gallaher Frontline Books Reviewed by Bruce Mulmat The Iron Marshal was first published in 1976 and is by far the most comprehensive book that I have ever read on one of Napoleon’s Marshals. Mr. Gallaher complied a massive amount of correspondences on Marshal
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Sino - Indian War: Border Clash: October - November 1962 Gerry van Tonder Pen and Sword 2018 Reviewed by Jim Graham Sino-Indian War is the latest in the Pen and Sword Cold War 1945 - 1991 series and follows the same format as the others. The author is a prolific writer on Cold War
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Napoleon Victorious: An Alternative History of the Battle of Waterloo Peter G Tsouras Greenhill Books Reviewed by Peter Brian This alternative history of the Battle of Waterloo posits that a few changes in the events leading up to and during the day of the battle would have granted victory to the French Emperor. Starting with
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Gladiatoria: Medieval Armoured Combat Dierk Hagedorn & Bartlomiej Walczak Greenhill Books Reviewed by Zachary G Martin Some admonitions from history are so oft repeated in war-gaming circles that it seems surprising that they need to be repeated at all. By now surely it is known that the Wehrmacht was mostly horse drawn, we no
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Days of Battle Norbert Számvéber Helion & Company 2018 Reviewed by Bernd Biege This is the best of books, this is the worst of books ... you’ll either love it or hate it, or sit firmly on the fence like the reviewer, trying to be fair. Számvéber supplies a comprehensive account of the battles
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Amiens 1918: Victory From Disaster Gregory Blaxland Pen & Sword 2018 Reviewed by Jim Graham This book is another of Pen & Sword’s stealth publications. It was written for the anniversary of the battle, but the fiftieth not the hundredth, it is a reprint of a book first published in 1968. There is no
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The Veteran, or 40 Years’ Service in the British Army Gareth Glover ed Helion & Company, 2018 Reviewed by Neil Smith The hits keep coming from Helion & Company’s From Reason to Revolution series of books. Number 13 is the fascinating memoir of Paymaster John Harley of the 47th Foot, diligently edited by
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The Battle of Majuba Hill The Transvaal Campaign 1880-1881 John Laband Helion & Company, 2017 Reviewed by Neil Smith Say what you like about Queen Victoria’s British, they never lacked self-belief. But with confidence comes the potential for hubris as the Victorian British army found all too often. One such case came in
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Narrative of the Eventful Life of Thomas Jackson Thomas Jackson Helion & Company, 2018 Reviewed by Neil Smith Those clever people at Helion & Company have been putting together an excellent series of books on the long 18th Century under the heading of From Reason to Revolution. The latest addition, number 14, is
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