Arnhem:

Defeat and Glory (book)

by Bill Rutherford

A Miniaturist Perspective
Guy DeLillio, pub. by Schiffer Military History
Hardbound, 160 pages, 8.5” by 11” format, $35.

This book traces the battles of Operation Market-Garden, specifically of the events in and around Arnhem itself, in a novel manner. DeLillio traces the course of the operation and its battles in a highly readable manner, with considerable detail, discussing what went wrong and what went right – and why – with extensive notes on organizations (including various organizational charts, all in color), commanders, and all of the little details that make for a good, concise, history. It’s apparent as one reads the book that DeLillio did extensive research on his subject, both of published sources and primary documents.

What’s special about this book? There have, after all, been several decent histories of the struggle for Arnhem written over the last couple of decades. The key is that this book is profusely illustrated, but not in the usual way. All of the illustrations in the book there are almost 100 full-color photos, ranging from 1/4-page to full-page in size – are of miniatures. They counter-point the text, are extensively (and informatively) annotated, and do a great job of illustrating the battle, lending a lot of atmosphere to the book. There are dioramas, battle scenes containing figures that could have been pulled from your gaming table, LOTS of scratch-built urban landscape, and a wealth of ideas on how to decorate the table for your next WW 2 scrum.

All of DeLillio’s modeling is competently done –- some of you may paint better and some, not -– but his photography and composition is outstanding. This is the sort of book you nonchalantly put out on your coffee table when you want to reel in the unwary and make converts of the philistines… This book should be available from your local game of, if not there, from your local bookshop. Highly recommended!

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