Book reviews

(magazine)

By Curt Johnson

Lt. Col. David Eshel, ea., No. 4, The Edge of the Sword Israel's Armor in Action! (1978) and Lt. Col. David Eshel and Simon Dunstan, WAR DATA, No. 1, Centurion (1979).

The Arab-Israeli conflict, now entering its fourth decade continues to provide front-page material for the press and, of course, remains an interesting period for modern armor and infantry enthusiasts. The four full-scale wars between the Israelis and their Arab opponents have been amply described and documented in books (most comprehensively in Col. T. N. Dupuy's indispensable recent work, Elusive Victory, reviewed by Phil Barker in The Courier, 1:2) and magazine articles. Nonetheless, wargamers looking for technical data, full-color renderings of armor paint schemes and markings, and photos of armor in action on which to base conversation and superdetailing projects have had to rummage far and wide in the available literature in search of material they can put to use for their own purposes.

No more! The two publications reviewed in this article represent the answer to many a wargamer's prayer. The products of the Israeli publishing firm of Eshel-Dramit, Ltd., they provide comprehensive, accurate information on, in one case, the Israeli armored forces and, in the second case, an important modern tank. Both booklets are handsomely presented and make liberal use of full-color photos and especially-commissioned color artwork. At about £ 1.50 each, both represent good value for money.

BORN IN BATTLE, No. 4, covers the development of the Israeli Armored Force from its modest beginnings with makeshift armored cars and three antique tanks in the War of Independence to the powerful Israeli-built Merkava MBT and battle-proved armored legions of today. Color plates and photographs show the home-made "Sandwich" armored cars of Ca 1948 - an easy conversion project - the Hotchkiss H35, the Cromwell, Shermans, Centurions, Pattons, and M113 APCs among others. The accompanying text is lucid and informative, providing enough data for a few modest wargames. There are also some anecdotes here that you'll not find elsewhere. Especially informative, (and amusing) was a short peice on communications difficulties in the first Israeli armored formation. Officers and men, many of them immigrants, attempted, with varying degrees of success, to communicate in several languages.

WAR DATA, No. 1, profiles the technical and combat record of the British Centurion tank, workhorse of the IDF in the 1976 and 1973 wars Besides coverage of the Centurion and its Israeli variants in the Middle East, separate chapters describe the origins of the tank - developed too late to see service in World War II - the tank's f irst combat in Korea, and the little-known story of the Australian Centurions in Vietnam.

The excellent text, which includes comprehensive technical data, is complemented by color plates and photos showing the Centurion in various liveries- British, Australian, Israeli, and Jordanian

Both booklets, and other Eshel-Dramit publications, are available from Conde-Nast, National Magazine Distributors, Ltd., Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7QE, England.

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