Central America and the West Indies

Our Latest "Little War": Campaigning in Honduras, pub. Pallas Armata, Tonbridge, Kent, TN9 2BP. 1997, 1st pub. in the United Services Magazine in 1868, a small 14 page booklet but very interesting to read, I've never heard of the campaign.

The Banana Men; American Mercenaries & Entrepreneurs in Central America, 1880-1930, by Lester D. Langley & Thomas Schoonover, pub. University Press of Kentucky, 1995, 208 pp. 10 b/w photographs, no maps, a pity about the lack of maps other than the one on the inside page of Central America ( Mexico to Costa Rica ) and I'm sure that more photographs of the local fighting forces would have helped, I'm not saying that the text would benefit as it is most helpful, just that this is a very interesting period of U.S. economic expansion, rather than military, in the same region where William Walker and his backers had tried some 40 years before, a useful addition to this section of research.

Honduran Air Force Report, by Mario Flores, pub. Air Forces Monthly, December 1996, 4 pages, 1 map, colour and b/w photographs, these articles are always good as they keep you nearly up to date with the current organisation and equipment that is in use, alas no squadron insignia photographs.

Strategy and Tactics of the Salvadoran FMLN Guerrillas, by José A. Moroni Bracamonte and David Spencer, pub. Praeger, Connecticut, 1995, 191 pp. 14 b/w photographs, 8 b/w drawings and maps, this work is the best that I have, so far, that deals with Guerrilla units in Central or South America active during the past 40 years, with chapters on Tactics [ Battle, Urban and Defensive ], Force Categories, General Organisation and FMLN Strategy, if low-intensity warfare is your forté then this is your book, or a wargamer looking for a new area, well researched and a very useful book.

Honduras Air Force, by Mario Flores, pub. Air Forces Monthly, December 1996, pages 42-5, good order of battle and bases, coloured and b/w photographs, pity that the majority of these type of articles only show the aircraft and not their painted unit/squadron insignia, which for me would be just as interesting.

British Forces in the West Indies, 1793-1815, by René Chartrand, illustrated by Paul Chappell, pub. Osprey, Men-At-Arms No.294, this work adds to the small amount of available data published since C.C.P.Lawson's "A History of the Uniforms of the British Army" back in 1967, and Haiti during this period is a topic that I like, so any new information of any of the troops/units that fought there is a boon to me, if you have any data that could not be included in this title René and you are not going to use in another book could we print it in E.D.?

The Caribbean Legion; Patriots, Politicians, Soldiers of Fortune, 1946-1950, by Charles D. Ameringer, pub. Pennsylvania State University Press, 1996, 173 pp. 1 map, 1 b/w photograph, this work studies the political struggles of Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, although each action was independent to each other these armed expeditions became collectively known as the Caribbean Legion, it is also interesting to see how U.S. foreign policy changed towards this region during these four years and the coming of the Cold War with Russia, a good reference work.

The Story of the Bahamas, by Paul Albury, pub. Macmillan Caribbean, London 1975, 288 pp. 1 map, 50 b/w illustrations, publish by the education wing of Macmillan and it is just that, a good primer that covers the history of the islands past 500 years, helpful.

Almost a Territory; America's Attempt to Annex the Dominican Republic, by William J. Nelson, pub. University of Delaware Press, 1990, 143 pp. 10 b/w photographs, although the time of this attempt was 1869-71 [ U.S. President Grant ] the book begins in 1843 and covers the various military and political events that allowed treaties to be drawn up, but not ratified by the U.S. Congress, it also contains a helpful bibliography, a handy reference work.

The Spanish American War, by R. A. Alger, Secretary of War, March 5 1897 - August 1 1899, pub. Harper & Brothers, New York 1901, 462 pp. 7 maps, 1 b/w photograph [ of author ], I have included a section from this work later on in this issue of E.D., a good contemporary account of the war which helps one to gain a better perception of the conflict, a nice addition to my reference works on this war.

More Books

Pre Columbian, Conquest, and Colonial
Latin America: General Titles
Mexico and Brazil
Central America, West Indies
South America
Miscellaneous