Forager
Book Reviews
by Mark Hannam
 |
OSPREY MILITARY
If you believe the old adage that "a picture paints a thousand words" then buy this book. The colour plates are probably the best ever to come out of the Osprey stable. Artist Andrei Karachtchouk has produced some stunning figures. His style is a mix between Mike Chappel and Ron Volstad. Each and every figure is inspirational. The text is subsidiary as the 48 pages of a typical M-A-A title cannot begin to do justice to such an immense subject. Similarly Men-At-Arms Series No.306 Chinese Civil War Armies (isbn 1-85532-665-5) is inspirational, particularly if you followed Michael Palin`s amuzing, drole and incredible "Full Circle" travalogue on BBC TV. My 'favourite' unit from the book must be the Nationalist 'Big Sword' unit. Shock troops armed exclusively with Samurai style swords and Mauser automatic pistols - very successful apparently - appearing on a tabletop near you soon ! STEEL INFERNO : I SS Panzer Corps in Normandy by Michael Reynolds (isbn 1-873376-90-1) was a birthday present from Heather`s parents, and what a present ! Reynolds looks at the German side of the hill in Normandy as seen through the eyes of the SS Panzertruppen. Superbly written, Well researched, this book dispels many of the myths about Normandy which have been repeatedly trotted out over the years. I wasn`t sure about the subject matter at first, but getting down to leafing through the pages I found that I had a valuable reference which filled in, or corrected many of the gaps in my knowledge of those fateful days in 1944. ONE HELL OF A GAMBLE : Khrushschev, Kennedy, Castro and the Cuban Missile Crisis 1958 -64 by Aleksandr Furensko & Timothy Naftali (420pp - £ 25) We asked 100 people if they thought Kennedy was a peacemaker - WRONG ! This is a superb book. Almost a minute by minute account of the nuclear brinkmanship which brought the world to the edge of a nuclear holocaust in 1961. The Russians, fearing humiliation, authorised their ground commander in Cuba to use tactical nuclear weapons on the beachheads of any American invasion force ; and they even reached for the red button in the Kremlin when "intelligence" informed them that the Americans would be wading ashore in 48 hours. The source of this intelligence ? A barman in Washington ! But what was JFK`s response ? Well, this book completely trashes the myth of Kennedy the peacemaker. Instead we learn how everyone`s favourite president, looking for re-election planned a nuclear first strike on the Soviet Union. When the Pentagon Chiefs of Staff pointed out that Mmmm maybe this would lead to the devastation of the eastern half of America, he opted for massive air strikes ; when this was also pointed out as unfeasible, JFK`s only option was a 'boring' naval blockade. This didn`t stop Bobby Kennedy from planning to blow up a US ship in a replay of the 'Maine Incident' which precipitated the Spanish-American War of 1898. JFK eventually settled his machismo by authorising a grenade attack on the Chinese embassy in Havanna, hit and run mortar raids on Soviet surface to air missile sites and the mining of a Cuban harbour which was the destination of a Soviet merchantman containing nuclear warheads with 20 times the explosive power of every munition used in WW2. Grassy knoll ? Conspiracy theories ? Well makes you think doesn`t it ...still an excellent read. IN THE COMBAT ZONE : Special Forces since 1945 by Robin Neillands (isbn 0-297-81673-X) Too many books on the Special Forces concentrate far to heavily on their specialist weaponry & training, reporting their accomplishments in 'sensational' tabloid press style. In The Combat Zone is a refreshing read. It looks instead at the political considerations behind the establishment and use of some of the world`s top Special Forces, together with exploring the political, and military environment within which they have to work. A good grounding for any 'serious' student of Special Forces in action. More Forager Back to The Gauntlet No. 14 Table of Contents Back to The Gauntlet List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Craig Martelle Publications This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com |
Men-At-Arms Series No.305 The Russian Civil War (2) White Armies (isbn 1-85532-656-6)