Book Review Round-up 12-2023

Title: Japanese Infantryman versus US Marine Rifleman

Author: Gregg Adams
Publisher: Osprey Publishing, Oxford
ISBN: 9781472857910
Price: £15.99

The pre-war opinion of the Japanese army’s capability by Western military analysts was not at all complimentary and virtually dismissed the Japanese soldier. However, by the end of 1942, having swept all before them, they were being viewed differently, especially by those who had faced them in battle. The US Marines faced them closer than any other military unit when they adopted the ‘Island Hopping’ strategy in 1943, which involved mounting amphibious operations against each target. Several of these operations form the subject of this well-presented work, with its highly detailed maps and photographs, accompanied by an excellent text. The superb artwork will be appreciated by military modellers, while general readers are treated to a well-researched text full of first-hand accounts and references to official assessments of combat conditions. This is a nicely constructed single volume on the campaign in the Pacific Theatre that combines war at sea, in the air, and on the land.

Title: Texian Volunteer versus Mexican Soldier

Author: Ron Field
Publisher: Osprey Publishing, Oxford
ISBN: 9781472852076
Price: £15.99

Military historians and authors have their own preferred specialist subject, be it a battle, a military commander, or a unit. The latest work in the ‘Versus’ series is a lesser-known period of history covering the ‘Texas Revolution’, which saw volunteer citizens pitted against regular soldiers of the Mexican army to secure autonomy from neighbouring Mexico. Many readers will be familiar with the siege and fighting at the Alamo between February and March 1836. The fighting between Texas and Mexico was concluded in April 1836, which places events at the Alamo late in the timeline, but the author covers it in great detail and does a very good job on the other engagements in the six months of the war. The outcome is well-known, but the capabilities of the fighting men, the weapons, and tactics make the history complete.
Excellent text with fine artwork and detailed maps makes this of interest to historians, modellers, and war gamers.

Title: The Winter War 1939-40

Author: Philip Jowett
Publisher: Casemate, Oxford
ISBN: 9781636242385
Price: £24.95

The editorial team at Casemate have created an excellent format for these titles in the illustrated series, which looks at the men, battles, and weapons, with a good balance between photographs and the text. This is the latest in the series and it too is up to that high standard and does not disappoint. The Winter War is still a largely unappreciated period of history, being overshadowed by WWII. However, it was a very important period in the early days of WWII, as the author shows in this work with its wealth of photographs and detailed artwork of vehicles and aircraft, all of which will please modellers. Military enthusiasts will also enjoy this work with its descriptions of tactics, weapons, and biographies of military leaders from both sides. The cost to Finnish civilians was a tragedy and the author concludes with a revised military casualty figure that will make the reader sit up and take note.

Title: The First Bridge Too Far

Author: Mark Saliger
Publisher: Casemate, Oxford
ISBN: 9781636243757
Price: £14.95

In wars, all bridges are important. Attackers want to capture them for their own use, whilst defenders want to destroy them to stop the attacker. Certainly, that is what happened in WWII on many occasions, such as the operation to capture the bridge at Primosole in Sicily in 1943. That is the focus of this book, which begins with very informative details about the formation of the British airborne units that undertook the mission. The author highlights failings, successes, and lessons learned in all cases, including this action at Primosole Bridge. Explaining details of fighting and how British and German airborne units had mutual respect, in battle and treatment as prisoners, is a telling part of this history, which would be repeated a year later at Arnhem. Nicely composed and bringing personal experiences into the story as well as the author’s opinions, this is a welcome chapter telling a small but important part of the hard-fought Sicilian campaign.