Allied Special Forces Insignia [Hardcover]

Peter Taylor (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Pen & Sword (June 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0850525829
• ISBN-13: 978-0850525823
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,235,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A useful reference that could have been better, September 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Allied Special Forces Insignia (Hardcover)

This ambitious book covers the insignia of the Commandos, SAS, OSS, Rangers, Allied airborne units, various private armies and other 'special forces' of the WWII era. This is accomplished through many illustrations of rare insignia and of personnel wearing them, and through text sketching the history of the units and their insignia. As tends to be the case when one addresses a broad topic, the quality and depth of coverage is uneven. I noted several errors and the inclusion of a few insignia of questionable authenticity in sections where I have expertise. Whether this trend continues throughout the book, I cannot say. (I would expect that it does not, as those sections I do not feel qualified to judge are ones where I would expect the author, who is British, and his sources to be on firmer ground.) My overall sense is that with a little more research and greater care editing for accuracy, the text of this book could have been raised to the level of the illustrations, producing a truly outstanding reference. Even then, this book would fall short of being all-inclusive, leaving to other authors the opportunity to expand the coverage and address missing topics. Nevertheless, this is a reference that collectors with an interest in the topic that is the title of the book will wish to add to their libraries. (As an aside, those who find the subject of this book to be of interest are encouraged to seek a copy of Len Whittaker's now out-of-print "Some Talk of Private Armies," a book of substantially narrower focus than the one reviewed here, but one that speaks, in the opinion of this reviewer, with greater authority.)