The French Army 1939-45 (1) : The Army of 1939-40 & Vichy France (Men-At-Arms Series, 315) [Paperback]

Ian Sumner (Author), Mike Chappell (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: Men-at-Arms | Publication Date: April 15, 1998

The French Army of 1939 was considered by contemporaries to be the strongest army in the world at that time. In fact, as the events of the next ten months soon revealed, the Army was riddled with fatal weaknesses. In this book, the first of two volumes examining the French Army of World War II (1939-1945), Ian Sumner and François Vauvillier examine the organisation, uniforms and equipment of the army of 1939-40 and Vichy France. It includes orders of battle and formation charts as well as many illustration and colour uniform artworks.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Packed with specially commissioned artwork, maps and diagrams, the Men-at-Arms series is an unrivalled illustrated reference on the history, organisation, uniforms and equipment of the world's military forces, past and present.

About the Author

Ian Sumner was born in 1953 in Eccles, near Manchester, UK. He originally trained as a librarian in Newcastle-upon-Tyne but now devotes himself to full-time writing. He has written numerous titles for Osprey, and also several books on the history of the East Riding of Yorkshire, where he now lives with his wife. Francois Vauvillier is the greatly respected editorial director of the French Military publishers Histoire & Collections is the former editor of Gazette des Uniformes and of Militaria magazine. His special personal interests include French uniforms of both World War I and World War II.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (April 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1855326663
• ISBN-13: 978-1855326668
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.2 x 9.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #718,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Highly Detailed and Technical, June 3, 2011

By 

Guy B. - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The French Army 1939-45 (1) : The Army of 1939-40 & Vichy France (Men-At-Arms Series, 315) (Paperback)

I'm no authority on this subject. I bought this book to use as a reference for painting 20mm wargames miniatures. The technical details about the French Army and its uniforms are impressive. I found the number of tables with information a bit too much to digest. The authors use French uniform terms without providing a glossary to explain their meaning. The color plates are well done, but I have a problem with the basic uniform colors, which conflict somewhat with other references I found. To resolve the problem, I bought another book, "1940 Le Soldat Francais", which pictures men dressed in actual period uniforms. Their colors are truer than those featured in the Osprey book. However, as the title suggests, "Le Soldat" was published in French.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fine Overview of the Period, January 23, 2002

By 

El Cutachero (MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The French Army 1939-45 (1) : The Army of 1939-40 & Vichy France (Men-At-Arms Series, 315) (Paperback)

This work is a splendid example of the new emphasis of the publisher on producing comprehensive works in a handy cheap format compared with the earlier broad brush treatments which covered too much in too little detail.
The new emphasis is on sets and volumes covering various national armed forces in as much detail as is available, consistent with the current purpose of the works in the series, which have evolved from an original emphasis on serving the military miniature maker market into works intended to enlighten the general reader in enough detail to satisfy the merely curious and to point the way to further reading.
Most of us, including myself, have little need for, or the patience to read, voluminous studies, often in foreign languages, covering many eras and nations. My main interest is in the US forces, their allies and their enemies in the twentieth century.
That said, these works should be purchased as presented, in sets within the series. Since they are produced as a set, the volumes cover only relevent parts of the general history and the clothing and individual equipment is covered as it appears in each period. The French Army, US Army, British Army, and Italian Army series all have three volumes, covering the major theatres and time periods of the war. The German set has five.
This should be read along with the volume on the French Foreign Legion.
If you want an introduction to the fascinating variety of clothing and equipment of the forces covered, this set is for you.

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars french army 1939-45(2) MAA 318, June 13, 2007

By 

D. I. GAVER (Myersville, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The French Army 1939-45 (2) : Free French, Fighting French & the Army of Liberation (Men-At-Arms Series, 318) (Paperback)

I found the book in question very informative, I was unaware of the french forces during the period of time question, A must for person interested in the WW2 period of history