The German Army 1939-45 (2) : North Africa & Balkans (Men-At-Arms Series, 316) [Paperback]

Nigel Thomas (Author), Stephen Andrew (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 1998

Hitler first considered an invasion of Great Britain in autumn 1940, then scheduled Operation Barbarossa, the conquest of the European part of the Soviet Union, for May 1941. Anxious to emulate Hitler's successes, the Italian dictator Mussolini embarked upon unnecessary military adventures in North Africa and the Balkans, which forced Hitler's intervention, diverting and depleting precious German resources, and a six-week postponement of Barbarossa. In this second of four volumes [Men-at-Arms 311, 316, 326 & 330] on the German Army of the Second World War, Nigel Thomas examines the uniforms and insignia of the forces involved in North Africa and the Balkans.

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

Nigel Thomas is a graduate in French and German (BA Joint Honours, Manchester University, 1968; PGCE Durham University, 1972; MA German, Newcastle University, 1980), who has amassed a large archive of information on 20th century military uniforms and orders of battle. He has authored and co-authored many Osprey titles such as MAA 282 Axis Forces in Yugoslavia 1941-45 and is currently head of the Modern Languages Centre and Business Language Unit at the University of Northumbria.

Product Details

• Paperback: 56 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (April 11, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 185532640X
• ISBN-13: 978-1855326408
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.2 x 9.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #742,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Reference on WW2 Military Modelling., January 8, 2001

By 

paul_cheng "K.F." (Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The German Army 1939-45 (2) : North Africa & Balkans (Men-At-Arms Series, 316) (Paperback)

This book is the second of five (so far) from the Osprey's Men-At-Arms Series on "German Army". The other four are:-

MAA 311 The German Army 1939-45 (1) Blitzkrieg;

MAA 326 The German Army 1939-45 (3) Eastern Front 1941-43;

MAA 330 The German Army 1939-45 (4) Eastern Front 1943-45;

MAA 336 The German Army 1939-45 (5) Western Front 1943-45.

These books basically cover the German Army uniform and rank insignia of specific time and place during WW2. Each book includes 30 to 40 b/w photographs of German soldiers in different types of uniform. There are also 8 pages of colour-plates in each book depicting the uniforms in colour. Since I own all five books, I observed that the drawing skill of Stephen Andrew improving gradually over the years.

These books are by no means a comprehensive account of the uniform of the German Army during WW2. However, the contents(text, photos and colour-plates) are excellent source of reference materials for modelling enthusiasts focusing on WW2 German Army.

This review applies to all five books.

4.0 out of 5 stars Short but very informative, May 27, 2010

By 

Kevin Nazario Bartolomei "Sazabi" (Ponce, Puerto Rico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The German Army 1939-45 (2) : North Africa & Balkans (Men-At-Arms Series, 316) (Paperback)

This series is mostly information about uniforms used by various units of the german army in north africa. Some details are repeated but is ok, the ilustrations are very good. The part about the insignias and decorations is very useful for military figure modelers, if you are interested on the theme is a sure buy.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite Interesting Study of a Quite Interesting Force, December 22, 2001

By 

El Cutachero (MD USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The German Army 1939-45 (2) : North Africa & Balkans (Men-At-Arms Series, 316) (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 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.
The German Army set should be read in conjunction with many other individual volumes covering their allies and opponents and the other German fighting forces such as the Waffen SS, and the Parachute units, which were part of the German Air Force, the Luftwaffe.
If you want an introduction to the fascinating variety of clothing and equipment of the forces covered, this set is for you.