Customer Reviews

The German Army 1939-45 (4): Eastern Front 1943-45 (Men-at-Arms) (v. 4)

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4 star:		(3)
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Makes use of much of Brian Davis' research, but does it better. Expanded data and explanations of rank systems, specialist officers, etc. make this series the leading reference in English - and affordable to boot! A much needed update to Brian L. Davis' adequate book on uniforms and traditions, with many corrections and clarifications. Especially interesting is the research done on trades badges and similar ephemera.

Not a perfect book - and one hopes one day all this info will be compiled into a single volume with expanded information on certain small details - but well worth the money.

The artist is no Ron Volstad - he needs to work especially on the noses of his figures, they all look the same - but the uniforms are clearly done and represent a wide range of interesting material.

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.

This book is the forth 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 316 The German Army 1939-45 (2) North Africa & Balkans;

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

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.

The world-known Men-At-Arms series brought out another interesting book. This time dealing with the uniforms of the German army at the Eastern Front '43-45. As to be expected the text is brief but quite informative. But . as usual, the main attractions are the beautifull rendered colour plates by Mr Syephen Andrew who is getting better than Mr. Ron Volstadt. This book can be recommended to every modeller and historien who takes interest in this timeframe or uniforms in general. I am hoping that Mr. Andrew will be Osprey's artist of choice in the future.