by RNS | Oct 12, 2020 | Beating Tsundoku
Karen Schaefer, German Military and the Weimar Republic (Pen & Sword, 2020)
Germany in November 1918 lay prostrate at the feet of its conquerors as they dictated the terms of German surrender. The country had to pay massive reparations and demilitarize while setting up a democracy that went against the national grain. That would be a tall order for any nation. General Hans von Seeckt took command of the army and was tasked with finding a new strategic role for it. History has not treated him well, regarding him as closed-minded and one of the old guard. In this absorbing book, Karen Schaefer has a different interpretation to run by you.
Schaefer begins with the literature on Seeckt and finds it lacking any consideration of his strategic ideas. Historians, contends Schaefer, have argued that Seeckt was an undefeated general chasing dreams of renewed war but without understanding the new military or political realities. Schaefer disagrees in just about every respect with that portrait. The rest of her book tells us why. She sets out her stall by contrasting Seeckt with Erich Ludendorff, an undoubted hero of World War I and an advocate of total war. Schaefer then steadily builds her case, examining Seeckt’s views on military strategy and his political philosophy that favoured civil authority over the military and a defensive, balanced posture by Germany. However, rising military and political opposition, against the backdrop of economic turmoil and a new aggressive nationalist spirit bent on revenge for Versailles, derailed Seeckt. He retired in 1926, but the arguments remain between his vision and that of Ludendorf, Seeckt’s nemesis.
German Military and the Weimar Republic is derived from Schaefer’s PhD thesis and it shows for better and worse. Her book is structured as an argument narrowly tied to Seeckt and his political-military philosophy, and as such relies on at least an understanding of the Weimar Republic background to fully comprehend. I suspect that significantly reduces Schaefer’s audience, which is a pity because her book is well-written and her thesis appears solid. To make this work for a wider audience, she needed more context and perhaps more pit-stop summaries for her less knowledgeable readers to catch their breath. Nevertheless, Schaefer provides a valuable window into military thinking during that vital period when Germany still had choices, however limited, and is therefore an important book worth reading for students of the Weimar Republic.
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by RNS | Oct 9, 2020 | Beating Tsundoku
Dennis Oliver, Panzer III (Pen & Sword, 2020)
The latest volume in Pen & Sword’s Tank Craft series focuses on the Panzer III during Operation Barbarossa, Germany’s invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Oliver briefly narrates the origins of the Panzer III, which he describes as ‘reliable and sturdy’, and highlights that eleven of the seventeen panzer regiments that invaded the Soviet Union were equipped with them. He helpfully adds a timeline of that assault, so that we can get our chronological bearings, and organizational charts for the panzer units. With that out the way, Oliver gets into all the technical aspects that tank enthusiasts feast on. He does that on a unit by unit basis and, as you might expect, it is very informative.
There are two sections that make these books fly. The first is the colour plates of the tank, illustrating the camouflage patterns while adding more technical details. These are almost uniformly grey with the exception of a whitewashed panzer for the winter and a tropical camouflage for a panzer unit that was supposed to go to Africa but may have been sent east instead. The second stand out section is the completed model kits of Panzer IIIs. These are simply jaw-dropping for a novice like me, though I suspect even the best modelers will be impressed by the attention to detail. Oliver adds a section on model manufacturers so that you can emulate the masters in this book – good luck with that! A number of black and white photographs round out this offering on the Panzer III.
At first glance, this seems rather a narrow topic for a Tank Craft book, but there are enough variations and units to justify its inclusion in the series. Moreover, the quality of information and production are excellent. Anyone interested in tanks will find this book worthwhile; as for modelers embarking on a panzer III on the eastern front project, a copy of this should be on their craft desk.
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by RNS | Oct 7, 2020 | Beating Tsundoku
Bojan Dimitrijevic and Milan Micevski, Tito’s Underground Air Base (Helion, 2020)
Where would you hide your Air Force in the event of a nuclear war? This was a question that preyed on the minds of Yugoslav military planners in the early phases of the Cold War. Their answer: carve out the inside of a hill and put the warplanes in it. So begins the fascinating story of Tito’s Underground Air Base brought to us by two experts in Yugoslav military history.
The base started with the question that became an idea then reality. Dimitrijevic and Micevski describe the ‘Top-Secret’ base’s planning and construction near Bihać, now in Bosnia – it was not Top-Secret for long. Work began in 1957 and took nearly a decade to complete, though the first asphalt covered runways were laid down in 1964. Mig-21 fighters arrived in 1968 with elaborate air defence systems already in place, but the base was already behind schedule. When Tito visited a second time in 1970, the interior galleries were still not fully operational. Further problems followed when exercises revealed how vulnerable the base was and crashes were not infrequent before 1973. But the situation improved through that decade and into the 1980s. In the early 1990s, however, Yugoslavia fell apart and the base found itself on the frontline of an increasingly bitter war, and the divisions in the country were mirrored among the pilots and support crews at the base. In 1992, the UN arrived in the wake of the peace agreement and flying became restricted. But the situation became untenable and the base was evacuated in May with much of it destroyed. The only remaining functional part was the radar station as a Serb facility, but it too had to be evacuated and destroyed in 1995 while under attack from Croat and Muslim militias.
This slim but information packed book is an excellent new addition to Helion’s Europe @ War series. The authors examine every facet of life and work in the underground air base; they might be accused of providing too much detail at times. Many photographs of the base, planes, and personnel accompany the text, and the colour plates of the MIG-21 aircraft are exceptional. Anyone interested in Cold War air forces will enjoy this book, and even if you are not Tito’s Underground Air Base is a surprisingly good account of an operational military base during the Cold War.
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by RNS | Oct 6, 2020 | Beating Tsundoku
Philip J. Potter, The Mighty Warrior Kings (Pen & Sword, 2020)
The Mighty Warrior Kings takes readers on a journey from the Dark Ages to the early modern era through the lives of nine powerful leaders each of whom changed their part of Europe in significant ways. It also reveals by omission the importance of an introduction to establish connections and propose a thesis. Potter seems to think this is self-evident with this book. It isn’t.
No introduction then, only a prelude from Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44BCE to the 8th Century CE and the reign of Charlemagne where the chapters begin. The nine chapters in this book each follow a separate warrior king: Charlemagne, Alfred of Wessex, Cnut, William I, Frederick I Barbarossa, Richard I, Frederick II, Louis IX, and Robert I the Bruce. Potter narrates their biographies in a straightforward manner, ending each chapter with a selection of sources relating to that warrior king. He ends with a postscript that continues the general narrative into the 16th Century and the end of the period of the warrior kings. His bibliography gives the complete references for the sources cited at the end of each chapter.
The Mighty Warrior Kings is a collection of solid but unremarkable biographies of undoubtedly great men if measured in terms of their military and political power. The assemblage of these warrior kings holds few surprises, though Richard I and Robert the Bruce are placed in higher company than they probably deserve. From that perspective, The Mighty Warrior Kings is a good read, but the jacket claim that “the warrior kings created a new Europe with a centralized power base” is more than a stretch. It is difficult, therefore, to determine the intended audience for this book, particularly in an era when the ‘great’ men school of history is beyond resuscitation.
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by RNS | Oct 1, 2020 | Beating Tsundoku
Dan Brookes, Cameras, Combat and Courage (Pen & Sword, 2020)
How do we know what happened during the Vietnam War? The usual written sources, of course, but Vietnam was also the first televised war and it was heavily photographed by a cloud of cameramen from all walks of life – two of the most iconic photographs of the 20th Century were taken during Vietnam. Cameras, Combat and Courage describes the War as experienced by military photographers whose job it was to record the war, but also to fight when necessary. They took millions of pictures; some of them died in combat while doing so.
Cameras, Combat and Courage is episodic for the most part with different photographers taking a chapter to tell their story. And what tales they share: William Muchler spooked while walking through a deserted VC village; Roy McClellan under fire in a paddy field; Christopher Jensen dodging mortar shells at Firebase Ripcord; Marvin Wolf’s encounter with VC snipers. Those were men that survived. Bill Perkins did not; he gave his life saving his comrades from a grenade and was awarded the Medal of Honor. His story is movingly told by his friend. Five others died when their helicopter was shot down near Pleiku. Brooks ends his book with an essay on what photographs meant to the Vietnam War and a eulogy for the men that took them.
As you might expect, Cameras, Combat and Courage is seeded with dozens of photographs covering all aspects of the Vietnam War. Some of them are incredibly poignant like the GI with the classic thousand-yard stare who will die in combat, others seem mundane, pictures of everyday life, but all tell a little part of the remarkable story that casts a long shadow over American history. The pictures, stories, and the men make this a remarkable book worth reading. 8/10
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by RNS | Sep 29, 2020 | Beating Tsundoku
Andy Singleton, Rome’s Northern Enemies (Painting Wargames Figures), (Pen & Sword, 2020)
Andy Singleton can paint model soldiers. In fact, he paints them exceedingly well. If you did not know that, then you are in for a treat with his latest how-to book, this time focusing on the Iron Age barbarians that gave the empire-building Romans such a hard time. For experienced painters of all standards, there is something in this book for you too even if it is just to salivate ever someone else’s inspired work. Singleton aims this book at the ordinary painter, trying to improve their techniques, and he does so by using a simple building block method illuminated by step-by-step photographs. It is a very effective approach.
Singleton dives straight in with a survey of the tools you will need to paint your figures, though helpfully, Singleton also covers the types of figures you can buy. Knives, files, glue, filler, primer, and, of course, brushes, are all part of the painter’s arsenal. Singleton teaches you the basic techniques of painting before getting into the specific challenges the Iron Age barbarians have to offer. He starts with weapons and armour where you learn how to make chainmail shine, or not if that’s how you want it, and then paint wood for spear shafts. Now comes something tricky; the ornate shield designs carried by the barbarians, but don’t worry because you can get shield decals, and Singleton shows you how to add them. Barbarians clothes were also often patterned, including horrible to paint tartan that Singleton makes look easy to do. Some of the barbarians painted their bodies, so we must too. Singleton teaches you how to paint flesh with tattoos and not make them appear like psychedelic rashes! Then he comes to my biggest bugbear: horses. Singleton demonstrates how to paint a variety of horses and their leather straps – this for me was worth the cost of the book. You will need those for the chariot that features next; how to assemble it, though sadly not how to paint it, which is disappointing given the superb chariots Singleton features in his photographs. Once you have mastered the figure, Singleton teaches you how to create realistic bases, which rounds the book off nicely.
Singleton writes in a light, friendly style that makes you feel accompanied rather than lectured to as you work your way through his lessons. The excellent photographs of painted figures are aspirational for most of us, but the great thing about a book is that it is always there in front of you for inspiration with the bonus that you can escape the PC for a while at least. While I would not dare to argue with Singleton’s techniques, it would have been useful to see how they work on smaller scales, especially the popular 15mm scale for the ancient period. That quibble aside, this is a first-rate book on painting figures and complements Singleton’s previous book on painting Imperial Roman soldiers. I recommend you get both. 9/10.
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