Helion produces books on many aspects of Military History from the Late Medieval period through to the present day. Helion was established in 1996, and since then they have published almost 1,200 books, with 100 or more new titles coming out every year. The 'Africa@War' series covers African military history since 1945.

Stephen Edward Rookes is originally from Exeter in the UK, Dr. Stephen Rookes is a French writer and academic who earned his PhD from the University of Toulouse Jean-Jaurès, France. He specializes in the history of Cuban exiles and takes a particular interest in the CIA's covert operations in Central America and in Africa. This is his third instalment for Helion’s @War series.

This volume in MMP’s “Single” series covers the Avia S-199, and with the impending release of Eduard’s 1/48 kit (announced, but I have no idea of when), the timing of this publication is perfect. The idea behind this series of books (more like booklets) seems to be to get right to the point and show scale plan views, photos, profiles, etc.

Historical Background

At the end of World War I, the British Empire had to expand to take over some of the territories in the Middle East and Africa, most of which had been under the control of the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Turkey had sided with the Central Powers, and the British took the regions almost by default. The big question, in both the Middle East and Africa, was how to control these areas economically. The British government assumed that they could control these diverse groups, mostly on a tribal level, using standard cavalry and infantry units operating in a police role, but they discovered that this was much more expensive than they had imagined. The areas in question, some of which are still problems today (Afghanistan, for example), were dominated by small Islamic tribes, who had no idea of how western civilization could help them move into the modern world.