Marc K. Blackburn
Reviews By Author
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The Nazi Death Camps, Then and NowPublished:
After the Battle (ATB) publications is a long lived publishing company that was recently acquired by Pen and Sword. For many years ATB published the quarterly magazine called, After the Battle. It recently was discontinued, but their many books use the same format of comparing photographs contemporary to the Second World War with modern views, hence the then and now moniker. They consistently publish articles and books of a very high quality. The images are superb, both contemporary and modern. They will be missed. This volume tackles the unpleasant but relevant topic of the Nazi’s Death Camps. Originally published in 2016, Pen and Sword is republishing all of the ATB books, which is welcome. As with all of their books, it is a sturdy with beautifully reproduced photographs. In… more |
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Operation Restore Hope: US Military Intervention in Somalia and the Battle of Mogadishu, 19912-1994. Revised Edition.Published:
Casemate Publishing continues to release and distribute Helion’s ongoing series on wars in the twentieth century. This particular volume is part of their collection dealing with conflicts in the continent of Africa and covers the United Nation and United States intervention in Somalia from 1992 to 1994. As with other works in this series, they provide text, contemporary photographs that are mostly black and white with a smattering of color photographs. The center of the book has some color profiles of ground equipment and aircraft. Apparently the difference between the first edition and second edition of the book is not the content, but a new cover and color profiles. The book takes a chronological look at the rise and fall of Somalia. Somalia, located in the horn of Africa,… more |
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Russian Cruiser Moskva (Top Drawings 129)Published:
Kagero Publications, a publishing house in Poland, has continued their series of top drawings of military equipment. This edition, number 129, covers the Russian cruiser, Moskva. In the spring of 2022, the Moskva made the news. The ship was a casualty in the recent war between the Russia and the Ukraine. The ship was hit by two anti-ship missiles and was sunk, though the Russians denied it. The top drawing series provides two double sides sheets with color profiles and drawings of the ship in 1989 and 1998. The book provides a series of black and white drawings of various parts of the ship. The modeling plans and drawings are crystal clear. Captions and text are in English and Polish. Originally the Slava, the ship was launched and commissioned in the waning decade of the Cold… more |
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Never Ready: Britain’s Armed Forces and NATO’s Flexible Response Strategy, 1967-1989Published:
Casemate publishing continues its ongoing series of post-World War Two conflicts in Europe with an interesting volume that concentrates on Britain’s contributions to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in the last phase of the Cold War. This is an unusual volume in that the text is derived from the author’s Ph.D dissertation on the same topic. The volume is richly illustrated with color photographs, which, I imagine, would be well received by the modeling community. As with other publications in this series, it includes maps and 22 color profiles of vehicles, aircraft, and uniforms from this era. The title of this work gives the reader a hint of where the author is going – examining the contributions that Britain made to the defense of NATO in the last half of the… more |
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Defending Rodinu: Build-Up and Operational History of the Soviet Air Defence Force, Vol. 1 (Europe at War Series, No. 20)Published:
Casemate Publishing continues its series on modern conflicts in Europe with the first volume of a projected two that deals with the creation and evolution of the Soviet air defense system. As with many books in this series, it is richly illustrated with contemporary black and white photographs, maps, and a series of color profiles of Soviet and US aircraft. Using English and Russian sources, the volume provides an excellent introduction to the establishment and growth of the Soviet air defense system. Readers with a passing knowledge of the Russian language will note that in the title the authors use a different form of the familiar word Rodina or homeland. It is not a misspelling but the appropriate grammatical construction. To no surprise, the book uses a chronological… more |
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Arracourt 1944: Triumph of American ArmorPublished:
Casemate publishing, a prolific publisher of military history titles, has begun releasing a line of books that focus on huge array of subjects from a single battle, campaigns, hardware, and military units. They are paperback and richly illustrated with contemporary photographs, color profiles, and maps. For many of you, this format may be familiar to other publications that dissect a well-known battle, examining the opponents, armies, weapons, plans, etc. For this series, the publisher has chosen to organize the material as follows:
As the table of contents indicates, the book… more |
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Encyclopedie Illustree Les Trains Blindes, de notre 1825 a nos jours (Illustrated Encyclopedia of Armored Trains, 1825 to the Present)Published:
Heimdal is a prolific French Publisher of military history and is distributed by Casemate Publishing. It is a large book at 520 pages and hundreds of black and white and color photographs as well as contemporary drawings and profiles done by the author. The text and captions are in French, though it appears there was an English version of this work from another publisher. My reading knowledge of French is minimal, but that did not take away from my enjoyment of this work. In many regards, the photographs speak for themselves, but a rudimentary knowledge of French might be helpful in reading the captions. It would have been nice to also see color profiles of the trains. There is a plethora of material, so each page is loaded with photographs. The author, a retired officer of the… more |
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The Sino-Soviet Border War of 1969: The Border Conflict That Almost Sparked a Nuclear War, Vol. 1 (Asia at War Series, No. 21)Published:
Helion & Company continues their series on Asia at War with the first of two volumes on the Sino-Soviet Border Skirmishes of 1969. The author is Russian and it was translated into English. From time-to-time there are some cumbersome sentences and the perspective of the author comes through as you read on. The book is full of contemporary photographs, so they are in black and white. There are several pages of color profiles of vehicles and uniforms as well as several maps of where the incident occurred. Please note, that there are several grizzly, close up photographs of dead Soviet border guards. If you are not accustomed to seeing dead bodies, close up, be warned. The author lays the context for the border dispute. In the late 1960s, China was in turmoil with Chairman Mao’… more |
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Jackal 1 High Mobility Weapon PlatformPublished:
The Jackal 1 is a new kit from the prolific model company, Hobby Boss in 1/35 scale. It is a unique vehicle from the United Kingdom and deployed to Afghanistan. For those of you unfamiliar with the vehicle, here’s a short description from Hobby Boss, “The British Army has added a category of vehicle to the armored vehicle fleet called the tactical support vehicle (TSV). 400 TSVs were ordered in October 2008 as part of the $700m protected patrol vehicles package. The new TSVs will be used to accompany patrols, and to transport supplies such as ammunition and water. The three types of the vehicle include the Wolfhound – a heavy armored support vehicle to support and supply the new Mastiff with heavy mine protection (force protection), the Husky – a medium armored truck to carry out… more |
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75 Years of the Israeli Air Force, Volume 2: The Last Half Century, 1973-2023Published:
This is the second volume of two published by Hellion covering the history of the Israeli Air Force from its founding to the present. As with other Hellion volumes, it follows an established format. Using a chronological format, the narrative begins where the last volume left off. The text begins with the end of the Yom Kippur War and ends in 2023 with a little bit of forecasting into the immediate future. The book is heavily illustrated with black and white photos. As with previous volumes, it has a series of color profiles of aircraft and a slim selection of color photographs. They also have an extensive bibliography and foot notes for those of you who would like to continue reading on the topic. The narrative begins at the end of the Yom Kippur War. In the aftermath of the… more |