Marc K. Blackburn
Reviews By Author
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Magach 6B Gal Batash, Israeli Main Battle TankPublished:
Meng exploded on the scene several years ago and continue to produce very high-quality kits of a variety of subjects. This kit focuses on the Israeli modified M-60 Battle Tank known as the Magach 6B. M-60s began service with the Israeli Army with the 1973 Yom Kippur War and most of the armored force was equipped with M-60 A1 and later models. The Israelis continued to upgrade their fleet to meet the changing threats on the battlefield. These vehicles have the low profile commander’s cupola, an upgraded engine, and armor package as well as an upgraded fire control system. Academy has provided kits of the Magach 6B and 7C, so it will be interesting to see which direction Meng takes with this kit. The KitThe kit has 813 parts cast in light brown plastic. There are four… more |
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Otto Skorzeny: The Devil’s DisciplePublished:
Osprey Publications, the prolific publisher of books related to nearly every aspect of military history imaginable, has in recent years been branching out into more traditional history works. This work is a critical biography of Otto Skorzeny, the man who rescued Mussolini from captivity. The author, Stuart Smith, is a trained historian with a career in business. Using original records and a variety of sources, Stuart has put together a fascinating portrait of a man whose entire career was largely built on one exploit – rescuing Mussolini from captivity in 1943. As his actions in the post-war would indicate, he was also an unrepentant Nazi. Stuart paints an unfaltering portrait of Skorzeny. He was a superb opportunist and self-promoter who happened to be at the right place at… more |
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French Foreign Légionnaire vs Viet Minh InsurgentPublished:
Like a fireball in the night, the story of the Vietnam War dominates our historical consciousness. This new addition to Osprey’s Combat series, focuses on the French Foreign Legion versus the Viet Minh from 1948 to 1952. The book concentrates on a four year period, marking the height of the French occupation and counter-insurgency against the Viet Minh. Combat is one of the newer series of Osprey Publishing and it follows a formulaic format. Each book is illustrated with original art work, depicting some of the combat scenes described in the book as well as historical photographs contemporary to the conflict. The first part of each book provides context for the combat, focusing on the issues related to the larger war and the composition of the armed forces involved in each battle… more |
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Sink the Tirptiz, 1942-44Published:
The newest series for Osprey has moved from the land and the sea to the air. Whereas their previous series’ focused on large land and naval campaigns, this series turns its focus to well-known air campaigns. Using the tried and true format that Osprey has perfected, the volume has several full color plates rendered by an artist attempting to capture critical moments in the campaign, historical photographs, maps, and lots of charts comparing the relative strengths and weaknesses of each side. Often the color plates can be hit and miss. These are really quite dramatic. Anyone with a casual interest in World War Two has some familiarity with the Bismarck’s sister ship, the Tirpitz. Commissioned into service after the Bismarck’s sinking, she spent her entire service career in… more |
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Israeli Paratroopers, 1954-2016Published:
Israeli Paratroopers, 1954-2016 is one of the latest offerings of a long running Osprey series that examines elite forces from around the world. The elite series follows a certain formula; something that Osprey is very good at. Each volume covers origins, a short chronology, organization and various operations that fall within the time span of the book. As with many Osprey publications, this one includes historic and contemporary photographs, and a series of plates that feature the uniforms, equipment, and lengthy captions that touch upon the history about the paratroopers. I am surprised that the Israeli paratroopers have not been covered until now. Regardless, this is a handy one volume history. To the credit of the author, he puts the paratroopers in a historical context… more |
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Chinese Soldier vs. Japanese Soldier: China, 1937-38Published:
For most Americans, when you ask them when World War Two began, I imagine most people would answer December 7, 1941, the day the Japanese attacked the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. In my mind, as this book reminds us, I think it is necessary to push the timeline back to the late 1930s and the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War. Osprey’s combat series is one the more recent additions to their catalog of publications. As the title suggests, each volume looks at the relative strengths and weaknesses of a set of combatants across the historical time line. Each volume follows a specific formula – an introduction, a look at the weapons, tactics, recruitment and training of each side, descriptions of several battles the opponents fought, then an analysis and aftermath. As is… more |
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Forts: An Illustrated History of Building for Defence.Published:
In collaboration with Jeremy Black, Osprey has produced several coffee table style books to highlight the history of maps, naval charts, and now fortifications. Using photographs and illustrations from the National Archives of Great Britain, Black and Osprey have produced a concise history of fortifications from around the world. Black, to his credit, uses an international approach when telling the story of the development and evolution of fortifications. The books uses a chronological format, from the beginning of recorded history to the dawn of the 21st Century. The highlight of the book are the illustrations; there is not a great deal of text with each chapter. Black provides a broad overview to each time period and uses substantial captions with each chapter to expand the story.… more |
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Normandy, 1944: Hitlerjugend Soldier vs. Canadian SoldierPublished:
One of Osprey’s relatively new series is Combat. Each volume looks at a specific battle in a larger campaign and breaks down the relative strengths and weaknesses of the combatants (the key word in each title is ‘versus’). This particular volume takes a look at the Waffen SS formation, Hitlerjugend (a division made up primarily of Hitler Youth) and Canadian soldiers from a variety of units. The first chapters look at the relative strengths and weaknesses of each force and then devotes the balance of the volume to a set of battles in a larger campaign. The legacy of the prowess of the Germans continues to linger seventy-five years on. Similarly, the citizen soldiers of the Canada seem to pale in comparison to their German adversaries. On the surface it a clash between the classic… more |
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The Solomons, 1943-44: The Struggle for New Georgia and BougainvillePublished:
Osprey Publishing continues to add titles to its long running Campaigns series, this time tackling the struggle to liberate the remaining islands in the Solomon’s Island chain in the months after the successful conclusion of the Guadalcanal campaign. Using their tried and true format, the volume looks at the opposing commanders, forces, and plans before diving into the narrative on the campaign. Using contemporary photographs, superb maps, and full color illustrations, this volume does an excellent job in summarizing the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. Since these volumes are meant as an overview, they do not go into great detail into the campaigns, but provide enough information to give the reader a grounding in the campaign. After the successful seizure of Guadalcanal… more |
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British Ironclads, 1860-1875: HMS Warrior and the Royal Navy's "Black Battlefleet"Published:
Osprey’s newest addition to the New Vanguard series tackles one of the revolutions in naval construction and warfare – the ironclad. In one of the slimmer editions of this series, this volume follows the tried and true formula of the series. Using a mix of original artwork and contemporary illustrations, the author examines the origins, armor, ordnance, propulsion and crew accommodations on early British Ironclads. Unfortunately, if you are looking for service histories of the ships of the Black Battlefleet, they are not included in the narrative. That is the only disappointment in this volume. The date span of the volume, 1860-1875, encompasses the brief, but important decade and a half of the Royal Navy’s transition from wooden walls to ironclads. Spurred to action by the… more |