This publication is another edition to Osprey’s “Men-at-Arms” series, and follows author Jowett previous Osprey books, Men-at-Arms 306: Chinese Civil War Armies 1911-49; and his three-part sequence, “The Italian Army 1940-45 (Men-at-Arms 340, 349 and 353)”.

This book is illustrated by Stephen Walsh. Walsh has worked as a professional illustrator since 1988. His projects for Osprey include such diverse subjects as the battle of Otterburn, the Chinese army from 1937 to 1949, and the US Home Front in World War II.

The author lays out the primary goal of this publication as being, “to introduce the reader to the armies and wars of Mexico, Central America, and South America in this period.” He easily achieves that goal and much more. Mr. Walsh also provides an in-depth look at the root causes of these conflicts such as military influence, the power of oligarchies, and weak or divisive governments.

Page by page, black and white photos document the uniforms, clothing, weaponry, and persons of the time. These photographs provide a glimpse, not only of the persons who were engaged in this series of conflicts, but are striking in that they reveal, to some extent, the personality of those photographed.

Pages 24 through 33 are the work of illustrator Stephen Walsh. These excellent drawings are in full color and feature the uniforms, clothing, flags, and weaponry discussed in the text. The Plate commentaries for these detailed color plates can be found on page 43.

Contents

• Introduction - page 3
• Central America, 1900-1911 - page 4
  • The Armies
  • Foreign soldiers of fortune
• Mexico, 1920-1939 - page 9
  • The Mexican Federal Army
  • Federal Army Rebellions, 1920-1929
  • The Yaqui Rebellion, 1926-1927
  • The Cristero Rebellion, 1927-1929
  • The Cedillo Rebellion, 1938-1939
• Central America, 1921-1933 - page 15
  • Costa Rica & Panama: the Coto War, 1921
  • Nicaragua: the Southern rebellion, 1927-1933
• Brazil, 1922-1932 - page 19
  • The Brazilian Federal Army
  • Army rebellions, 1922-1927
  • The 1930 Revolution
  • The 1932 Sao Paulo Revolution
• Other Conflicts, 1932-1941 - page 34
  • Peru & Colombia: The Leticia Incident, 1932-1933
  • Cuba: the 1933 Revolution
  • Peru & Ecuador: the Zarumilla War, 1941
• Plate Commentaries - page 43
  • Uniforms and equipment, 1900-1941
• Index - page 48

This book is highly recommended for its historical content and comprehensive coverage of the turbulent years between 1900 and 1941. Further, the photographs, and in particular, the color plates will be a valuable resource for those who model figures. Thanks to Osprey for providing this publication to IPMS/USA for review.