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.

Tom Cooper is an Austrian aerial warfare analyst and historian. Following a career in the worldwide transportation business – during which he established a network of contacts in the Middle East and Africa – he moved into narrow-focus analysis and writing on small, little-known air forces and conflicts, about which he has collected extensive archives. That resulted in specialization in such Middle Eastern air forces as of those of Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and Syria, plus various African and Asian air forces. In addition to authoring and co-authoring about 50 books - including about three dozen titles for Helion’s @War series - and well over 1,000 articles, Cooper is a regular correspondent for multiple defense-related publications.

Adrien Fontanellaz, from Switzerland, is a military history researcher and author. He developed a passion for military history at an early age and has progressively narrowed his studies to modern-day conflicts. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Pully-based Centre d’histoire et de prospective militaries (Military History and Prospectives Centre), and regularly contributes to the Revue Militaire Suisse and various French military history magazines. He is co-founder and a regular contributor to the French military history website L’autre cotè de la colline, and this is his tenth title for Helion’s ‘@War’ series.

Military historian and aviation-journalist Albert Grandolini was born in Vietnam and gained an MA in history from Paris 1 Sorbonne University. His primary research focus is on contemporary conflicts in general and particularly on the military history in Asia and Africa. Having spent his childhood in South Vietnam, the Vietnam War has always been one of his main fields of research. He authored the book Fall of the Flying Dragon: South Vietnamese Air Force (1973-1975) two volumes on Vietnam’s Easter Offensive of 1972 for Helion’s Asia@War Series, and three volumes on Libyan Air Wars for Africa@War Series, and has written numerous articles for various British, French, and German magazines.

Helion’s latest book in the Africa @ War series is a square back soft cover includes 88 gloss paper pages. This Volume 2 follows up on Tom Cooper and Albert Grandolini’s earlier Volume 1, Africa@War 31 published in 2019 that covers the Western Sahara from 1945 to 1975. The cover features a color photograph of one of 14 Northrop F-5Es acquired by Morocco. This one is US serial number 79-1933 and is painted in standard Flogger camouflage. The cover color side-view by Tom Cooper of a Mirage F.1EH of Escadron Atlas (Page 32vi). I counted one color picture (front cover) and 129 black and white photographs and drawings. There are also fifteen aviation color side profiles by Tom Cooper and eight armor color side profiles by David Bocquelet, along with seven black and white maps and one color map.

Western Sahara is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world with an estimated population of around 500,000. Nearly 40% of that population is in the northern coastal city Laayoune. The authors open up with the history of the area going back 2,000 years where Berber nomads inhabited the area of the West African coast of Morocco south to Mauritania. A Spanish “protectorate” from the 15^th century to 1975; Spain, under UN pressure (and the end of Franco’s regime) gave control of the area to a joint administration of Morocco and Mauritania. The authors note that while this book is focused primarily on the air war in Western Sahara, it must be in the context of the complex political forces from Western Sahara’s neighbors, Morocco, Mauritania, Algeria, France, Spain, and the “indigenous” POLISARIO insurgency. Volume 1 focused on post-World War II through 1975 when the Spanish left their former colony. This volume looks at 1975 through 1991, when a cease-fire between Morocco and the POLISARIO was implemented. The cease-fire really had no large effect, as the war continues between the two parties. This is unlikely to change any time soon since Morocco to this day still considers the Western Sahara as part of Morocco. The UN has recognized SADR (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic) to be the legitimate government of Western Sahara, a concept that is not supported by Morocco that controls most of the land, natural resources, and all the major cities. The sections include:

• Abbreviations
• Introduction and Acknowledgments
• Chapter One: The Spanish Sahara
  • Early History
  • Carving Out an Overseas Province
  • National Resources
  • Stubborn Franco
  • Moroccan-Spanish Stand-Off [Page 13]
  • Grand Finale
• Chapter Two: Moroccan Armed Forces of the Mid-1970s
  • Take, Then Give
  • Table 1: FAR Equipment (Ground Forces), 1975
  • Table 2: FAR Unit Abbreviations
  • Safran Mirages
  • Additional F-5A/Bs
  • Table 3: FRA Order of Battle, 1975-1976
  • Conclusions
• Chapter Three: All Against All
  • Marche Verte
  • Madrid Accord [Page 22]
  • Spanish Evacuation
  • Security Operation in the Southern Zone
  • Battles of Amgala
  • Sahrawi Declaration of Independence
  • The POLISARIO’s Art of War
  • Into Mauritania
  • High Defence Committee
  • Ambush for FAIM
  • Expeditionary Pioneers
  • Operation Lamatin
  • Jaguars Over Zouerate
  • Jaguar Down
  • Mauritanian Collapse
• Color Profiles [Page 32vii]
• Chapter Four: A Brutal School
  • Morocco’s Shopping Spree
  • Fire Birds of Allah
  • Quiet Before the Storm [Page 41]
  • Convoy Ahoy!
  • Nothing But Trouble
  • Operation Houari Boumedienne
  • Technology to the Rescue
  • The FAR’s Task Forces
  • Windscreen Vipers
  • Raid on Samara
  • Failed Raid on Bou Craa
• Chapter Five: The POLISARIO’s Pyrrhic Victory
  • The Mess of 1980
  • Morocco’s Great Wall
  • Fatal Mistake
  • Table 4: FAR Order of Battle in Western Sahara and Southern Morocco since 1979-1980
  • The Last Big Libyan Shipment
• Table 5: ELPS Order of Battle, mid-1981
  • El-Keichafa
  • First Battle of Guelta Zemmour
  • Moroccan Desert Fox
  • Far-Reaching Consequences
• Chapter Six: Stalemate
  • Reagan’s Support
  • The SA-6 Problem
  • SEAD. Moroccan-Style
  • Improved Reconnaissance
  • Hunter-Killer Tactics [Page 60]
  • Rift within the OAU
  • Table6: FRA Order of Battle, 1985-1988
  • The Square of Death and an Insurgent Radar Station
  • ELPS Conventional Forces
  • Algerian Air Defences
  • Power Demonstration
  • The Beginning of the End: Raid on Zimoul el-Niran
  • Operation Grand Maghreb
  • Libyan Withdrawal
  • Algerian Restrictions
  • Battle of Farcia
  • Second Battle of Guelta Zemmour
  • Operation Rattle and the Cease Fire
  • POLISARIO’s Naval Operations
  • Cost of the War
  • Post Scriptum
  • Table 7: Known Claims and Confirmed Aircraft Losses Over Western Sahara, 1975-1991
• Bibliography
• Notes

I found many sections of this story very interesting, but one stood out. Morocco had requested 24 Fairchild OV-10A Broncos, but only six got delivered, all from USMC surplus. The USMC supported the Broncos becoming operational to combat the POLISARIO’s small naval operations. Starting operations in 1981, the Bronco’s service came to an end with the 19897 completion of the Moroccan Great Wall which effectively ended any POLIARIO naval operations. Still, the insurgents still managed to down two of the Broncos in 1985.

Tom Cooper, Albert Brandolini, and Adrien Fontanellaz present an eminently readable tale that is well supplemented with photos, maps and tables. Although I had very little awareness of the conflict in this area, I was able to read this easily over three nights. There are several first person accounts that really draw the reader into the various incursions and other engagements. The modeler is well served as there are plenty of good action photographs of armored vehicles and aircraft that is well supported with Tom Cooper’s color aircraft side profiles and David Bocquelet’s armor color side profiles.

If you own one the previous releases in the Africa @ War series, you know what you are getting. If this is your initial entry into this series, you will be quite pleased.

My thanks to Helion & Company, Casemate Publishing, and IPMS/USA for the chance to review this great book.

Highly recommended!