The Rangers are an elite arm of the United States Army that ostensibly traces its roots back to Roger’s Rangers of Revolutionary War fame. More plausibly, this unit was created shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and has served as a highly trained mobile strike arm of the U.S. Army ever since.

This most intriguing book delves into their operations, training and equipment during the tumultuous latter portion of the 20^th Century into operations taking place right now, showing a snapshot of a force which utilizes the very latest in technology and techniques to keep them in the forefront of elite military forces around the world.

The book begins with some descriptions of the training required to become a member of this unit, then delves into the numerous deployments within the scope of the book’s time frame, beginning with Operation “Just Cause” in Panama in 1989 and concluding with operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. It proceeds to discuss in detail the evolving equipment used by the force including specialized assault vehicles. Numerous color art plates are provided to display the evolution of the weapons, equipment and uniforms as it traces the Ranger’s path through the tempest of world conflicts.

All told, this book gives a very detailed examination of this unit’s operations and deployments and provides the modeler with a host of fascinating details. My only beef with the artwork (and a small beef at that) is that the camouflage colors displayed in the plates have been somewhat exaggerated, presumably in order to show off the various patterns to better effect. As long as the figure modeler checks these colors against the color photos also included in the book, there should be no problem. And I might add that there are some really challenging patterns to be found here!

I heartily recommend this tome to anyone interested in the U.S. Army Rangers, their operations, training and equipment, and their continually-evolving tactics in the fight against various insurgencies around the globe.

My thanks to Osprey for releasing such a timely book for the modeler and to IPMS/USA for letting me bone up on this fascinating subject.