The Battle of Britain (BOB) brings to mind Spitfires and Hurricanes in swirling dogfights with the Luftwaffe's Messerschmitt's, Dornier's and Heinkel's in the summer skies over England in 1940. One of the lesser-known participants in the battle was the Regia Aeronautica (RA) or the Italian Air Force. In fact, the RA had participated in the invasion of France providing escort to bombing forces until France surrendered. From September to November 1940 the RA stationed two squadrons, the 85^th and 95^th of the 18^th fighter group at Ursel Belgium. Here the CR 42 would prove unsuited to the task. Lacking the performance of modern fighters, the Falco's took a beating at the hands of the RAF. More critical was lack of firepower and the open cockpit that froze pilots operating in the cold air over the English Channel. One of the 95^th squadron aircraft, serial 95-13 was shot down and landed virtually unharmed on English soil.

This set consists of one photoetch fret with parts to detail and/or replace kit parts on Emhar’s 1/72 British Mark IV Male tank. Mainly they are replacement parts for the kit’s un-ditching beam rails, some detail parts for that beam, replacement sponson doors, pistol port covers and parts to enable the modeler to open up the driver’s and commander’s vision ports. There’s also a piece to replace the roof top storage bin.

From the publisher’s notes on this book: “Early in the morning of 2 August 1990, aircraft of the Iraqi Air Force bombed Kuwaiti air bases, and then the Iraqi Republican Guards stormed into the country. Thus, began what would be called the ‘Gulf War’ – or the ‘II Gulf War’ or ‘II Persian Gulf War’ – fought between January and March 1991.

Although encountering some problems, the Iraqi forces occupied Kuwait in a matter of a few days. However, when President Saddam Hussein of Iraq unleashed his military upon Kuwait, little did he know what kind of reaction he would provoke from the Western superpowers, and what kind of devastation his country would suffer in return.

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.

Several years ago, I had the pleasure of spending a week in Prague. Relatively untouched by the Second World War, I had a delightful time. While I had a general knowledge of what happened in 1968, I was not thinking about the sacrifices that the inhabitants of the city made. This volume fills that gap. Hellion Publishing has created a host of series that examine conflicts around the world, including Europe. This particular volume provides an overview of the Soviet and Warsaw Pact intervention in Czechoslovakia in 1968. As with other Hellion offerings, it follows a standard design and format. The text provides context and details of the intervention. Given what happened in 1968, I have never seen many of these photographs, so anyone with an interest in Soviet vehicles and equipment, it is a treasure trove of information. They also include a small selection of color photographs, profiles of equipment that took part in the intervention, and a map.