The Soviet soldier of WW2

[Nick Hessens]

New book on the market. I just want to share this, because it might interest some collectors on the forum.



Discription on the back:

Eight million Soviet soldiers died on the Eastern front between 1941 and 1945. However, their history, uniforms and day to day plight remain mostly un-documented to this day. Many misconceptions prevail, most of them stemming from the ferocious Nazi propaganda of the times. In reality the Soviet soldier proved himself a resolute and well-equipped fighter. His uniform and equipment improved constantly during the Great Patriotic War, despite the shortcomings of a war-crippled economy.
There have been few books on the history and uniforms of the World War 2 Soviet Army. The interested reader will find here a coherent wealth of information on the Red Army’s organization and orders of battle, its uniforms and equipment, and its matériel (soft skinned vehicles, AFVs, Artillery, Signals...). The various guises of the Soviet soldier, from Barbarossa to the fall of Berlin, have been reproduced in color with more than 50 studio reconstructions of infantrymen, artillerymen, parachutists, tankmen, women soldiers, marines, commissars, etc.
A large variety of individual equipment, small arms, personal items, insignia and medals are illustrated in detail. The book also features hundreds of unpublished period photographs, many from the soldiers themselves.

Thanks for looking!

Regards

[sitges1990]

Thanks Ingrid, I just finished my last war book and need new reading material. This looks like an interesting book. I think the propaganda still somewhat exists today about the effectiveness of Soviet forces during this era. I may have to pop for this one. Has any of our esteemed members read this one yet?

Jay

[Nick Hessens]

[robin morley]

Hi Ingrid, Thanks for bringing this book to my attention, I have just ordered it from Amazon and am looking forward to its arrival.

Robin

[Nick Hessens]

Hi Ingrid, Thanks for bringing this book to my attention, I have just ordered it from Amazon and am looking forward to its arrival.

Robin

Hi Robin,
Glad I could help.
Please tell us if the book is useful for reference or not, after you read it.

Regards

[robin morley]

Will do, should be with me Thurs or Fri.

All the best

Robin

[Adrian Stevenson]

The author, Philippe, is a member of the forum.

I don't have a copy as yet, but from what I have seen it looks good.

Cheers, Ade.

[GIZMO8Z]

Hello, all!

I purchased this book a while ago from ebay. It has an immense amount of color pictures (most are reenactors posing in the uniform and gear that best fits with the topic of the section in the book), and covers a broad subject area. It has small sections on nearly everything a soldier would carry or use on the battlefield... weapons, field gear, awards and personall items, etc... It also has a page each devoted to training, medical services of the Red Army, etc. However, I feel that it never really goes into too much detail about anything.

In my opinion, this book best serves as a quick reference to familiarize yourself with the subject and see what your average soviet soldier was wearing during a specific time period during the war. For example, outdated gear and weapons early in the war when the Germans had the advantage and then better equipped soldiers with SMGs at the end of the war. It doesn't go in depth to mention different makers or maker marks... the things that a lot of collectors obsess over. It is not a be all, end all encyclopedia of everything Soviet soldier.

With that being said, I think it does an excellent job with what it set out to do! I have it in my book shelf and a few friends have come over and helped themselves to checking it out!

[Nick Hessens]

Thanks for your opinions, Ade and Joe!

Regards

[robin morley]

I have to agree with Gizmo8z review, a very good book that gives a good general introductions into the subject. The book runs to 176 pages and I think it would be unrealistic to think that it could go into any depth on individual subjects especially when you bare in mind that The panzer assault badge book runs to 905 pages. On skim reading I noticed a couple of minor typos where Orders of the Red star are misnamed as Order of the red banner however apart from this taken for what it is I cannot really fault it. I would recommend the book to anyone who has an interest in the subject.