Military Model Scene

Title: Blitzkrieg in the West, Then & Now
Author: Jean Paul Pallud
Publisher: After the Battle
ISBN: 978-0900 913686

A new reprint of this classic Then and Now book from After the Battle, now part of Pen & Sword. This is a large, and impressive 640-page hard-cover book, first published back in 1991 and still superb.
It's a big book, and not surprisingly it would be easy to say a lot about what you will find in it, so a challenge to write a review within a reasonable length. The book is divided into 5 main sections, and between them, these are subdivided, breaking the campaign into 51 subsections, plus the glossary, index and photo credits. The main sections cover At War Again, the lead-in to Fall Gelb. the invasion of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. These are followed by The Breakout, Fall Rot, the next stage after the Dunkirk evacuation, to move on Paris and the rest of France, leaving the last part to round things off with The End, as the German army completed their defeat of French strongpoints, along with the Maginot Line, and moved down tp the Alpine Front. The immediately obvious strength of the book is the huge number of images, not just archive photos but many with comparative photos showing the same spot long after the war, an assortment of maps plus some plans showing the arrangement of elements of the Maginot Line bunkers. The photos themselves are engrossing, along with detailed and informative captions, but don't let that distract you from the main text, which contains not just the sequence of events, but so many stories of particular actions. The author even revisits the spot where his own father had to surrender.
There is just so much in this book for those just interested in the history, as well as super detail for both figure and vehicle modellers, diorama ideas and with the 'Now' comparisons are great for the battlefield visitor. It is also the largest/best collection of archive images of the 1940 Blitzkrieg that I can think of, all in one book. Recommended without any hesitation.
Thanks to Pen & Sword for this review copy.

Robin