Military Model Scene

Title: The Nazis' Winter Warfare on the Eastern Front 1941-1945
Author: Ian Baxter
Publisher: Pen & Sword
ISBN: 978-1-52676-807-0

Another addition to the Images of War series from Pen & Sword by author Ian Baxter. A 157-page soft-cover book, focussing on the way the German army had to cope with the extreme winter weather they encountered in 4 years of warfare in Russia.
After an Introduction, the rest of the book is split across 4 chapters, each one devoted to the individual winter wars of 1941 through to 1944/5. Not only the detail held within well captioned archive images, but this one also features plenty of diagrams/picture extracted from a wartime book published for the German armed forces, showing them how to cope with the different conditions the troops would face. The book covered things like building warm shelters, tank hides, use of skis and much more. There is also a translation of the text of the book included as an appendices. Thick mud and snow, the troops faced winter conditions which were regularly encountered during the war. It does beg the question of whether anything would have been different if the invasion had started a month or two earlier, potentially they might have ridden the crest of their wave of success and got into Moscow itself.
There is lots of detail within the photos themselves, for both WW2 historians and modellers alike. The special bit for this one is the inclusion of the elements from the wartime book giving advice on living & working in severe winter conditions. These diagrams off plenty of ideas for those of you who are fans of building dioramas.
Thanks to Pen & Sword for our review copy.

Robin