Pages

Thursday 13 February 2014

An interesting new book

Despite the current bad weather, Amazon managed to deliver a copy of the newly published HITLER'S BLITZKRIEG ENEMIES 1940: DENMARK, NORWAY, NETHERLANDS, & BELGIUM this morning.


The book was written by Nigel Thomas, illustrated by Johnny Shumate, and published by Osprey as part of their MEN-AT-ARMS series (No.493) (ISBN 978 1 78200 596 4).

Because the armies of the countries featured in this book were overwhelmed by the invading Germans, their histories, units, formations, and uniforms are little-known to most people with an interest in the Second World War. This book goes some way to filling that gap, and I am looking forward to reading it in detail later this week.

20 comments:

  1. Bob - the Kindle daily deal today is on Dreadnoughts - you might be interested??

    ReplyDelete
  2. Steve-the-Wargamer,

    Thanks for the heads-up. I shall pay a visit to Amazon forthwith.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bob,
    Am I being too sensitive in finding the title of this book, presenting these countries as if their only significance was as minor obstacles the Nazi blitzkrieg, a bit distasteful?

    But I suppose the alternative title: Victims of Nazi Aggression might not sell so well!

    Regards,
    Arthur

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'd say just a bit. The title refers to them as enemies, not victims.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Early War Miniatures do some nice figures for these forces.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Arthur1815,

    The title is somewhat insensitive and distasteful ... but I think that you are right that it might not have sold as well if it had had a more historically accurate title.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  7. Phf,

    The title is certainly less than historically correct. Perhaps a better title might have been VICTIMS OF BLITZKRIEG 1940.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  8. Nigel Drury,

    I did not know that. I will look out for them when I next visit a wargames show.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  9. Could have been worse - the title could have been "Blitzkrieg Speedbumps".
    It does look like a useful book - a lot of people seem interested in the 1940 battles.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great minds think alike - I had been about to go with "Speedbumps of the Wehrmacht".

    When I started back into Historicals I only had one opponent and one who always played the Dutch, the Belgians and the army of Luxemberg.

    Two years of playing German paras does terrible things to a man.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Michael Peterson,

    In all fairness to the author, he does try to explain the title in his introduction ... but I would agree that it is not the best choice of title the publishers could have made.

    I suspect that the book will be very popular with wargamers who are interested in both the 1940 campaigns and the interwar years, especially those contemplating a VBCW-style of wargame set in another European country.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  12. Conrad Kinch,

    TWO YEARS A GERMAN PARA sounds like a film title to me!

    Who will play you in the film? Johnny Depp, Matt Damon, or George Clooney?

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  13. Johnny Vegas?

    Though I have been told that I look like a younger, heavier Jack Dee.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Bob,

    Do browse http://earlywarminiatures.com/ They also have a growing WW1 range and in the "20mmzone" are the former Skytrex vehicles and artillery that they are now producing, but as resin/metal composite simple kits which are cheaper than the originals.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I really don't see the issue with the title. Is it the mention of "Hitler"?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Conrad Kinch,

    What about Jude Law? A man of action (in his films) and beloved by women. I think that describes you to a tee.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  17. Nigel Drury,

    Thanks for the link.

    It sounds like a range that I should be more aware of.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  18. Phf,

    I have a friend who works in publishing who tells me that a book with the words 'Hitler' and/or 'SS' in the title always sells well.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete
  19. Reminds me of the Alan Coren story, see -http://addiator.blogspot.co.uk/2008/01/golfing-for-cats.html

    ReplyDelete
  20. Nigel Drury,

    You could always rely on Alan Coren to get the level of ludicrous it-could-just-happen-but-it-won't just right.

    All the best,

    Bob

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment. Please note that any comments that are spam or contain phishing messages or that come from Google Accounts that are 'Unknown' will be deleted.