The books title is quite misleading.  This is not simply a book of equipment.

The book is broken down into chapters based on the formation of the British airborne forces in 1940 and each chapter looks at a major campaign where airborne forces were deployed.

Each chapter has a large number of photos showing equipment and the uniforms used, and shows the evolution of equipment required.

This is a great book for reenactors looking to portray airborne servicemen and will provide the ability to help them portray specific campaigns during WW2.

The narrative in the book covers most of the main campaigns of the war but specifically from the airborne perspective.

I would highly recommend this book for anyone looking at learning about the parachute regiment and airborne forces evolution in World War 2.

You can buy the book here from Pen and Sword books.

Please note I was not paid to write this review but was sent a review copy of the book. All comments are my own, and the publishers have not amended the review in any way.

The Lost Samurai reveals the story that for almost a hundred years Japanese samurai were employed as mercenaries in the service of the kings of Siam, Cambodia, Burma, Spain and Portugal, as well as by the directors of the Dutch East India Company.

The Japanese samurai were used in dramatic assault parties, as royal bodyguards, as staunch garrisons and as willing executioners. As a result, a stereotypical image of the fierce Japanese warrior developed that had a profound influence on the way they were regarded by their employers.

The book also suggests that if during the 1630s, Japan had chosen to engage with Southeast Asia rather than isolate from it, the presence of Japanese communities overseas may have had a profound influence on the subsequent development of international relations within the area, perhaps even seeing the early creation of an overseas Japanese empire that would have provided a rival to Great Britain.  I guess we will never know but it is an interesting thought.

The book covers the period of 1593 to 1688.  I was surprised to learn Japanese samurai as mercenaries for foreign powers. The first seemingly to be Korea, a country Japan invaded at the start of this period.  That said the author does clarify that it might not be the traditional image of a samurai we see working as mercenaries. They would most likely have been pirates or working as merchants for their overlords how didn’t value them.

I can see how working for foreign powers and heads of state would have been appealing.

This is a fascinating read and something that warrants further investigation.  If you are interested in the martial cultures of Japan and the samurai, this is an excellent book to give you a very different set of stories.

For me, it has slightly changed my opinion of the Japanese warrior of the period.  And made them even more complicated.

And for those that know – yes I have ignored the shocking sword drawing on the cover.

You can buy the book here from Pen and Sword books.

Please note I was not paid to write this review but was sent a review copy of the book. All comments are my own, and the publishers have not amended the review in any way.

When this book arrived I must admit I did have little chuckle, describing the bicycle as the forgotten war machine.  I honestly didn’t know there was an Army Cyclist Corps.  Yet even as late as the 1970s bicycles were being used by infantry to move from battlefield to battlefield, in this example the Vietcong.

The BSA company which made weapons for the military diversified in to bicycles in 1881. During WW1 BSA produced bicycles and motorcycles to the military and police forces. The British army had some 1500 BSA bicycles.

The book, not only covers British forces, many nations used the bicycle to move infantry quickly.

The book is full of amazing pictures of cyclists at war. The book also depicts reenactors riding bikes.

There are interesting chapters on some of the types of bikes being created such as ambulance bikes for evacuating injured soldiers, also cable laying attachments, and messenger pigeon carrying bikes. The more I read the more engrossing it was and how useful a bicycle would have been in the early days as it was a cheap easy to use piece of transportation.

The bicycle was also used in WW2 right up to the end of the war.

I think this is an amazing book that anyone reading anything about warfare in the 20th century should read this book.  You probably hadn’t considered how important the bicycle was. I know I hadn’t.

You can buy the book here from Pen and Sword books.

Please note I was not paid to write this review but was sent a review copy of the book. All comments are my own, and the publishers have not amended the review in any way.