Reviews for Airborne: World War II Paratroopers in Combat

The average rating for Airborne: World War II Paratroopers in Combat based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-12-22 00:00:00 John Kurpiel I gotta be honest. It took me almost 6 months to finish a book that should have taken about a month. But I think that was my fault- since I was expecting a coherent history of the subject. It's not that- its a history of the three Western Airborne Infantry programs and their iconic battles. That's right- ZERO SOVIET PARACHUTE CONTENT (They had a MASSIVE program- lots of operations). And no Bastogne for the US , since their iconic battle chosen is D-day- no D-Day content for the Brits or Germans-who had large formation there- No Cassino for the Germans, since their iconic battle chosen is Crete. It's basically Osprey (the publisher of the Men At Arms Series) plonking their FallshirmJager/US Paratroops/Para books attached to their Crete/D-Day US Parachute Operations/Market Garden books- and adding lots of lovely pictures and diagrams -but not quite enough colour plates. Still- a Gamer/Modeller/Military Enthusiast who likes this focus will find the book all they may need to get going with an army or library. So a qualified rec- if you can deal with the imperfect union of material- this book is awesome- if it gets to you- read specialty books on this topic (I've Reviewed MANY). You do get a little potted history, a lot of TO&E and lots of killer pics. Cool diagrams and Maps. But of course the Soviets getting mentioned as being so active- and then being ignored sort of stands out. Their success with experimentation in the Interwar period (and lots of failure too- it is good to die for the Soviet!) is really what led to the German fascination. Goering found something that fired Hitler's imagination- soldiers from the sky. Then German success in the early Conquest of Belgium and Holland (They took Ebn Emael-a fort ,and a bridge or two) led to the US and the British Empire trying to play catch up. Of course the Allies would be the ones who really had the logistical base to do airborne warfare, so seeing each arm start in their total national characters is sort of interesting. Very clear that the Germans really had not thought through their effort, as they NEVER get any really credible lift capacity to move division size units- Crete took them 4 days of dribbling drops and airlifted other supporting units to get. The British/NewZealand forces were defeated more by miscommunication and tactical tenacity than by Strategic Brilliance- although it seemed like the latter at the time. For the Junior reader- this may actually be a good choice- and as I said - you DO get the three major Western combatants all in one book- I'd say any reader over 11 can understand the material and learn. For the Gamer/Modeller/Military Enthusiast, I'd say it depends on your budget. You DO get all three efforts in one book- and are covered if you want to a paint armies- with at least two colour plates in each section. But if you are looking on this as literature- move on and read about each of these topics on its own. A rec- but read the review.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-02-17 00:00:00 Zane Wade I fear I will become a broken record on books by Mr. Shores... but I enjoy bearing good news to those of you who care. This is an outstanding book. Period. Maybe even in CAPS. I simply love the way the story is told, and how each time period (be they days or weeks depending on the activities) is analyzed and references compared so you the reader can make an assessment on the facts. The downright critical comments on the poor accuracy of pilot's claims is refreshing, even including actual interviews where memories appear a bit fuzzy or rusty. The willingness to demonstrate the fallibility of memories and show over and over how eyewitnesses can be seriously poor on gathering facts lends significant credence to my belief that first hand accounts are of value in only setting a mood or tone... facts generally need to be found elsewhere. The book is of course well written, and very logically presented. The additions by Mr. Cull and Mr. Malizia are critical to the success of this series as it gives so much more flavor to hearing about both sides of a particular engagement or fight. The daily grind from the Axis side is not well developed, but that is not unexpected as the primary view is allied-centric. Anyone with an interest in military aviation would greatly benefit from reading this book (or any others by the authors for that matter). This is a completely solid 5-Star book, and will be certainly on my "Re-read List" in the future.