Introduction

The following introduction is as provided by Pen and Sword:

A comprehensive, accurate, and academically-supported reference of all of the major military and paramilitary camouflage patterns that have been in use around the world from the end of World War Two to today.

This book will be a one-stop, generalized reference illustrating as many patterns as have been researched into the present time period. It will surpass all previous efforts. In addition to color tiles illustrating camouflage patterns it will include photographs of the designs actually being worn by military and paramilitary personnel, something few other references have done in suitable combination.

Review

This offering from Pen and Sword is authored by Eric H Larson and looks at camouflage patterns used around the world since the end of World War 2 all the way to the current day. This offering is a hard backed book containing 482 pages of a heavy high gloss paper. The countries are split up using the continent they fall under and the countries are in alphabetical order under those sub headers.

The modeller today is always looking to attain exactness in their work, this covers accuracy of the equipment used during specific time periods and then follows getting the accurate uniform camouflage patterns. During World War 2 uniform detail and colours are well covered and so the major issue is using accurate colours and pattern on the figure, but move beyond World War 2 and the information becomes more shrouded in fog. This title looks to cut through the fog and provide clear guidance on who, where and when camouflage patterns where in use. This title takes in every country I can think of and looked up to check, plus it covers the period from the end of the last World War to the current day and in the modern military a lot of changes have taken place in that time.

The information is presented to the reader in the form of photographic reference along with written content covering the progression of the country as they moved under the influence of different countries in the last 70 years. What I class as the dedicated text has been kept light making for easy reading, but at the same time providing interesting information on the details of lesser know countries.

The photographs are where the value of this title comes into its own. The book provides 600 colour images with well written captions provided in each case. The pictures are a mix of people wearing the specified uniform and images of the material used. I will be honest and say I would have liked to see an image of the material in each case as it is easy to determine the finest of details in these images, but the photographs of the material being worn does provide a key to scale which cannot be determined from the material samples provided. As such the value of both approaches serves a purpose and I except that trying to cover every uniform in this way would be prohibitive.

This is not a cheap book at £50, but Pen and Sword is offering the title for £40 which is a very good for what the title will provide the figure modeller a fantastic reference. The reference material is especially valuable when it comes to those who like to stray away from the usual suspects and tackle the more obscure.

Conclusion

This offering is a great release for the figure modeller interested in camouflage following the period after World War 2. Its biggest value comes to the fore when looking for information on the camouflage used by the troops that are not part of the NATO alliance or what was the Eastern BLOC. The price is high, but at the same time very good value for what this book offers the reader. Something that I really like about this title is the ease of navigation only requiring that you know which continent the country is in.