During Japan's devastating Pacific offensive of the 1941-42 period of World War II, the Allies paid a high price for their failure to take seriously an army which had already been fighting in Manchuria and China for ten years. That army was a unique blend of the ancient and the modern and its up-to-date equipment and resourceful tactics served an almost medieval code of unquestioning obedience and ruthless aggression. This first of two titles covers the organisation, equipment, uniforms and character of Japanese ground forces in the Chinese and early Pacific campaigns, illustrated with...

The Russo-Japanese War in Manchuria was the first 20th century conflict fought between the regular armies of major powers, employing the most modern means machine guns, trench warfare, minefields and telephone communications; and the battle of Mukden in March 1905 was the largest clash of armies in world history up to that date. Events were followed by many foreign observers; but the events of 1914 in Western Europe suggest that not all of them drew the correct conclusions. For the first time in the West the armies of this distant but important war are described and illustrated in detail,...

Although the Chinese contribution to Allied victory in World War II (1939-1945)is often ignored, China fought the Japanese Empire for far longer than any other belligerent nation. By the time that the Sino-Japanese War became absorbed into the wider conflict at the end of 1941, Chinese armies had already suffered huge casualties and half the country had been lost. By fighting on with Allied support, China tied down a million Japanese troops. After Japan's defeat in 1945, China was immediately plunged back into civil war between Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists and Mao Tse-tung's Communists; and...

Osprey's examination of Finland's involvement in World War II (1939-1945). Finland's fight to defend her independence earned this tiny nation of just 3 million people a distinct place in history. Invaded by Stalin before World War II, Finland held out for months and inflicted huge losses on the invaders, but she was eventually crushed by the weight of Soviet numbers. When Germany invaded the USSR in 1941 the Finns fought alongside the Wehrmacht on the northern Russian Front, with great skill and courage in an attempt to regain their lost territories. When the German armies were forced to...

Some of the most famous Western movies have been set against the background of the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century. Now, for the first time in English, Osprey offer a concise but fact-packed account of the events, armies, uniforms and weapons of those ten chaotic and bloody years, putting in context such famous but half-understood names as Diaz, Pancho Villa, Zapata, Madero and Huerta. The text is illustrated with many rare and fascinating period photographs, and with eight detailed color plates of orfiristas and Rurales, Maderisitas, Federales, Villistas, Zapatistas, and US...

The fall of the Manchu Empire in 1911 ended thousands of years of Imperial rule and ushered in almost 40 years of conflict in China. From the abdication of Pu-Yi, the last emperor, the invasion of Manchuria by the Japanese, and the 'long march', to the birth of the People's Republic of China in 1949, this book looks in detail at the fighting men, and women, who fought for the communists, imperialists, republicans, nationalists, warlords and the puppet armies. The result is a comprehensive and illuminating work covering a large and complex series of combatants and conflicts.

At its peak the Italian Army contributed 2.5 million troops to the Axis war effort during World War II (1939-1945). In addition to its major role in North Africa, Italy's army invaded, and later bore the main burden of occupying, the Balkan countries. Italy also sent 250,000 men to fight on the Russian Front. In this second book of a three-part study Philip Jowett covers the organisation, uniforms and insignia of the Italian troops committed to both the North African campaign, and the often neglected East African fighting of 1940-41, including the colourful colonial units. Stephen Andrew's...

Immediately after the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943, Mussolini was deposed and the new Italian government switched sides. The German occupying forces swiftly freed Il Duce and ruthlessly disarmed the Italian Army; and from then until the end of the war in April 1945 Italian troops fought on both sides - with the forces of the new Fascist 'Salo Republic', in the Allied 'Co-Belligerent Forces', and in the Partisan movement. This period of bitter struggle saw the appearance of many new units and a wide range of interesting uniforms, described and illustrated in this final part of...

When the Japanese Empire went to war with the Allies in December 1941, it had already been fighting in China for 10 years. During that time it had conquered huge areas of China, and subjugated millions of people. The Japanese needed to control the Chinese population in these occupied territories, and for this reason they set up governments from amongst the leaders of the Chinese who were willing to co-operate with them. These so-called 'puppet' governments were designed to rule on behalf of the Japanese while firmly under their overall control. In turn, the puppet governments needed their own...