The New Breed part 1 - North Africa

Judging by the ISBN number, this is the first book from The Factory Publishing company and they have picked a fine subject.

The war in the North African desert seems to have drawn a great deal of interest if I can judge by the more recent books that have come my way. Much of that has focused on the German side of things, but one needs to realize that it was, in fact, the British and Commonwealth forces that had the greater numbers and types of armor.

To many, it was the infusion of US military equipment to the British 8th Army that was one of the keys to turning the tide against what had to seem like the unstoppable German onslaught of 1942. The American Army was just not ready to enter the fray, but American equipment was and so several hundred M4A and M4A1 tanks and M7 SPGs were taken from the production lines or US units and shipped to the British. As the British seem to want to name everything, the M4 tanks were given the name Sherman and the M7s were called Priests due to the defensive gunner's 'pulpit'. These names stuck with the tanks and like the Lees and Grants before them, have worked their way into our lexicon.

This particular book looks at the way these tanks were painted and marked. In addition to the superb write-up on the subject and the excellent period photos, over a third of the book is dedicated to full color detail artwork and profiles of the various name, unit markings and camouflage schemes carried by these vehicles. A complete set of period painting guides is also provided in the appendix so that those who are modeling these vehicles will have what has to be the best reference to date.

It is a book that is not only a great read, but is sure to be a favorite reference for the modeler. You can buy this one with the confidence that you are getting the best. Highly recommended.

November 2008

Review sample courtesy of www.thefactorypublishing.com where you can get yours.

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