If you are like me, my military vehicle interest tends to lean towards what many call softskins. Those are vehicles that are not armored and often have little more than minimal defensive armament. These are generally not designed to be in the forefront of battle, but are more along the lines of supply and reconnaissance vehicles. They also generally have wheels instead of tracks, though that is not always the case.

This book by Pat Ware a renowned author on the subject, covers probably every transport vehicle and halftrack (unarmored) that was used during WWII by the combatants. Now I should mention that the book does not go into incredible detail on these vehicles as it would take well more than 208 pages to get it all in. No, it is more of a well rounded look at these vehicles; a primer if you would.

In that, it does an excellent job. There are many of us who have an interest, but not any sort of reliable reference on the subject. Now we have one.

The book is divided into sections of varying length, depending on the number of subjects. Those ten sections are:

Light Utility Vehicles, Light Trucks (to 2 tons), Medium Trucks (to 3 tons), Heavy Trucks (over 3 tons), Tank Transporters and Prime Movers, Recovery Vehicles, Truck Mounted Cranes, Fire Appliances and Snow Clearers, Amphibians, and finally, Ambulances and Medical Vehicles.

Quite an array of subjects, many of which I'd neither considered and some that are truly unique and unusual.

Each chapter has an introduction as to what makes up that section then there is an alphabetical listing by country and the vehicles contributed by that country. There are superb photos, both period images and those taken at various vehicle shows where proud owners show off their restorations. While one would expect to see lots of jeeps and command cars, some of these folks restore wreckers, fire trucks, prime movers and heavy trucks.

The final section is a considerable appendix that lists every single variant of every vehicle known. It provides the make, model, a short description, date, engine capacity and number of cylinders.

In all it is a book that I found a delight to read. It was informative and piqued my interest into these vehicles even more. It is one that I know you will find equally as fine a read and one that you can purchase with confidence.

Thanks to www.casematepublications.com for the review book. You can get yours direct from the hyperlink to the left or from your favorite bookseller. If you don't see it, ask them to order it for you.

September 2007

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