Member Reviews
John L, Reviewer
I've not had the chance to see any of these Amber Books military guides before now that have referred to ongoing conflict, but any idea this is a way to profit from someone's blood somewhere distant is wrong. This is something very useful to any observer, be she press, NATO or civilian vlogger that may have some need to know exactly what has passed her street. It is, after all, a most messy war (started many years before the western press even bothered to realise, of course) and clarity can only help.
We start with the small arms weapons – the AK-74s that both sides have in multitudes, the support arms that are near a hundred years on from first being developed, the disabling or worrying sniper rifles with their 2 kilometer range, and so on. The book doesn't aim to be comprehensive, but gives us just enough background to all the weapons, how common they might be, and – in an age where anyone and everyone can get uppity about weapons supplies to the other 2024 war – where they've come from. It's rich that a lot of the Ukrainian supply was a legacy of the USSR/CIS collapse; it's rich that some of the bigger warships Russia has lost were still in service only because anything better had become a rust-bucket and sold for parts years ago.
This doesn't try to be a narrative of the combat, but does suggest the tos and fros of it all due to the hindrance of this, the benefits of that, the superiority of the other. It doesn't allow itself room to be judgemental or to take sides – it is too pictorial for that, and sticks to the 'just the facts, ma'am' attitude very well. A strong four stars.
Quinn 1, Reviewer
I received this as an ARC from NetGalley with thanks.
This is an interesting and thoroughly researched book, detailing the weaponry used in Ukraine against the ruscists. This was very detailed, well explained and the attendant photographs illustrative. I'd recommend this book to others.
