Red Army of the Great Patriotic War 1941-5 (Men-At-Arms, No 216)

by Ron Volstad, Ronald B. Volstad, Steven J. Zaloga

Release Date: November, 1989

Edition: Paperback

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Showing Its Age but No Less Useful

Since this primer came out in 1989, the fall of the USSR has led to much more knowledge of the details of the Red Army and its organization. As with any work in this series it is not intended as a definitive study, but an introduction. As such, it still is useful. As it was done before the end of the Cold War, much source material, even though published in prior years, has become available, and such publications as the now defunct English edition of Militaria and the still active French edition of Militaria have given us much more detail than is possible herein but that requires a large investment for the merely curious.
So, start here and then go on to the photo studies and reenactments with living models so prevalent in recent years.

An Excellent Thumbnail Review of the Subject for Hobbyists

Zaloga's contribution to Osprey's series is extremely well-done. And though this work is just under 50 pages, it packs in enough details for World War II scale modelers, computer game players, and novices of modern military history to get the answers to many basic and advanced questions about the Soviet military of the Second World War. Since this 1989 release, there have been many other works in this "reference books for modelers and hobbyists" niche that have zeroed-in on smaller chunks of the Red Army '41-'45, but for many individuals, this book can be enough. Ron Volstad's artwork, always excellant, is of unusually high quality in this book, and the photographs are studies in and of themselves. More books by Osprey and Osprey's competitors could benefit from the approach that Zaloga has taken in this work.

-- Clay Eaton