The Romanian Army of World War II (Men-at-Arms, No. 246) Paperback – March 26, 1992

More than half the book is used to describe the uniforms and equipment of the Romanian army in WWII. Lucky for me, the rest of the text covers the war as Romania fought it. The small amount of text on the war surprised me by bringing out all the information I need for my purposes. If for some reason, I need more detail, I am pointed in the right direction.I love the Osprey books, but I love them for what they are. Osprey brings us introductory information on a huge range of military subjects. But the books are indeed introductory.I bet modlers love them.

A very good overview on Romanian struggles during WW2. Not much new to offer on a historical basis, but the uniform drawings and photographs do this book justice. Very pleased.

Rather than give a dissertation on the history of the Romanian Army (which seems to be a disturbing trend among MAA reviews in general) I'll focus my comments on what I think prospective buyers want to see - details of what is actually contained in the book.Standard MAA layout; pages of text with accompanying photos, and a set of 8 colour plates centrally located. What is odd about this book is that the captions to the colour plates take up more than half the text. This is an unusual variant on the layout of most MAA books.The text is divided into sections - an Introduction, a piece on The Army and the State which gives a nice description of the organization of the military, Equipment, which focuses primarily on tanks but also on small arms, Unit Organisation which describes the different kinds of divisions and also has a nice sidebar indicating which regiments were formed into which divisions, Campaigns 1941-1945, with a brief history of the employment of the Romanian Army, with nicely done maps, and then the plates.The plates focus mainly on details of equipment, uniforms and insignia, hence the absence of this discussion from the main text, however, the captions are so detailed they may be considered an extension of the text. Plates cover the gamut from high command, to general staff officers, field officers, NCOs and men.Disappointingly, the subject of rank insignia, or duties and responsibilities associated with the various ranks, is not addressed. Another volume in the MAA titles does cover rank insignia in detail - MAA 131 Germany's Eastern Front Allies and I would recommend that title be read in conjunction with this one, for those interested in a fuller understanding of the rank system.Otherwise, a fairly complete initial look at the Romanian Army is provided, and some details of rank can be deduced from context clues in the plate captions.Plates themselves are well done by a Romanian artist, and seem almost identical to Volstad's style, not a bad thing. Faces are a bit unevenly done, but details of uniform and insignia are clear, with borders well defined by black lines. Good array of poses and mix of subjects.Rated down for lack of rank insignia information. Those not interested in that facet may rate this a 5 with regards to order of battle and historical info.

Excellent source of information on the Romanian uniforms during WW2. Great reference for modelers.

Osprey classic

The Color Plates are artist rendition , actual photos of museum or collectors grade equip or uniforms of theRomanian Army would have greatly improved this study.At only 46 pages this study provides an overview of the Romanian Army but lacks in depth detail.The information includes the dire situation of the 1939-40, Hitlers defeat of France , Czechoslovakia, andPoland left Romania with no allies. Concurrently the only other option being Stalin, Romania chose GermanProtection.Romanian Army Organization is listed in a table format of Division and Regiment.Romanian Army Operations are included, with Map Reference. Operations include Odessa and all other Romanian/Germanactions that can only be briefly addressed within the 46 Pages of this book.A nice addition to the study of WWII Axis Powers.

MR. AXWORTHY IS A HISTORIAN WELL WORTH READING. HIS STYLE IS FLUID, AND LITERATE; HE DEVELOPS HIS SUBJECT MATTER IN A WAY TO HOLD THE READER'S INTEREST. THIS LITTLE GEM IS NO EXCEPTION. UNLIKE HIS LARGER WORKS ON SLOVAKIA AND ROMANIA AS AXIS ALLIES, THIS LITTLE DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH CAN BE PERUSED IN A FEW HOURS OF ENJOYABLE READING. IT IS A GREAT INTRODUCTION FOR THE NOVICE. IN ADDITION THERE IS DATA ON RANKS AND INSIGNIA THAT ONE CAN GO BACK TO TIME AND AGAIN WITH QUESTIONS AND FIND THE ANSWER. OSPREY AGAIN HAS PUBLISHED A LITTLE GEM WELL WORTH THE TIME AND EFFORT.

Osprey (Men-at-Arms Series) is a good reference source. Model builders/figure painters will especially find the color plates useful. I am using mine as a color guide to paint WWII Romanian Infantry, but anyone who wishes to sculpt their own figures, or create scenarios for battles (using the organization information) will also find it useful.