THE WINTER WAR

THE WINTER WAR 1939-40

For the amount of available books on the second world war, there isn't a huge amount of choice when it comes to the 'Winter War' conflict between Finland and Russia. Those I have read have for me, been a little dry.
Having previously enjoyed books from both Casemate's Illustrated series and historian Philip Jowett, I was looking forward to their pairing up here. I wasn't disappointed. 

The Russians expected an easy victory. Readers will learn that this wasn't the case and whilst victory did arrive, it came at a huge cost and far later than Stalin could have imagined. 
The Finns may have been outmatched in men and weapons, but they adopted better tactics to suit the conditions, as well as being far better clothed for temperatures that could drop as low as -40 at night.

Packed with an excellent range of photographs, many from the author's own collection, coloured maps & extra articles on some of the machinery and commanding officers, it all provides for a wide ranging account.
The author's flowing narrative and knowledge of the subject provides a great read that feels far bigger than its 120+ pages.
This is another excellent book in Casemate's series and the first on this subject that I'm delighted to find shelf space for.

The paperback edition is available now and published by Casemate. 
I thank Casemate UK for this review copy. 

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