Spanish Civil War 1936–39 (1)

Alejandro de Quesada is a Florida-based military history writer, an experienced researcher, and collector of militaria, photos and documents. He runs an archive and historical consultancy for museums and films as a secondary business. Alejandro has written over 100 articles and over 25 books, including several for Osprey, and is a leading authority on Latin American subjects.Stephen Walsh studied Art at the North East Wales Institute and has worked as a professional illustrator since 1988. Since then he has illustrated a variety of books and games including Settlers of Catan. His projects for Osprey include such diverse subjects as the battle of Otterburn, the Chinese army from 1937 to 1949 and the US Home Front in World War II.

This book describes well the extraordinary range of troop types and their uniforms, included examples of the complex range of unit cross-postings between formations. There is a helpful, albeit brief, historical overview, then chapters on the Nationalist army (including militias), colonial troops, and foreign volunteers, plus the air force, navy and security forces. The text provides useful information on the state of training and 'combat effectiveness' of the various troops, and plentiful photographs and illustration to assist the modeller/gamer. Company and battalion structures are provided, although the author makes plain that these were often theoretical rather than kept to in the field. The back cover implies that there will be an accompanying volume on the Republican forces: together these will provide a nicely balanced profile of troops, uniforms, styles of fighting, weapons, and so on. (Chris Jarvis, Miniature Wargames, June 2014)

• Introduction: historical backgroundChronology of main events, 1931–39Franco’s Nationalist armies: organization, orders of battle; uniforms, weapons, equipmentRegional troops: Galicia, Andalucia, Navarra, etc.Troops from Africa: Moroccan, African nomadic, Spanish Foreign LegionSecurity troops: Guardia Civil, Cuerpo de SeguridadSpanish Falange and other political militiasNationalist Air ForceNationalist NavyForeign volunteers: German Legion Condor, Italian Volunteer Corps, Irish Brigade, Portuguese volunteersSelect bibliographyPlate commentariesIndex