Simon McCouaig – illustratör

There exists among the world's armies a proliferation of special forces groups.Today's smaller armies, especially those of developing nations, demand maximum efficiency in force structure and employment. Mountain, jungle, arctic and desert areas require special purpose units trained, conditioned, and equipped to master these environments.This volume by ex-weapons specialist in the US 7th Special Forces Group, Gordon L. Rottman, details the insignia of a myriad of special forces groups from all parts of the globe, from Portugal's Commando Regiment to the North Yemen 'Al Mithalaat' Brigade. A wealth of illustrations and photographs accompany the text, including 12 full page colour plates by Simon McCouaig.

In the late 1980s, with the Intermediate Nuclear Force Treaty in effect, public attention turned to discussions of conventional weapons in Europe, particularly tanks.Though the importance of tanks had diminished since their heyday in the Second World War, on the modern battlefield they remained the dominant weapon. This text, enhanced by colour plates and photographs, examines the NATO and Warsaw Pact tank forces of that era, focusing on tank firepower and crew training, and speculates as to the possible outcome had a conventional land war been fought between them.

As World War II drew to a close, the Imperial Japanese military seized control of Laos, a French protectorate, and encouraged nationalist movements to forestall the revival of French power in the region.Despite these efforts the French re-entered Indochina and methodically retook the protectorate. By 1957, the government of Laos and the core of the Communist Laotian forces, known as the Pathet Lao, entered an uneasy truce, which plunged the country into 15 years of war.This illustrated volume explores the resulting war, providing a summary of events and profiling the Laotian government forces, the government Allied forces and the Communist forces.

Once predicted to be 'the Middle East of the Year 2000', Central America and the Caribbean have long been a powder keg of revolutionary activity and guerrilla warfare.The United States, with important strategic and economic interests in the region, has traditionally opted for a military solution toward the political upheaval, developing a range of responses, from direct military intervention to the training of tens of thousands of Latin-American soldiers in anti-guerrilla warfare techniques.This text, enhanced by colour plates and numerous photographs, examines the history of the Central American Wars by country, detailing the organization and uniforms of the combatants.

Elite units have long been prominent in the armies of South-East Asia and, given the turmoil in the region after the 1960s, these forces have had ample opportunity to be tested in combat.Acknowledged expert on South-East Asia Ken Conboy outlines the history, organization and insignia of Vietnamese, Cambodian, Indonesian, Malaysian and various other South-East Asian special forces from their origins up until the late 80s, covering such groups as the Vietnamese Luc Luong Dac Biet ('Special Forces') and Lien Doi Ngoui Nhia underwater demolition team and the Cambodian Airborne Brigade Group.

In a period of just over two years, from 15 March 1939 to 30 April 1941, ten countries were defeated in campaigns in which Nazi Germany deployed revolutionary techniques of mobile warfare.The breakneck speed of German victories allowed some defeated troops to escape to friendly countries, where their political leaders established governments-in-exile and formed them into military units to continue the struggle. The hard-pressed Western Allies welcomed this well-motivated manpower with open arms.Nigel Thomas investigates the foreign volunteers of the Western Allies in a fascinating text backed by contemporary photographs and eight full page colour plates by Simon McCouaig.

In 1940 Japan placed Vietnam under military occupation, restricting the local French administration to a figurehead authority.Seizing the opportunity, the Communists organised a Vietnamese independence league, the Viet Minh, whose armed forces became known as the PAVN (more commonly known to the West as the Vietcong, or NVA) and prepared to launch an uprising against the French at the war's end.This text details the history, organisation and uniforms of the People's Army of Vietnam from its origins in the fight against colonialism, through two separate wars against the US and Khmer Rouge, to its role in the modern era.