Book Review of
Red Star Versus Rising Sun
Vol. 1: The Conquest of Manchuria 1931-1938
Author: Adrien Fontanellaz
Helion & Co. Ltd., Asia@War Series no. 22
ISBN: 978-1-914377-80-8
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $25.99
ISBN: 978-1-914377-80-8
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $25.99
HISTORY:
During the first half of the 20th century, Tsarist Russia and then its successor the Soviet Union, fought a series of undeclared wars against the Empire of Japan in the Far East The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 was fought over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea and ended in a Japanese victory that would leave the Japanese Army with a sense of self-importance, a belief that the offensive spirit could overcome all obstacles and a strong conviction that the ends would justify the means.,
As the century continued, Japanese forces expanded into China and created the puppet state of Manchukuo that would become a vital resource for further imperial ambition. This expansion inevitably brought the empires of the Rising Sun and the Red Star ever closer on the ground, and in 1938 the two armies clashed at Lake Khasan, the first of a number of battles that would have far-reaching consequences for the course of the world war to come.
Volume 1 of the Red Star versus Rising Sun mini-series examines the origins of the rapidly modernizing imperial Japanese Army and its expansion, largely unfettered by civilian political constraints , into mainland Asia from the late 19th century up until 1938. It examines the culture, structure and equipment of the IJA and its campaigns in warlord-era China, along with an overview of the purge-ravaged Red Army of the same period.
Volume 1 of Red Star versus Rising Sun includes a range of specially commissioned colour illustrations of the men, AFV’s, artillery pieces and aircraft that fought at Lake Khasan in 1938.
The book:
Helion & Co. Ltd. is based in the U.K.
This book is soft-cover of 72 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover art shows a black and white photo of a Russian officer standing atop a hill above Lake Khasan, next to a infantry-man holding a long pole with a Russian flag on it. The officers is looking through a pair of binoculars.
Below this photo is a color side view illustration of a Japanese Nakajima Ki-27, also known as the type 97 Army Fighter and allied code name “Nate”.
The back cover of the book shows a color side profile illustration of a Chinese T-26 tank, supplied by Russia.
It contains 74 black and white photos, no color ones and 7 black and white paintings. Also, as already said above, Japanese, Chinese and Russian infantrymen, their weapons, tanks and aircrafts. There is a photo of 12 Japanese Samurai's in costume.
Two maps of Asia (one in color) are included. A photo of a Chinese steam locomotive and 4 trains (one that is wrecked), a photo of Chinese battleship Zhenyuan and Japanese cruiser Matsushima, a group of Japanese soldiers in a sailboat, a black and white illustration of a French advertising poster for the South Manchurian Railways, a photo of a Chinese soldier guarding captured Japanese weapons, a photo of a Soviet submarine ShCh-117 part of the Pacific Fleet, several data lists, photo of the headquarters building of the Kwantung Army in Hsinking, a Japanese soldier fishing with a net, Chinese troops on horseback, Chinese women civilians captured by the Japanese, the book’s cover art photo of the Russian officer looking through binoculars (already described above), a wrecked T-26 Soviet tank and a wrecked aircraft that was shot down by Japanese anti-aircraft
The BIBLIOGRAPHY and NOTES in the last pages of the book.
This is a neat book about this small war. It will be of interest to modelers and historians alike.
I sincerely want to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample.
All Helion & Co. Ltd. books can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
During the first half of the 20th century, Tsarist Russia and then its successor the Soviet Union, fought a series of undeclared wars against the Empire of Japan in the Far East The Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 was fought over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and Korea and ended in a Japanese victory that would leave the Japanese Army with a sense of self-importance, a belief that the offensive spirit could overcome all obstacles and a strong conviction that the ends would justify the means.,
As the century continued, Japanese forces expanded into China and created the puppet state of Manchukuo that would become a vital resource for further imperial ambition. This expansion inevitably brought the empires of the Rising Sun and the Red Star ever closer on the ground, and in 1938 the two armies clashed at Lake Khasan, the first of a number of battles that would have far-reaching consequences for the course of the world war to come.
Volume 1 of the Red Star versus Rising Sun mini-series examines the origins of the rapidly modernizing imperial Japanese Army and its expansion, largely unfettered by civilian political constraints , into mainland Asia from the late 19th century up until 1938. It examines the culture, structure and equipment of the IJA and its campaigns in warlord-era China, along with an overview of the purge-ravaged Red Army of the same period.
Volume 1 of Red Star versus Rising Sun includes a range of specially commissioned colour illustrations of the men, AFV’s, artillery pieces and aircraft that fought at Lake Khasan in 1938.
The book:
Helion & Co. Ltd. is based in the U.K.
This book is soft-cover of 72 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover art shows a black and white photo of a Russian officer standing atop a hill above Lake Khasan, next to a infantry-man holding a long pole with a Russian flag on it. The officers is looking through a pair of binoculars.
Below this photo is a color side view illustration of a Japanese Nakajima Ki-27, also known as the type 97 Army Fighter and allied code name “Nate”.
The back cover of the book shows a color side profile illustration of a Chinese T-26 tank, supplied by Russia.
It contains 74 black and white photos, no color ones and 7 black and white paintings. Also, as already said above, Japanese, Chinese and Russian infantrymen, their weapons, tanks and aircrafts. There is a photo of 12 Japanese Samurai's in costume.
Two maps of Asia (one in color) are included. A photo of a Chinese steam locomotive and 4 trains (one that is wrecked), a photo of Chinese battleship Zhenyuan and Japanese cruiser Matsushima, a group of Japanese soldiers in a sailboat, a black and white illustration of a French advertising poster for the South Manchurian Railways, a photo of a Chinese soldier guarding captured Japanese weapons, a photo of a Soviet submarine ShCh-117 part of the Pacific Fleet, several data lists, photo of the headquarters building of the Kwantung Army in Hsinking, a Japanese soldier fishing with a net, Chinese troops on horseback, Chinese women civilians captured by the Japanese, the book’s cover art photo of the Russian officer looking through binoculars (already described above), a wrecked T-26 Soviet tank and a wrecked aircraft that was shot down by Japanese anti-aircraft
The BIBLIOGRAPHY and NOTES in the last pages of the book.
This is a neat book about this small war. It will be of interest to modelers and historians alike.
I sincerely want to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample.
All Helion & Co. Ltd. books can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.