Book Review of
The Chaco War 1932-1935
Fighting in the Green Hell
Latin America @ War Series No. 20
Authors: Antonio Luis Sapienza &
Jose Luis Martinez Pelaez
Helion & Co. Ltd.
ISBN: 978-1-913118-73-0
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2020
MSRP: $29.95
ISBN: 978-1-913118-73-0
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2020
MSRP: $29.95
HISTORY:
The Chaco War, 1932-1935; Fighting in the Green Hell is a concise history of the first modern conflict in South America, providing the reader with the full background to the conflict. The military build-up of the Bolivian and Paraguayan armed forces. A blow by blow account of the Bolivian penetration of this territory in the early 20th Century. Details of the troops mobilized for the war by both sides, and all the battles fought between the belligerents, and their casualties.
Two very different military concepts faced each other; the German General Hans Kundt, a First World War veteran, hired by the Bolivian Government, was a proponent of the typical Prussian tactics of frontal attacks regardless of cost, but also of the strategy of taking and controlling as much territory as possible without annihilating the enemy.
The Paraguayan Lieutenant-Colonel Jose Felix Estigarribia (later promoted to Colonel – then General) undertook his military education in Chile and France, and was a proponent of tactics of using trench warfare for defence, and flanking the enemy when in the offensive.
Eventually, Estigarribia ideas proved their worth – partially because his forces managed to capture huge stocks of Bolivian arms and ammunition throughout the war.
This is also the first book to provide an excellent collection of over 150 photographs from the archives of the Institute of History and Military Museum of Ministry of National Defence of Paraguay, and several private archives in Paraguay and Bolivia, and also includes over a dozen original color artworks and a similar number of maps.
Perfectly complementing the earlier volume, The Chaco Air War, 1932-35, also in the Latin America @ War series, this book provides an indispensable single-point source of reference for enthusiasts, professionals and modelers alike.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Co. is based in the UK.
This book is soft-cover of 64 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover art shows a color side profile of a Vickers 6 ton Type B tank in a camouflage pattern of shapes of sand, brown and green each outlined in black with the Bolivian Army.
Below it is a black and white photo of 7 Paraguayan soldiers with a machine gun.
There are 18 maps included, 203 black and white photos. 184 of them are of soldiers. There are illustrations of 2 postage stamps, 19 photos of buildings and landscapes, 7 of Paraguayan trucks, a Vickers E-type tank, 5 drawings, 4 Bolivian Army Vickers type A tanks, a Bolivian Vickers type B tank and a Carden Loyd Mk. VIIb tank.
A photo of grenades, 4 photos of the Casado train, 3 photos of Paraguayan Navy gunboats, the River Steamer San Francisco, a Carden Loyd Mk. VI tankette. a Paraguayan Army Chevy cistern truck and a Chevy 1.5 ton model 1931 truck, a Brazilian Army Dodge truck, 3 photos of a Brazilian Army Ford truck and a Vickers 6 ton type B truck.
Fifteen data lists. At the end of the book there is SOURCES, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and ABOUT THE AUTHORS.
Highly recommended.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample.
All Helion and Co. books can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
The Chaco War, 1932-1935; Fighting in the Green Hell is a concise history of the first modern conflict in South America, providing the reader with the full background to the conflict. The military build-up of the Bolivian and Paraguayan armed forces. A blow by blow account of the Bolivian penetration of this territory in the early 20th Century. Details of the troops mobilized for the war by both sides, and all the battles fought between the belligerents, and their casualties.
Two very different military concepts faced each other; the German General Hans Kundt, a First World War veteran, hired by the Bolivian Government, was a proponent of the typical Prussian tactics of frontal attacks regardless of cost, but also of the strategy of taking and controlling as much territory as possible without annihilating the enemy.
The Paraguayan Lieutenant-Colonel Jose Felix Estigarribia (later promoted to Colonel – then General) undertook his military education in Chile and France, and was a proponent of tactics of using trench warfare for defence, and flanking the enemy when in the offensive.
Eventually, Estigarribia ideas proved their worth – partially because his forces managed to capture huge stocks of Bolivian arms and ammunition throughout the war.
This is also the first book to provide an excellent collection of over 150 photographs from the archives of the Institute of History and Military Museum of Ministry of National Defence of Paraguay, and several private archives in Paraguay and Bolivia, and also includes over a dozen original color artworks and a similar number of maps.
Perfectly complementing the earlier volume, The Chaco Air War, 1932-35, also in the Latin America @ War series, this book provides an indispensable single-point source of reference for enthusiasts, professionals and modelers alike.
THE BOOK:
Helion & Co. is based in the UK.
This book is soft-cover of 64 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover art shows a color side profile of a Vickers 6 ton Type B tank in a camouflage pattern of shapes of sand, brown and green each outlined in black with the Bolivian Army.
Below it is a black and white photo of 7 Paraguayan soldiers with a machine gun.
There are 18 maps included, 203 black and white photos. 184 of them are of soldiers. There are illustrations of 2 postage stamps, 19 photos of buildings and landscapes, 7 of Paraguayan trucks, a Vickers E-type tank, 5 drawings, 4 Bolivian Army Vickers type A tanks, a Bolivian Vickers type B tank and a Carden Loyd Mk. VIIb tank.
A photo of grenades, 4 photos of the Casado train, 3 photos of Paraguayan Navy gunboats, the River Steamer San Francisco, a Carden Loyd Mk. VI tankette. a Paraguayan Army Chevy cistern truck and a Chevy 1.5 ton model 1931 truck, a Brazilian Army Dodge truck, 3 photos of a Brazilian Army Ford truck and a Vickers 6 ton type B truck.
Fifteen data lists. At the end of the book there is SOURCES, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and ABOUT THE AUTHORS.
Highly recommended.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample.
All Helion and Co. books can be viewed on Casemate’s website at: