Soviet Airborne Forces 1930–91 (Elite Book 231) Kindle Edition

I have seldom read a book quite as well-done as David Campbell's Soviet Airborne Forces, 1930-91. David Campbell is that rara avis, that "rare bird," among technical writers who can write about a subject as complicated as the Soviet airborne troops and make his narration as fluid as any novel by my three favorite fiction authors, Dan Brown, Frederick Forsyth, and Tom Clancy. Covering Russian-Soviet Airborne troops from their beginning in 1930 to the twilight of the Soviet Union in 1991, David presents material even as deep as the air transport needed for the airborne troops, the VDV, in a lively manner. (In Russian the VDV means vozdushno desantnye voisko, roughly "the air mobile (or assault) troops.") In wartime Afghanistan, the spetsnaz, "the troops of special duty," would often camouflage themselves as airborne troops in order to make their surprise incursions behind the lines of their opponents, the Afghan mujahideen, "the soldiers of the faith." This was the historical background to Vladislav Tamarov's 1992 autobiographical Afghanistan: Soviet Vietnam, which I have also reviewed for Amazon. Since the previous two books on the VDV, Carey Schofield's The Russian Elite (1993) and Steven Zaloga's Inside The Blue Berets (1995) appeared years ago, Campbell's book is truly essential reading on the subject. (David Glantz' s The Soviet Airborne Experience was the first book in English to cover the VDV, appearing in 1984. It is still available as a PDF file on the Internet.) Cheers--and happy reading, Professor John F Murphy

The Soviet Union began experimenting with airborne forces as far back as the 1930's, well ahead of its potential European competitors. Soviet airborne forces would do a lot of fighting in the Second World War, but mostly as infantry. Post-World War II, the Soviet airborne have played a key role in Moscow's wars of choice. Author David Campbell has the story in this engrossing Osprey Elite Series book.The book follows the Soviet airborne forces from their inception in the 1930's through the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. The narrative details the unending fight for resources and the recurring use of airborne troops as shock infantry formations. The section on the intervention in Afghanistan is brief but fascinating, a cautionary tale for others. The text features lots of period photographs, illustrations, and diagrams, with appropriate attention to uniforms and equipment. Well recommended as a concise introduction to the topic.

thank you

Very good, and thought out..some great photos, and drawings

A quick summary review of a rather large topic.