Osprey's Martin Windrow tells us what he's most looking forward to from 2024's titles.

While I’m finding all of my titles for 2024 interesting in their own ways, two do stick out especially.

MAA 554 Czechoslovak Armies 1939–45
The story of the involvement of Czechoslovakia in World War II begins, of course, with a tragic (and for British readers, rather shameful) episode: the 1938 Munich Conference, from which Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned waving his infamous sheet of paper and claiming to have secured ‘Peace in our time’ – while leaving the Czechoslovak Republic to its fate at Hitler’s hands. Within 18 months first Sudetenland and then the rest of the country had been occupied by Germany, and the Army had been disbanded. It was notoriously said the Czechoslovaks were a ‘far-away people of whom we know little’; well, that won’t be true any longer of anybody who reads Nigel Thomas’s book.

After a succinct introduction to the country, and the events of 1938–39, he describes the pre-war Czechoslovak Army – its organization, its order of battle, and its uniforms and insignia. This is followed by chapters on the fall of Czechoslovakia, and the groups of servicemen and volunteers who went into exile. He traces the story of the Czechoslovak Division which fought with the French Army in 1940; and of airmen who had joined the Polish and later the French Air Force, in May–June 1940. Their subsequent withdrawal to Britain, and that of other Czechoslovaks to British Palestine, begins an account of their organization under British Army command as an Allied contingent second in number only to the Poles, and of their service at first in the Middle East (including the first siege of Tobruk), then in North-West Europe as an independent armoured brigade (including the battle of Falaise). After identifying virtually unknown Czechoslovak groups which fought in the Far East in early 1942, the book explains the birth and enormous growth of at first one battalion, and eventually a complete Red Army Corps, on the Eastern Front. Finally, Dr Thomas describes the Government Army maintained by the Germans in their Bohemia-Moravia Protectorate; the resistance movements that were active there, and the insurrection which liberated Prague in May 1945. As so often, he illustrates the text with rare photos, and charts of insignia which will be new to most British and American readers - as will be most of the colour reconstructions of uniforms splendidly contributed by artist Johnny Shumate. All in all, I believe that within the inevitable limits of an MAA book, Osprey have now done some justice to an often-forgotten ally.

Joan of Arc’s Army: French armies under Charles VII, 1415–53
I make no apology for using the name of the Maid of Orleans in the title of a book whose scope is much wider. It was her victory at Orleans in 1429 that ensured the coronation of King Charles VII – no warrior, but a skilled politician and planner, who gradually created the French armies which wiped away the memory of Agincourt during the successful reconquest of France from the English. While no medievalist myself, I have always been attracted by the sheer visual splendour of the Hundred Years’ War, which is vividly evoked by French artist Florent Vincent’s plates for French historian Philippe Gaillard’s detailed explanation of Charles VII’s armies. His reign saw the end of internal warfare, and the transformation of the feudal gatherings that had been defeated at Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt into the beginnings of standing forces under royal control. The commanders he appointed – the Duke of Alencon, Jean II of Bourbon, Constable Richemont, and Jean of Dunois – increasingly deployed the different arms (armoured cavalry; infantry, including archers; and eventually mobile artillery) alongside valuable allies secured by Charles’s diplomacy. This created effective mixed-arms forces with a functioning command structure and logistics, which finally expelled the English after defeating them at Formigny and Castillon. The book traces the development of these factors, and of armour, weapons and tactics, with representative examples of failures and victories.

 

Please see below for full descriptions of all the titles we're publishing in 2024.

The Union Army 1861–65 (1): The Regular Army and the Territories
By Ron Field
Illustrated by Marco Capparoni

This fully illustrated study investigates the uniforms and equipment of the US regular troops and volunteers from the territories fighting for the Union during the American Civil War.

During the American Civil War, the United States Army, pitted against the forces of the fledgling Confederacy, fought to defend and preserve the Union during five long years of bitter conflict. This volume describes and illustrates the uniforms, insignia and personal equipment of the Union Army's regular infantry, artillery, cavalry, and engineers, plus specialists such as US Sharpshooters, Veteran Reserve Corps, Medical Corps, and Signal Corps.

This volume also covers the troops fielded by the Territories that fought for the Union. Eight plates of original artwork showing officers and enlisted men of the Union Army are complemented by previously unpublished photographs of soldiers and items of uniform from some of the most comprehensive collections in the United States.

 

Czechoslovak Armies 1939–45
By Nigel Thomas PhD
Illustrated by Johnny Shumate

Featuring rare photos, detailed colour illustrations and insignia tables, this study explores the contribution made by Czech and Slovak troops fighting alongside Allied forces during World War II.

Following the Anglo-French failure at the Munich Conference in March 1938 to prevent a Nazi take-over of Bohemia-Moravia (modern Czech Republic/Czechia), many frustrated Czech and Slovak soldiers sided with Allied forces and fought alongside their armies – first in Poland, then in France, and finally from Britain.

Using depictions of relevant uniforms and equipment plus photos of the troops in action, military uniformology expert Nigel Thomas explains how the Czech Army was organized and how it fought alongside Allied forces in the Middle East and at Normandy. He describes the involvement of free Czech agents operating from Britain in Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Nazi governor Reinhard Heydrich in occupied Bohemia-Moravia, and the part Czech soldiers played in mutinies in both Italy and Prague against German occupation which ultimately helped to secure a final Allied victory.

 

The Union Army 1861–65 (2): Eastern and New England States
By Ron Field
Illustrated by Marco Capparoni

This engrossing volume describes and illustrates the uniforms and personal equipment of the troops fielded by the Eastern and New England states which fought for the Union during the American Civil War.

During the American Civil War, the United States Army, pitted against the forces of the fledgling Confederacy, fought to defend and preserve the Union during five long years of bitter conflict. This volume, the second in a three-part study, describes and illustrates the uniforms, insignia and personal equipment of the soldiers fielded by the Eastern and New England states that fought for the Union. While uniforms conforming to standard Union Army patterns were widely issued to these troops, some wore distinctive items of dress or insignia, and a wide variety of weapons were carried. Eight plates of original artwork showing officers and enlisted men of the Union Army are complemented by previously unpublished photographs of soldiers and items of uniform from some of the most comprehensive collections in the United States.

 

Germany’s French Allies 1941–45
By Massimiliano Afiero
Illustrated by Ramiro Bujeiro

Fully illustrated and using archive photographs, this book describes the French volunteers fighting in the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front and in North Africa during World War II.

It is little known that in late 1941 French volunteer units were among Wehrmacht troops defending the German front outside Moscow in the first bitter winter on the Eastern Front, and also among the last fighting for Berlin in April 1945. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, some 13,000 Frenchmen enlisted in the ‘Légion des volontaires français contre le bolchévisme’ (LVF), which was re-formed as the Wehrmacht’s Infanterie-Regiment 638 and posted to Russia.

Using archive photographs and specially commissioned artwork, this volume illustrates French involvement not only on the Eastern Front, but also in the ‘Phalange Africaine’ in Tunisia and in the ‘Légion Tricolore’, a short-lived military organization under the control of the French Vichy government. After fierce fighting, the LVF was absorbed into the 33. Waffen-Grenadier Division der SS ‘Charlemagne’ in 1944 and subsequently saw hundreds of its survivors attached to the 11. SS-Freiwilligen Panzergrenadier-Division ‘Nordland’ which fought almost to the last man in the ruins of Berlin.

Casting a new light on forces fighting for the Axis, this study of French personnel charts their equipment, insignia and uniforms while describing their involvement in some of the most gruelling battles of World War II.

 

Roman Army Units in the Western Provinces (3): 4th–5th Centuries AD
By Raffaele D'Amato

Including specially commissioned artwork, this book describes and illustrates the completely reorganized Roman Army from the reign of Diocletian to the fall of the Western Empire in AD 476.

After the 50-year chaos of the mid-3rd century AD, the reforming Emperor Diocletian (r. AD 284–305) undertook major administrative reforms to reflect the new realities and improve defensive strategy, a process continued by the first Christian emperor, Constantine I (r. AD 306–37). The old Army organization of legions and auxiliary units was divided between central mobile field armies, and various classes of static frontier and other garrison troops. While this makes unit identification and location a more demanding detective process, some units can still be placed.

Another simultaneous process was the ever-increasing recruitment of ‘allied barbarians’ into the Army, some of whom rose to senior command. By the beginning of the 5th century new civil wars and victorious barbarian incursions led the Western Empire into decades of overlapping residual Roman government and embryonic barbarian kingdoms until the final takeover of Italy and Gaul by Gothic and Frankish kings in AD 476 and 486. The soldiers who defended the Empire during these tumultuous years are explained and depicted in this fully illustrated study, one of a series exploring the Roman Army as it evolved in the Eastern and Western empires.

 

The Union Army 1861–65 (3): Midwestern and Western States
By Ron Field
Illustrated by Marco Capparoni

During the American Civil War, the United States Army, pitted against the forces of the fledgling Confederacy, fought to defend and preserve the Union during five long years of bitter conflict. This volume describes and illustrates the uniforms, insignia and personal equipment of the troops fielded by the Midwestern and Western states that fought for the Union. Eight plates of original artwork showing officers and enlisted men of the Union Army are complemented by previously unpublished photographs of soldiers and items of uniform from some of the most comprehensive collections in the United States.

 

Joan of Arc’s Army: French armies under Charles VII, 1415–53
By Philippe Gaillard
Illustrated by Florent Vincent

Sure to appeal to all students of medieval warfare, this book describes and illustrates the French armies fighting England in the Hundred Years’ War.

Colourful artwork plates combine with photographs and period illustrations in this lively study, giving a concise but detailed explanation of a major turnaround in France’s military fortunes in the Hundred Years’ War, tracing the French forces’ revival under Jeanne d’Arc in the 1420s to their final triumph in the 1450s. Only 14 years after the English triumph at Agincourt in 1415, the French victory at Orléans in 1429 achieved the first major setback to England’s apparently inexorable series of victories and led directly to the coronation of King Charles VII of France, who made peace with Burgundy, gathered foreign allies and transformed France’s hitherto feudal army by the creation of permanent forces under royal control.

The talented commanders Charles VII appointed employed this new structure to improve battlefield tactics by mutually supporting arms – the traditional knightly cavalry, but also infantry (including archers), and eventually effective mobile artillery, all of which are illustrated and described in this book. Divided and preoccupied by events in England, the overstretched English forces occupying France were defeated piecemeal, until they were left only with the tiny enclave of Calais. Saint Jeanne d’Arc remains the central figure in France’s national legend.

 

Ground Forces in the Korean War 1950–53 (1): The North Korean People’s Army and the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army
By Benjamin Lai & Zhao Guoxing
Illustrated by Johnny Shumate

Featuring full-color artwork, this book describes and illustrates the Chinese and North Korean troops who fought US and UN forces in Korea during 1950–53.

In June 1950, North Korean forces armed and equipped by the Soviet Union invaded South Korea, forcing the US and South Korean troops facing them back and threatening them with complete defeat. After the US and UN forces mounted a series of counter-offensives, the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army crossed into the Korean Peninsula and entered the fray; the conflict would continue for three years until the armistice of July 1953, and tensions remain high today.

The exploits of the North Korean and Chinese forces in the Korean War are renowned, but many myths have grown up about these armies. In this study, carefully chosen photographs and specially commissioned artwork combine with authoritative text to reveal the evolving organization, tactics, uniforms, insignia and equipment of these formidable Communist troops during three years of warfare in the Korean Peninsula. Benjamin Lai and Zhao Guoxing reveal the real story of the North Korean and Chinese troops engaged in the Korean War, setting the record straight and complementing the many books examining the US and UN forces they faced in battle.