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Rating: 
Summary: A Valuable Addition
Review: Dr Peter Jung, late of the Austrian War Archives, completed his second volume for Osprey on the Austro-Hungarian forces in the First World War. Together, these two volumes, while thin, shed much light on the heretofore-neglected Austro-Hungarian troops who played such a large role in the First World War. Dr. Jung begins with an introduction concerning the new Austrian emperor and then provides a 7-page summary of major operations in 1916-1918. He then covers army reorganization in the last two years of the war, uniforms and equipment, and a 9-page section on specialist troops (storm troopers, mountain troops, searchlight troops, gas warfare, auto troops, armored cars, army aviation, naval troops, chaplains and female troops. A final section includes information on secondary fronts (the Orientkorps in Palestine and the Western front, which includes two very detailed orders of battle (AH units on Turkish fronts and AH troops on the Western Front in October 1918). The color plates consist of: Austrian senior leaders (Emperor Karl I, FM Conrad and Colonel-General Boroevic); specialist troops (dog handlers, dismounted cavalry, mountain troops); military chaplains (Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Protestant); naval troops; storm troops; aviators; ethnic troops (Albanian, Ukrainian); and odds-and-ends troops in late 1918. While the color plates are excellent, as usual, some of the choices (such as an entire plate on chaplains) are questionable and it would have been desirable to have at least one color plate of Austrian troops in action. Finally, the author's 2-page bibliography is very detailed and should prove very useful for any readers wishing to pursue further research on this topic. The only serious omissions in both volumes are the lack of any real discussion of Austrian tactical or operational level doctrine, and the lack of any first-person accounts. There is a great deal of specialized information about the Austro-Hungarian army in both this volume and its predecessor, making them valuable commodities for anyone interested in a better understanding of the First World War. Given the constraints of the Osprey Men-at-Arms series, Dr. Jung made a commendable effort and these two volumes should be on the bookshelf of all serious students of the Great War.
Rating:
Summary: A Valuable Addition
Review: Dr Peter Jung, late of the Austrian War Archives, completed his second volume for Osprey on the Austro-Hungarian forces in the First World War. Together, these two volumes, while thin, shed much light on the heretofore-neglected Austro-Hungarian troops who played such a large role in the First World War. Dr. Jung begins with an introduction concerning the new Austrian emperor and then provides a 7-page summary of major operations in 1916-1918. He then covers army reorganization in the last two years of the war, uniforms and equipment, and a 9-page section on specialist troops (storm troopers, mountain troops, searchlight troops, gas warfare, auto troops, armored cars, army aviation, naval troops, chaplains and female troops. A final section includes information on secondary fronts (the Orientkorps in Palestine and the Western front, which includes two very detailed orders of battle (AH units on Turkish fronts and AH troops on the Western Front in October 1918). The color plates consist of: Austrian senior leaders (Emperor Karl I, FM Conrad and Colonel-General Boroevic); specialist troops (dog handlers, dismounted cavalry, mountain troops); military chaplains (Catholic, Jewish, Muslim and Protestant); naval troops; storm troops; aviators; ethnic troops (Albanian, Ukrainian); and odds-and-ends troops in late 1918. While the color plates are excellent, as usual, some of the choices (such as an entire plate on chaplains) are questionable and it would have been desirable to have at least one color plate of Austrian troops in action. Finally, the author's 2-page bibliography is very detailed and should prove very useful for any readers wishing to pursue further research on this topic. The only serious omissions in both volumes are the lack of any real discussion of Austrian tactical or operational level doctrine, and the lack of any first-person accounts. There is a great deal of specialized information about the Austro-Hungarian army in both this volume and its predecessor, making them valuable commodities for anyone interested in a better understanding of the First World War. Given the constraints of the Osprey Men-at-Arms series, Dr. Jung made a commendable effort and these two volumes should be on the bookshelf of all serious students of the Great War.
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