Finland at War: the Winter War 1939-40

author: Vesa Nenye
name: Wayne
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2015
rating: 5
read at: 2016/07/09
date added: 2016/07/09
shelves: non-fiction
review:
'Finland at War: The Winter War 1939-40' byVesa Nenye, Peter Munter and Toni Wirtanen was a fascinating read about a conflict I knew little about.

The history of Finland in the 20th Century, preceding the Winter War, is told. The Jäger movement and training in Germany of Finnish troops, which was done as a measure to stop Russia from taking over Finland. There was also a civil war in Finland. Along with all this, there is growing interest from Russia in taking over Finland. It should have been a pretty easy takeover because Finland was outnumbered and outgunned. The Russians didn't count on the tenacity of the Finnish soldiers. Using tactics like "motti," which is named after a unit of measure of firewood, the Finnish would systematically surround a smaller group of attackers and deal with them the way a predator separates out the weak members of a herd. Also, the Russians were terrified of Finnish soldiers and there ability to ski out of nowhere with guns and death.

There are quite a few photos as well as insets featuring many of the leaders from both sides of the war. There are maps and an extensive bibliography. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and learning about this conflict. It was very interesting.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Osprey Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


via Wayne's bookshelf: read http://ift.tt/29ufANQ