My copy arrived yesterday, and I've had time to do a good flip through it. Here are my initial thoughts.

The Good:

- Great overall coverage of Arab-Israeli armor. All colors plates are based on photos.
- Includes some obscure vehicles like Egyptian recovery vehicles and M5 halftracks.
- Contains contributions from some knowledgeable experts.
- Very well printed.
- 101 pages, 124 color plates total (58 Egyptian vehicles, 30 Israel, 27 Syrian, 5 Jordanian, 2 French, 1 British, 1 Algerian)
- Includes British and French vehicles from 1956 war, and some post-1973 war vehicles.
- Includes several photographic appendices: Arab vehicles captured by the IDF in 1973 (21 black and white photos), Arab vehicles in Latrun museum (15 color photos), and Israeli Sherman variants at Latrun (24 color photos).

The Not So Good:

- Mostly covers 1967-1973, only a single color plates for the 1948 war.
- Some readers may want more coverage of Israeli, Syrian or Jordanian vehicles.
- The Arabic script in the color plates is inaccurate.
- No references given, and no sources listed for some copyrighted photographs.
- Most captions are very brief. Some typographical errors and poor translation.
- Two Syrian vehicles are mislabeled as Egyptian (a 9P133 and a BTR-60)
- Color plates show one side of the vehicle only.
- Some of the colors and camouflage schemes don’t look quite right.

Just received my copy. Great storied backgrounds to the Mid East conflicts of the modern era beginning with 1948, moving on to the 1956 crisis, followed up by the '67 and '73 wars. The color profiles coupled with photos of the real vehicle is the highlight of most pages. The vehicles are chaptered to the particular country and applicable conflict...all of which are of great detail and quality. Never before seen photos (at least by me) of some vehicles are a plus. The one big thing I discovered, and a bit disappointing: of the colored plates, only side profiles of the vehicle are depicted...forward and aft shots are not to be found, which will keep you guessing about some of the markings used. Other than that, a great modeling reference...can't wait for Volume 2 and 3!

New book from AK-Interactive, full of tank profiles from the Middle East.

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