The Crowood Press has just released three books that I am sure will be of interest to some of you here. Two of the books are paperbacks and cover Russian/Soviet subjects, the other is a hardback book covering modern body armour and which I am sure will appeal to a fair number of members here.

The information below is from The Crowood Press website. Please remember to tell them you saw the books here.

Warsaw Pact Badges

ISBN 9781847972811
Published 23/09/2011
Pages 64
Inside 120 colour photographs & colour plates.
Binding Paperback
Price RRP: £10.95
As the chief rival to NATO from 1955 - 1991, the Warsaw Pact was, and has since remained, a popular subject for military students and historians alike. On the collecting market the vast range of awards, badges and insignia produced during the Cold War has helped to make the national armies of the Warsaw Pact a popular choice with many military specialists. Surprisingly, even though a great deal has been written about the armour, weapons, uniforms and equipment, no comprehensive reference source on the subject of badges has been printed in the English language.
For the first time, this book offers the collector a comprehensive reference source that will allow the accurate identification of Warsaw Pact badges, mentioning the various methods of construction employed, variations in design observed according to manufacturer or changes employed over time, and their general availability today.
Alongside the badges awarded by the land forces, many others are featured that were issued by the navies, air forces, border guards, militias and para-military sports associations of the USSR, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria between 1955 - 1991.
Contents include:
• Cap badges
• Airborne awards
• Soviet Guards badges
• Clasps
• Military proficiency
Soviet Uniforms and Militaria

ISBN 9781847972606
Published 25/05/2011
Pages 144
Binding Paperback
Inside 300 colour photographs
Price RRP: £19.95

This is the first full-colour photographic reference book to illustrate Soviet uniforms and militaria selected from the whole 74-year history of the regime, from October Revolution to the 1991 collapse of Communism. Access has been allowed for the first time to Soviet Russian historical archives and to examples of actual uniforms and militaria from behind the former Iron Curtain.
This new edition in paperback has some 200 colour photographs [many updated] that illustrate and identify 80 original uniforms of the pre-WW2 period, the Great Patriotic War and the Cold War from 1945-1992. These uniforms are worn by live models and are supported by close-ups of headgear, insignia, decorations, weapons and ephemera. A valuable secondary feature of this book is a selection of 100 previously unpublished photographs from private Russian collections.
Modern Body Armour

ISBN 9781847972484
Published 13/05/2011
Pages 160
Bindings Hardback
Inside 400 colour photographs
Price RRP: £19.95

Modern Body Armour traces the development of individual ballistic protection from the multi-layer silk garments and metal plates used during World War One and through to the Korean War and Vietnam, to the state-of-the-art armour currently used in Iraq and Afghanistan. Contents include the Chemico Shield and Infanterie Panzer of World War One, USAAF aviator's armour of World War Two, the Korean War M1951 and M1952A, and the IOTV and USMC Scaleable Plate Carrier currenty used by US forces. This work illustrates all of the primary armour patterns in use with the world's major nations from 1914 to the present day.
The volume is a companion to the author's Camouflage Uniforms and Tin Hats to Composite Helmets that together provide a concise reference to the combat soldier's equipment over the last 100 years.