Military Vehicles in Lebanon, 1975 - 1981 - Front Cover

Title: Military Vehicles in Lebanon, 1975 - 1981
Author: Samer Kassis
Publisher: Trebia Publishing
ISBN: 978-9953-0-2372-4
 
This is a slightly different subject to those we normally see, and makes for an interesting soft cover book for modellers and historians alike.  Things are quieter now, but in the second half of the 1970's there was fighting in the Lebanon, mainly internal between different factions, but it drew in the Israelis as well as UN peacekeeping forces.  The collapse of order in 1975 opened up the armoury of the Lebanese military to the various Militias who went on to fight between themselves and the Israelis as well as terrorising civilians.  What was and is a beautiful part of the world was torn apart by fighting.
 
The book is a collection of photos from the period which are then given good explanatory captions in both English and French.  For modellers the mixture of vehicles is very interesting, and considering the years we are talking about, to see exmples of the old British Charioteer in use, along with Staghouund armoured cars which include some where the turret has been replaced by the boxy 75mm armed turret usually used on the AEC armoured car, but now fitted to Staghounds.  Then there are M41 Walker Bulldogs, AMX 13s and of course M50 Super Shermans supplied to the Christian Militias by Israel.  UN forces include units from Ireland and even Libyan army BTR-60s.  The mix of French, British, Soviet, WW2 era, post-war and modern era equipment is an amazing mixture to see.  Saudi troops using Panhard M3 APCs, others using the M113 and the old US M5 half tracks plus of course the rise in use of civilian pick-ups, especially Land Rovers, to carry weapons like the 106mm recoilless rifle or the big 12.7mm 'Dushka'.
 
All in all this is a fascinating selection of vehicles which are usually considered to be from different eras, but here we see them all together in this unusual mix and well documented by the author who adds informative captions.
 
Thanks to the author, Samer Kassis, for our example, it is available now.
 

For full details on this title contact the author direct via his email samerk6@gmail.com