Army of the Republic of Vietnam 1955–75 (Men-at-Arms) Paperback – June 22, 2010

This little volume provides a concise but excellent account of a relatively little researched subject. Gordon Rottman is a gifted writer, and has authored a number of consistently excellent Vietnam War-related publications, of which this is but one. His personal familiarity with the subjects he treats in his works guarantees first-class accounts of militaries, their organisation and equipment, which readers accross the board (from military enthusiasts to amateur historians) are bound to benefit from. The coloured illustrations accompanying this little volume greatly contribute to its overall quality, and are bound to please modellers, in particular, providing a source of inspiration for their work. Overall, an excellent publication.

First off, let me say that this was my first Osprey title downloaded to my iPad and the conversion was wonderful. Text, graphics, photos all worked well so I did not miss the print version. In terms of the book's content, I was expecting more of a treatise on the role, successes and failings of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam. This ended up constituting a very small portion of the book. The vast majority was given to sterile command structure and organizational biographies which did little to explain the Army's wartime contribution. This leaves an opportunity for a gifted historian to write more of a narrative on the Republic of Vietnam's military forces...ideally in the style of an Antony Beevor or Rick Atkinson.

I received the item perfectly. The price is quite competitive. Except the shipping and handling fee is high. I hope amazon could revise it in order for us to get more cheaper. At least the high rate of shipping and handling fee is one of buyer consideration to buy things from amazon. This is somehow one of my friend tell it so and advise me to reconsider the shipping and handling fee if I want to buy things from amazon.

thank you

I like it

great book

as expected

This is the first book on the ARVN I bought, it is so good that I bought the books 'Angels in Red Hats', 'Vietnam Airborne' and 'Vietnam Marines 1965-1973' to learn more about these brave little soldiers. As usual, Americans blame all its failures in Vietnam on their allies - which had few opportunities to defend themselves from these charges. This is the book for the uninitiated reader who does not know the ARVN. As always, Gordon L. Rottman writes for all types of readers and is always very clear in his narrative. I loved the book and I became a fan of the armed forces of South Vietnam.The plates are good as Osprey's plates always are, and the pictures are marvellous and rare. There are boxes with the Vietnamese terms translated to English, and one of those has the Vietnamese phonetic alphabet. Rottman also compares the capabilities of US and ARVN units, showing their numbers and equipments. A very good book. The author should make a Warrior title about the ARVN, just like he did about the NVA.As the author states, in page 42: "If provided with effective leaders and adequate fire support, ARVN soldiers were as good as any in Asia. They were generally well equiped, and were particularly effective when US artillery and air support was available. The ARVN soldier demonstrated his qualities well during the costly 1968 Tet Counter-Offensive, and the defeat of the 1972 NVA Easter Offensive in the northern provinces; sadly, he was all too often failed by his higher command and by the politicians he fought for."

Faisant partie de la collection Men at Arms, ce petit Osprey ne fait que 48 pages. Cela fait très peu pour traiter un sujet aussi vaste que l'armée de terre Sud Vietnamienne (ARVN) sur une période de 20 années de combats.Heureusement l'auteur est un spécialiste du domaine et il parvient à faire de cet ouvrage, qui est en réalité une sorte d'inventaire, une bonne introduction sur le sujet de l'ARVN. Néanmoins, il ne faut pas en attendre beaucoup plus et certaines armes de l'ARVN ne font l'objet que d'un court paragraphe. Après une brève étude de l'évolution de l'ANV puis de l'ARVN, l'auteur aborde les structures de commandement. L'étude des unités se concentre sur le niveau de la division(la division aéroportée, les 1,2,3,5,7,9, 10,18, 21, 23 et 25° division d'infanterie) ainsi que sur les Rangers.Pour un Français, l'accent mis par l'auteur sur ce qu'il considère comme les défauts issus de la colonisation Française peut parfois être pesant mais avec réalisme il n'épargne pas non plus les Américains et leur incapacité à comprendre leurs alliés par manque de volonté d'intégrer une culture étrangère. Les particularités du style de commandement de l'ARVN (népotisme, corruption…) sont soulignées mais aussi le courage dont pouvaient faire preuve de nombreuses unités lorsqu'elles étaient bien commandées. Globalement, le ton est équilibré. Les dessins de Ramiro Bujeiro ne sont pas extraordinaires et les photos sont conformes à ce que l'on trouve dans des Osprey traitant de cette période. Au final, un Osprey correct sans faire partie des meilleurs de cette série.

Gordon L. Rottman est le grand spécialiste de la guerre du Viêtnam (dont il est un vétéran) aux éditions Osprey, célèbre groupe britannique publiant quantité d'ouvrages d'histoire militaire. Ce volume de la collection Men-at-Arms présente l'armée sud-viêtnamienne, entre la fin de la guerre d'Indochine et la chute du Sud entre les mains d'Hanoï.Le format de 48 pages de cette collection ne permet malheureusement pas de s'étendre beaucoup. Rottman développe surtout ici la formation et l'organisation de l'ARVN : structure de commandement, organisation divisionnaire, etc. La liste des divisions d'infanterie, avec leur historique succinct, fait un peu figure de catalogue. Rottman aborde aussi les Rangers, l'artillerie et le corps des blindés sud-viêtnamiens. On trouvera au centre les habituelles planches couleur.La bibliographie indicative a le mérite d'être en phase avec les publications récentes sur le sujet. En somme, un bon ouvrage d'introduction à l'ARVN, mais il ne faut pas lui en demander plus.

Very good book on the Vietnam war

Really interesting and insightful read. Great artworks.