ISBN Number: | 978-0-9861127-8-2 | Publisher: | Emfour Publishing |
Published: | Tuesday, July 30, 2024 | Retail Price: | $224.95 USD |
Reviewed By: | Chuck Aleshire |
Emfour Publishing
The Military Machine, U.S. Dodge
Two - Volume Set
We’ll get this out there right away, because this is important. This massive two volume set is a reprint of the author’s 2015 work, but not simply your usual run of the mill reprint. Some corrections and additions have been made to this massive work, due in large part to new information that’s come to light in the nearly 10 years since the original set was published. The 2015 printing sold out almost immediately, and this current edition is expected to as well, due to high interest in the subject matter from the military vehicle owner crowd, as well as from military modelers.
So, with all that being said, this is a whopping huge two volume set, providing an astoundingly complete and comprehensive look at the incredibly versatile military vehicles made by Dodge.
Serving the U.S. military from pre-World War I with its cars and light trucks, Dodge ramped up development and productions almost immediately when war once more cast its dark shadow over the United States. Until the end of World War II, Dodge vehicles of many variants and purposes were seen wherever America and her allies fought. This two volume set covers the military vehicles manufactured by Dodge from 1940 until 1975 and the fall of the Republic of South Vietnam.
Vital Statistics
Format - hardcover two volume set , portrait format. Both volumes come in a matching slipcase, both books have a satin ribbon bookmark.
Page Count - glossy paper, 1000+ pages
Size - 11.25” x 8.75”
Photos - 1700+ mostly Black & White period images, some full color images.
Tables / Drawings / Diagrams - tables and drawings
All text and photo captions are in English
What’s in the Book?
The table of contents for this two volume set pretty much sums up exactly the vast scope and detail to be found in this set. Despite the vast amount of ground covered by the author, the sensible break-down of this huge two volume work into these chapters makes it quite easy to find the subject that you’re seeking information on.
As can be seen above, page and chapter numbering for both volumes are combined in a consecutive manner, rather than each volume done separately.
The author begins his methodical examination of the Dodge military vehicles with the first of the new generation half ton trucks, the VC series. This chapter examines the efforts made in the late 1930’s to build a fleet of modern U.S. military which resulted in the VC series from Dodge and the later WC series. A wide array of variants of these 1/2, 3/4 and 1 and 1/2 ton trucks were developed and accepted for military use.
The image above shows typical chapter opening pages. The author opens his chapters with well written, informative text, and gives the reader plenty of eye candy to accompany his text work.
There were a lot of variants and experimental models of these versatile vehicles constructed. Some never got beyond a single prototype, but the engineers at Dodge certainly did not lack for imagination or vision. Pictured above are some interesting variants from the 1/2 ton WC series. The inset drawings (seen above) showing the top down view of these variants are a nice added bonus.
Above - some excellent looks at the WC-8 radio car, including a good look into the interior. Those tires sure look oddly small to me…
The author never forgets to give credit to the factories and workers of the home front. The massive industrial might of the United States made ultimate victory against the Axis forces possible. I find images like the above ones fascinating.
Combined with the Lend Lease Act, Dodge and the “Arsenal of Democracy” provided our allies such as the British Commonwealth and the Soviet Union with vital material aid. The Soviet Union alone received tens of thousands of various Dodge vehicles.
These volumes contain many easily read, informative tables. The authors places these tables seamlessly throughout the books, and there are a great many tables contained in the appendices as well.
Above - great images of M6 Gun Motor Carriage. Armed with a 37mm anti-tank gun, these WC series vehicles primarily saw service in the North African campaign, as well as in the Pacific. The 37mm gun proved to be less than adequate for use against German armor, and were soon designated as “limited standard”. Interestingly, the gun could only be fired with the rear of the vehicle pointed at the enemy, which was a bit awkward in combat use.
The incredible versatility of the Dodge VC/WC series of vehicles is quite well examined by the author; the ambulances, radio/reconnaissance vehicles, the workshop trucks, and of all the various wartime uses for the trucks are discussed and shown in outstanding photographs.
Now entering the second volume of this two volume set, the author first examines the post-WWII Dodge trucks as used by the U.S. military. This post-WWII usage extended to the Korean and Vietnam wars. The jeeps and deuce and a half trucks seem to usually get the bulk of the attention in the history books, but the use of the versatile Dodge vehicles cannot be overstated.
Above - some nice views of the cool looking two and a half ton T23 cross-country truck. Look at that ground clearance!
The author provides a complete examination of the post-WWII Dodge military vehicles, giving the reader the same attention to the various post- WWII vehicles as he did to the WWII era models.
After the examination of post-WWII Dodge military vehicles which open the second volume of this set, the focus now shifts to the actual use of the vehicles in use; in training exercises, parades, and of course, in combat worldwide. The final 300 pages or so of this massive work are devoted to a wonderfully wide variety of terrific photographs of Dodge military vehicles in action.
Above - a fascinating full page sized image of a pre-WWII parade of Dodge trucks hauling 37mm anti tank guns in front of reviewing stand full of dignitaries, including President Franklin D Roosevelt.
Above - no book on WWII Dodge military vehicles would be complete without an image of Gen. George S Patton in his 3/4 ton Dodge command car in North Africa. An iconic image if ever I saw one.
A Note on the Photos - the photographs selected by the author are of uniformly quite high quality, being sharp, crisp and clear. The sheer number, range and variety of superb photographs in this two book set is staggering. I usually try to “cherry pick” only my most favorite images for inclusion in any book review, quite impossible to do in this case. There are just too many, and I’ve shown here are almost selected at random. Photo sizes are quite generous, with most being half page sized or greater, enabling good study of detail.
Above - while the bulk of the images in these books are black and white, there are a fair number of vintage full color images as well.
The range of the “in action” style images is world spanning, showing Dodge trucks in a wide variety of roles from all fronts of of World War II, from the home front to North Africa, the Mediterranean, Western Europe, the Far East, and the Pacific. These images are literally ALL interesting.
Something I haven’t mentioned yet in this review; the photo captions are consistently well written, with good information included as to what’s pictured, the when’s and the where’s. The author excells in writing photo captions, this is on full display in this huge work.
Not to be forgotten is the service provided by Dodge vehicles in Korea and Vietnam, and many other far flung locations where Dodge trucks answered the call to serve. Some of these images may bring back memories to those who saw these places firsthand…
Above - another two page spread of fascinating images from the quagmire that was Vietnam.
This massive two volume work closes with a whopping eight appendices, giving loads of raw data on the Dodge products used from 1940 to the 1970’s. Please refer to the table of contents image shown earlier in the review for specifics on what these appendices cover.
Conclusions
I have tried to provide an adequate look at what you can expect to see in this massive work on the military vehicles that featured so highly in the conflicts of the latter half of the 20th century. To be honest, it’s tough to review a work of this size, it’s like drinking from a fire hose. I’ve only scratched the surface of what the author has provided us. There’s much here that I haven’t even addressed, in the interests of keeping this review reasonable in length.
As always, the author has done it all; he’s provided clearly written, informative text and photo captions, and the range and quality of the accompanying photographs is superb. The author is a master when it comes to putting together complete and thorough vehicle reference books. Better still, he does this in a logical, user friendly manner where the books are a pleasure to use as a reference source, or even just to simply read and enjoy.
The first printing of this two volume work sold out quickly. If you’d like this new and improved reprint to grace your library shelves, I wouldn’t wait long to order it…I seriously doubt if a better reference work on this subject can or ever will be written.
Highly Recommended! ( A Must Have for Dodge Military Trucks fans )
Thanks to David Doyle Books for the review copy
Reviewed by Chuck Aleshire, AMPS Chicagoland
AMPS 2nd Vice President, Midwest Region
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