Advantages: Clear, clean photos of modern Soviet combat systems in action, taken from many combat areas not familiar outside of the former Soviet Union, dual Russian-English text throughout

Disadvantages: New publisher, small circulation on first press run (1000 copies)

Rating: Highly Recommended

Recommendation: to anyone interested in "local wars and regional conflicts" and Soviet armored equipment

This is a very handy book to many of us who follow Soviet and post-Soviet armored vehicles. It provides material from the personal collections of Mr. Baryatinskiy, Russian press agencies, and Aleksandr Kovshchatsev, which cover  the post-Soviet era of combat within the borders of the former Soviet Union. Photos cover action in Georgia (1989 onward), Armenia and Azerbaidzhan  (1990 onward), Nagorno-Karabakh (1990 onward), South Ossetia (1991 onward), Vilius 1991, the Moscow Revolt of 1991, Tadzhikistan (1992 onward), North Ossetia (1992 onward), the birth of the Transdnestr Republic (1992), Abkazhia (1992 onward), the Storming of the White House (1993), Chechnya (1994 onward), and some memorial vehicles in Maykop, North Caucasus Military District, 1999. There are over 120 good clear shots of this equipment, including vehicles such as the T-72BM and BMP-3 in action. The book was sponsored by the Moscow City Chapter of the All-Russia Society for Preservation of Memorials and Culture, which is described as a military history club. Units in action as well as knocked out and totally  destroyed equipment is presented. To the slight dismay of modelers, no color information is provided, nor are any color photos included.  This book is highly recommended to all modern armor fans who need to understand the real problems faced by the former republics of the Soviet   Union, or who need to get a solid feeling for what the systems really look like in action. Mr. Baryatinskiy's photo collection and text explain things  very concisely.