Technicals: Non-Standard Tactical Vehicles from the Great Toyota War to modern Special Forces

(Paperback)

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Description

Over the last 30 years, the technical or armed pick-up truck has become arguably the most ubiquitous military land vehicle of modern warfare. Harking back to the armed Jeeps and Chevrolet trucks of the SAS and Long Range Desert Group in North Africa in World War II, the worlds first insurgent technicals were those of the Sahrawi People's Liberation Army in Algeria in the late 1970s, followed by the Chadian use of technical in the so-called Toyota War against Libya. Since then, technicals have seen use in Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya, as well as being used by Western and Russian Special Forces. Fully illustrated with commissioned artwork and providing rigorous analysis, this is the first history of how this deceptively simple fighting vehicle has been used and developed in conflicts worldwide.

Reviews

Neville and Osprey Publishing give us a unique glimpse into this rapidly evolving tool of insurgency forces from the Middle East to Africa and beyond. It makes for fascinating reading and certainly you'll be hard pressed to go through this book and not get a great modeling idea or two. This is a truly valuable resource for anyone interested in modern warfare, and I cannot recommend it enough. - IPMS / USA

This is a very nice reference book that contains many close-up detailed subject specific photographs and illustrations and well detailed captions. As the title states, the book details various non-standard tactical vehicles from the Great Toyota War and use by modern Special Forces. I would have no hesitation to add other Osprey Publishing titles to my personal library nor would I hesitate to recommend this book to others as it will be a welcome addition to one's personal military reference library. - Armorama.com

...I can't remember having so much fun with an Osprey effort. Grab this terrific little tome. Roundly recommended! - Cybermodeler Online

Author Bio

Leigh Neville is an Australian national who has written many books on modern warfare and special operations forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, their weapons and their vehicles. He has also consulted on military topics for several wargame companies and television documentary makers. He lives in Sydney with his wife and two dogs. He can be contacted via his website at www.leighneville.com.