DOC Weapons and Field Gear of the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong: by Edward J. Emering in History

Review

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. great add to libraryBy CustomerThis book is an excellent history on the subject; it has made a great addition to my reference library; wish I could find more like it.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Best book out on the Viet Cong and NVABy Vaughn BedardReally a great book. lots of info. Great pictures. What I had been looking for. Well worth the price. Fantastic!8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Great photos -- but...By History BuffThis is a beautiful book full of excellent photographs documenting the type of military equipment used by the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and Viet Cong (VC) during the Vietnam War. As such; it goes a long way in filling a void in this area. Since I already own several books about the NVA and VC forces; I found this book particularly interesting since I was actually able to see the equipment that the other books only describe. In this respect I consider the book well worth the price; and Mr. Emering is to be congratulated - however the information in the book is somewhat dubious. For instance page 40 shows a photograph of a young woman carrying four weapons; which are categorically described as "captured U.S. .30 caliber M-1 Garand rifles;" which they are not. The M-1 Garand had an 8-round clip and the weapons in the photograph plainly show weapons with larger capacity magazines and barrels that are entirely off beam for the Garand; what I believe are actually being shown are U.S. .30 caliber M1 Carbines. On page 148 another female is shown carrying a bipod weapon over her shoulder that is identified as a "captured U.S. caliber .50 machine gun M2." Again this is incorrect - the nomenclature is completely wrong for the M2; plus the weapon weighed in at about 84 pounds and this lady doesn't appear to be having any difficulty managing the weapon's ponderous weight. The weapon in the photograph more closely resembles the M1919A6 .30 caliber Browning machine gun (minus the shoulder stock). The M1919A6 was a bipod weapon with a weight of about 32 pounds; which makes more sense. Moreover; to the best of my knowledge the M2 was never a bipod weapon. Finally; the top photograph on page 151 purportedly shows a squad of VC with a "ChiCom Type 56 copy of the Soviet RPD Light Machine Gun (LMG)." However page 17 shows a ChiCom Type 56 copy of the Soviet RPD LMG and it doesn't look like any of the weapons represented on page 151. What is being identified as the Type 56 is actually a .30 caliber Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR); M1918A2. While such errors would be excusable in a general work about the NVA and VC in which their weapons were dealt with in a cursory manner; it is not pardonable in a book that has as its title; "Weapons and Field Gear of the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong." Even more disturbing is that captions under the photographs authoritatively label these weapons erroneously and thereby mislead the reader. This makes me question the degree of scholarship in the rest of the book and makes me wonder what other falsehoods the author has slipped in that I was not knowledgeable enough to catch. For this reason I gave the book only two stars. For those with an interest in NVA and VC collectables the book is worth the money just for the pictures; however geniune scholars of the era will need to carefully cross check the information contained within.