Red army's do-it-yourself nazi-bashing guerrilla warfare manual (Casemate Publishers)

* The guns, demolition, hand-to-hand combat and guerrilla tactics used aby partisans which helped in the Soviet victory over Germany This 1943 third edition of the [The Partisan's Companion] is the last - and best - Red Army manual used to train partisans to fight the Nazi invader, and was later used to train third-worldA" guerrillas in their wars of national liberation in the 1950s-70s and even the Fedayeen guerrillas who fought U.S.

and coalition forces in Iraq. Once upon a time, the Boy Scout Manual concentrated almost exclusively on camping, field craft and first aid. The Partisan's Companion adds guns, demolition, hand-to-hand combat, assorted mayhem and multiple forms of Nazi-bashing.

It is like the old Boy Scout Manual on steroids. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union, the Red Army was hard pressed to cope with the invincibleA" Wehrmacht. Yet by 1943, it was obvious that Germany was losing the war.

The partisan ranks grew as did the training requirements for the partisan commanders. The 1943 edition of The Partisan's Companion helped quickly train new guerrillas to a common standard.Besides field craft, it covers partisan tactics, German counter-guerrilla tactics, demolitions, German and Soviet weapons, scouting, camouflage, anti-tank warfare and anti-aircraft defence for squad and platoon-level instruction.

It contains the Soviet lessons of two bitter years of war and provides a good look at the tactics and training of a mature partisan force. The partisans moved and lived clandestinely, harassed the enemy, and supported the Red Army through reconnaissance and attacks on the German supply lines.

They were also the agents of Soviet power and vengeance in the occupied regions. Soviet historians credit the partisans with tying down ten percent of the German army and with killing almost a million enemy soldiers.

They clearly frustrated German logistics and forced the Germans to periodically sideline divisions to hunt the partisans. The partisans, and this third edition, were clearly part of the eventual Soviet victory over Germany.