Axworthy does (if you excuse the pun) a worthy job in taking us through the build up of the Romanian Armed Forces prior to World War 2 and then their actions in combat. Though some of the book may be overly detailed and the maps have too much information to be presented only in black and white, in the end you get all the information about each of the battles fought and the outcomes.

For a country that ended up having the heaviest casualties of all the non- major belligerents, Romania actually put more men in the field then the Italians on the Axis side, and more than anyone but the Americans, Brits and Russians on the Allies' side. Romania had over half a million soldiers on the Eastern Front versus 200,000 for the Italians. They were thought of as good soldiers by both the Germans and Russians. But they spent most of the war fighting with obsolete weapons and without the full training that would have made them a force equal to any of the major armies.

They fought best when fighting to clear the areas of their country that had been taken over by the Soviets in 1939 and when they forced out the Germans in late 1944 when they made a "volte face" and came over to the Allies. Sadly, those who fought the hardest for Romania, were treated as traitors after the war by the new Communist installed government and so there little written about their courage and bravery.

As an aside, the Romanians (as per Mr.Axworthy) did their best to save their Jewish citizens from the Germans, and in many cases refused to let anyone from post 1939 Romania be deported to Camps including Gypsies. Not that they treated them so well at home, but they didn't contribute to the mass murder of people like the Germans. They were very considerate in the Soviet Union to massacre whoever they came up against not matter their religion or political beliefs.

Zeb Kantrowitz

Simply put, this is the best book in English for the Romanian Armed Forces in World War II. Anyone interested in the Eastern Front in WWII must have it.