Maginot Line Imitations

The title "Maginot Line Imitations" by Kaufman and Kaufman 1998 could be the only discussion of WW2 fortifications in English. I am told there are many others in German, French, Polish and Czech.

Is it any good?

I am interested in the defensive mentality of pre-world war II planning. Not only France, but Germany, Belgium, Poland and Czeckoslovakia had extensive defensively fortified borders; defenses which received higher priority in budget than tank or warplane production.

 

Have you read "The Fall of Eben Emael"? Good book of the Belgium fortifications.

 

German Field Fortifications 1939 - 1945
by Gordon L. Rottman, Ian Palmer

Germany's West Wall: The Siegfried Line
by Neil Short, Chris Taylor

The Maginot Line 1928-45
by William Allcorn, Chris Taylor

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I got the Neil Short book and it was ok. The others I found in the net.

 

Fortress Third Reich: German Fortifications and Defense Systems in World War II by Kaufmann et al

and

Fortress Europe: European Fortifications of World War II by Kaufmann et al

Ordered a few days ago via Amazon. Should arrive in a few weeks or so.

Cheers,
Sami

 

Thanks for the help. I'll have to be the first to read and review the Maginot Line Imitations book. I have added the others to my wishlist at Alibris.com They are all relatively cheap in used condition.

 

Yes, both of these editions are by Kaufmann et al. I expect their books are rehashes of each other. I found Maginot Imitations at chapters.ca for $Cdn68. Chapters at first told me it was unavailable but eventually they found me a copy. Good work. My next alternative was a used copy for $US117. This book could be a good investment.

 

Now for the bad news.............

This book, while containing much useful information, is confusingly written. The illustrations are pitiful; appearing to be hand drawn - probably on the back of a beer mat with a dull pencil. The proof-readers did a poor job also. There are many instances of words missing and several grammatical, spelling and punctuation errors. There are no useful maps. Shoddy work like this begs the question of the attention to detail in the content.

I expect this book would be of use to anyone attempting to visit WW2 fortifications in Germany or Czechoslovakia but a casual reader would do better to try one of the books recommended above or "The Maginot Line- Myth and Reality" by Anthony Kemp. Indeed, considering the price of used books, one might get a handful of good reads for the cost of Maginot Imitations.

 

Verdun 1916 the French ideology for the Maginot line

http://www.ericmargolis.com/archives/1999/11/they_shall_not.php