Rikugun by Leland Ness

Discussions on all aspects of the Japanese Empire, from the capture of Taiwan until the end of the Second World War.
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wdgysin
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Rikugun by Leland Ness

#1

Post by wdgysin » 29 Aug 2014, 00:18

Just received my copy of the book Rikugun: Guide to Japanese Ground Forces 1937-1945 Vol I by Leland Ness via Amazon.
While I was frustrated by the numerous delays in the book finally getting out, it seems it is well worth the wait. For all of you, like
me, that are order-of-battle fanatics, the book covers all the divisions, with their structures and changes to TOE's in narrative form
throughout the war from Manchuria to the end of the Pacific War. Infantry, Cavalry, Armor, Artillery, Non-Divisional Artillery, and Antiaircraft Artillery are covered with the vast majority of the book being on the Infantry. Also, there are sections on Raiding Units and Naval Ground Forces. Unfortunately the book doesn't have a section on the Engineers or the various service support or LoC units. Perhaps this will be addressed in a further volume. Nevertheless, this book will be a well received addition to the likes of Japanese Order of Battle by Madej and the various intelligence summaries we have all had to dig through for our information. The book is available through Amazon at the following link:
http://www.amazon.com/Rikugun-Japanese- ... ds=Rikugun

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Re: Rikugun by Leland Ness

#2

Post by Eugen Pinak » 01 Sep 2014, 08:00

Weird - I've ordered this book long ago, but still got no response from Amazon. And the link you gave says the book is not available.


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Wellgunde
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Re: Rikugun by Leland Ness

#3

Post by Wellgunde » 01 Sep 2014, 11:45

I had the book on pre-order for many months. After the book was published, Amazon kept listing it as not in stock. I cancelled my order with Amazon and submitted a new order with seller Aeropagitica (at a much cheaper price) and had my copy in four days.

This is a great book based on intensive research using Japanese and U.S. primary source documents. If you are interested in the organization of the Japanese Army and Navy ground forces, this is the one book to own.
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Re: Rikugun by Leland Ness

#4

Post by Eugen Pinak » 01 Sep 2014, 15:18

Wellgunde - thank you! I had no idea, that the book is available for purchase. Stupid Amazon :(
Unfortunately, being from "uncivilized" country, I can't buy at amazon marketplace, but I've found the book is available at the publisher for roughly the same price.

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Re: Rikugun by Leland Ness

#5

Post by wdgysin » 02 Sep 2014, 03:38

I must have got lucky with Amazon. The book was originally supposed to come out in the spring and I had it on pre-order. Then they kept pushing the release date back. I cancelled the pre-order from Amazon and pre-ordered direct from the publisher, Hellion. The date got pushed back again and I queried the pre-order as I saw it listed on Amazon in stock and had not heard a word from the publisher. They said they were out of stock, so I went back and ordered from Amazon. Not a big fan of pre-ordering after this. The companies want your money up front but then don't fill your order first. It's like 'Yeah, when we get around to it...'

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Re: Rikugun by Leland Ness

#6

Post by Wellgunde » 03 Sep 2014, 01:54

I have pre-ordered around fifty items (books, kindle books, and DVDs) from Amazon and have been generally pleased with the results. A nice feature is the fact that they don't charge you until the item is shipped. I think that new book availability from Amazon has more to do with the publishers than it does with Amazon. Publishers push back dates, may underestimate demand, and are sometimes haphazard in their distribution methods. In any case, you can find a copy of Rikigun if you shop around.
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Re: Rikugun by Leland Ness

#7

Post by Eugen Pinak » 03 Sep 2014, 13:11

That's my first try with pre-ordering something at Amazon. As the dollar exchange rate is rising in Ukraine, I simply can't wait till Amazon decide, that it's now OK to start selling book to the customers. Of course, I know, that announced book is not equal to published book - but the book IS published, so why doesn't Amazon sells it?

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Piegziu
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Re: Rikugun by Leland Ness

#8

Post by Piegziu » 05 Sep 2014, 17:34

Could you please share with a photo or description of the table of contents?
It is much more diffrent than V. Madej's OdBs?

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Re: Rikugun by Leland Ness

#9

Post by Wellgunde » 06 Sep 2014, 00:13

The Madej books are orders of battle. Actually, they are not strictly orders of battle but rather lists of units by type. They may or may not include brief histories of the larger units, dates of formation, and commanders. They are not listed in subordination order so you are not able to determine who the unit belonged to or their geographic disposition. Organizational material is minimal. Although the Japanese Order of Battle, 1945 from which the Madej book is an edited copy has a publication date of 1945, the information cut off date is 1944. Thanks to its being a wartime intelligence publication subject to the fog of war, it also has bad information. Large numbers of units, even divisions, are missing. Madej also chose to omit or abbreviate material for reasons of space.

For a true Japanese order of battle in English, you are going to have to wait for someone to write one. It will not be small.

The Ness book is an organizational study. It discusses the various changes made in Japanese unit organization and equipage for divisions and many smaller units. It discusses the types of divisions more thoroughly than any other publication I have seen. The table of contents is three pages. The major headings are:
list of Illustrations
list of tables
list of acronyms and abbreviations
preface
1. General
2. Infantry
3. Cavalry
4. Armor
5. Non-divisional Artillery
6. AA Artillery
7. Other units
8. Naval Ground Forces
Notes on sources
total 381 pages.

Unfortunately, the publisher has not used Amazon's "see inside" feature.
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Re: Rikugun by Leland Ness

#10

Post by Piegziu » 06 Sep 2014, 10:54

That's why I am asking about the table of contents...

Thank you for your answer. This book is kind of something less than I expected.

Either way I have just bought it on amazon.co.uk. The total cost was 17 GBP so did not spend a lot.

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