Book Review: "Armeyskaya Seriya 50: BMP: Boyevaya Mashina Sovetskoy Pekhoty" (Army Series 50: BMP: Soviet Infantry Combat Vehicle) by Ye. V. Yegers (Editor), translated into Russian by G. B. Brylevskiy; Tornado Publications, Riga, Latvia, 1998; 52 pp. plus color covers; price $10 via East View Publications
Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Only for non-English speaking native Russian speakers
Rating: Not Recommended
Recommendation: Buy the Osprey/New Vanguard version instead
I am usually pretty tolerant of people that borrow a bit here and there when they put a book together, but have little use for the total theft of intellectual property rights. This book is another in a long line of examples of fast-buck work from the former USSR in which someone translates a book from a known author into Russian, scans in some photos and artwork from books or off the internet, and then publishes under his own name.
At least Mr. Yegers does not claim authorship, which is good; this particular book is a verbatim copy of the Steve Zaloga/Peter Sarson New Vanguard Number 12 published in 1994. It adds in some sketches of the BMP vehicles which, based on the disclaimer at the front of the book, were "freely accessible on the Internet" as it insinuates the text and photos were. Unfortunately since I am fluent in my Russian comprehension this work only qualifies as what Canadian author Barry Beldam refers to as "outright theft."
There are a large number of reputable Russian authors like Svirin, Baryatinskiy, Shirokorad, Kovshchevskiy and Kolomiets, but this lot from Riga will not join their ranks by simply swiping and translating others' materials.
Cookie Sewell