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Book Content |
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Normally, when I decide to do a review
of a reference or model kit, it is a review sample or a new product I’d
like to work on or read. This review came about much differently in
that the book came to my attention by accident and is a few years old.
However, within 1 minute of glancing over both volumes of “the Hard
Ride”, I decided that they just had to be reviewed in order to
get the word out to other WFV enthusiasts and modelers that these books
are out there and available. To me, both volumes of “The Hard Ride” are
books that are unique and unparalleled.
There are two volumes of the “Hard
Ride”, the second volume being this book. I’ve chosen to review them
separately but making the write ups available at the same time. In my
opinion, they are so closely linked that they must be reviewed
together. In fact, the author, James Lyles, told me that the book was
originally supposed to be published as one volume, but the publisher
unilaterally published them separately. I have to agree with Mr. Lyles,
the two volumes should have been published as one.
Anyway, the most important aspect of
both volumes of the “Hard Ride” that you should be aware of is that they
were authored by a veteran Gun Truck Crew member. In fact, Mr. Lyles
was the NCOIC (non-commissioned officer in charge) of a number of gun
trucks in his Vietnam era military career. Being an ex-gun truck crew
member gave him unparalleled access to information and photos not
normally available to most authors. Not only did he provide a large
number of photos to this book, but as an ex-gun trucker, he was able to
persuade other ex crew members to provide information and photos too; No
small task. Being “one of their own” he was able to access a massive
treasure trove of material and photos from the other ex-gun truck crews
because they knew he would do them proud. In fact, there are literally
many dozens of contributors to his books, not just a few.
Mr. Lyles does not fail his brethren as
it is obvious that “The Hard Ride” is a labor of love to him. By the
way the books are written, one can tell he wants you to know about the
vehicles, but most importantly he wants you to know about the gun truck
crews themselves and their dedicated service while performing very
difficult and dangerous missions.
The
content of volume 2 concentrates specifically on the Quad .50 and APC
hulled gun trucks, M37 “Beeps” and M151 Mutt Gun Jeeps. On the other
hand, volume 1 gives basic information about the Guntruck operations and
then concentrates specifically on the “regular“ 2 ½ ton M35 and 5 ton
M54 gun trucks. Other information and photos provided by the author in
volume 2 includes material about Guntrucks with multi-angled armor
boxes, misnamed and misidentified Guntrucks, more personal gun crew
stories, enemy weapons and some of their Guntrucks, Guntruck weaponry
(authorized and unauthorized) and lastly it provides specific
information about a grand total of 393 vehicles, including their names,
crews, and their donor vehicles (M35, M54, M37, etc.). Wow. |
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Accuracy of Information |
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information provided in volumes 1 and 2 of “The Hard Ride” is probably
as good as you can get anywhere on any subject. It is top notch. As
stated before, being that the author was an ex-Gun Truck commander, you
are getting information and photos direct from primary sources. Also,
it is obvious by the information itself and how it is presented that Mr.
Lyles is very well informed about the full spectrum of gun truck
materials from individual gun truck operations/tactics, equipment,
convoy procedures as well as the overall mission of the hardened vehicle
concept during the Vietnam era. The information provided by the other
ex-gun truck crews is of the same top quality, multiple dozens of them!
In fact, the information is so solid that many of the misconceptions and
incorrect information previously presented as fact in other references
are corrected by photographic and/or eye-witness accounts, usually from
multiple sources. |
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Editing of Information/ Text Flow |
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As is the case with Volume 1, the flow
of the text in Volume 2 is usually fine and is logical in most
instances. The author writes effectively and succinctly and is able to
get his point across easily. The major weakness of both volumes 1 and 2
again (in my opinion) is due to the fact that the publisher unilaterally
split the book into two volumes. Volume 1 doesn’t suffer too much, but
Volume 2 is more adversely affected, at times seeming incomplete or
unfinished, especially if read alone. You really need both volumes to
get the full benefit of this resource set.
It is
obvious to me that parts in both volumes are out of place and used as
filler in less logical places. In fact, there are sections repeated
verbatim in both volumes. I am convinced that if the book were published
as envisioned by the author, these negatives would not have been as
prevalent or even present at all. |
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Photograph and/or Illustration Quality
and Selection |
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Again, the biggest strength of this
book is the photo selection. Like Volume 1, there is a similarly large
318 photos presented. Unfortunately, none of these are in color. I am
not complaining too much although I would have preferred them in color.
Even more startling is that a majority of the photos have never been
published before, as they come directly from Mr. Lyles or he has
obtained permission to use them from ex-gun truck crewmen. Reading the
book is almost like looking over someone’s personal photo album, except
with a much more diverse subject matter due the sheer massive number of
contributors. The only complaint I have about the photos is that many
are smaller than I’d like to see, and the detail can’t be discerned due
to that size. However, I’ll “forgive” Mr. Lyles in his decision to
present as many photos as possible in his books.
As one
can imagine, the quality of the photos is not as professional as some
references, since a majority of them were taken by the young crewmen
themselves. However, they are surprisingly good considering the age and
conditions they were created in. Remember too, these photos were NOT
taken for us modelers or enthusiasts to identify widget A or the color
of part B. These were taken for themselves and I am ecstatic that these
men have shared them with us through Mr. Lyles’ book. |
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Use as Reference |
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Taken
together, volumes 1 and 2 of “The Hard Ride” are the best references
about Vietnam era Gun Trucks that I have ever seen in terms of quality
and quantity. I am not saying there is not some other reference equal
or better to the “Hard Ride” out there, but I haven’t seen it yet.
Again, see my previous comments and opinions about the Photographic
selection and accuracy of the book and that should suffice in convincing
you that these book are must haves for gun truck enthusiasts in
particular as well as for wheeled fighting vehicle aficionados and
modelers in general. |
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Quality of Medium |
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Volume 2 is a soft cover book similar
in size to the 8 ½ “x 11” books by Squadron/Signal Publications.
Unfortunately I cannot say the same for the quality of the medium as it
is sadly substandard. The print quality and paper quality are lower
than the quality of most mainstream books available. The print and
photos are grainy and at times the lower quality paper doesn’t help any
matters. What a difference between volumes 1 and 2. It is a pity that
volume 2 isn’t of the same quality. |
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| Conclusion |
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Like volume 1, I feel very strongly
that volume 2 of this book is unparalleled in its quality and quantity
of information provided about and photos of Vietnam era Guntrucks,
crews, operations, etc. It is a must have for anyone remotely
interested in gun trucks, armored cars or wheeled fighting vehicles and
I would even wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone else with even a
fleeting curiosity about these men and their awesome machines.
With all that being said, I am
disappointed that this second batch of awesome photos in volume 2
weren’t in color like volume 1. Also, the publisher’s editing and print
medium they used results in what I find disappointing at times. It
doesn’t do this unique information and photos justice! Due solely to
those facts, regrettably I can only give volume 2 an overall rating
of “Highly Recommended”. If volume 2 were of the same print quality as
volume 1 and it contained color photos, I would undoubtedly have given
it the higher rating of “A Must Have”.
Highly Recommended. |
