Alligators, Buffaloes, and Bushmasters: The History of the Development of the LVT Through World War II (Ocassional Paper Series, United States Marine Corps History and Museums Division)

Very matter a fact account of the development of this vehicle and its use in the pacific during WW2. Written by a marine like a report. I'm an engineer, I like the style. I wish it had a bit more about Iwo Jima but I have read more from other sources on that matter. I thought it was interesting early sinkings from numerous bullet holes were remedied by simply carrying a sufficient supply of wooden plugs. Tears in the floor from coral were another issue. My Dad had a platoon of LVT-2s at Iwo. This is a reprint and the pictures are not very good. They are too dark. I expect the original was not that great. These pictures still exist. It would be great to update this book with fresh type and photos. It also has a wealth of references for any that might be interested in further research and can be found on-line.

The author of this work, Major Alfred Dunlop, wrote this document as a thesis for his master's program in 1976 and this is a copy of the original. Versions of this work are available online, but for a serious researcher, nothing replaces an old-fashioned book. (At least in my opinion) Major Dunlop was an experienced combat officer who did meticulous research on the development of tracked amphibian vehicles in World War 2.These amazing vehicles were key to victory in the Pacific theater, yet they have never been given their due. It is safe to say that the war against Japan would have progressed much differently had these vehicles not be available. This work is indispensable in understanding the role that tracked amphibians played in the Pacific War.

My review has nothing to do with the writing or the subject matter but more to do with the horrible quality of the printed book. It is printed on very cheap paper. 90% of the pictures in the book are impossible to make out as they are in such low resolution and dark contrast. Most of them are either way to dark to make out the image or meaningless 2 or 3 shade greyscale blobs. There is a free version of this book on the internet at Marine.mil in which the pictures and maps in the .pdf are of a much higher quality than in this book. It is a disservice to the original author to have treated his treatise in such a shabby fashion. Even though there is a free .pdf available, I would happily re-purchase this if it were printed to anything near quality standards.

this book was a major disappointment, the publisher basically Xeroxed an original and all half-tone pictures are unintelligable black blobs.

I LOVE IT