"At the end of the 1930's more than a few British Army Drill Sergeants must have suffered nightmares after the announcement of a new uniform for the British soldier...Now they had to accomodate their professional standards to a uniform wich resembled a mechanic's overalls, with a huge pocket on the front of the left thigh just where there ought to be a razor-edged crease, and without even any buttons which would take a shine." 1940 Pattern British Battledress This is a particularly specialised Osprey book. It covers one of the more ubiquitous and famous pieces of army uniform - the battle dress. Privates to Generals in all three armed services and those services who fought under the aegis of the British during the war all used the same basic designs of this piece of uniform. This book shows many of the permutations and combinations that the services managed to find for this clothing. I have to say that I did not realise that the RAF and Naval battledresses were essentially the same piece of clothing just died a different colour. It says a lot for the design and requirements of Mass production that it spread so rapidly. I also never realised that the denim jacket is basically a direct descendent of this piece of the British battledress: Complete with pockets and general all round sturdiness. This book follows the typical Osprey format of 96 pages with a number of excellenty detailed colour plates in the middle of the book. However, you seen realise that there really wasn't a great deal of variation in this rather standardised piece of uniform over the years. As good as it is, You would really want to know your Battledress to buy this particular book.