Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This wonderfully vivid and appealing book tells the fascinating story of camouflage - an interplay between modern military developments on the one hand and the spheres of art, fashion and popular culture on the other. A dazling revelation of camouflage's power in nature, war and art, it is essential reading for anyone interested in design, fashion or military history.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Interdisciplinary works on camouflage are few and far between. In the years since the practical applications of visual disguise became widespread during the two world wars, many publications have appeared that address its military, optical, and biological aspects individually. Newark (ed., Military Illustrated) has authored the most wide-ranging and accessible survey of this fascinating topic yet. Tied to an exhibition at the Imperial War Museum, London, the catalog includes five amply illustrated chapters featuring work culled from the museum's collections and many other sources. Newark covers how humans adopted the tactics used by plants and animals to avoid observation, how the practice flourished and matured after the advent of aerial warfare, and how camouflage patterns have recently migrated into new realms such as fashion, interior design, performance and fine art, and architecture. He also describes the earliest tartans as a form of camouflage and shows how the advent of accurate rifles over smoothbore muskets made concealment advantageous. Virtually every page offers compelling photos of and interesting facts about everything from stick insects to stealth bombers. A title for many audiences; highly recommended.-Douglas F. Smith, Berkeley P.L., CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Miller, the medical doctor and stage director, introduces this volume with an essay on camouflage in nature. Newark, editor of the magazine Military Illustrated, writes the history of camouflage in its military context starting in the 19th century and ending with the present war in Iraq. A final chapter touches on camouflage in popular culture, fine art and fashion. The development of long-range weapons taught armies the advantages of blending in rather than standing out on the battlefield. Air reconnaissance in WWI introduced the need for the disruptive pattern techniques still used by armies worldwide. Inspiration for patterns came from both nature and modern art, and scientists and artists at different times took the lead in developing techniques and materials. Cubist-inspired "Dazzle" designs covered warships, and factories disappeared under acres of netting. Newark acknowledges that camouflage has always been more effective on equipment than on men, but soldiers identify intensely with their national patterns--frog skin, oak leaf, chocolate chip, etc. Current experiments involve iridescence and fiber optics. Newark's text is informative, but the story is told best by the 248 color and 32 black-and-white illustrations drawn from photographic archives, military training manuals, street culture and fashion layouts. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved