In 1921, the Soviet Union set up the Mongolian People’s Republic as a puppet state; in 1932 Japan set up Manchukuo as a puppet state (both had originally been part of China – as far as China was concerned. The countries shared a border, but disagreed on where it was; the Manchkuoans (actually, Japan) claimed the Khalkhin Gol (“Gol” means “river” in Mongolian, so “Khalkhin Gol River” is redundant); the Mongolians (actually the Soviet Union) claimed a border about 20 miles east of that. There were various skirmishes along the border starting in 1936, but the major battles occurred in 1939 when the Japanese staged a division-level assault into the disputed area.

Author Vladimir Kotelnikov tells things from the Soviet/Mongolian point of view; he notes both sides considerably exaggerated the effectiveness of their air forces. According to Kotelnikov, the Soviets overestimated the number of Japanese aircraft lost in combat by about a factor of 4, while the Japanese exaggerated their victories by a factor of 6, resulting in both sides claiming more air-to-air victories than the total of all enemy aircraft deployed to the theater. His best estimate of actual losses is about 155 for the Japanese versus 249 for the Soviets/Mongolians. Many of the Soviet losses occurred early in the conflict, when experience Japanese pilots were pitted against novice Soviets/Mongolians; things improved somewhat for the Soviets later when they brought in veteran pilots who had fought on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War.

As implied by the title, there’s heavy emphasis on the air conflict. Although maps show the movement of both sides’ ground forces, this isn’t followed up in the text. There’s also an idiosyncratic use of aircraft type designations (at least for readers used to reading American or English accounts of Pacific battles). Kotelnikov uses the Japanese “Ki” designation, which was an aircraft project number issued in sequence regardless of manufacturer or use. Thus, the aircraft Kotelnikov calls the “Ki-27” is probably more familiar to wester readers as the “Nate” or “Nakajima Type 97”. Kotelnikov’s usage is something like saying “Boeing Model 299” rather than “Flying Fortress” or “B-17”. The Ki-27/Nate/Type 97 was the principal fighter aircraft on the Japanese side; the Soviets started with the I-15 and upgraded to the I-16 and I-153. The I-16 pilots used the same techniques later adopted by the Americans when facing the Zero with P-40s; use their aircraft’s heavier armament and superior diving speed to counter the “Nate’s” superior maneuverability.

After the main text, the appendices include a color plate section with camouflage and insignia patterns, and a descriptive section with details on each aircraft type used. However, there are no notes or bibliography. Useful for a modeler or if your interest is limited to air combat; you’ll need another book to learn about the ground aspects of the campaign. ( )