THE RIF WAR: Volume 1: From Taxdirt to the Disaster of Annual 1909-1921

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Volume 1 examines the operations of both sides in rugged northern Morocco, North Africa, between 1909 and 1921, up to the Disaster of Annual. Within are details of the Spanish army, its organization, tactics and reforms to meet the needs of the theater, the fledgling Spanish military aviation which claimed a number of world firsts in this campaign, and their North African auxiliaries and opponents. The Rif War is illustrated with a selection of color artworks and specially commissioned maps.

Spain suffered disasters such as Barranco del Lobo and victories such as the cavalry charge in Taxdirt in 1913, and had had to face enemies such as Mizzian, El Roghi, or the famous El Raisuni. Abd-el Krim's revolt caused 8,000 Spanish deaths at Annual in 1921 in which much of the new colony was lost, at least temporarily. The war also saw the Spanish army completely reformed, reaching new levels of effectiveness with the founding of the Spanish Legion and the recruitment of Moroccan soldiers of the Regulares.