The Chaco War was massive territorial war between Bolivia and Paraguay, which cost almost a 100,000 lives. An old fashioned territorial dispute, the contested area was the Gran Chaco Boreal, a 100,000-square mile region of swamp, jungle and pampas with isolated fortified towns. The wilderness terrain made operations difficult and costly as the war see-sawed between the two sides. Bolivian troops, under the command of a German general, Hans von Kundt, had early successes, but these stalled in the face of a massive mobilization programme by the Paraguans which saw their force increase in size ten-fold to 60,000 men. This book sheds light on a vicious territorial war that waged in the jungles and swamps of the Gran Chaco and is illustrated with rare photographs and especially commissioned artwork.

Alejandro de Quesada is a Florida-based military history writer, an experienced researcher and collector of militaria, photos and documents, who runs an archive and historical consultancy for museums and films as a secondary business. He has written over 100 articles and over 25 books, including several for Osprey, and is a leading authority on Latin American subjects. He is the author of the following Osprey titles to date: The Spanish-American War and Philippine Insurrection; The US Home Front 1941-45; Roosevelt's Rough Riders; The Bay of Pigs; The Mexican Revolution; The United States Coast Guard during World War II; Spanish Colonial Fortifications in North America.