Philip Jowett was born in Leeds in 1961, and has been interested in military history for as long as he can remember. His first Osprey book was the ground-breaking Men-at-Arms 306: 'Chinese Civil War Armies 1911-49'. He lives in Lincolnshire. Brent Snodgrass' interest in Finland began with the collection of militaria from the region, which grew into 12 years of research into Finnish military history. Brent is the USA Group Leader of Battletours which directs battlefield tours of Finland, the Baltic States and Russia, and is the owner of Gunboards.com. Brent lives in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Raffaele Ruggeri was born in 1964 in Bologna where he still lives and works. He has long been interested in military history and has illustrated a number of books for Osprey including, MAA 269 The Ottoman Army 1914-18, and MAA 309 The Italian Invasion of Abyssinia 1935-36.

In the face of Soviet invasion in 1939-40, and once again in 1941-44, the armies raised by Finland - a tiny nation of only 4 million people - astonished the world by their effective resistance. At the end of both these campaigns - the Winter War, and the Continuation War - the fiercely patriotic defiance of vastly stronger Soviet forces by Marshal Mannerheim's soldiers won their country a unique prize: although forced to accept harsh terms, Finland was never occupied by the Red Army, and retained its independence. This book explains and illustrates, for the first time in English, the organization, uniforms, equipment and tactics of Finland's defenders.