Panzerwrecks, volumes 1-4 were kindly donated by the co-author, Bill Auerbach, to AMPS for review.

Years ago, William Auerbach published one of my all-time favorite references,  "Last of the Panzers". I wore my copy out; it was the best reference I had on late-war German armor, and was also a terrific place to look for good photos of knocked-out or abandoned AFVs.

In recent years the "Panzerwrecks" series has come back with a similar concept but far better execution. The authors are Lee Archer and William Auerbach. Each volume (there are four at the time of writing, with a fifth promised for the fall of 2007) has presented a series of photos of a few vehicle types or locations. The photos are printed very large on high-quality paper, enabling a lot of detail to be gleaned from each one. Most of the photos are previously unpublished, and those that have been seen before are generally printed better here. 

Volume Four is similar to previous volumes, with perhaps slightly better production standards. I write this with some hesitation because all four volumes are excellent and there is nothing shoddy about them; the latest is just the best of a good line. Panzerwrecks Four has 116 large photos of German vehicles from the end of the war. There is a full list of vehicles shown in each volume on the Panzerwrecks web site, but the main features in volume four are: 

• A Jagdpanther of s.HPzJg Ab 559 in the Netherlands, knocked out by an M-10 17-lbr of the Polish 1st Armoured Division on 1 Nov 1944. There are eight photos of this vehicle, mostly large and sharp, though a few are blurry. In these multiple views, we can see everything except the rear, making this a terrific resource for modelers. This wreck is marked by the platoon that knocked it out, making it a diorama subject full of character. 
• Pz Aufklarungs-Abteilung 20 (Armored Recon Bn 20) surrendering to US 16th Armored Division. Here we get very large, good-but-not super quality photos of various late-war reconnaissance vehicles. Multiple views of one Puma, with its crew, are handy. Other sdkfz-234-series vehicles are also shown. The details of markings and stowage for multiple vehicles of the same unit are valuable.  
• A walkaround of an ex-French R35 with Czech 47mm AT gun. I won't even try to quote the correct German name for this vehicle. As a basic walkaround this series is superb, showing every side of the vehicle including an open engine-access hatch. As with the other features, the photos are very large, enabling the modeler to pick out small detail easily.  
• The surrender of the headquarters company of the Feldhernhalle Panzerkorps to (probably) the US 5th Infantry Division. This is the most varied collection of photos, with late sdkfz-251s, 250s, 234/1, 234/4 and various softskins. Surprisingly the convoy also includes a Krupp L2H 143 (Boxer) and a Kfz-13 - odd vehicles for 1945! This series of photos is a little blurry at times, but the collection of vehicles from a single unit and multiple views (again) of individual vehicles is valuable.
• The last 'feature' is a trip to the Tiger factory, showing a parts yard full of Tiger II turrets and other subassembllies. This series varies with some photos being quite good and others a bit blurry. The variations in fittings even amongs subassemblies on the same production line are evident here.
  

In addition to these features, the book has dozens of other photos. I won't describe every one, but a few that stand out for me are:

• A Pzkw-IV H with US troops of the 104th Infantry Division looking it over. This photo is full-page and razor-sharp, showing every detail. The vehicle is full of character, from the name on the gun tube, to the papers scattered on the glacis and the banged-up fender. 
• A Bergpanzer III with its wooden sides painted in a stencilled ambush pattern. I've seen this pattern on Hetzers and Stug-IVs, but not on Bergpanzer IIIs.
• The cover photo of a wrecked late-model Stug-III, showing both the details of the vehicle (the roof is mostly visible) as well as five very happy US G.I.s, some proudly displaying their Combat Infantry Badges, one waving an Abe-Lincoln-type tophat. There are additional views of this same vehicle inside.
• A dug-in, late production Panther showing not only the vehicle but its fighting position where it was destroyed.

Although the photo quality of one vehicle is not the best, I could not write this review without mentioning the sdkfz-234 with a Luchs turret. Odd but true.

There is no text beyond the introduction and the photo captions. Each of the photos is generally captioned with the unit and location, if known. When they are not known, the authors don't guess. In many cases, the units and even names of the Allied soldiers shown in the photos are also mentioned. 

One of the strengths of Panzerwrecks is the multiple views of single vehicles. Years ago, it was very rare to see multiple views of one vehicle and modelers needed to use a lot of guesswork when modeling a particular vehicle. This series of books takes a lot of that guesswork away. I did, however, think a few of the photos were duplicative and thus didn't add a lot; in particular, the Jagdpanther and Puma shots waste a few pages showing us things visible in other pictures. This space might have been used better with additional, different vehicles. 

A few grammatical errors crept into the text, but the intent of the authors is always obvious. My only real nitpick here is that US unit names are sometimes given British spellings; while I am aware that our good friends across the ocean add a 'u' to 'armour', the US Nth Armored Division, which is a unit name, should be spelled with US usage.

There are minor nitpicks, akin to spotting a small pimple on Angelinia Jolie's face. Panzerwrecks is an outstanding resource and I would highly recommend volume four to anyone interested in late-war German armor and to anyone looking for diorama inspiration. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to more in this series.