The "A Team" of Archer and Auerbach have done it again, bringing us yet another entertaining and visually interesting photo reference for armor and history buffs alike. They have stuck with their tried and true format, bringing us another 96 page, landscape format volume. This volume, as stated on the cover, deals with German Armor, 1944-45.
Vital Statistics
Format - Softcover
Page count - 96 pages
Size - 8.25" X 11"
Photos - 114 Black and White, most 7" X 10", landscape format
As with the other books in this series, most photographs are full page, landscape format. There are a few smaller inset photos. The size of the photos in this book is a real plus. The quality of the photos themselves vary greatly from very sharp, well composed, professional looking photos to photos evidently taken by a curious GI using very basic equipment under less than optimum conditions for the folks back home. This reason for the variety of photo quality is explained right up front by the authors.
The nature of these photos; the fact that they're previously unpublished and of some rare equipment make this photo quality range completely acceptable in my opinion. Better a so-so photo of a rarity than no photo at all! After stating all of the above, I'd like to note that most of the photos in the book are actually of very good quality, with details clearly visible. This book is printed on heavy, high gloss paper making the pictures look nice and crisp.
The book is broken into 4 main features, as listed below:
page 12, Panzerwrecks 2 Revisited
This section has another round of vehicles from Berlin, Vienna and Yugoslavia. There are some really interesting photos of a tank park outside of the Arsenal in Vienna, which was being used as a vehicle maintenance facility. There are also some photos of a trainload of a really diverse assortment of German armor on a train in Yugoslavia.
Page 40, Panzers at Pilsen Airfield
This section has an amazing array of armored vehicles of all descriptions assembled at Bory airfield, outside of Pilsen, Czechoslovakia. In this section are photos of not one, but two of the rare Panzer IV's with flak 88's mounted on them.
Page 56, A Trip to the MNH Factory
This section shows the Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen Hanover factory, which was cranking out Panther Ausf. G's and Jagdpanthers right down to the final days of the war despite being bombed night and day by the RAF and the mighty Eighth Air Force. Row upon row of nearly completed tanks are pictured, they were apparently being assembled on the factory floor while the building was reduced to rubble around them. An amazing series of photos clearly showing the grim determination on the part of the Germans to attempt to continue the fight.
Page 78, Freaks and Antiques
The authors, when realizing that this was the tenth in the series, decided on designating this volume with the Roman numeral X for ten, rather than simply 10. This section of the book is the authors "X-files" section, with sort of a smorgasbord of armored oddities and odds and ends. Among loads of other items of interest, in this section we see some quite good photos of one of the earliest Flakpanzer Wirbelwinds, but one with some pronounced differences from the production vehicle.
Conclusions
The books in this series are not intended as one stop shopping as reference material for this or that vehicle. What they are, is a fascinating overview of a wide assortment of vehicles, in various stages of operability and disrepair. These are a wonderful source of ideas for diorama builders, armor modelers in general, and those who may just simply want some previously unpublished after action photos.
As mentioned earlier, the photographs themselves vary in terms of original photography, but the quality of this publication does not vary. It is a first class effort all the way, and the authors should be commended for their efforts in digging up these photos and also for their research on the captions.
For further info and ordering info on this series of books, refer to their website;
Highly Recommended
Thanks to Panzerwrecks for the review copy
Reviewed by Chuck Aleshire, AMPS Chicagoland
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