Review - Armored Thunderbolt by Steven Zaloga

Armored Thunderbolt by Steven Zaloga
Stackpole Books, 2008

First off this is not a detailed discussion of the technical aspects of the Sherman tank. Hunnicutt's book is still the bible as far as Sherman technical detail is concerned. However, this is an excellent book on the history of the Sherman and how it was shaped by the lessons learned (or ignored) early in the war and by internal army politics. This looks at the Sherman from both the American and British point of view. How it was used, how it evolved as the war moved forward as well as dispelling some myths and verifying others. There are plenty of pictures (although not nearly as many as in his other two books Armored Victory and Armored Attack) including old favorites and many new ones (at least to me). The focus is primarily on the ETO although there is a chapter on the Pacific theater and during the Cold War. If you are Sherman enthusiast or just a tank enthusiast in general this is a must have book. The retail price is $34.95 but I was able to find a really good used copy on Amazon for about $20.

Review - Armored Attack 1944 Steven Zaloga

Armored Attack 1944 Steven Zaloga

US Army Tank Combat in the European Theater from D-Day to the Battle of the Bulge

Stackpole Books, copyright 2011

The first volume of the two book series “Armored Victory 1944” was waiting for me when I got home from work yesterday. Another massive tome filled with pictures.

This is essentially a collection of photographs culled by Zaloga, mostly, from the WWII US Army Signal Corps photo collection. It is divided into chapters with a very short introduction at the beginning of each chapter. Like the second volume it is packed full of pictures of all the US Armor deployed in the ETO. Unlike the second volume though this one has a lot of “catalog” pictures of the various vehicles as well. These photos give you a nice factory fresh view of the vehicle ready to be handed over to a crew. Again there are plenty of pictures of knocked out vehicles although probably more German than American this time since it covers the Normandy breakout period. As a bonus there are photos of 2^nd Armored Division armored infantry in the short lived camouflage suits.

I really only have the same criticism that I did with the second volume in the series in that when there are three photographs to a page they are just a little small.

If you are a WWII US Army armor buff then this is a must have for your collection. The list price is $44.95 but I think I paid about half that getting it through Amazon.

Review - Armored Victory 1945, Steven Zaloga

Armored Victory 1945 Steven Zaloga

US Army Tank Combat in the European Theater from the Battle of the Bulge to Germany’s Surrender

Stackpole Books, copyright 2012

At heart I am a fairly serious tank buff (from a modeling perspective) with my interest, primarily, centered on WWII US and German vehicles. This last week I had an opportunity to get three of Steven Zaloga’s more recent books on the US armored forces during WWII in Europe. The first to arrive was “Armored Victory 1945”. This is actually the second volume in a two volume set and just happened to be the first of the three books to arrive.

This is my first Zaloga book that was not published by Osprey. This is essentially a collection of photographs culled by Zaloga, mostly, from the WWII US Army Signal Corps photo collection. It is divided into chapters with a very short introduction at the beginning of each chapter. Each photograph has its own caption with quite a bit of information and often including the location and the unit that the vehicle belonged to. I know I have seen at least a third of these photographs in other publications but the rest were new to me and the caption information, even on photographs I have seen, is almost invaluable . The bulk of the photographs feature the numerous varieties of M4 Sherman tank, but almost all US armored vehicles appear on the pages. There are more photos here of the M24 Chaffee ( nicknamed the Pantherpup but GIs) and M26 Pershing (Designated the T26 at the time of their deployment) than I have seen anywhere else.

Pages feature 2 – 3 photographs with captions and if I had a criticism it would be here. When there are 3 photographs on a page they tend to be a little to small to make out all the details that interest me as a modeler. That’s about the worst thing I can say about this book. There is a huge variety of photographs, including plenty of examples of knocked (some still burning) US and German tanks. In fact if you are interested in modeling a knocked out vehicle this book as more pictures of destroyed Shermans, Panthers, Jagdpanzers, Hetzers and Jadgtigers than I have seen in a single collection.

If you are a WWII US Army armor buff then this is a must have for your collection. The list price is $44.95 but I think I paid about half that getting it through Amazon.