Books About Tanks

[Walter_Sobchak]

I got a couple of review copies of some new books from Helion & Company.  Both are Russian authors translated into English.  Initial impressions are that these are both well done and serious books written by true historians.  

 

 

 

So I have a bit of reading ahead of me. 

[EnsignExpendable]

Isayev is great, he does a lot of video talks and lectures in addition to his written work. I don't think I've read anything by Zamulin, but he has a ton of publications under his belt.

[Walter_Sobchak]

I also got my copy of Fletcher's new book on WWII tanks today.  Like most Osprey hardcover books, its quite attractive with lots of pictures and illustrations.  Not sure if it really has any information in it that I didn't already have.  What I would really like to see is a reasonably priced reprint of Fletchers old "Great Tank Scandal" and "Universal Tank" books.

 

[Walter_Sobchak]

20 hours ago, EnsignExpendable said:

Isayev is great, he does a lot of video talks and lectures in addition to his written work. I don't think I've read anything by Zamulin, but he has a ton of publications under his belt.

I spent a couple hours last night digging into these books.  The Isayev book is only 200 pages but it's really information dense.  He obviously spent a lot of time in the archives, digging up details about the size, readiness and equipment makeup of the various units involved in the battle.  The translation is decent, although every once in a while I run across a somewhat clunky sentence or phrase.  

 

I don't think I realized what I was getting into with the Zamulin book.  The first 80 pages are just on the historiography of the Battle of Kursk, that is, a description of what has been written on the battle and the flaws of those previous works.  It's some serious historian nerd type stuff. 

[EnsignExpendable]

Scored this bad boy today.

 

 

Great photos, many colour illustrations as well. There's quite a bit in the book about the Sexton and Grizzly as well. This, plus Lucy's "Early Armour" covers the creation of the Canadian armoured force very thoroughly.

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

Did you have to pay an arm and a leg for it EE?

[EnsignExpendable]

68 bucks, taxes in. About 55 of your freedom dollars.

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

So like half an arm!

[Walter_Sobchak]

2 hours ago, EnsignExpendable said:

68 bucks, taxes in. About 55 of your freedom dollars.

I don't even see any copies of it right now on Amazon.  ABEbooks seems to be down.  I was going to see what other copies were selling for.  

[EnsignExpendable]

I've never seen it for sale before. When my local model shop, of all places, had it for sale, I couldn't pass it up. 

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

Yeah, for a rare book I'd have gotten it for that too!

[Walter_Sobchak]

The latest issue of ARMOR magazine has been posted online.  I noticed that they posted a list of "Recommended Reading for Professional Development" for Armor officers.  I have posted the list below.  The red checks are the ones I either own or have read digital copies.  The Tank Debate by Stone and the Bradley book by Haworth are both on my radar, but too expensive at the current time for me to get a copy.

 

[EnsignExpendable]

https://www.amazon.ca/Fallen-Giants-Combat-Debut-T-35A/dp/1781556261/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1505831667&sr=8-1&keywords=fallen+giants

 

Fallen Giants is on sale at $10 for the Kindle edition, which is an absurdly low price for such a new book.

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

You guys remember when I talked about getting Son of a Sherman? Click here and see how much it's going for now!

$350 and up used 750 up new!

 

I have a new in shrink wrap copy on my shelf.  I'm tempted to sell it, I could use the cash, the site's renewals are coming up. 

 

 

 

 

 

[EnsignExpendable]

Jeez, that's pricy. I hope they made an ebook.

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

all the critical content is on the Sherman Minutia site, but the book is really nice.

 

With all the content on my site, that site is still the best for the small details between models and on even on the same models, and it's always getting updates. 

[Walter_Sobchak]

21 hours ago, Jeeps_Guns_Tanks said:

You guys remember when I talked about getting Son of a Sherman? Click here and see how much it's going for now!

$350 and up used 750 up new!

 

I have a new in shrink wrap copy on my shelf.  I'm tempted to sell it, I could use the cash, the site's renewals are coming up. 

 

 

 

 

 

Glad I got my copy.

[EnsignExpendable]

The local used book store is closing up, which means great deals. The military history section was sparse, but I scored these bad boys at four bucks a pop.

 

 

The Canadians at War 1939-1945 is only Volume 2, which means that it starts in 1943. Some alright photos in this one, printed on matte paper, but with slight water damage.

 

Canada and the Korean War was probably the most promising of the three, but the biggest letdown. Almost nothing at all about armour, and even though it's by the Directorate of National Heritage, the photos they have online are in far better quality. Very disappointing. Also there is moderate water damage.

 

Canadians at War, on the other hand, surpassed my expectations. The photos are fantastic, with many high res full page spreads. I don't expect much from the text, but the price was right.

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

My Christmas haul. Armored Strike Force has a lot of pictures, I assume from vets personal cameras, I have never seen before. Very nice.  I just started on Patton's Juggernaut, soo far so good. 

[EnsignExpendable]

I picked up Stackpole's "Germany's Panzer Arm in WWII", which details thoroughly and exactly why the Germans ended up with quite so many horses.

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

And why was that?

[EnsignExpendable]

Because it turns out that in order to have an effective mechanized force, you need rubber, oil, iron, and a population that is familiar with motorized vehicles. Germany had none of those things.

 

Also their situation with nickel was more hilarious than I thought, in 1940 they were forced to recall all nickel coins, which increased the nickel stockpile by 50%. No wonder they stopped putting it in armour.

[DogDodger]

Jeeps, Forging the Thunderbolt is a valuable reference. Your cat has good taste.

 

 

3 hours ago, EnsignExpendable said:

I picked up Stackpole's "Germany's Panzer Arm in WWII", which details thoroughly and exactly why the Germans ended up with quite so many horses.

The same author also has available a more detailed look at the German use of horses in WW2:

[Jeeps_Guns_Tanks]

8 hours ago, DogDodger said:

Jeeps, Forging the Thunderbolt is a valuable reference. Your cat has good taste.

 

 

The same author also has available a more detailed look at the German use of horses in WW2:

 

 

I like that title, you will have to give us a review of Mechanized Juggernaut, it sure sounds interesting. 

I've been wanting to pick up Forging the Thunderbolt for some time, now I just need to find the time to read them all. 

 

I also have TM9-731A M4A1 operator manual, and Ord 9 G207 on the M4A1 coming, they just haven't shipped yet. 

 

[Walter_Sobchak]

On 12/27/2017 at 1:44 PM, DogDodger said:

Jeeps, Forging the Thunderbolt is a valuable reference. Your cat has good taste.

 

 

The same author also has available a more detailed look at the German use of horses in WW2:

 

This is the point where I jump in and mention that I interviewed the author of these books, R L Dinardo, a couple years ago.  https://tankandafvnews.com/tag/r-l-dinardo/

 

Fun fact, he told me that he orginally wanted to title the book on horses in the German army of WWII "Stuck in the mud and knee deep in horse shit."  He said the publisher was not too keen on that title.  He has a very strong New York accent and sense of humor.