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Books About Tanks


EnsignExpendable

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 12/27/2017 at 9:54 PM, Jeeps_Guns_Tanks said:

 

 

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

 

It's been a while since I've read it, but I recall liking it. If you want to know about the number, sources, and use of horses in the WW2 Heer, to my knowledge this is the book to get. It's a quick read, too, at 133 pp of text (including 10 pp of pictures in the middle).

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2 hours ago, EnsignExpendable said:

Two new books came in. Kolomiets' KV-1 book needs no introduction, and while I have no idea who this Sorokin guy is, the reviews for this book were good.

 

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The one on the M30 122mm should be ~4" thick, if it has to cover everyone that ever used it in anger.

Maybe the guns based on the French 75mm have a slightly broader diaspora, but not by much.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I saw The Tanks of TOG by Andrew Hills thanks to a blurb on Walter's blog, and finished it a couple days ago. It was a much more sympathetic review of the program, and of Sir Albert Stern in particular, than I had been expecting, and therefore provided an interesting perspective. Both Fletcher in The Great Tank Scandal and Beale in Death by Design report that Stern got "The Old Gang" of WW1 tank designers together on his own volition, and they then thrust themselves upon the War Office with meddling and wasteful efforts. Smithers in Rude Mechanicals and Chamberlain and Ellis in British and American Tanks of World War Two posit that Stern et al were first approached by the War Office, whose specifications then they worked toward. Hills agrees with the latter two, saying the original rhomboid turretless TOG was not what the designers wanted, but what the War Office had demanded after work on a turreted tank had already begun. The travails of The Old Gang are reported in great detail, as well as the creation and modifications to the TOG tanks themselves. Assertions that Ricardo had a powerful diesel engine ready for manufacture, and that the TOG designs could have been the most heavily armored and armed British tanks to take the field (with, for example, the 17 pounder or more powerful guns and armor eclipsing the heavy Churchills) years ahead of the Centurion or Challenger--or even before the Churchill was reliable enough to not require an apology letter from Vauxhalls going out with every example--were certainly intriguing. Hills alleges that personality conflicts played a great role in the stymieing of TOG, and while this charge may be a bit overhyped, the work and designs that The Old Gang came up with do seem impressive compared with the contemporary state of British tank development, and also seem strangely ignored when projects like the A33 assault tank were floundering.

 

The editing could use some work, as there were instances of repeating paragraphs, confusing sentence structures, and ideas restated shortly after their introduction, but overall I consider this a worthwhile read.

 

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@Loooser do you perhaps know some books about Russian/Soviet Armor(especially modern) which were translated from Russian to English  

i have some(the green ones about T-26,T-34,T-80 and JS tanks) 

and I’ve organised me some pdf but they are in Russian and I really would like to know what is written! 

Thx in advance 

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On 2/27/2018 at 11:22 AM, EnsignExpendable said:

All the documents I found in the Canadian archives refer to them as "the old group" rather than "gang". The TOGs don't come up a lot, but there is one instance where the TOG2 is considered alongside the A30 as a heavy gun carrier, although it is quickly discarded. 

Hills does make it sound like certain important Canadians were interested, and "Group" does indeed replace "Gang" in some Canadian reports. Brigadier F.F. Worthington "had in fact not only attended the firing trial in Lincoln of the TOG-2 turret, but was the first man to fire the 20cwt. AA gun in the turret." A Canadian Colonel F.F. Fulton wrote a report on 30 April 1943 recommending the hydraulic drive system of TOG-1 see further development as it allowed the vehicle to be steered with "phenomenal ease." There are other mentions of Canadian thoughts in the book, but it is maddeningly unindexed, and Canadian reports are something I didn't make my own pagination notes on. :(

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just for fun, have any of you fine fellows ever come across a book called For Want Of A Gun: The Sherman Tank Scandal of WWII? I'm surprised to find no mention of it via the forum search bar. The author, Christian DeJohn, was doing the rounds and posting links to his book in the comments section of various WW2 tank-related sites, including the Sherman Tank Site and TankAndAFVNews, sometimes posting under a different username and talking of the book as if he wasn't the author. Allegedly this book is just a rehash of a failed master's thesis the author submitted for Temple. He didn't receive a degree, and sued Temple, winning $1 in damages toward his remaining $49,999 of student debt.

 

The Reception:

http://www.amps-armor.org/SiteReviews/ShowReview.aspx?ID=4114

http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170890

https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitWehraboosSay/comments/6dlt5b/for_want_of_a_gun_the_sherman_tank_scandal_of/

 

The Recriminations:

https://temple-news.com/student-wins-1-in-free-speech-suit/

 

 

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13 hours ago, Jamby said:

Just for fun, have any of you fine fellows ever come across a book called For Want Of A Gun: The Sherman Tank Scandal of WWII? I'm surprised to find no mention of it via the forum search bar. The author, Christian DeJohn, was doing the rounds and posting links to his book in the comments section of various WW2 tank-related sites, including the Sherman Tank Site and TankAndAFVNews, sometimes posting under a different username and talking of the book as if he wasn't the author. Allegedly this book is just a rehash of a failed master's thesis the author submitted for Temple. He didn't receive a degree, and sued Temple, winning $1 in damages toward his remaining $49,999 of student debt.

 

The Reception:

http://www.amps-armor.org/SiteReviews/ShowReview.aspx?ID=4114

http://www.armchairgeneral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170890

https://www.reddit.com/r/ShitWehraboosSay/comments/6dlt5b/for_want_of_a_gun_the_sherman_tank_scandal_of/

 

The Recriminations:

https://temple-news.com/student-wins-1-in-free-speech-suit/

 

 

 

 

Yeah, he posted a bunch of comments on his book for a 4th time about a month ago, and he seems to have found every obscure semi-history related forum out there to post the same cookie cutter comments. I've been watching Amazon for a used copy, cause there is no way I'm paying full price for a book I know is trash, by a person who seems actually borderline crazy, or at least a huge asshole no one can stand. I'm somewhat surprised he never showed up here in the Sherman thread or this one. 

 

 

P.S. welcome to the forums! You will fit right in!

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T_A and I got to look at a copy at a military show last summer.  It's a very pretty book.  Didn't have time to read the content.  We discussed it over at Tank.net a while ago, the general opinion was that no one was very excited about it.  I'd like to have a copy, just to satisfy my curiosity.  Right now I am editing a video of four of my least favorite tank books.  If I had a copy of the DeJohn book, I probably could have added a book to the video.

 

 

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12 minutes ago, Walter_Sobchak said:

T_A and I got to look at a copy at a military show last summer.  It's a very pretty book.  Didn't have time to read the content.  We discussed it over at Tank.net a while ago, the general opinion was that no one was very excited about it.  I'd like to have a copy, just to satisfy my curiosity.  Right now I am editing a video of four of my least favorite tank books.  If I had a copy of the DeJohn book, I probably could have added a book to the video.

 

 

 

 

Cool, I'll do a post about your video when you get it up, it sounds fun.  Is that terrible Wittman biography one of your pics?  I own this book and can confirm it's trash, and from my time as a wehraboo, shamefully. 

 

 

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1 minute ago, Jeeps_Guns_Tanks said:

 

 

Cool, I'll do a post about your video when you get it up, it sounds fun.  Is that terrible Wittman biography one of your pics?  I own this book and can confirm it's trash, and from my time as a wehraboo, shamefully. 

 

 

I don't have that one, so it's not on my list.  I really considered adding "Tank Girls" to the list, but I figured my wife might watch the video and be irritated.  

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