Ampersand's 251 Half-track

This the Ampersand Publishing's second expanded edition of their visual history books. Like the first, it has many additional pages and is hardbound. What makes this one a bit different from most of the other AFV books is that all but the cover photo are period photos. This means a lot to many readers as they often get diorama inspiration from the photographs taken by war correspondents.

The 251 series of half-track is based on the SdKfz 11 and differs mainly in the body. The SdKfz 251 was produced throughout the war and went through many changes during that time. In addition to four major variants, each with its own visual clues as to its identity, these variants were produced in a rather large number of roles from standard troop transport, to artillery towing, anti-tank gun, anti-aircraft platform, command vehicle, radio vehicle, ambulance, engineer vehicle and others.

The book opens with a look at the four major variants, ausf A - D, and the different features of each. The rest of the book covers the different roles to which the vehicle was tasked from the /1 to the /22. This also includes prototypes and those which never saw production. As is usual in the visual history books, most of the information is presented as captions to the photographs, though for this one, there is a longer than usual history of the type in the opening pages.

However, I think the real draw to this book are the photographs. The editors have done a great job going through what was taken during the war and choosing the clearest images. The landscape format of the book is perfect for this series as it allows photographs to be shown in their entirety without worry about them being overly cropped or going across 'the ditch' in the middle of the book.

For those who know little about the vehicle it is an excellent primer and for those who want to see the vehicle as it was used, there is nothing quite like it. It is a superbly done book and one that any enthusiast needs to have on their shelves.

February 2016

Review copy courtesy Ampersand Publishing. Get yours today at this link.

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