When Germany entered the war, it had an armor corps that was mostly comprised of light Panzer I and Panzer II tanks. These were a throwback to WWI when it was thought that a tank did not need heavy armament as they were not all that heavily armored. As we know, this was not the case and prior to hostilities, the Germans had developed two very similar medium tanks, the Panzer III and Panzer IV (the latter a heavier tank in the 20 ton range). Both were pretty much designed for infantry support, allowing specialty anti-tank units to do the work of taking care of enemy tanks.

We all know that the majority of tanks taken out of action by enemy fire was due to these anti-tank units, but as the war progressed it was found that tanks needed to have some anti-tank capabilities and the armor needed to survive these rather infrequent encounters.

So as time went on, both the Panzer III and Panzer IV found themselves being upgraded and production simplified to keep the army supplied. One could rightly say that these tanks were the workhorses of the army as variants were in battle from day one until the last day of the war.

In this latest of Concord's photo books, author Tom Cockle provides a sweeping view of these tanks in photos taken from various archives and collections. With his short introduction, the different variants of the tank are covered, briefly noting the differences of a variation from the one that preceded it. The flow of photos does basically the same thing, starting with images from early in the war and ending with those near the end.

Each photo has a caption that describes as much of the scene as is pertinent. The forward section of the book is on the Panzer III with the Panzer IV taking up the second half. In between are eight pages of color profiles depicting some of the tanks as shown in the photographs.

If you are a modeler or just interested in the tank, then this would be an excellent reference book to add to your collection.

September 2008

Review book courtesy of www.dragonmodelsusa.com . Get yours at your local retailer or ask them to order it for you.

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.

Back to the Book Index

Back to the Main Page