This is a first in a new series from that prolific Polish publisher, Kagero. It covers an aspect of WWII that one reads very little about and that is tank action in the Pacific. Because of the nature of island war, one does not think too much about the use of tanks. It is true that there was very little in the way of tank to tank action as one would normally expect in Europe or North Africa, but the tank was a very important part of infantry support, especially against the Japanese, who often fought until the bitter end.

The stories in here are truly incredible about the struggles against an entrenched enemy as well as the difficulty of operating armor over terrain that was less than suited. Often they had to operate in swamps and bogs or in heavy jungle where one could not see more than a few yards in front of the tank. Were it not for the Japanese having rather weak tanks and generally poor anti-tank weapons, things would have been a lot worse for the Allies. The Japanese tanks are also covered in the book.

The book covers action in New Guinea, New Georgia, Peleliu, and Iwo Jima.  It seems from the end of the book that there is going to be a second volume on Pacific battles. As with all Kagero books, this one is written in both Polish and English. Much to my delight, it seems as if Kagero has gotten a proof-reader whose main language is English as the book was a pleasure to read with absolutely no syntax errors. There are also a number of well-chosen photographs of the various tanks in action. Typical of a Kagero book, there is a freebie included and in this case it is a very nice Techmod decal sheet with markings in both 1/35 and 1/72. These markings are based on the excellent color profiles of Stuarts, Shermans and type 95 Ha-go tanks.

Overall, I found it to be an excellent read that held my interest from first page to last.

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