If you have any of the previous editions in this series, you know what an excellent resource this is. This particular edition, due out soon, is the first volume on the M4A2 Sherman tank, undoubtedly the most widely used US tank of WWII.

For this volume, display vehicles in Canada, France and Sweden were used for the detail photographs. Since many display vehicles are not always complete, images from technical manuals are included to show those items that are missing from the actual vehicles. Each photograph includes a small flag to show which vehicle the image came from. In addition, each page has a highlighted drawing for the section of the tank where the photographs are concentrated. I know that I've often been a bit befuddled when looking at other similar books as I've never been sure just exactly where the photo relates to the vehicle itself.

This excellent section is then followed by scale drawings in 1/72 and 1/35 of the more prominent variants of the M4A2. The drawing sections include a cut-away as well to show internal details.

The last section of the book provides a brief history of the type while going through many pages of photographs showing the Sherman in actual use. There are a large number of excellent pictures that not only show the various types, but also give some great modeling ideas as well. I especially liked the one photo that showed a Sherman with several different types of road wheels on the same vehicle. There are quite a few images depicting tanks used by the Poles, Soviets, New Zealanders and French, a nice change from the norm.

Overall, this is an outstanding reference book, especially for the detail modeler and one that I highly recommend.

June 2005

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