I don't know much about armor, but I do know what I like and I like the Sturmgeschütze. It just looks very purposeful. I had no clue as to what it was designed for or anything else about it for that matter. When I spotted this book on sale, it looked like something I would be interested in so I put the grabs on it.

What you get is a nice 160 page hard backed book without a dust jacket. It is also mostly photographs, as the book states on the cover. The book is broken down into several sections, each going over the use of the stug as the war situation changed. In fact, the book is more about the deployment and use of the stug rather than a breakdown of differences between the various types. If you are looking for that kind of information, then look elsewhere as you won't find it here.

Each section is accompanied with a nice selection of photographs depicting the assault gun du jour as is appropriate for the time period. As I mentioned earlier, this is a book more about the deployment and use of the assault gun during the war. It is interesting to see how the use of it changed from basically a piece of mobile artillery that was to go into action with the troops to a tank killer as it was used in the later period of the war. 

In addition to documenting the change in use of the stug, there are a number of organizational charts showing the relationships of the unit as well as supporting units. For a person that knows very little about such things, the number of men and amount of materiel that was required to support the assault guns in action was quite an eyeopener.

The photos in the book vary in quality from excellent to quite contrasty. Some of the poorer images could have been left out, but were included for historical significance, especially those that were taken under combat conditions. There are images that would be helpful to the modeler and diorama builder, but to be honest, I think there must be better books on the subject for that purpose. 

For me, I enjoyed the book as it gave me an insight into something I am unfamiliar with. Those who are heavily into armor may want to look elsewhere for a more definitive work on the subject.

Review copy courtesy of me and my credit card!

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