Thie latest book from Pen & Sword's series on military vehicles concentrates on the Panzer III during operations in North Africa from the final battle of El Alamein until the withdrawl of German forces from Tunisia in 1943.

For some reason, the author, unlike the vast majority of other sources, thinks the Panzer III is a light tank. It was developed as a medium tank and the variants covered in this volume were fairly well armed and the equal of medium tanks that it met in battle such as the US built Sherman and Lee/Grant. Having said that, the book covers the last variants built, specifically the ausf J, L, M, and N. These were armed with versions of a 50mm or 75mm gun along with increased armor protection over earler versions. The Panzer III was fairly fast and its chassis was rugged enough to be used on a variety of other types of tracked weapons.

This series of books not only looks at the various units that operated the type, but also has a section that covers the difference between variants. Another popular section are full color profiles. These are based on photos that are either provided in this section or other pages in the book. Finally, there is a modeler's section. This provides several build articles or galleries that show off the work of some very talented modelers. A part of this is a brief look at available kits and accessories.

In all, this series has become a favorite of many modelers and enthusiasts alike. It is well worth picking up if you are an enthusiast of armor or the modeling of it.

April 2023

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