The Leopard is the most successful post war European tank. It came about as attempts at cooperation between Germany and France in designing a tank came to naught. Both nations had very specific wants in a new tank and they were nor the same. This resulted in the Leopard for the Germans and the AMX-30 for the French.

Basically, the Germans thought the US tanks they were operating up until this time were too large and heavy. They wanted a medium tank, something the M 47/48/60 was not.

Both the French and German tanks that came from this were good tanks, but the Germans got theirs built first and this was enough to get a number of other European nations interested. The tank had the ability to be upgraded and the addition of a new turret and gun provided the basis for the Leopard 2.

This book is formatted in the same manner of their Famous Airplanes book, it just deals with armor. It begins with a brief history of the tank and the various users. This section is primarily photos, most of them in full color. The write up here and in the rest of the book is in both English and Polish, which is standard procedure for Kagero.

The bulk of the book consists of two build ups, spending a considerable amount of time on the painting and weathering of the Tamia Leopard 2A6 tanks. One of them is a Dutch version while the other is a Polish tank. There are a lot of large photos using the FSM method of showing paint brushes and air brushes void of paint aiming and various areas of the model. The book ends with several pages of large full color profiles.

Overall it is an effective presentation and one that the reader should consider more of a modeling book than a history of the type. To be sure, you are provided with a nice history section and the photos of these tanks in action adds extra value and provides inspiration. It is a worth-while book to pick up if you are interested in the type and want to see a couple of very well done builds of the Tamiya kit.

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