The book goes into great detail German Campaign on the Eastern front 1941 to 1942.

It covers Germans path from Moscow to Stalingrad which was full of successes and failures for both the Wehrmacht and the Red Army.

I found this book very interesting and fascinating. It was full of such a lot of information and some fantastic photographs that I had never seen before. This whole period of World War two was full of problems created by Hitler’s obsession that he knew better that his high command. occasions.

There are lot of pictures and illustrations that make the book even more interesting.

I recommend this book to everyone with a deep interest the war. The only downside was it could have had a little insight into the actions it fought from an eyewitness perspective to give it more feeling.

Thanks go to Casemate Publishing for providing this book to review and IPMS USA for allowing me to review it for them.

Introduction

Without giving a lengthy history of the M60 Patton the following is a short summary of the M60A2. The M60A2 nicknamed the “Starship” grew out of the development of the M60A1 with a CVWS (Combat Vehicle Weapons System) turret firing a 152mm conventional round. Planning began in the late 1950s. These were initially named the M60A1E2 then later standardized to the designation M60A2. Production was ended in 1975 with a total production run of 526 vehicles.

In the advertising literature AFV Club states this new kit features:

Pen and Sword has started a new series of publications related to Armored Fighting Vehicles (TankCraft Series) and this book is the fifth installment in the series. It covers one of the best WWII-era tanks: The Soviet T-34.

The book is broken down in the following chapters.

• Introduction
• Development and Design
• The T-34 in detail
• Camouflage and Markings
• Model Showcase
• Modelling Products
• Into Service and into Action
• Enter the T-34/85
• The T-34 in Action after the Second World War

The first 3 chapters tell the story of the T-34, going back to the origins of the design in the Christie Tank and its design evolution, culminating on the 3rd chapter where the tank is described from the mechanical, defensive, offensive and even living conditions point of view.

The T-60 was a light tank designed for scout and reconnaissance missions that was rushed into production a month after the start of Operation Barbarossa. Over a two-year period, approximately 7,000 of these vehicles were built. The T-60 scout tank was lightly armored, lightly armed with a 20mm canon a a machine gun, that was roundly hated by the two-man crews who operated it. The light armor, less than effective gun and poor engine performance lead to its operators naming it the “brother’s grave for two”. Although it was intended to be a support or reconnaissance vehicle, it often matched up against more superior German armor where it fared very poorly. Until factories could be equipped to produce the T-34, Soviet production continued and efforts were made to upgrade the firepower to a 37mm cannon, but these plans were scraped due to a lack in ammunition, and eventually, the armament upgrades were incorporated into the T-70.

Around 1970, Monogram Models released a “Panzer IV” kit in 1/32nd scale. There was no mention on the box top as to what version (Ausführung) it was, simply that it was a Panzer IV “with 75mm gun”. As military vehicle historians dug deeper into the history of German military vehicles from the Second World War period, they learned that the Panzer IV, for example, was produced in a series of “Ausführung”, or versions: Ausf. A, Ausf. B etc. Eventually, model firms figured this out too so that by the early/ mid-1970’s, Italeri was producing kits such as their “German Tank Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf (H)” while Tamiya had their “Panzerkampfwagen IV Ausf. H”.