In the modeling community, Osprey Publishing is well-known. I doubt that there is a modeler in this group who does not have something from Osprey in their bookshelves. They have several ongoing series that tackle a variety of topics, including the ‘Duel’ series. As the title suggests, each book concentrates on two similar pieces of equipment and how they stack up against each other. The sixty-sixth volume of the duel series tackles the opening campaign of the Second World War – the fall of Poland in the early fall of 1939. The author of the volume is David R. Higgins and the illustrator of the color plates is Richard Chasemore. At 80 pages of text, this is a fairly standard length for this series.

As with other volumes in the Osprey library, the duel series follows an established formula in terms of chapter layout and content. Each volume has: several color plates that illustrate the layout, ammunition, and telescopic sights for the two featured tanks; plenty of black and white photographs that illustrate the two vehicles; a variety of maps illustrating strategic and tactical views of the campaign; and a short bibliography for those who are interested in pursuing the topic further. The duel series has a standard chapter layout:

• Introduction
• Chronology
• Design and Development
• Technical Specifications
• The Combatants
• The Strategic Situation
• Combat
• Statistics and Analysis
• Aftermath
• Bibliography

The chapters support the narrative and are helpful in building a concise narrative for the opening rounds of the Second World War in Europe.

The story of the development of the German Panzers is well known, and the information that is presented here is not new to most of the people who read these reviews. The concept of the duel series, however, is to compare and contrast technology that fought against each other, and that is what is so interesting about this particular addition. The Panzer II and the 7TP are two tanks developed during the interwar period. The 7TP was a license built version of a British design that was never adopted. The Panzer II was developed during the era of German rearmament. Both designs represented design practices that dominated the interwar period – lighter vehicles with smaller caliber weapons that acted as cavalry, rather than creating breeches in an enemy line or defeating enemy tanks. In spite of their fearsome historical reputation, what this book does particularly well is demonstrate that the German tanks were not invulnerable.

The combat between Polish and German tanks demonstrates that despite the daunting odds, the Poles put up a staunch defense when they could, stemming the German tide, albeit only temporarily. As with most Osprey titles, this edition tells an interesting story in a compelling manner. Anyone interested in the Polish campaign or the early war years will certainly enjoy this.

My thanks to IPMS, and Osprey Publishing for giving me the opportunity to review this book.