Osprey’s latest publication is this study of the types of tanks shipped to the Soviet Union starting in late 1941 and continuing through the end of the war under the Lend-Lease Program. Due to their armor losses following the success of Germany’s Operation Barbarossa, the Red Army desperately needed replacements and turned to their allies for help.

This book details the number and types of tanks provided to the Soviet Union between 1941 and 1945 by Britain and the United States. The author goes into detail about the number of vehicles sent during the various phases of the contract periods and the Russian reactions to the vehicles. There’s not a lot of detail about the strategic use of the lend-lease tanks since the book focuses more on how many vehicles were being sent and when. The book does provide some interesting information about the various colors of the tanks provided to the Red Army, and where a tank may have been manufactured (e.g. Canada versus Britain) may have affected what color it would have been.

The book includes a number of photos of the Lend Lease vehicles, as well as a number of excellent color photos of tanks in specific units. I found it interesting to see how common it was for tanks to go right to the front with the shipping instructions still marked on the tanks in English. I don’t know that I’ve seen decals offered for these types of markings, but they sure would add some interesting realistic markings for a model.

Overall, this was a quick and interesting read and included a number of interesting photos and color illustrations which were very well described. I’d recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the tanks the Red Army received under the Lend-Lease program, or to anyone who is a fan of Russian armor in World War II. Thanks to Osprey Publishing and IPMS USA for this review copy.