Hitler's Secret Weapons

by

David Porter

 Readers who are looking for a story about the history of the Third Reich's secret weapons should look elsewhere. For those of us who are enthralled by statistics and diagrams, this book is for us. The book does not only dwell on one weapon system, but shows all of the different types manufactured or on the drawing board. The author also starts out by going backwards in history, and shows us a little about the large caliber guns that were German secret weapons in World War I.

 The book takes us through the tanks, jets, and rockets, along with much more, that were used or dreamed up by the German engineers in the Second World War. There are tidbits of information on every page. Did you know that a Panzerkampfwagen IV, and Panther cost about the same to make as a Sherman tank? The same chart shows that a Tiger I or II cost roughly three times more than the aforementioned tanks. There are also charts that show the monthly production rates for the Tiger I and II tanks. Charts and diagrams that show the different speeds, armor thickness, and gun calibers of some Allied and German tanks are shown. According to the book, an IS2 tank was slower than a Tiger I, and a Churchill VII crawled along at only 15.5 MPH. The Maus is here along with the unbelievably huge land battleships of the 'P Series Land Cruisers'. These had 11" guns the same that were in the Scharnhorst battleship/battle cruiser.

  The book also shows the different railroad guns Germany made, and a chart compares their various muzzle calibers.So the largest gun ever built, the railroad gun Gustav, is here. Its smaller brothers of 'Anzio Annie' fame are shown here also. The author also shows us the state of the art infantry anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons.

 Each weapon has a small write up about it. The main focus of the book is the charts and diagrams that are liberally shown throughout the volume. Land, Air, and Sea weapons are shown, from the largest battleships ever dreamed of to miniature submarines. From 'Mistel' bombs (a fighter with a bomber attached to the bottom of it filled with explosives) to jets that actually made it off the drawing board and were produced by other countries after the war, this book has them all. So if anyone needs a reference book that has the dimensions of a E100 tank or a H-45 battleship, this is your book.

Robert

Book: Hitler's Secret Weapons

Author: David Porter

Publisher: Amber Books

Distributor: Casemate Publishers

Red Army Tanks of World War II

by

Tim Bean and Will Fowler

  Red Army tanks of World War II; not pretty or state of the art, but extremely effective nonetheless. 

 This book is a history of not only the Soviet Tanks of World II, but also a history of tanks in the Soviet Union before and after the war.  The book has a photograph or line drawing with specifications on each page.

 The book itself is split into ten sections. These are:

The birth of the tank arm

 Deep battle

Light tanks

Medium and fast tanks

The T-34

Heavy tanks

Late war tanks

Foreign tanks in Soviet service

Stalin's legacy

Appendix

 The story of Soviet tanks starts with the Russian Revolution, and continues into the Civil War between the Whites and Reds (among  others of various shades also). The Soviets captured their first tanks, which were World War I surplus, from the various White forces. 

 You are then shown how the Army and government were behind not only buying other countries' tanks, but also wanted to develop their own types and factories. Strangely, the Germans and Soviets collaborated for a few years from 1927 on. The Germans were not allowed tanks by the Versailles treaty. This cooperation between the two countries may seem strange to us today, with our knowledge of the history soon to be enacted between the two.  At the time, it was a way for both armies and governments to work on tank development without any prying eyes.

 The next part of the book deals with the 'Deep Battle' Soviet concept. On the outside it pretty much seems like the first attempt by any army to develop what would later be called 'Blitzkrieg'. Two things happened to kill the idea and usage of "Deep Battle'. First was Stalin's purge of the Soviet Armed forces. Almost all of the officers who were involved with the creation of 'Deep Battle' or its usage were murdered or exiled to the Gulags. The second was the use of the Soviet tanks at that time in the Spanish civil war. Most European countries used this as a test bed for their different armaments. The general in charge of the Soviet expeditionary force came away with the idea that tanks were useless unless used in the infantry support role. This meant that both the Western Allies and the Soviets had reverted to a World War I usage of tanks, while the Germans who had little or no experience with their own tanks were free to work on their own ideas. 

  The book then goes into all of the different Soviet light tanks and their usage. Next, the Soviet medium and fast tanks are showcased. The importance of the 'Christie' tank and the convoluted story of its arrival in the Soviet Union is gone over in detail. The 'Christie' tank was actually made by a U.S. manufacturer, but his design, while revolutionary, was not take to heart by the Western Allies at the time. The opposite was true of the Soviet Union, which is obvious by looking at their subsequent tank designs.

 The T-34 is gone over next in complete detail from inception to its last usage. As is befitting of such a design, it occupies a large part of the book all on its own.

 Heavy tanks are brought to our attention next. The various multi-turreted monsters of the various nations, along with the Soviets, are gone through. They all look quaint in a way, and they make you wonder what the different engineers and designers were thinking. The story of the SMK tank shows how well the writers have gone into their subjects. When Stalin was presented with the original clay model of the SMK, a fight of sorts broke out. Originally the SMK was to be a three turreted design. To cut to the chase, and end the bickering, Stalin snapped off one of the turrets saying "Why turn a tank into a department store?". The book also shows how deeply Stalin was involved from the beginning with tank development and construction. Strangely, the designers were able to have give and take dialogues with the fearsome dictator. The book goes into all of the Heavy Soviet tanks, and also its tank destroyers. Among them are my favorites: the SU and ISU152. This monster was given the nickname 'zvierboy' or 'animal hunter' for its ability to take on German Tigers and Panthers. The lend lease American and British tanks are then shown, and likes and dislikes of the Soviet tankers to the different models are told.

 In 'Stalin's Legacy' we are shown the generations of tanks from WWII to the Cold War, and the resurgence of the 'Deep Battle' concept. An appendix follows that shows exactly how many tanks of what series were produced, and also gives some German versus Soviet tanks numbers in a few picked battles of the Eastern Front. 

 This book is easy to recommend to anyone who is interested in not just Soviet tanks, but also in their history and development.

Robert

Book: Red Army Tanks of World War II

Authors: Tim Bean, Will Fowler

Publisher: Amber Books

Distributor: Casemate Publishers