Recommended reading on the panzers & other vehicles

[Marcus]

The idea of this sticky is to collect recommendations on good books dealing with the Axis panzers & other vehicles.

Please post the title, author and a short (or long) explanation as to why you feel that particular title deserves to be included.

/Marcus


If you buy through the below links you not only get the books you want but you also support the forum while shopping!
* AHF Bookstore
* Amazon.com (UK, Germany)

[Rob Veenendaal]

Tiger I Books!

Regarding Tiger I, a lot of books are available.
A good book for me does not have to be a good book for you. It's all depending on interest, language, available money and space to store them.

IMHO THE reference book on the Tiger is this one:
Germany's Tiger Tanks: DW to Tiger1 - Thomas L. Jentz & Hilary L. Doyle, Schiffer Publications
[ISBN: 0-7643-1038-0]

Here is a list of the Tiger I books I have:
http://www.panzerbasics.com/index_files ... /books.htm
Feel free to contact me in case you need more info on a specific book or advise for your special list.

Rob

[Panzermacher]

Can we include books not recommended?
I think it is worth inclusion, it will save people from buying a poorly researched book.

My choice for not buying a book would be :
Standard Catalog of German Military Vehicles 2005 David Doyle

It is very poorly researched with many technical & factual mistakes, as an example the Author makes the claim that Ferdinands were issued to the 656th for Zitadelle & later being upgraded & reassigned to the 653rd for deployment to Italy.

However having said that, the book with over 1200 photos is an excellent source of many previously unpublished images.

[Christian Ankerstjerne]

Nevertheless, it's the best book for a primer on German armoured vehicles available.

[Panzermacher]

Your kidding!
I thought I got suckered, well there you go.

[Christian Ankerstjerne]

Nope. The Encyclopedia and GFM von Mellenthins book (the title escapes me at the moment) are both far more error-laden,

[Panzermacher]

Then please feel free to alter/edit my first post as need be regarding the book Standard Catalog of German Military Vehicles 2005 David Doyle.

[Christian Ankerstjerne]

I'd rather that you alter it yourself - I'd hate to put words in your mouth

[bryson109]

Books I recommend:

Thomas Jentz - Panzer Tracts Series. (http://www.panzertracts.com/)
Based on original records, uses large format clear, and usually rare pictures to illustrate each issue. Also feature detailed line drawings. Each issue is pretty affordable, but the whole series is expensive. Best to collect issues over a period of time.

[VogonFord]

Doyle's book is undeniably one of my favorites. If I'm doing unit research I would use something far more detailed than it, but it is an excellent primer, and especially useful when it comes to online discussion in a hurry (my main history point).

I also suggest Panzer Tactics: German Small-Unit Armor Tactics in World War II by Wolfgang Schneider. It's incredibly detalied, filled to the brim with photographs, well researched and written (the author was a tank commander, although not in WWII if I remember correctly), and best of all- it's not that expensive. I got mine for 20 USD at Powell's bookstore.

And for really quick reference on vehicles, I suggest Illustrated Arsenal of the Third Reich by Donald MacLean. It has virtually no detail (for example, it only has 2 pages on the Panzer IV- long and short barrelled), BUT it has virtually everthing. And I mean virtually everthing. Everything from the 5cm light mortar to the MP40/II to the Jagdpanther to the Dieseleisbereiter (Diesel powered ice maker). It also has a real handy table in the back listing out different 7.92x57mm cartridge types, as well as an entire 8cm mortar elevation chart (like you really need it, though).

[FKDeane]

I placed a similar post in the Fortifications & Artillery forum but think that it is appropriate here also. Certainly I would love to see more comments about the books that are available. When I started I purchased anything published about Panzers. But now a lot of the new books seem to be just a rehash of previously published material or have very poorly reproduced photographs that look like scans from other books.

Here are some of the more recent books that I like because they are based on factual information. Hopefully more members will comment on these and other books that we should be adding to our library. The first two are about tank turrets used on bunkers but what I found most fascinating that they fill in a huge gap in the Panzer history as tthey show what happened to Panzer turrets once the Germans started to convert chassis to self-propelled guns.

Panzer Tracts 21-1 about German turret bunkers is a must. These guys really know their stuff when it comes to tanks and only publish data from original documents and experience reports. There are really detailed CAD drawings reproduced at 1:35 scale of both the bunkers and the various types of turret utilized from PzI to the experimental types like VK3001. The photos are brilliant.


Panzer Tracts 21-2 has to be the most comprehensive and history of the use of Panther turrets as bunker weapon. It sorts out the differences between the use of Panther tank turrets and the Ostwallturm specially built for bunkers. Again the detailed CAD drawings are not just tracings of the usual wartime sketches but actual installations. Again the photo coverage is outstanding.

I plan post more comments in the future hopefully more members will do the same

Fred

[Big Al P]

OK Where can I get copy's of the panzer turret bunker book's.
I've got to have them!
B A P

[bryson109]

OK Where can I get copy's of the panzer turret bunker book's.
I've got to have them!
B A P

You can order them from the Panzer tracts web site. http://www.panzertracts.com/

[TadPortly]

Good news received by email today:

I am pleased to announce that Panzerwrecks 4 is being printed and will be available from the end of June. See the Panzerwrecks 4 page on our website for a full vehicle list & sample pages:

http://www.panzerwrecks.com/pw4info.html

The book can be pre-ordered at a special pre-order price of GBP15.99 / EUR23.50 using secure payment facilities on the site or via our online order forms. Pre ordered books will be despatched as a priority.

I hope you are still enjoying the other books in the series.

Best wishes.

Lee Archer
http://www.panzerwrecks.com

[FRANCY RITTER]

Thank you Tad !!