Book Review of
Stalin’s Armour 1941-1945
Soviet Tanks at War
Author: Anthony Tucker Jones
Pen & Sword Books
ISBN: 9781526777935
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2021
MSRP: $34.95
ISBN: 9781526777935
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2021
MSRP: $34.95
Stalin’s purge of army officers in the late 1930’s and disputes about tank tactics meant that Soviet armoured forces were in disarray when Hitler invaded in 1941. As a result, during Operation Barbarossa, the Wehrmacht’s 3,200 panzers ran circles around the Red Army’s tank force of almost 20,000 – thousands of Soviet tanks were disabled or destroyed.
Yet within two years of this disaster the Red Army’s tank arm had regained its confidence and numbers and was in a position to help turn the tide and liberate the Soviet Union, This is the remarkable story Anthony Tucker Jones relates in this concise, highly illustrated history of the part played by Soviet armour in the war on the Eastern Front.
Chapters cover each phase of the conflict, from Barbarossa, through the battles at Moscow, Stalingrad and Kursk, to the massive, tank-led offensives that drove the Wehrmacht back to Berlin. Technical and design developments are covered , but so are changes in tactics and the role of the tanks in the integrated all-arms force that crushed the German opposition.
This book is a comprehensive illustrated history of Soviet tank forces from the mid-1930’s to 1945. Insight into the evolution of Soviet tank design, which produced war-winning armoured vehicles, like the T-34, KV-1, JS-1 and SU-100. The book explains how German tank forces were overwhelmed by the sheer number of tanks produced by the Soviets. The book traces development of Soviet tank tactics from Operation Barbarossa to the Fall of Berlin. It is essential reading for students of Soviet armoured forces during WWII and for readers with a special interest in the history of armoured warfare,
The book is hard-bound with a paper-jacket that has fold-over tabs that lock it to the book.
The cover art on the front of the paper jacket shows a black and white photo of a T-34 over a Js-1.
The fold over locking tabs of the paper jacket each have a black and white photo of a T-34 on them.
The rear cover shows a T-34 with German crosses all over it with 7 infantrymen sitting atop it. However, I am not able to determine if they are Germans or Russian men?
It holds 232 pages of which 16 are blank and 69 black and white wartime photos.
The book holds 20 chapters, a list of illustrations, an introduction, a 39 page appendix at the end of the book, a 4 page bibliography and a 8 page index.
The black and white photos are in the center of book You have to read through 116 pages of text to get to them.
The black and white photos include:
A photo of Stalin, a photo of Georgi Zhukov – future hero of the Soviet Union, who gained valuable experience in tank combat fighting the Japanese in 1939 and ended up Stalin’s deputy commander, a photo of Konstantin Rokossovsky who started the war as a mechanized corps commander and went on to take part in all the major battles on the Eastern Front, including Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk and Operation Bagration.
Tanks shown are:
A KV-1, five of the KV-2, a BT-5, four of a BT-7, seven of a T-26, one of a T-26B, a T-28, a T-28B, three of a T-35, a T-35 model 1938, two of a T-20, a T-34/76B, a BT-7, six of a T-34, four of a T-34 model 1943, two of a T-34/76 model 1940, three of a T-3476B and a IS.
This book is a lot of reading. There is no color photos or illustrations in it. It will be of interest to modelers and military historians alike.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers, the North American distributor of Pen & Sword books for this review sample. All Pen & Sword titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Yet within two years of this disaster the Red Army’s tank arm had regained its confidence and numbers and was in a position to help turn the tide and liberate the Soviet Union, This is the remarkable story Anthony Tucker Jones relates in this concise, highly illustrated history of the part played by Soviet armour in the war on the Eastern Front.
Chapters cover each phase of the conflict, from Barbarossa, through the battles at Moscow, Stalingrad and Kursk, to the massive, tank-led offensives that drove the Wehrmacht back to Berlin. Technical and design developments are covered , but so are changes in tactics and the role of the tanks in the integrated all-arms force that crushed the German opposition.
This book is a comprehensive illustrated history of Soviet tank forces from the mid-1930’s to 1945. Insight into the evolution of Soviet tank design, which produced war-winning armoured vehicles, like the T-34, KV-1, JS-1 and SU-100. The book explains how German tank forces were overwhelmed by the sheer number of tanks produced by the Soviets. The book traces development of Soviet tank tactics from Operation Barbarossa to the Fall of Berlin. It is essential reading for students of Soviet armoured forces during WWII and for readers with a special interest in the history of armoured warfare,
The book is hard-bound with a paper-jacket that has fold-over tabs that lock it to the book.
The cover art on the front of the paper jacket shows a black and white photo of a T-34 over a Js-1.
The fold over locking tabs of the paper jacket each have a black and white photo of a T-34 on them.
The rear cover shows a T-34 with German crosses all over it with 7 infantrymen sitting atop it. However, I am not able to determine if they are Germans or Russian men?
It holds 232 pages of which 16 are blank and 69 black and white wartime photos.
The book holds 20 chapters, a list of illustrations, an introduction, a 39 page appendix at the end of the book, a 4 page bibliography and a 8 page index.
The black and white photos are in the center of book You have to read through 116 pages of text to get to them.
The black and white photos include:
A photo of Stalin, a photo of Georgi Zhukov – future hero of the Soviet Union, who gained valuable experience in tank combat fighting the Japanese in 1939 and ended up Stalin’s deputy commander, a photo of Konstantin Rokossovsky who started the war as a mechanized corps commander and went on to take part in all the major battles on the Eastern Front, including Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk and Operation Bagration.
Tanks shown are:
A KV-1, five of the KV-2, a BT-5, four of a BT-7, seven of a T-26, one of a T-26B, a T-28, a T-28B, three of a T-35, a T-35 model 1938, two of a T-20, a T-34/76B, a BT-7, six of a T-34, four of a T-34 model 1943, two of a T-34/76 model 1940, three of a T-3476B and a IS.
This book is a lot of reading. There is no color photos or illustrations in it. It will be of interest to modelers and military historians alike.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers, the North American distributor of Pen & Sword books for this review sample. All Pen & Sword titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Recommended.