Military Model Scene

Title: Hitler's Anti-Tank Weapons 1939-1945
Author: Hans Seidler
Publisher: Pen & Sword
ISBN: 978-1-52674-983-3

The very popular Images of War continues to grow, this time take on the subject of German Anti-Tank guns throughout WW2. The German military made good use of these weapons in combat through the whole period of the war, and the book also makes clear the evolution they went through over that time. From the small towed 37mm Pak 36 through to the large Pak 43 and the hand held infantry weapons like the Panzerfaust which were in use in the second half of the war.
A 127-page softcover book which is essentially in chronological order, and divided into 5 chapters, Early Years (1939-41); Operations in Russia; Stop-Gap Solutions; 1943; The End, plus 3 Appendices listing some details of Popular Towed Anti-Tank Guns; Converted Anti-Tank Guns; and lastly, Hand-Held Anti-Tank Weapons, which also includes copies of a couple of original German pamphlets on using the Panzerfaust and a Blueprint of the mechanism. Each chapter begins with some informative text, followed by a series of appropriate archive photos, all of which have more information within their captions. There are some excellent images in this collection, most of which I hadn't seen before. Mostly towed equipment but a good selection of self-propelled mounts as well. Having said that, I noticed 3 or 4 where I would question the identification of the specific weapon in the picture, where the smaller 5cm Pak 38 has been mis-identified as a 75mm Pak 40. This is odd as they are correctly identified in many of the other images. This can be turned into a 'plus' as it can be used as an exercise to practice your own identification skills using the correct information in the bulk of the book to spot the few errors. The one particular campaign missing from the book is the use of them in North Africa.
The Anti-Tank gun was largely towed throughout the war, but changed in capability from the small Pak 36 in the early campaigns to the larger 88mm weapons such as the Pak 43 and the Panzerschreck at the end. A good collection of archive images and a handy reference on the subject.
Thanks to Pen & Sword for our review copy.

Robin