Modeling the Sherman Tank in 1/72nd Scale

References

Below are listed the reference books I have utilized in the production of this website. Please note that these are not book reviews per se, because I am not an expert on the Sherman tank, so it is difficult for me to give educated reviews of the accuracy of the book content. So instead I just give some technical details of each book, and general observations based upon my learning from the multitude of books at my disposal. Because this table has become so large, I have been forced to split it into two pages.

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Table of Contents

The M-36
This series of photo-documentation books has been published for a few years now, but I've not seen one before this pair I recently purchased. They follow a very simple format: a page of background material followed by a collection of pertinent b&w photographs of the subject vehicle(s). This volume obviously covers the M36 series of tank destroyers, and does it fairly well. The photo captions are sparse, nowhere near as comprehensive as the captions in the Allied-Axis series. The photos are a mix of war-time in-action and production photos, some assembly drawings and views from the Army technical manual, and a handful of walk-around and interior photos from contemporary museum pieces. The text is adequate, though the author has misidentified several of the photos, confusing the M36 for the M36B2. But the brief background text in the front of the book does correctly differentiate between the two versions. No color is included, nor are scale plans. All in all, this is not a bad book, but it really doesn't offer much that can't be obtained from other sources that also contain additional material.

Pacific Focus
The second of two examples from this series that I recently obtained. This is the first of a pair of "Pacific Focus" volumes in this series from David Harper. There is no background text included in this book, and the photo captions are extremely brief, with only a sentence or two for each photo. At least one of the photos has a misidentified Sherman (M4 (105) mislabeled as an M4A3). The strength of this book is the large photo size, with only one printed per page, so they are very large and mostly clearly printed. Sherman photos comprise only a small section of the book, with the majority of the armor photos showing knocked-out Japanese tanks. There are also several photos of LVTs in action and knocked-out.

The Photo Journal of the Second World War
This is a series of photo-documentation books, several of which have articles related to the Sherman or Sherman variants. Each volume contains several articles composed of many black & white photographs with extensive photo captions. These books have no drawings, no profiles, no color. Although these books aren't adequate to use as stand-alone reference works, they provide in-depth coverage of specific topics and are excellent at filling the gaps left by other books that provide only overview material.

Pertinent articles include:
Vol. 1: Sherman Flail
Vol. 4: M32B1 Sherman Recovery Vehicle
Vol. 4: Sherman Armored Recovery Vehicle (ARV) Mk I and Mk II
Vol. 8: Marine Corps Shermans of WW2
Vol. 10: U.S. Self-propelled Rockets
Vol. 11: Wartime Sherman Variants: DD, Dozer, M32
Vol. 12: M10-M36 tank Destroyers
Vol. 13: Sherman: early and late
Vol. 17: M7 Priest
Vol. 18: M12 155mm GMC
Vol. 23: M4A3E2 Jumbo

After reading Giuliani's book "Sherman in the Pacific" (q.v.), I wanted to learn more about the use of armor in the PTO. There are a number of additional books I've listed in these tables, mostly from Zaloga, but when I saw this one released, I knew I must have it. I'll say up front that it really isn't a modeler's guide in any way or form, but I don't think it's intended to be either. I think this book provides a good supplement to Giuliani's, and goes into a little greater depth on the progress of the various campaigns and battles of the Pacific war. The book begins with background on armor developement for both Japan and the US, with short essays on each major armored vehicle that took part in the conflict, and even some minor ones as well (e.g., the M2 light tank and the Type 89 medium tank). It then progresses chronologically through the major campaigns of the theater. The book is heavily illustrated throughout with dozens of superb photos of all the actions, giving modelers a great many ideas for specific modeling projects. Most of the photos of Shermans do not have the specific version of the Sherman identified, which is probably good, since a couple of the ones that were identified were mistaken (for example, labeling LUCKY LEGS II (shown on the cover) as a "composite hull" Sherman). But again, this book I think is meant to be more of a serious history book on the role that armor played in the Pacific campaigns, rather than as a reference for tank modelers. And as such, I think it does a pretty good job. Note that although the title of the book is specific to American armor, it certainly contains a fair share of information and photographs of Japanese tanks as well.

A Pictorial History
Most modelers don't consider Korea to be a hotbed of modeling ideas for armor, due to its limited use there relative to armor use in World War II. So "The Forgotten War" remains forgotten amongst model builders as well. But this book provides loads of great modeling subjects, mostly UN, though with a bunch of vehicles from the Communists as well. The Sherman gets the most coverage, considering that it was the most commonly used tank in the war, though the M26, Centurion and other less common tanks are covered as well. A lot of well-researched background material is included, chronologically following the war's progression and the text is amply illustrated with many b&w photos. Several pages of color profiles are scattered throughout the book depicting tanks, armored cars, and other vehicles. If you can afford only one book on Korean armor, I would recommend this one, though I feel that all of the books described on this page compliment each other well and if you are serious about modeling this war, then you should try to find all of them.

The US Army Sherman in World War II
When I was reading this book, I couldn't help but think that THIS was the book that Steven Zaloga always wanted to write. Most of his previous works on the Sherman tank, and on US armor in general, have been for publishers who have very stringent length and format requirements (Osprey, Concord, etc.). But this time, Zaloga was free to be as verbose and free-form as he likes, and it shows. Not so much a modeler's reference, this book is a serious history of the design, development, improvement, and use of the Sherman tank in WW II and after. The book starts with a complete background of tank warfare since WW I, and the differing approaches various nations took in building their tank arms. Almost every aspect of the development, modification and use of the Sherman tank is included here, in a smooth and easy writing style that makes the book a joy to read. Much of this information has been seen before in a variety of Zaloga's previous books, but here it is all put into context and tied together into a unified narrative. Despite the title of the book, Zaloga manages to include plenty of information on Sherman use by the Marines, other nationalities, as well as post-war use, and a discussion of the Sherman's successor, the Pershing. The book ends with many appendices tabulating Sherman production, distribution, and losses. Although there are few scale plans, and no color profiles or other specific information that modelers crave, this book contains so much history of this tank that it should be in the library of all Sherman enthusiasts.

The complete illustrated history of British, American and Commonwealth tanks 1939-1945
A recent reprint of a classic encyclopedia from the 1960s. As the title indicates, this book isn't about only the Sherman tank, but rather is a catalogue of all British and American tanks developed or used in World War II. The developmental history of each vehicle is surprisingly comprehensive and this book provides an excellent overview of the progression of Sherman development from the earliest prototypes to the final versions. The book is laid out as an encyclopedia with very terse and brief entries for each vehicle, though the amount of information provided for each vehicle is really impressive. Most vehicles are illustrated by a photo with important versions covered by more than one. There are no drawings or detail photographs and no color. All variants of the Sherman are included including prototypes, experimental and support vehicles too. Background information includes operational dates, dates and location of manufacture, technical specifications and numbers produced.

Volume 1. Normandy to Arnhem
For this volume in the Concord Armor at War Series, Dennis Oliver present the first half of his coverage of British Tanks in NW Europe. As with his earlier Sicily/Italy book (see below), the introductory text in this book discusses all of the major British armored formations that fought in this theater. The coverage is by necessity brief, giving a short description of where and with whom each unit fought, followed by enumerating the types and numbers of tanks assigned to the unit. The photos switch over to chronological coverage, with a wealth of pictures that I have never seen before covering a variety of armored vehicles, such as tanks, self-propelled howitzers, armored cars, and half-tracks. Dennis' typically-gorgeous color paintings fill the center eight pages with side and end-views of several Shermans, Cromwells, Churchills, and some others. Dennis has become one of the few experts on British armored units and their markings during the war, so if that is your interest as well, you should pick up this series of Concord books.

Another one of Dennis Oliver's books on British armor, this time covering its use and operation in Sicily and Italy. Unlike other Concord "campaign-type" books, this one doesn't chronologically cover the armored operations of this theater, but rather looks at each British armored unit individually, giving a very brief historical account for each unit with mention of the specific types of armored vehicles used by the unit. The numerous black and white photos are well-chosen to illustrate the variety of vehicles, units, colors and markings seen in this theater. Dennis' gorgeous color profiles decorate the center pages of the book, showing the colors and markings of a variety of vehicle types, though the photographs tend to lean towards Shermans and its variants, likely due to their prevalence in the British Army. I can see a great many diorama ideas being inspired by this book.

I've wanted this book ever since publication, and I finally found a shop that had it in stock. Some of the information from Oliver's Codename Swallow (q.v.) is repeated in this volume, but in no way does this book cover Alamein Shermans in as much detail as his other book. The background text in the beginning of the book doesn't cover chronological operations of the Sherman throughout the war, but rather has information on each specific Sherman variant that the British used, telling how many were in service, changes made to them, and how they were generally used in operation. The photo coverage is chronological, beginning in North Africa, and also covering the Middle East, Sicily, Italy and northwest Europe. Personally I am amazed at how late in the war the early version Shermans with direct vision slots were used. Several pages of Oliver's wonderful color profiles and four-view paintings are included, showing many quite interesting color schemes, such as the one shown on the cover. Again, a highly recommended book.

France & Belgium 1944
Typical Concord format: several pages of background text, followed by page after page of black & white photos showing British tanks in a large variety of combat and non-combat situations. This is not a book that focuses on the details of particular vehicles, but rather on the operational use of British tanks and the photos reflect this intent. The color artwork in the center of the book is outstanding and instead of being a collection of side view profiles, the artist has taken some liberty with perspective and given us some more 3-dimensional views of the tanks. I must admit that it doesn't work very well in all cases, though generally they are very well done. Coverage of the Sherman is only a part of this book and other British light, medium and heavy tanks are covered in detail as well.

Holland & Germany 1944-1945
As a follow-up to his previous title, David Fletcher gives us another 72 pages of photos and text describing the use and operations of British armor in the later stages of WW II. The few pages of introductory text at the beginning of the book do an excellent job at describing the major armored actions in the final year of the war. Much of this information is new to me, not being very well-versed in British armor. As with the other Concord books, the bulk of this book is taken up with numerous black & white photos of British tanks in a variety of combat and non-combat roles. As indicated by the cover, the British heavies get a lot of coverage here, with the Challenger and Comet seemingly out-numbering the Sherman and Cromwell tanks in their photo coverage. That's actually a good thing, considering the other books available that address the British Shermans, and this book is a needed resource for fans of the heavy tanks. Shermans to get a fair shake however, and many interesting photos and color profiles are included herein.

January-May 1944
Another beautiful book from Model Centrum, though a little short. At only 56 pages, it's one of the smaller books in this series. The book covers all four battles for Monte Cassino, and illustrates armored vehicles from British, New Zealand, Indian, French, American and Polish units. The majority of the photographs are of Sherman tanks, with a lesser number of Stuarts and other armored vehicles. The eleven gorgeous color profiles by Arkadius Wróbel cover a nice selection of vehicles from each nationality. Having so little text, this book is in no way a complete history of the battles for Monte Cassino. Readers are encouraged to look elsewhere to learn the specifics of those battles. Only a brief overview is given to place the photographs in context. This is entirely a modeler's reference work, and I hope that some industrious aftermarket decal company will some day give us a set of markings to accompany this fine book.

in World War Two, Part 1
Another outstanding book from Model Centrum, covering one of the primary Commonwealth armies. Outside of Canada, information on the colors and markings of Canadian tanks is quite rare, so this is a very welcome pair of books. Part 1 begins with a very brief, 3-page summary of the training and deployment of the two Canadian Corps, which included two armored divisions, and three independent armored brigades. The section on vehicle markings begins by stating that it was "a very simple and effective system", which is then followed by several pages of text disproving that very assertion. Trust me, only Canadians think that the Canadian marking system was simple! That being said however, the book goes on to do an admirable job at describing as simply as possible, this complex and confusing system. The text (which is quite witty in places) is assisted by several appendices with full color renditions of formation signs and AoS badges depicting the evolution of the Canadian markings through to the end of the war. The majority of the book consists of a large collection of b&w photos (plus a handful of wartime color) illustrating typical and atypical markings on a variety of vehicles. While the Sherman tank is covered only briefly by a handful of photos, this book is still a necessary part of my reference collection for its coverage of the marking system.

in World War Two, Part 2
Part two of this pair of books on Canadian armored vehicles focusses on the colors and camouflage of Canadian armor, as Part 1 focused on the markings. There are three pages of text describing the plethora of rules and procedures for the painting and coloring of armored vehicle, which was constantly changing throughout the war, resulting in a wide variety of color patterns. Following the text are 46 pages of wartime photos showing examples of all the color schemes previously described. The majority of the photos show Sherman tanks, though some other vehicles are illustrated as well in smaller numbers. The book is rounded out with several pages of absolutely gorgeous color profiles by Arkadius Wróbel, plus two pages of color illustrations depicting the typical placement of markings on armored and softskin vehicles. This is an outstanding pair of books, and I hope that Bison Decals will soon release sets of Canadian Sherman markings based on the information contained herein. The now-defunct Quartermaster Depot had a large selection of Canadian armor decals based on Barry Beldam's work, but those sets are unfortunately long out of production.

1943-1945
This book covers a topic of great interest to me, that being the colors and markings of Shermans fighting for some of the smaller Allied armies during the war. Although generally ALL Allied armies could use much more documentation of their wartime markings, the small Allies in particular have never received much attention outside of their own nations. This book goes a long way in addressing that shortcoming for the New Zealand armored units, which was primarily the 4th Armoured Brigade. The first 3/4 of the book is a fine collection of b&w wartime photos that progress chronologically through the war, illustrating the Sherman tank in numerous action and between action scenes. Unfortunately, there is no cohesive narrative of the marking scheme of the New Zealand tanks or the thought process and logic behind it, but enough information is provided in the photo captions to make the subject fairly clear. The book ends with eight pages of quite beautiful color profiles (two per page) showing a nice selection of different paint schemes and unit markings by Arkadiusz Wróbel. If I had to find something to be critical of, I would have liked to have a more extensive discussion of camouflage schemes, and perhaps charts showing unit markings in a logical framework, but I imagine that there were size constraints imposed by the publisher. Excellent book.

Part 2: Italy
This book supplements the above book on New Zealand Shermans, by focusing specifically on the 2nd New Zealand Armoured Division. Unlike the above book, this one is divided by unit, beginning with the Divisional Protective Troop, going through each Armoured Regiment, and the 7th Anti-Tank Regiment. Sherman tanks get the brunt of the coverage, though additional armored vehicles are also depicted such as infantry carriers and support vehicles with the Assault Squadron. Like the above book, there are no sections of the text that are specifically devoted to describing the camouflage used by the division. Rather this information is included piecemeal throughout the extensive captions to the photographs and color profiles. As always, the profiles are done by Arkadius Wróbel, and are superb. Sixteen vehicles are illustrated, mostly tanks. The book is rounded out with a couple of Appendices presenting information on the Arms of Service markings for each unit in the division, as well as Tables of Organization and Equipment for each regiment during the Italian campaign.

North Africa & Italy 1943-45 - Part 1: Armored Vehicles
This is the first book I've seen that discusses the South African armored forces during World War II. (Not to say that there aren't any others; this is just the first I've obtained.) There are approximately two pages of background information on the formation and deployment of the 6th Armored Division, as well as identifying the gaps in the available information on this subject. The chapters are organized by vehicle type. The Sherman gets two chapters: in North Africa, and in Italy. The M10, Priest and Sexton are also given their own chapters. Each chapter begins with a few paragraphs of text outlining how the vehicle types were allocated to which units, modifications made to the type, and standard and unique markings. The black & white photos are numerous and clearly printed. The appendices, which are illustrated with beautiful color artwork, describe the camouflage colors used by the division, the tactical markings, and complete color tables of the Arms of Service markings for the entire division, both in North Africa and Italy. The book closes with six pages of gorgeous color profiles, including several Shermans. This is a really nice book on a fairly unique subject.

... in World War Two
Another really nice book from Progres, it again covers a topic that is sorely lacking in my library. Combined with Gillono's CenturyTracks book on French Shermans, these two books go a long way in filling that gap in my references. The book begins with introductory chapters that provide information on the operations, unit formations, colors and markings of the division. Those are then followed by the photo gallery, which is divided by vehicle type. The bulk of the book and photos covers the Sherman tank. Photo captions are extensive with a lot of very useful information. Appendices include Tables of Organisation and Equipment, and complete information on the tactical markings of all units within the division. And again Arkadiusz Wróbel provides us with eight pages of stunning artwork, half of which are Shermans. Another must-have book.

British Sherman Tanks at Alamein
This book doesn't really tell you everything you would want to know about Shermans in and around El Alamein, but rather it covers only the colors and markings of the Sherman tanks at that place and time. Oliver does an outstanding job at clarifying the dizzying method the British used to mark their tanks. Even though I feel it was the most ridiculously complicated system the human mind could devise, at least now I undertand it. The colors of the tanks are fully described and illustrated in absolutely gorgeous color profiles and diagrams. Photos are very few, which is a blessing, since the ones that are included are rubbish. During the publication process, the computer scans of the photos were compressed to such a degree that they were distorted beyond use. To be honest, this book should never have been printed with photos like this, and it's a testament to how narrow of a niche our hobby is that they actually proceeded with publication. But back to the positives: excellent scale drawings are included of the Sherman II and Sherman III, although very little information is included to describe physical details of these tanks. A must-have book for fans of British Shermans.

Red Army Shermans of WW2
I believe that this is the first book to cover the topic of Sherman tanks in the Red Army. If one is lucky enough to have a copy of the book by Dmitry Loza (which I am not...), this photogallery book will make an excellent accompaniment. As typical for this publisher, it is a fairly thin book. While I would have dearly loved to have a much larger book, I wonder if there is enough material available to fill anything bigger than this current volume? There are about three pages of text scattered throughout the book, providing information on the history of Shermans in the Red Army, a listing of units that were equipped with this type, and an essay on the uniforms of the Sherman tank crew. The photo captions are extensive, and provide a lot of additional information. Black & white photos are numerous, clearly printed (to the extent the source prints allow), and some are very large, full page prints. And what book by Oliver Publishing is complete without the gorgeous profiles done by Dennis Oliver himself? Four pages of beautiful Sherman profiles fill out the book. There is one error in the book, however: there is a photograph (with accompanying profile artwork) that purportedly shows a Sherman tank with Polish national markings supposedly with the 1st Polish Tank Corps in Berlin, 1945. It has since been proven that this photo was a fake, with the Polish eagle added to the print by some unknown source for an unknown reason. There is NO evidence that the Poles ever used Sherman tanks on the Eastern Front.

Tank Power Vol. XCV
This is No.338 in Wydawnictwo Militaria's series of monographs. It is completely bilingual with all text and photo captions presented side-by-side in both Polish and English. The book describes the camouflage and markings of armored vehicles of the Polish Army from 1938 to 1945. There are major sections for: Poland 1939, France 1940, Great Britain, Africa, Italy 1940-45, and the Eastern Front 1943-45. Within each of these major sections there are subsections for Camouflage, National and/or Tactical Markings and Registration. There are many wartime photos and black & white diagrams showing examples of markings and regulations for paint schemes. The bulk of the book is comprised of almost 150 gorgeous color profile paintings (including 28 Shermans and derivatives) by the extremely talented Arkadiusz Wróbel. These profiles are pretty evenly distributed amongst the four time periods described in the text, including armored vehicles of Polish, French, British, American, German and Soviet design. There are also two pages of color marking information for various tactical markings and formation signs for the 1st Polish Armoured Division. This is a superb book that compiles in one place color and marking information of all Polish armored vehicles during WW II. Highly recommended.

Armored Combat in the Normandy Campaign June-August 1944
One of Concord's earlier books by Zaloga, this one covers both Allied and Axis tanks during and after the D-Day invasion in 1944. The standard format for these Concord books is a couple pages of background text that sets the stage for the photographs that follow. Zaloga describes in detail the armored operations of the time period, outlining the major battles and use of armor by both sides. The dozens of b&w photos and several pages of color profiles also cover both sides equally, with the Sherman tank providing only a portion of the images. Many never-before-seen photos and impressive artwork are included. Not a great reference for learning the detailed differences between Sherman variants, but rather the emphasis is on the operational use of the tanks with photos mostly of in-action vehicles and wrecks.

The First Armored Division in Tunisia
Not a very hefty book, but it does provide a lot of photos of early M4 and M4A1 Shermans. This book is basically a collection of photographs from the German propaganda department of destroyed Sherman tanks after the battles of early 1943 in Tunisia. The story is scattered throughout the book, and totals probably about four pages of text in all. Each photo is captioned extensively, so a lot of information is provided here. Most of the photos are destroyed Shermans, but there are a handful of shots of halftracks and M3 light tanks as well. All are in black and white. Filling out the book are organizational charts of the 1st US Armored Division in 1943, a couple of nicely drawn maps, and four pages of color profiles (plus the back cover), giving about 20 vehicle marking schemes, about half of which are Shermans. There are also color charts showing the company markings from both the 1st and 13th Armored Regiments. Although the book is fairly small and I really would have liked to have seen more (they could have doubled the size by including American photos too), it's really a neat book, giving a lot of information I've not seen elsewhere.

CenturyTracks No. 1
This is another one of those books that has long been on my want list, but I've only recently been in a position to buy it. First in the new series of books called CenturyTracks, this book is all-inclusive, and if it's typical of the series, I wouldn't hesitate to buy any of the others. It's amazing how much information can be packed into such a small book. First, there is a complete summary of the development of the Sherman tank, with extensive descriptions and drawings showing differences between the numerous versions. This is followed by descriptions of the armored units in the Free French Army, which goes into great detail of which versions of Sherman were allocated to different units (as well as exceptions to the rules). The book ends with 12 pages of color paintings showing several profiles of example vehicles and the most extensive description of unit markings I have seen for any nationality. I think this book literally has everything you need to know about French use of the Sherman tank (except perhaps combat stories). The book is bilingual with an excellent English translation of the complete text.

A History of the US M10 and M36 Tank Destroyers in WWII and Beyond
This is a book that I very anxiously awaited, but am a little bit disappointed with. It's not that it's a bad book, but I see here some unrealized potential combined with some false expectations on my part. I was led to believe that this was primarily a modeler's book with enough information to satisfy military historians and tank buffs alike. In fact, the opposite is mostly true, in that this is primarily a history book, with only a small amount of material that will appeal to modelers (unless of course, they're history buffs). There are chapters on the development of the tank destroyer concept, the search for weapons and design of vehicles, and operational use of the TDs in most of the major campaigns of the war. Each chapter is ended with several pages of very large and clearly printed B&W photos. There are only a couple dozen walk-around type photos of museum pieces that modelers will find helpful in their projects, but this book in no way is a complete resource for modeling the M10 and M36. No color or useable drawings are included. One entire chapter is wasted showing museum photos of "Friends & Enemies", i.e., tanks and vehicles of other nations. There is a table of TD Battalions that saw combat with dates and lists of vehicles used by each unit, but no other information, such as where they were in action, important campaigns or battle results. This book could have been so much more....

AFV/Weapons Prfile #26
Another one from the archives. A very dated volume supposedly covering three vehicles: two self-propelled artillery pieces based on the M3/M4 chassis, the M12 & M40 Long Tom, and the M7 Priest; but also the M18 Hellcat tank destroyer for some reason was thrown in as well. This is a really odd book. It begins with coverage of the Hellcat, five pages, with 12 photos of either the M18 or variants based on its chassis. Not a bad summary for this TD, with some nicely printed and clear photographs. But then it goes off the rails with only 3/4 of a page on the M12 and M40, followed by 3/4 of a page on the Priest. For some reason, the book then closes out with a summary checklist of all WW II US self-propelled weapons, regardless of which chassis or which weapon. Really weird. The volume contains four photos of the M12/M40, and four photos of the different versions of the Priest. It's rounded out with another 15 photos of other self-propelled weapons of various sorts, and two 4-view color paintings of the M18 and the M7. Maybe military history buffs in the early '70s were far more accepting back then because of the lack of published material (I assume most was published in history magazines), but I couldn't see a book such as this passing muster in today's literary environment saturated with excellent reference works. This is another one for only the most hardcore of collectors.

Warmachines No. 4 Military Photo File
The Verlinden Warmachines books are collections of high quality color photographs of museum vehicles from around the world. In this case, the photos are of Shermans and their derivatives preserved in the Latrun Tank Museum in Israel. These are walk-around style photos showing the exterior detail of several tanks. The photos are sharp, clear and large enough to show what they intend. This book is an excellent supplement to the following title from Gannon, as it includes a lot of detail that Gannon's book lacks. However, it really is inadequate as a stand-alone reference, as it provides very little vehicle information and in fact, some of the photo captions are incorrect in identifying the version of tank being pictured. Despite these limitations, this is a necessary book for those who wish to model Israeli Shermans.

One of the Sherman "bibles", this is the book for accurate and well-researched information on all versions of Israeli Shermans, including support vehicles and other conversions. The author has spent a great deal of time photographing many tanks both in Israel and around the world, and also has scoured official Israeli photo archives in order to answer many common questions that modelers have had for years regarding Israeli Shermans. Several myths have been laid to rest and new questions raised. Everything is covered in this book, from the very first Shermans used during the Israeli War for Independence, to the final Shermans used even into the 21st Century. Proper nomenclature of the many Sherman versions is covered as are the Shermans that were sold to Chile and afterwards modified with new armament. Also included is the dizzying array of Sherman variants that the Israelis produced, including one I think that was used to make ice cream. All photos are black & white (except a couple on the front and back covers).

British and Indian Army Shermans in the Far East
Color and Marking Series
It's a fairly small book, but it covers a subject that I've not seen described in detail anywhere else. I knew the Sherman tanks served in the Far East, but that was as far as my knowledge went, until I read this book. It starts with a short intro to the Indian Army, followed by detailed discussions on the Colors and Markings of British and Indian Shermans, in-depth descriptions of the specific modifications made to Shermans in the Far East, and a description of the British and Indian Armoured Regiments that served in the theater and were equipped with the Sherman tank. The black and white photos provide an excellent mix of close-up detail shots illustrating all the markings and modifications, as well as numerous in action photos providing many diorama ideas. And a book by Dennis Oliver would not be complete without a plentiful selection of his gorgeous color illustrations, showing all-around marking information for close to 20 Shermans. Not only is this volume full to the brim with useful information, but Dennis is very forthcoming about topics in which his references are incomplete, and therefore some of the markings are conjectural. This is a superb, and highly recommended book. (Bison Decals has released a set of companion decals for tanks illustrated within this book.)

This series of books is independently published by Dr. Robert Manasherob, an officer in the IDF (Res) and an avid modeler. They are fairly pricey books, but once you see the extremely high quality of their production, you'll know why. Printed on heavy gloss stock, with large, sharp, color and b&w photos, and beautiful color profiles, they are really top-of-the-line books. The format of the books is fairly consistent throughout the series. The first half of each book is the story specific to each title (listed below), and is composed of several pages of text amply illustrated with b&w period photos, many never before published. Several 1/35th scale line drawings of the pertinent versions of the Sherman tanks are also scattered throughout this section. Following the story is a section of color and b&w walk-around photos of numerous Israeli Shermans that are preserved in various museums and private collections from around the world. The walk-around photos in each volume cover topics that are specific to that volume, as well as more general portions of the tanks that are applicable to most Shermans (for example, Volume 1 includes wheels and interior shots, Vol. 6 includes engine and suspension details, and so on). The final section of each volume covers the colors and markings applicable to each subject. This section includes several gorgeous color profiles by Arkadius Wróbel. Although these are primarily visual books (the text supplements the images, not the other way around), it should be noted that this is the most authoritative collection of information on Israeli Shermans ever published. The author presents much new information on the development and use of Israeli Shermans that has not been previously available, and he also corrects some misinformation that has been prevalent amongst the modeling community for many years.

Each volume is listed below in chronological sequence of the topics covered, not by their publication date or volume number. In this manner, one can read the story of Israeli Shermans in historical order.

Vol. 5 - The First IDF Sherman Tanks - Covers in detail the first four Shermans in Israeli service that fought in the War of Independence: Meir, Tamar, Ruth II and Ada.

Vol. 6 - Early IDF Sherman Tanks - Covers in detail the early 75mm-armed Shermans that were put into service immediately following the War of Independence.

Vol. 12 - M1 Sherman Part 1 - Covers in detail the early 76mm-armed Shermans used between the wars.

Vol. 14 - M1 Super Sherman - Covers in detail the M1 Super Shermans (M1 w/HVSS) during the Sinai War and late 1950s.

Vol. 1 - The first book published in the series, it introduces the M50 and follows the program from conception to around 1958, and introduces the M51 program.

Vol. 2 - M50 and M51 - Continues the coverage of the M50, and goes further into the M51 program.

Vol. 3 - M50 and M51 Tanks - Continues the coverage of the M50 and M51 programs through the early 1960s.

Vol. 10 - M51 Sherman Tanks of the Six Day War, Part 1 - Specific photographic coverage of the M51 in action during the 1967 Six Day War.

This is basically a "completer" book. It doesn't contain enough information to be a stand-alone reference for the Sherman, but rather it contains much that other books lack. It is primarily a collection of full-color walk-around photographs showing numerous details of several M3 and M4 tanks in various museums around the world. The photo coverage is only an overview of the vehicles, but it does a good job of covering all of the major details. The book is rounded out with several pages of excellent side-view line drawings of all the major versions of the Sherman tank, plus several scale drawings of the M4 suspension, both VVSS and HVSS. Finally, there are a handful of very nicely done color profiles on the front and back covers. Very little background information is included and text is limited to brief photo captions. The M4 is covered in much greater detail than the M3 and I think these two subjects should have been separated into two volumes.

1942-1945
The M3 in this title is referring to the M3 Light Tank (Stuart), not the M3 Medium Tank (Lee/Grant). This is actually quite a small book, but loaded with great stories. It describes the battles for several Pacific islands and briefly touches on the roles played in those battles by the M3 and M4 tanks of the Australian Army, the US Army, and the US Marine Corps. The book lacks detailed coverage of the tanks involved. Photographs are typically in-action photos, not detailed close-ups, and in fact, many of them don't even picture tanks at all. Also lacking are maps. It is assumed that the reader is already familiar with the Pacific Theater. Interestingly enough, Japanese tanks are mentioned a little bit as well with several photos of knocked out tanks, and a couple are included in the very well-done color profiles along with the American tanks. One special bonus to this book is the inclusion of a small sheet of decals that provides markings for several American and Japanese tanks.

Armor in Profile #3
Probably the oldest book in my collection, I found it cheap at a model show many years ago. I mean, the introduction to the book points out that at the time of its writing, the Sherman was still being used in action in the Arab-Israeli war of 1967! The book begins with an abbreviated history of the development of the Sherman beginning with the T.5, and leading up to mention of all the versions of the Sherman distinguished by their engines. It then dives into the M4A3 specifically (denoted in this book as the "M.4 A3"). Being such a short book, there is only a couple of paragraphs describing the "Easy Eight" in combat, and for some reason, only five of the seventeen photos in the book are actually of the M4A3E8. Two pages of color painting of the subject vehicle are included, along with a table of specifications. Considering its age, it's not surprising that I noticed a couple of errors in the text, and I'll try not to judge this book too harshly in comparison to more recent research works on the Sherman family. Basically, it's not really worth getting today, unless it's only for a buck or two.

This is the second of two Osprey New Vanguard volumes on the Sherman gun tank, covering the late, 76-mm armed versions of the tank. The typical Osprey format is to follow the development of the vehicle chronologically, from the earliest prototypes to the final versions that saw action on all fronts of the war. This book discusses the use of the Sherman in the US military, as well as lend-lease vehicles to the USSR and Commonwealth countries. The typical Osprey format is lots of superb text, well-illustrated with numerous black & white photos of prototypes and vehicles in service. There are several very nice line drawings of the many versions of the late Sherman, though they are small and not printed to scale. Several pages of color artwork fill out the volume. Post-war coverage includes limited discussion of tanks sold to foreign countries after the war, plus Sherman use in Korea and the Middle East.

AFV/Weapons Profile #29
One of the earliest reference works available to modelers, though long before I started modeling. Obviously long out of print, but often available from second-hand sellers at model shows. Small format, soft-cover book, relatively short, though really packed full of information. It covers most everything about the Sherman tank, and many vehicles based on its chassis, such as recovery vehicles, tank destroyers and self-propelled artillery (though only the gun tanks are really covered in depth). A good balance of photos and text, most of the photos are production stills, and from technical manuals, though there's a number of combat photos as well. Two center pages of color profiles that are rather primative by today's standards. I didn't notice anything that had been mislabeled, but there are some errors in the text, which I assume is because of a great many years of newly accumulated knowledge from numerous researchers across the world since this was written. I would say that this isn't really a great modelers' reference, but more for anyone who wants to fill out their collection for the nostalgia value.

An old, out-of-print version of this publisher's treatise on the M4 Sherman. It has since been revised by a new author and republished as Vol. 308 (see below). Written entirely in Polish, there is no English summary, though the photo captions are translated into English. The book gives a fairly brief developmental history of the Sherman series, beginning with the T6, though it's not nearly as extensive as the revised edition of this volume. There's a brief mention of the Sherman in action, and it closes with a description of camouflage and markings, though it's limited to only some minimal information on US Shermans. There are six pages of color profiles and two pages of color photos of current museum specimens. Some scale plans of most Sherman variants are scattered throughout. There's not a lot of useful information here for English speakers that cannot be obtained elsewhere, so I wouldn't go out of your way to obtain a copy of this, unless, like me, you simply want to hoard Sherman reference material :-)

A follow-up to the previous volume, this book provides information on Sherman variants not covered before. There are photos of HVSS M4s, deep wading trunks, Fireflies, and other British and Commonwealth Shermans. Again, the text is completely in Polish, with the exception of the photo captions. Development, use, colors and markings of British Shermans are described. There are eight pages of color profiles, a single page of color interior photos, and three color paintings of Polish tanker uniforms on the back cover. There are also two large fold-out sheets of scale plans (1/35th) of an M4A4, Sherman III, and Firefly VC, which is about the best reason to try and get your hands on one of these long out-of-print books. I'm assuming that this one will be revised and republished some day as well.

Tank Power Vol. LXXIII
This is a completely revised and expanded edition of Wydawnictwo Militaria #13 (above). I will be honest and say that this book really doesn't provide much for English speakers that cannot be found elsewhere. Perhaps that is why Militaria didn't completely translate the book into English, but rather provide only an extremely short summary, which is mostly not worth much. The photo captions are in English. For those who read Polish, however, this appears to be a great book. It chronicles the complete development of the M4 series from the earliest prototypes to the late-war HVSS versions. It has loads of nicely reproduced b&w photos showing all variants, very nice scale drawings of each variant, four pages of color photos of preserved museum pieces (not walk-around detail photos, just overviews), and 33 beautiful color profiles. Some of them are in error (the Marine Iwo Jima Shermans, for example), but that's a common error, and the others appear to my untrained eye to be correct. What this volume lacks is information on the use of the Sherman in action, as well as use by the British and other nations besides the US. If you are like me, and simply want a huge collection of Sherman reference material, I recommend this book, particularly for the drawings and profiles. Otherwise, I would recommend it only to those who read Polish, since all of this information can be obtained elsewhere from English sources.

M4, M4A1, M4A4 Firefly
I don't enjoy saying bad things about modeling products, but I think I owe it to the viewers of my site to be honest with them, and warn them off bad items. I find this one especially disappointing as Kagero is one of my favorite military publishers. But this book is a colossal waste of money. First, it is very short; only 16 pages with a single fold out page. That might have been OK, if the material contained within was valuable. But it's not. What do you get? Scale drawings of the following tanks: early M4 with riveted lower hull, early M4 with welded lower hull (identical drawings, but with no rivets on lower hull); early M4A1 with riveted lower hull, early M4A1 with welded lower hull (identical drawings, but with no rivets on lower hull); and an M4A1(76)W, mislabeled as an M4A4 Firefly. How exactly do the drawings of only five tanks take up so many pages you may ask? Because the drawings are given in 1/72nd, 1/48th, 1/35th, and 1/24th scales, and for the M4 with riveted lower hull, 1/16th scale on the fold-out. I am pretty sure that most modelers are well able to use a ruler and calculator. We don't need these printed in multiple scales. And there are some mistakes as well. There are some mislabels of vehicle type, some mislabeled features of the vehicles, and the 76mm gun barrel on the M4A1(76)W (ahem... sorry, the M4A4 Firefly) is very poorly drawn. All the artist needed to do was look at the color profile contained within to see what it should look like. Speaking of which, there are 10 very nice color profiles by the very talented Arkadiusz Wróbel, but I think I've seen them all before; I don't think they were specially commissioned for this book. And they certainly don't make the book worth its price. Avoid.

Images of War Special
Frankly, this is not a very good book. Now, I freely admit that I am not an expert on the Sherman tank, and I don't know everything about its manufacture and history, but based on my reading of a whole lot of other Sherman reference works, even I was able to spot a large number of errors in this book, both in the text, and in the photo captions. There are several mis-identified versions of the tank in the photo captions, and some really questionable text (such as claiming that M4A3E2 assault tanks were often known as "Cobra Kings"). That's not to say that there isn't any useful information in here. In fact, I learned a couple of new things, but based on the number of errors that I had identified, I had to look up these new things elsewhere as confirmation, because I cannot trust what is written here to be correct. (For example, I had never known that the Soviets had attempted to mount their F-34 76mm cannon in the Sherman turret.) I also question the image selection. Based on the title of the book, and to which series it belongs, I was expecting far more photos of the Sherman in action. But the majority of the photos are production stills, or taken from operator manuals, museum pieces, etc. While there are a number of very well selected in action photos (a couple of which are prompting me to build special projects), I was expecting more. And the color artwork is really nothing special, at least not for model builders. I think this book is aimed more at the arm-chair historian, rather than model builders who are obsessed with correct detail and historical accuracy.

The European Theater 1942-1945
The first Concord book by Zaloga that's devoted completely to the Sherman tank. Coverage begins in the Mediteranean theater, and covers North Africa, Italy and northwest Europe. The standard format for these Concord books is a couple pages of background text that sets the stage for the photographs that follow. Zaloga describes in detail the armored operations of the time period, outlining the major battles and use of the Sherman tank in these battles. The dozens of b&w photos and several pages of color profiles also cover all of the major variants of the Sherman, plus many of the less common versions as well. Many never-before-seen photos and impressive artwork are included. It's not a great reference book for learning the detailed differences between Sherman variants, but rather the emphasis is on the operational use of the tanks with photos mostly of in-action vehicles.

I admit that when I first saw this book advertised, I had assumed it was just a coffee-table type of book, you know: written for a very general and non-technical audience. After being encouraged to check it out, I did so, and it's actually far better than I anticipated. I don't know if the authors did any primary research for this book, or if it's just an excellent compilation of other studies, but it is a very comprehensive book on the development of the Sherman from the T-6 through the Sherman's use in Korea. It is illustrated with a broad selection of period b&w photos (and some color), drawings and photos from the tech manuals, and color photos of Shermans existing in museum and personal collections today. Good coverage of the interior is one of the book's highlights. But given the title of the book, I would have expected far more photos of the Sherman in action. What this book lacks is the type of specialty items that modelers crave: such as scale plans and profiles showing colors and markings of specific vehicles. Other than that deficiency, this book is a valuable addition to my collection.

with the Continental Engine
This book is a special release of the Polish Militaria i Fakty magazine, compiling several articles related to the M4 and M4A1 Shermans. There are 15 pages of text (only in Polish - no English translation) describing the development of these tanks and their variants, such as the Grizzly. Many b&w photos are interspersed throughout this section (again with captions only in Polish), many of which I've not seen before, and some from the Army technical manuals. The meat of the book is 44 pages of awesome scale drawings, showing just about every type of M4 and M4A1 in top, side and oblique views. These drawings are captioned in English. Drawings are also included of tracks, wheels and ammunition. Not all track and wheel types are included, but perhaps these are the only ones seen on M4/M4A1s. Nine pages of color and b&w walk-around photos follow the drawings and the book is rounded out with seven pages of beautiful color profiles (including the covers). I would recommend this book even for those who don't read Polish, as long as you have other books describing the tank development history.

Part 1 of the coverage of the M4A2 series, this book covers the 75mm-armed versions of this tank. The walk-around photo coverage in the first part of the book includes three museum specimens - from Canada, France, and Sweden. As always, the photo coverage is extensive with all pertinent details included, primarily of the exterior, but with some shots of the engine and main gun mount as well. Very nice scale plans are included, in both 1/72nd and 1/35th scales. The final section of the book is the history of the tank, with extensive text and many wartime b&w photos. The majority of the photos are of Polish Shermans in the 2nd Armoured Brigade, but several are also included of Soviet, British and Commonwealth vehicles. As with the other Model Centrum books, this is an excellent volume, but unfortunately, long out of print.

This book begins with a description of the historical need to develop a self-propelled howitzer, and a couple of precursor trial vehicles, before delving into the detailed development of the M7 series. Great detail is provided on the incremental changes in the various details of the vehicle, which led to the development of the M7B1, and ultimately, the M7B2. The Sexton is also included in detail. And I love it when a book gives me something that I've never heard of before... the Yeramba! The combat use of the Priest is described in surprising detail (for an Osprey book), considering the short length of this volume. As always, it is well illustrated with a great many B&W photos, as well as several very nice color profiles of US, Polish, French, British and Commwealth vehicles. This is one of the best New Vanguard books I've read in a long while.

A Visual History of the U.S. Army's WWII Tank Destroyer
Quite possibly the only book one would need to build a super-detailed M10 model. There is only a single page of background text at the beginning, but as with most of Ampersand's books the real in-depth information is given in the extensive photo captions. Photo coverage is a combination of wartime in-action photos, as well as color, close-up walk-around photos of current museum pieces. Most of the wartime photos are printed large, one per page; with many of the walk-around photos printed four per page. There are plenty of shots of the interior, including the engines. There are no scale drawings, nor much information on the colors and markings, but I think the interior shots alone make this a must-have volume.

I am learning to speak and read Polish, but not fast enough. Number 115 in this popular series of armor reference manuals is this volume covering the tank destroyers based on the Sherman chassis. All text in this book is in Polish, except for the photo captions, which are repeated in English. Based on the abundant photos, the book obviously covers these vehicles from their initial design and development through their operational use. The photos are a mix of government shots of the early trials, and in-action scenes. Not much in the way of detailed walk-around photos, though some of the pictures give glimpses of the vehicle interior and some external details. The real plus to this book is the wonderful scale drawings of all versions of these two TDs, plus several pages of color profiles.

In the standard format for the Osprey New Vanguard series, Steve Zaloga gives us a complete developmental background of the Sherman-based tank destroyers. Lots of superb text, well-illustrated with numerous black & white photos of prototypes and vehicles in service. There are several very nice line drawings of the several versions of these TDs, though typical of this publisher, they are small and not printed to exact scale. Several pages of color profiles are included showing a mix of the earliest versions to see combat, as well as vehicles still in use through Korea. Even though the title says coverage is only through 1953, there is some small discussion of usage of these vehicles into the late 20th Century.

Tank Power Vol. CXXV
Unlike the book by Gawrych on the M10/M36 (shown two above), this Militaria volume covers only the M36, and thus has for more material for the three versions of this 90mm tank destroyer. The majority of the book is in Polish, except for the photo captions that are repeated in English, and an extremely brief English summary. The photo coverage is from the development of the intial pilot models through to the end of the line with the M36B2. It is a nice selection of photos, mostly factory and operators manual photos, but with some in action shots as well. Great views of the interior of both the turret and the hull. Beautiful 4-view scale drawings are included of the M36 and M36B1, but only side views of the M36B2 (which are mislabeled as M36B1). It is obvious that this author shares the same misperception as several others that the key identification features of the M36B2 were the armored rooftop to the turret and a muzzle brake on the cannon. But the reality is that the M36B2 cannot be correctly identified without seeing the engine deck to see if it's diesel-engined. All M36B2s had the armored roof, the muzzle brake, and also the E9 suspension, but many of the late M36s also had one or more of these features as well. Consequently, there are some misidentified vehicles in some of the photographs. The book is rounded out with four pages of color photographs of a museum specimen of an M36B1 (mislabeled as an M36B2), and nine very nicely done color profiles (though again, with a couple of detail errors for the M36B2s).