Modeling the Sherman Tank in 1/72nd Scale

Tanks in Detail No. 6. This book strikes me as being a summary of Hunnicutt. It looks as though most of the material included here was taken directly from Hunnicutt's book, so for those of you who cannot find or afford the larger book, this one will make a suitable substitute. Mostly a developmental story book, it is presented chronologically beginning with early versions of the 75mm-armed Sherman, contrary to what the title leads one to believe. A lot of information is given for the development of each version, although there are a few problems with some of the statements that Gander makes. It is well illustrated with many black & white photos, and a page of color diagrams showing national identification marks and some unit insignias (though not nearly comprehensive).

Sherman Tanks and APCs in South Lebanon
This is entirely a picture book, with only limited photo captions. The subject matter is self-explanatory, and the photos are of wrecks and one or two preserved specimens of M-50s and several APC derivatives. I must express a little bit of disappointment, in that I was expecting a bit more text. I know very little of the Lebanese civil wars, and I was hoping that this book would teach me a little bit about them, and the role played in them by the M-50. However, this book is composed of photos and photos only. They are all printed in color, and are close-up detail shots of the wrecked tanks. They are large, and printed very clearly. A great many diorama ideas are to be had here. The book ends with several pages of photos of a 1/35th scale model conversion that the author built, based on one of the wrecked APCs pictured herein.

Wings & Wheels Publications (WWP) has long been known to produce some of the best walk-around photo guides available to modelers, and this volume continues that tradition. This is a collection of close-up photos, all in color, of Israeli Shermans at tank museums in Israel and a private collection in Holland. Most of the photos are of M51s, though there are a couple pages of M50 photos also. Most of the photos are exterior shots, though limited interior photos are also included as well as close-ups of the Cummins diesel engine. Not much else to say about this volume, other than it could very well be the only reference a modeler needs to scratchbuild or super-detail an Israeli Sherman model. (Note that early advertisements for this book showed the title as "M51 Isherman in Detail", but thankfully that was changed as it is now known that these tanks were never called "Ishermans" within the IDF.)

North Africa Colour and Markings Series
Dennis Oliver sent me a copy of this book to review over the holidays, and I want to thank him very much for it. It is indeed a wonderful book. The introduction states that this book corrects some of the information given in the respective authors' prior works but doesn't give specifics. I've not seen any of Mike Starmer's previous books, so I am unaware of what material here is repeated from those works or supplants it. I do recognize some of the material from Dennis' Codename Swallow book, but so much more is included in this volume than that earlier book so this book in no way replaces Codename Swallow. The New Breed Part 1 covers British Shermans and Priests; I assume that future parts of the series will cover other vehicles. The book begins with sections on markings, names, numbers and camouflage, and is followed by sections describing individual units, giving the units' background and history in North Africa and descriptions of vehicles used. Dennis' gorgeous color illustrations are the heart of the book, and a large number of well-chosen black & white photos further illustrate the information provided in the text. This is definitely a must-have book for those interested in the topic, and I anxiously look forward to future parts of this series.

Buy this book.

Tank Power Vol. CCLXIV
Another new release from this prolific Polish military publisher. For most of these recent releases, I have not been recommending these books for anyone who does not read Polish, because there is no English translation included herein; only the photo captions are provided in English. However... references on the Canadian Ram and Kangaroo armored vehicles are so few and far between, that I am actually pleased that I bought this book. While I have the general developmental history of this vehicle described in several other reference works, this book provides a lot of material that I have not seen elsewhere. There are eight pages of very nice scale plans of all versions of the Ram and the Kangaroo, nine beautiful color profiles, and many pages of photographs of each version in service. Although this is a vehicle that never saw action as a gun tank, it is still an important step in the Sherman tank evolutionary tree, and this book will help tremendously with detailing and accurizing my Ram and Kangaroo kits.

Tank Power Vol. XVII
Not very clear by the title, this book describes the colors and markings of US armored vehicles during World War II. The narrative (complete in both Polish and English) begins with the colors of US vehicles following World War I, through to the end of the Second World War. This section is followed by sections on Identification Markings, Registration Numbers & Tactical Markings, and finishes with Unit Insignia. Several tables and black & white drawings of markings and insignia give a visual representation of the text, as do a few line drawings showing typical marking placement on a couple of tanks. The first 26 pages are composed of the text plus many clear, black & white photos. The remainder of the book is taken up by 45 pages of color profiles showing the colors and markings for a wide variety of vehicles, including jeeps, trucks, half-tracks and fully-tracked vehicles. I've seen a couple of these tanks before (Dragon Lady, Davy Jones, etc.) but many of them are new to me. The final three pages of the book have five wartime, color photographs.

Tank Power Vol. CCXVIII
This volume covers all of the 75mm versions of the M4A1 and M4, including the composite hull, from earliest prototypes to the final remanufactured versions. Plus the various experimental vehicles based on the these hulls as well. Eight sets of 4-view scale plans are included, plus a couple more side views, and a comparison drawing of the different modifications made to the 75mm turret. Photographs are plentiful, mostly of factory views, on testing grounds, and a small number of in-theater views. There are photos and drawings of the various interior components, taken from user manuals. There are three pages of color photographs, some from the war, and others of current museum or monument vehicles. Nine nicely painted color profiles finish of the book. This book is aimed squarely at those who can read Polish. While the photo captions are translated into English, all of these images and the information contained herein can be found in multiple English-language references for those who don't read Polish. While the scale plans are nice, I don't think they warrant the purchase price of this book if one cannot read it. Two additional volumes have been released on the 75mm Shermans, I assume covering the M4A2, M4A3 and M4A4, and their multitude of variants. I doubt that I'll purchase those, for the reasons I just described.

Tank Power Vol. CCV
Several years ago, Wydawnictwo Militaria released several limited edition books on multiple variants of the M4 Sherman, including this one. They are a little bit shorter than their normal Tank Power series volumes, and do not include any English other than the photo captions. Note the generic title of this volume: "Sherman 76mm". This book covers all of the 76mm versions of the Sherman. Although some of the other books in this release are pretty good, I'd have to recommend English speakers to give this one a hard pass. I think that maybe I bought it simply because of the impressive cover artwork (which I didn't realize by seeing it online is actually the tank from the Hollywood movie "Fury"). As with the others in this series, there is no English other than the photo captions. But there are so many typographical errors, or perhaps, simply research errors, that it's hard to justify buying this book. The scale plans are nicely drawn, for the most part, but have some labeling errors, and I'm not happy with how they rendered the armored collar on the gun's rotor shield. The color profiles similarly are very nicely painted, but have some accuracy errors as well. Again, it looks as though many of them were simply based upon other profiles from earlier references. Does nobody do any original photo interpretation any longer? It would be great if the artists of these profiles would indicate which ones are based on photographs, and which ones are conjecture (such the rendition of "In The Mood II", one of the tanks commanded by Lafayette Poole). I sincerly hope that most of the observed errors in this book were simply with the English translation, and that the Polish text is more accurate so that those who read Polish would have a better appreciation for this volume.

Tank Power Vol. CCVIII
Several years ago, Wydawnictwo Militaria released several limited edition books on multiple variants of the M4 Sherman, including this one. They are a little bit shorter than their normal Tank Power series volumes, and do not include any English other than the photo captions. Regardless, these are pretty nice books primarily for their color artwork and very fine scale drawings. This current volume covers the two support versions of the Sherman tank, the 105mm howitzer tanks (both M4 and M4A3), and the heavy assault tank, the M4A3E2 Jumbo. Photographs cover the development of these tanks from the earliest prototypes to the final production versions. It is a nice selection of photos, mostly factory and testing ground photos, but with some in action shots as well. Five sets of 4-view scale drawings are included for the M4(105) (both VVSS and HVSS), M4A3(105) HVSS, and the M4A3E2 (both 75mm and 76mm). The book is rounded out with four pages of color photographs of several museum specimens, and nine very nicely done color profiles (although, as with a great many other references, it depicts White 78 of the 8th Armored Division (sic) as a Jumbo, despite that tank actually being an M4A3(105) from the 6th Armored Division. I wonder if all of these reference books simply copy other reference books?).

The U.S. Army in the European Theater 1943-1945
Slightly different coverage than Zaloga's previous Sherman at War volume, with all new photographs (no overlap). This time, the book covers a little bit in North Africa and Italy, and then moves its coverage to Europe from Normandy to the final campaigns in Germany. The photos cover gun tanks as well as mine-rollers, flails, bulldozers and and even a tank mounting a Calliope rocket launcher.

Contrary to the title, this book covers far more than only the Crab flail. In fact, it is a survey of all the efforts to create an effective flail device during and immediately following the war. It covers in great detail the "Baron", "Scorpion" and "Crab", and other lesser efforts. And I do mean "in great detail". There is a line in the book that reads: "There is no space here to cover the various actions that the Scorpion Regiment engaged in...", which was unfortunate, because that is the sort of information I was most interested in reading about. Instead, we are given everything but the actual blueprints on how these things were designed, built and operated, and I feel like I could assemble one in my garage this weekend! Not to say that I did not enjoy the book; I certainly did, and it does include information on which units used these devices and where. I just hoped for more operational information, how successful they may have been, which battles they contributed to, perhaps some first-person accounts, etc.

Son of Sherman Vol. 1
This book was a long time coming. The sub-title, Son of Sherman, is in reference to this book being a complete reworking and enhancement of a prior work by Pete Harlem, called Modeler's Guide to the Sherman, by MMiR. Modelers waited many years for that book to be reissued, and followed on by a sequel (as that book didn't include turrets). This new book is first in a series, with Vol. 2 scheduled to be a modelers' guide, and additional volumes following that. This current volume can now be considered one of the new Sherman "bibles" because it needs to be in the hands of anyone wanting to build Sherman tank models in any scale. This book is a massive collection of black & white photos, line drawings, history and development of all versions of the Sherman tank to serve in the US armed forces in World War II. (Note what is missing: post-war and non-US modifications; subjects of future volumes...?) Although this is a large book with an incredible amount of information, that's not to say it's perfect. For some inexplicable reason, there are no side-views among the plethora of superb line drawings. Plus, there is the occasional mistake or omission in a handful of drawings, there are no drawings for the M4A6, etc. I imagine that they had space limitations. Although there are a ton of wartime photos, there is nothing in the book about the operational use of the Sherman; only its design and development. There's still a lot of material waiting for future volumes!

This book has long been considered the "bible" for Sherman enthusiasts. Indeed, it is a huge book overflowing with information on the design and development of the Sherman tank. It includes decent plan drawings (in 1/48 scale) and hundreds of black & white photos of the tank in development and in action. Complete production statistics and technical specifications for all Sherman variants are included as appendices, as are performance data for the various armaments of the Sherman and its derivatives. It is an outstanding resource for model builders and historians, but it does lack certain information. For example, there is no mention of the changes in shape of the M4 turret bustle. Post-war Shermans get short shrift and the flow of the book is disjointed. Its Table of Contents is lacking and its index is insufficient, making it difficult to find specific information unless you know precisely where to look. All that aside, this book needs to be in the library of all Sherman enthusiasts. There has been a reprint of all of Hunnicutt's books some time around 2013(?), and my understanding is that the quality of the reprints is horrible, more like a photocopy of the original books. So be on the lookout for the originals at used book stores.

If the IC is the only version of the Firefly in which you are interested, then this volume is for you. The book begins with a brief background of the Sherman tanks provided to the British, and then moves into the Firefly conversion program in more detail. There really isn't any new information here, and all of it can be found in other Firefly references. I think the strength of this book is how it compiles all of the Firefly IC information, specifically photographs, under a single cover. Most other Firefly references tend to focus a bit more on the Firefly VC, so it's nice to have all this material on the IC grouped together. For my own interest in Polish Shermans, this book is a great addition to my collection because it has separate sections on the Polish Fireflies of the 2nd Polish Armoured Brigade. Descriptions of the camouflage and markings of the Brigade are also included. All of this background text is provided in both Polish and English. The majority of the book, about 2/3rds of it, is the modeling section. This section intersperses photos of models under construction with detailed drawings and walk-around photos of museum specimens that illustrate the particular details being modeled. This is an extremely valuable section for modelers, but with two drawbacks. The models that are presented are only in 1/35th scale, but more importantly, this section is written only in Polish. Despite these limitations, this section is composed primarily of photographs, which are captioned in English, so it is still highly valuable to all modelers.

The second book by Gawrych on the Sherman IC Firefly, it is a little bit different than the previous Rossagraph volume. This one follows the typical Progres format: there is a page in the front talking about surviving museum pieces, specifically the one in a South African tank museum, which is the subject of the walk-around photo coverage in this book. There are 30 pages of full color walk-around detail photos; much more than in the previous book. There is a color illustration of the 17pdr ammunition and storage boxes, followed by scale plans of the two versions of the Firefly IC in 1/48th and 1/35th scales. Numerous drawings are included from original field manuals for the Sherman tank and the Firefly. The scond half of the book is the photo history, which includes much information on the design, development and deployment of the Firefly IC. Most of the pictures overlap with the Rossagraph book, but each volume has unique photos as well. Primary differences between the two books: this one has many more walk-around photos (including the engine), excellent scale plans, and original drawings. The Rossagraph book has more information on the Fireflies used by the Polish 2nd Corps, as well as a complete section showing the step-by-step construction of a 1/35th scale model (but only in Polish). This book is written entirely in English.

Armor PhotoHistory #6
And yet another superb reference on the Sherman "Firefly". This book is divided into five sections. The first is the textual history of the development, modification, and deployment of the Sherman and the 17pdr version, now universally referred to as the Firefly. Lots of great information here, including a number of tables of allocations of all Sherman types to British, Commonwealth, and other Lend-Lease nations (including Poland). I'm not sure that there is any new information here that I've not seen elsewhere, but it does provide a great summary. The second section of the book, the longest, is the photo collection, divided into sections aimed at the Sherman VC, and the Sherman IC (both welded and composite hulls). Superb in-action photographs, with example for all users of these tanks, not only British. The third section includes gorgeous, 5-view scale plans (yes, 5-view, including the hull bottoms!) of the VC, IC welded, and two IC hybrids (one with the oval loader's hatch on the turret), in 1/35th scale. The fourth section is a collection of drawings from technical manuals of interior and exterior details, including the engines. The book closes out with nine pages of gorgeous color profiles, again, of all users of the Firefly. Note that this book is part of the PhotoHistory series, not the PhotoGallery series, so there are no walk-around photos of museum pieces. This is an excellent addition to my collection of Firefly references.

I am afraid that this little book overview will be pretty pethetic. The truth is, when I read this book (over this past Christmas holiday), I failed to take notes about my observations. I distinctly remember that I went into the book thinking that it was going to be simply an abridged version of Hayward's Firefly book (q.v.), and that I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it wasn't. Again, I don't remember specifically what impressed me about this book, only that I was very glad that I bought it, and that it in fact, complements Hayward's book very well. If you are only going to buy one book on the Firefly, I would still recommend Hayward over this one, only because of the volume of material in that other book, but this Osprey book is quite conclusive, and it is very reasonably priced. It is a typical Osprey book in regards to format: extensive text on the development and operation of the Firefly (leaning heavily towards the development), numerous b&w photos (though small), and several very nice color paintings of Fireflies scattered throughout. Nice book, and an excellent addition to my collection.

Another one of the "bibles", this time for the British 17pdr-armed Sherman, now known as the Firefly. This book has pretty much everything including walk-around detail photographs and several color profiles. The text is all inclusive, with complete design and developmental history, operational use on a per-unit basis, and numerous anecdotal accounts from actual Firefly crewmen. Every aspect of the Firefly is investigated and reported on, and at one time, the author even had a website that included updated information that had been corrected from or left out of the book (http://freespace.virgin.net/shermanic.firefly/). Vast quantities of data are provided in tabular form, such as performance data, production figures, unit allocations, losses, etc. The b&w photographs cover wartime usage and detail shots, and the book is rounded out with some excellent scale plans and model kit information (heavily biased towards large scale modeling). A must have, though pricey, book.

This is a typical Squadron "In Action" book, with dozens of black & white photographs and two pages of color profiles. Development of the Sherman is covered in chronological order with most major versions briefly described and detailed (no M4A2) with a small plan drawing and several photos. As the title suggests, this book primarily covers the Sherman in action and the photos do an admirable job at providing the modeler with numerous diorama ideas. Some scrap view drawings of certain details are included, but there are not any "walk around"-type detail photos. Excellent (though brief) overview of the development and operation of all versions of the Sherman tank in World War II.

1943-45
In large, hardcover format, this volume is not only an excellent modeler's reference work, but also a great coffee table book. It is organized by battle (primarily individual island invasions), and includes coverage of both the US Army and US Marine Corps. Each chapter includes a color map, a short introductory paragraph of background text, numerous b&w photographs of the tanks in action, and one or two color profiles of Shermans and Sherman-based support vehicles (ARVs). The photos are all very clear and usually large, the profiles are gorgeous, and there are also Orders of Battle for the armored units included for each battle. The text is translated from French, and could probably have used a better proof-reader, but is quite acceptable. This is truly an exceptional book, and covers the title subject in depth. The high-quality photos and profiles makes this a must-have book if you're interested in Pacific Shermans.

Interactive CD-ROM
I had seen this CD-ROM advertised for several years, but for some reason never gave much thought to buying it until recently. Although I can't give it a superb review, I am certainly glad that I bought it. The problem with this CD is that it strikes me as being almost like a shareware program, where you get just a taste of the application, but not full access to all of its abilities. There seems to be just so much unrealised potential with this disk, I wish that the creaters would revisit the project, and double the amount of material it contains. The application is set up like an interactive webpage, with categories for History, People, Markings, Technical and Weapons. Each section gives a textual description of the topic, and most are illustrated with color and/or b&w drawings and photos. But again, it only gives a small sampling of the material. My favorite part of the program is the ability to print certain (though not all) drawings to scale (1/72, 1/48, 1/35 or 1/16th), such as the hulls, wheels, turrets, noses.

The first of two Osprey New Vanguard volumes on the Sherman gun tank, this one covers the early, 75-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 Army and Marines, as well as lend-lease vehicles to the USSR and Commonwealth countries, and use by other nations such as China and France. 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 early Sherman, though they are small and not printed to exact scale. Several pages of color artwork fill out the volume.

Canadian, New Zealand & South African Armies
Italy, 1943-45
As I have mentioned elsewhere on this site, my reference material for the Commonwealth armies is woefully lacking. I know that there have been many books locally published in these respective countries, but I've not been able to locate any of them for purchase, and specific modelers' references for these armies are very few. Hence my appreciation for this excellent book. The book follows the now-familiar format for this series, with sections on the history of the Sherman tank in the respective armies, a section on Camouflage & Markings, a Modelers Showcase and Modelling Products listing, and finally, a section on Technical Details and Modifications. This final section is much larger in this volume than in some of the others, because of the number of unique modifications that were made to the Shermans used by these smaller armies. The History section takes a look at the formation and operation of each armored unit within these respective armies, the tanks that served in each unit, and includes several tables of organization for them. The color paintings are to Oliver's usual very high standard, and provide a ton of inspiration for modeling projects, assuming one can find the appropriate decals. This is a quite welcome book to my collection.

Legends of Warfare
A series of volumes from the well-known expert and author of a great many books on armored vehicles and a whole lot more, David Doyle. Each volume of this series covers a different variant of the Sherman tank:

Volume 1: M4A1
Volume 2: M4 and M4(105)
Volume 3: M4A2
Volume 4: M4A3
Volume 5: M4A4
Volume 6: M32 and M74 Sherman Recovery Vehicles

Each volume covers in depth the development of its respective variant from the very earliest models to the final versions, with all armament options. The books are primarily photo references, with the explanatory text limited to the photo captions and just a page or two of introductory material at the beginning of each major section. The photos are a mix of wartime development and in-action shots, as well as walk-arounds of current museum pieces, fully documenting all of the interior and exterior details. While this series doesn't delve quite as deeply into the minutia of the development of the Sherman tank as say, The Son of Sherman series, the amount of information contained between the covers is impressive, and the collection of all six volumes amounts to a superb reference to the Sherman tank, perhaps the only one a modeler would need.

This early Osprey title doesn't seem to follow their standard format. It only briefly touches on the develpment of the Sherman tank (probably because other books in the series do that job very well), but instead focuses on anecdotal accounts from former British tank crew members who relay what life was like living and fighting in the Sherman tank. A small amount of time is spent in North Africa, but the majority of the book covers northwest Europe. Several color illustrations grace the center pages of the book.

British Army and Royal Marines
Normandy Campaign 1944
I admittedly was hesitant to buy this book because of this from the description: "...a large part of this work showcases available model kits..." I have never been enthusiastic about modeling manuals because they don't represent primary research on the subject vehicle, they go out of date quickly, and they seldom include small scale. But I'm glad I made an exception. Less than a third of the book is devoted to models, and Oliver even touches on 1/72nd scale items, which was a pleasant surprise. But all that aside, the historical material in the book is exceptional. It begins with a timeline of events during and immediately following the Normandy invasion. That's followed by descriptions of each armoured division and independent armoured brigade that took part in the battles in and around Normandy. These descriptions include a brief unit history with information on important battles, as well as specifics on the Sherman tanks used within the unit. There is a section on technical details and modifications made to Shermans in British service, but the heart of the book, to me, is the section on camouflage and markings. Oliver's illustrations are gorgeous as always, and they include a wealth of information on the markings of all these vehicles and units. This is a superb book.

US Army
North-Western Europe 1944-45
I have become a big fan of these TankCraft books. Dennis Oliver puts so much effort into the research and production values of these books, it really shows in the final product. The first section of the book is a sequential description of every Armored Division and separate Tank Battalion that operated in the NW European theater. These histories discuss when and where the units were formed, when and where they operated, major battles and consequential actions. Also described is a rundown of the different models of the Sherman tank that served in the units and when. Following the historical section is the Camouflage and Markings part of the book, with 10 pages of gorgeous color artwork showing colors and markings for numerous tanks. Many of them have accompanying source photos, but unfortunately, not all of them. In particular, the tank that has always been depicted in model markings as an M4A3E2 Jumbo, marked White 78, likely was not a Jumbo at all, but rather a 105mm howitzer tank, as I've seen one photo show. I have never seen any other photos of this tank, and none that show it clearly to be a Jumbo. But aside from that one observation, this book carries on the fine tradition of this series. The center section of the book is one that I don't get much value from, a Model Showcase showing several 1/35 scale model projects from some very talented modelers, followed by a select listing of model products, both kits and aftermarket accessories, mostly for 1/35 scale, but with a small selection of 1/72 scale products as well. The book closes out with several pages of photographs depicting many technical details and modifications often seen on US Sherman Tanks.

The American Vehicle in Soviet Service
Ever since reading Dmitry Loza's autobiography, I am always on the lookout for more information on the Sherman tank in use by the Soviets. Comrade Emcha (q.v.) is great, but very short. I've read Peter Samsonov's book on the T-34, and really like him as an author, so I was delighted when I saw this book released. Anyone with an interest in Soviet Shermans should hunt this one down. The book is split into essentially two major sections; the first being the background section, with a short developmental history of the Sherman tank, its use by the British, and the different trials it underwent when prototypes were sent to the USSR. Description is given of the up-gunned 76mm version of the M4A2, and later the HVSS version as well. A lot of detail is provided on the extensive testing performed by the Soviets, and their impressions of the quality of the product. (I had never known that they had even given consideration of accepting the M4A4 through the Lend-Lease program, and decided against it.) The second half of the book is all about the operational use of the Sherman in Soviet service. Superb essays are given for all of the major campaigns and battles in which the Sherman took part, and the effect the tanks had on the outcomes of those actions. Snippets of first-person accounts are given, and again great insight is provided on how the Soviets truly appreciated these tanks, contrary to the political decision post-war to downplay the role that the Sherman played in the Soviet victory in the east. There is more text here than photographs, with many colorful and easy to read maps, so the historical value of this book is even more than as a reference for modelers. But the photos that are included are valuable for depicting some markings, and ideas for stowage, and there are a handful of very nicely done, color profile paintings. Excellent book.

Another of the Armor PhotoGallery series, this one covers the 17pdr-armed British Sherman. Like the other books in this series, it is a walk-around photo guide. Dozens of extremely high quality, full color, detail photographs are included of several Firefly tanks in various museums. Scale drawings follow the photos and the book ends with several pages of development and operational history, with many wartime black & white photos. Although this book is not as comprehensive as Hayward's Firefly book, it does complement that tome very well and I feel that these two books together form the ultimate in Firefly reference material.

This book is an excellent survey, shedding light on a subject that I don't have much knowledge of. It begins with a description of the political and military setting that gave rise to the Lend-Lease program to the USSR (which wasn't really Lend-Lease at all), and describes in detail the several protocols that were established throughout the war for sending military aid. The Sherman obviously is not the only tank contained within this story, and the book delves into all the armored vehicles that were sent from the UK, Canada and the US, including tank destroyers and halftracks. Information is provided on how the Soviets appreciated (or not) each vehicle, which units to which they were assigned, and brief mention of actions in which they were involved. As always, several very nice color profiles are provided depicting all of the main vehicle types in Soviet markings. The book ends with a summary of overall aid sent to the USSR during the war, showing the true magnitude of this assistence not colored by political agendas.

The Wars of 1948-1973
Steve Zaloga has written two volumes for Concord on the Mid-East wars, only the first of which will be presented here, since the second volume doesn't include any Sherman tanks or its variants. This first book covers the 1948 War of Independence, the 1956 Suez Crisis and Sanai Campaign, the 1967 Six-Day War, and the 1973 October War, also known as the Yom Kippur War. The six pages of introductory text are necessarily brief, but do manage to provide a fairly comprehensive, though not detailed, overview of all four of the wars. Photo coverage is chronological, and they do an admirable job at illustrating quite a wide variety of armored, and non-armored vehicles, both Israeli and Arab. There is good coverage of several Sherman variants, including the earliest Shermans cobbled together from spare parts, to the most modern M-51s. Note that at the time this book was written, it was believed that the M-50 was called the Super Sherman, and the M-51 was the Isherman, but it is now known that was not the case. Sixteen color profiles are included in the center of the book, only a pair of which depict Shermans, but the others are just as interesting as well. I am most pleased with the balance of the book, covering both sides relatively equally.

This is another one of Steve Zaloga's earlier Concord volumes that was impossible to find until it was recently reprinted. The book begins with six pages of text describing the many tank battles that occurred during the Pacific War, from the initial battles in the Philippines, to the final confrontation between Japan and the Soviet Union in Manchuria in late 1945. The numerous b&w photos cover the war chronologically, and include a great many shots of wrecked Japanese tanks, in addition to the American M3s, M4s, M5s, support vehicles, and others. Eight pages of color profiles also provide a very broad selection of vehicle types. This is a very nice book that accompanies my two other Pacific books very well.

British Army Anti-tank Units
Western Europe 1944-45
The book begins as always with unit descriptions for each Anti-Tank Regiment that served with the British in NW Europe. The histories mention when and where the units were formed, where they saw combat, and what vehicles and weapons they were outfitted with. This section takes up the majority of the book, and is followed by a really neat couple of pages describing several unique Aspects of the British Army, things like the difference between the Territorial Army and the Yeomanry, what Precedence means, and explanations of the many different tactical markings and official camouflage colors, etc. Really useful stuff. The section and Camouflage & Markings is as fantastic as always, with eight pages of beautiful artwork, and a page of color AoS signs and othe tactical markings. There's the obligatory Modeler's Showcase, and a listing of selected modeling products, in multiple scales. And finally a couple of pages of photographs illustrating some technical details and unique modifications often seen on many of these vehicles. Once again, a superb reference work.

This one took me a while to find so that I could fill in my collection of Korean War references. 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 during the Korean War, from the North Korean advance in 1950 and armored superiority with their T-34-85s, to the ultimate loss of almost all their armored vehicles at the hands of UN armor and airstrikes. The dozens of b&w photos and several pages of color profiles cover armor from both sides, with the Sherman tank providing a major portion of the images. Many never-before-seen photos and impressive artwork are included. The emphasis of the photo coverage is on the operational use of armor, with photos mostly of in-action vehicles and not much in the way of detailed close-ups.

Simon Dunstan provides another Korean War volume, which surprisingly doesn't repeat most of the information or photos from his Osprey book. There is some overlap of course, but many of the photos are different, and the coverage has a slightly different focus. There is no narrative text in this volume, only extensive photo captions. The photo coverage is chronological and illustrates armored vehicles of all types (even half-tracks) in a variety of combat and non-combat situations. The book is all black & white, with nothing except photos (no color profiles or scale drawings). This isn't a book for modelers so much as it's aimed at military history enthusiasts with an interst in armor.

The title of the book is pretty much synonymous with Sherman Warfare on Iwo Jima, because that's pretty much all this book covers. Not sure if M3/5 light tanks were used on Iwo, but they are not described here, nor are LVT(A)s. Japanese tanks are given short mention, and even a couple of color profiles, but their inclusion here is about in the same order as their involvement in the battle. The book begins with two pages of introductory text, followed by page after page of photos. The photos are extensively captioned, and are printed only two per page, so are very large and as clear as they can be, considering the source prints. Copies of after-action reports are included, as are several pages of color profiles showing individual tanks paired with photos of the tanks illustrated in the profiles. There are even two pages of color wartime photos. I understand that it used to be believed that the Marines used only big-hatch M4A2s on Iwo, which has been corrected lately, and this book is very clear on which of the commonly-depicted Sherman tanks on Iwo Jima were M4A2s, and which were M4A3s (most of them).

This book is much broader in scope than Fletcher's Osprey volume on Swimming Shermans, which covers only the DD version of the Sherman. This book by Zaloga describes not only the DD tanks, but also the deep wading versions, the T6, plus a bunch of experimental efforts as well. The development of these different types of amphibious modifications are covered chronologically, with the need, design, drawbacks and strengths of each modification well described. Each modification is illustrated by several photos, and most also are accompanied by one or more color paintings. There are a great many diorama ideas contained here.

Camouflage and Markings - World War II
The title of this one is pretty self-explanatory, though he does in fact, provide a very brief overview of colors and markings of US tanks in World War I and between the wars as well. Although the US Army in Europe receives the lion's share of coverage for obvious reasons, there are also short sections that cover the US Army and the US Marine Corps in the Pacific. There are only a few short pages of text that describe vehicle markings, with the majority of the book comprised of black & white photos with extensive captioning. Despite the title of the book, there really is very little information included on the camouflage of US armor. The reader is left with very brief comments on camouflage in the photo captions. Eight pages of very nicely done color profiles are included showing a wide variety of vehicles and locales illustrating some nice color schemes, but descriptions of these colors are sparse. This books strikes me as being incomplete without more information on colors and camouflage.

An older Concord book by Steve Zaloga, the title is pretty self-explanatory. The introductory text briefly mentions the T19 and T30 HMCs, based on the M3 half-track, before diving into the M7/M7B1 Priest, which gets the most coverage, both in text and in photos. The M8 75mm HMC and the M12 155mm GMC are covered pretty well, especially considering how few were built, and the narrative finishes with a small description of the experimental vehicles later accepted as the M40, M43 and M37. The numerous photos progress through the war chronologically, with the majority of the coverage going to the M7. Sixteen of Steve's gorgeous color profiles are included in the center of the book, half of them showing the M7, the others showing the M8 and M12 (none cover the half-track HMCs). Since the later SPGs saw only post-war use, they are not covered here with photos.

US Specialized Armored Vehicles in the ETO in World War II
A very specialized book about very specialized vehicles. What has become known as "armored funnies" has never really been a topic that much interested me, and I admit that I bought this book mostly for the sake of completing my reference collection. But once I started reading through it, I couldn't put it down for a couple of hours. It's amazing what sorts of tasks that these vehicles could accomplish. This book covers wading tanks, bulldozers, armored recovery vehicles, rocket launchers, bridging tanks, mine-clearing tanks, flamethrowers, and even the rare night-fighting and sonic tanks. My only complaint is that it only covers Europe and not the Pacific. Perhaps another volume in the future?

As the title specifies, this volume covers all US flame tanks of World War II, not only the Sherman flamethrowers. The story begins during World War I, and describes the quest for an effective flamethrower tank post-war, and through to the end of World War II. There are photographs and text describing all of the US Army's efforts from the earliest vehicles to the final versions mounted on the Sherman tank. I found it interesting that there never really was a flamethrower mounted on any vehicle that the Army was perfectly satisfied with, though there were several that were used to great effect, particularly in the Pacific theater. The format of the book is typical Osprey with numerous b&w photos and several very nice artworks of many different flamethrowing vehicles. In this instance, the operational use of the weapons is well-described, with its contributions to many actions being outlined very well.

Zaloga begins this book with a history of the Marine tanks, first the light tanks and then the mediums (Shermans). He then progresses chronologically through the major operations of the Pacific war, detailing where and how the tanks were used in combat, with successes and losses. Although the description of each campaign is understandably abbreviated, he uses very specific and detailed accounts of the actions that provide a lot of the flavor of the overall campaign. Thoughout the narrative, he gives specific details of the tanks, modifications that were made to address area-specific problems, and their performance in battle. There are a number of beautiful color profile paintings spread throughout the book, mostly of M4s, but with a couple of M3 lights as well. Excellent book.

Another Sqadron in Action title, covering the M7, M7B1, Sexton, M8, M12, M40, M43, M37 and M41. There are just a few paragraphs of brief text for each version, plus a whole pile of b&w photos, mostly covering the M7 and M12. Scale drawings are included for several versions, printed to an unknown scale, and there are a few scrap drawings of a couple of external details. There are only a couple of interior views, with the majority of the photos living up to the book's title and showing action shots. The middle two pages give eight beautiful color profiles. This book isn't really suitable as a stand-alone reference for any single vehicle, but it does provide a good overview of the US SPG program during WW II.

in North Africa and Italy 1943-45
Similar to Zaloga's previous Concord volume on D-Day tank warfare, this book covers both sides of the action, Allied and Axis, though the majority of the attention is paid to the Allies. As the title states, U.S. tanks get the largest treatment in both photo coverage and the color profiles. Most of the photos of the Axis armor are of wrecks. The introductory text covers well the campaigns in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, though due to space constraints, doesn't go into any great detail. It is an excellent primer to these lesser-known campaigns. Vehicle coverage is broad, though the Sherman is the main focus of the Allied portion of the photo coverage. As with all Concord books, the greatest attention is paid to operational use and not so much on specific details of the different tank variants.

Another Sqadron in Action title. I'm sure you're all familiar with this format: condensed though comprehensive development history and operational use; small line drawings of each vehicle covered; numerous b&w photos of the vehicles in action; and two pages of color profiles for representative vehicles. The book begins with the earliest tank destroyers, those adapted from half-tracks, the M6 GMC, etc. It then goes into Sherman variants including M10, M36, etc. and also the M18 Hellcat. Great overview book and an excellent resource, though you'll have to look elsewhere for detail drawings and walk-around type photos.

I finally got a new copy of this book to replace the one that I somehow lost several years ago. I'm suer I'll probably come across it someday as I'm looking through some old boxes or something.... Anyway, this is one of Steve Zaloga's earlier Concord books on US armor, and covers all of the US main tank destroyers, including the M6, M3, as well as the more numerous M10, M36 and M18. Several pages of overview text introduces the tank destroyer program to the reader, and goes into brief detail on the development of the tank destroyer force and its vehicles. There is a very brief overview of the use of the TDs in action is all theaters of the war, and several major campaigns. It also mentions the post-war use of former US tank destroyers. The photos and color profiles in the center of the book follow along this same pattern, with most of the coverage going to the fully-tracked TDs.

Number 1 in Tankograd's Technical Manual Series, this book collates many of the most useful photographs and drawings of the M4 and M4A1 from the US Army's original technical manuals. For those of you can't find the Hunnicutt book, this would be an excellent alternative, since it covers almost every aspect of the development of this tank in great detail. Drawings and photos are included of almost all details, including wheels, tracks, running gear, interior, transmission, engine, guns, ammunition, etc. Includes sections on the M4 (105), the M42B1 Flame Tank, and deep water fording equipment. Bilingual: complete text and photo captions in German and English.

Continuing Tankograd's Technical Manual Series, this book collates many of the most useful photographs and drawings of the 75mm and 105mm-armed M4A3s from the US Army's original technical manuals. The book covers almost every aspect of the development of this tank in great detail. Drawings and photos are included of almost all details, including wheels, tracks, running gear, interior, transmission, engine, guns, ammunition, etc. Unlike the earlier volume on the M4/M4A1, these newer volumes from the series include a section on wartime in-action photos, which give great ideas for diorama builders, as well as information on the units with which these vehicles served. Printed in English only.

Continuing Tankograd's Technical Manual Series, this book collates many of the most useful photographs and drawings of the 76mm-armed M4A3s from the US Army's original technical manuals, including both VVSS and HVSS vehicles. The book covers almost every aspect of the development of this tank in great detail. Drawings and photos are included of almost all details, including wheels, tracks, running gear, interior, transmission, engine, guns, ammunition, etc. This book also covers the M4A3E2 Assault Tank, and the M1, M1A1 and M2 bulldozers. Includes sections on wartime in-action photos, which give great ideas for diorama builders, as well as information on the units with which these vehicles served. Printed in English only.

This volume in the Tankograd Technical Manual Series covers the Heavy Self-Propelled Artillery vehicles based on the M3 chassis (M12) and the M4 chassis (M40 and M43). The M30 Cargo Carrier (based on the M3 chassis) is also included. Each pair of vehicles is given a full page of text for their developmental history and complete techical descriptions, and then many pages of excellent photographs (factory shots, from operator manuals, and plentiful in action shots as well). Most every detail of these vehicles, both interior and exterior, are well illustrated, including their ammunition. Although there are no walk-around photos of museum pieces, the images included here are probably all a modeler would need to super-detail and accurize their projects. As far as I know, there are no kits yet available in this scale of the M40, and only a single resin kit of the M43 (from FanKit Models).

Number 7 in Tankograd's Technical Manual Series, this book provides everything you need to build a Priest. The only thing missing is a set of plans printed to scale, though there are original technical drawings included that show vehicle dimensions. Numerous b&w photos of trial vehicles and from the Army technical manual are included, as are detail drawings of almost everything inside and outside of the Priest, including the engine. Both the M7 and M7B1 are included, along with two pages showing the interior of the M7B2. I guess if nobody is going to release a kit of this vehicle, I'll have to scratchbuild one myself. Combine this book with the Squadron in Action title and Concord's SPG volume, and I should be good to go for reference material for such a project. Bilingual: complete text and photo captions in German and English.

Tankograd has pretty well standardized the format for this Techical Manual series. See above descriptions for details of book format and contents. This volume also includes the M35 Prime Mover, as well as a section on Deep Water Fording Equipment. Note that it does NOT include the British 17-pdr M10 (Achilles). This is an outstanding series of books. Includes English text only.

M32, M32B1, M32B2, M32B3 & Mine Exploder T1E1
Tankograd has pretty well standardized the format for this Techical Manual series. See above descriptions for details of book format and contents. In addition to the vehicles listed above, this volume also includes the M34 Prime Mover, and photos of Deep Water Fording Equipment as modified for the M32. This is an outstanding series of books, and includes everything one would need to super-detail the UM series of kits, or scratch-build your own M32. Includes English text only.

A companion book to Squadron's Sherman in Action title, this volume provides all the detail photographs of several versions of the Sherman tank that the previous book lacked. As the title states, the photos are of the walk-around variety of almost every detail in and on the Sherman, including the Ford GAA engine of the M4A3. Many versions are covered and some areas, such as the wheels and running gear, are described in great detail. A handful of nice color profiles is also included. This is a great modeler's reference.

Well, what can I say? You've seen one Walk Around, you've seen them all. I certainly don't mean that in a negative way. This book has all the photos that one needs to detail the crap out of our Tank Destroyer kits. It covers the fully tracked tank destroyers: M10, M36 and M18. All three vehicles are covered by a plethora of photos, both exterior and interior, which is a necessity when building open-top tanks such as these. I would guess that about half of the photos are color, half are b&w. Three pages of color side views are included showing the markings for twelve vehicles. Four-view line drawings are included for each tank destroyer, printed in perhaps 1/48th scale, though I've not measured to confirm.

American Armored Fighting Vehicles
George Bradford has been quite well known for a long time now for his high-quality scale drawings. They were first made available through mail order (http://www.afvnews.ca/) but he has since assembled four volumes of drawings for different nations. This volume on American AFVs includes close to 300 drawings printed mostly in 1/35th and 1/48th scales, though with a couple in 1/72nd. The coverage is chronological from the M1 Combat Car to the T26E4 Super Pershing and includes 16 Shermans or its variants. The drawings are done with a CAD program and incorporate 3-dimensional shading which makes them much easier to interpret. A handful of black & white photos are also included to further illustrate several of the vehicles.

When I saw this book advertised, I thought it was simply a reprint of the previous Sherman in Action title (see above), but then I noticed that it is written by different authors, so it is much more of a revision than a reprint. This volume is far superior to the original in the amount and quality of information included. Although it is necessarily brief (it is an "In Action title, after all), it contains a ton of useful info on almost all versions of the Sherman tank. There are many scrap-view drawings depicting pertinent details, and there are a number of wartime, color photographs and a couple of color profile paintings scattered throughout. I was surprised and impressed by the quality of this book, and it is a welcome addition to my library.