Author: Steven J. Zaloga
Steven J. Zaloga is world renowned for his military expertise and knowledge, and he is an equally accomplished military modeler. As he says in his preface to the book, he has spent literally thousands of hours scouring the U.S. photo archives for his numerous book titles. In doing so he has uncovered a great many photos that have long awaited discovery and never seen the light of publication yet. A number of these images are now brought together in this new title, featuring German armored vehicles as photographed by U.S. military photographers in the ETO of WWII. This is an inspirational collection of photos of captured and destroyed German AFVs.
There is a satisfying mix of vehicles incorporated within these pages. There is a bit of almost everything here, ranging from self-propelled howitzers, Hetzers, Panzer IVs, Panthers, Jagdpanthers, Tigers, Jagdtigers, half-tracks, armored cars, and many lesser known vehicles such as Minenraumerpanzer III, E-100, Jagdpanzer 38 Starr, Pz.Sf.IVb, Sd.Kfz.234 Kwk38. The vehicles are usually shown after their destruction in combat or after being abandoned, in all states of repair, or despair as the case may be. They are often shown with U.S. soldiers examining them or clambering over them in fascination.
With his wealth of experience, Steve Zaloga has a good eye for what will interest modelers and military enthusiasts. In this publication a wide selection of photos of captured German AFVs is conveniently portrayed here under one cover. Photos have captions noting their units where these can be ascertained, as well as a set of color plates reflecting accurate color schemes of the time. In an age where photos are being republished for the umpteenth time, it is refreshing to find a whole book of photos that offer fresh and insightful.