T-34 (ePub)
The Red Army's Legendary Medium Tank
Imprint: Pen & Sword Military
File Size: 66.1 MB (.epub)
Pages: 144
Illustrations: 200
ISBN: 9781473854468
Published: 16th March 2015
It could be said that the T-34 was the tank that won the Second World War. In total 57,000 were produced between 1941 and 1945. Stalin's tank factories outstripped Hitler's by a factor of three to one, and production of the T-34 also exceeded that of the famed American M4 Sherman.
Not only did this output swamp German panzer production, the T-34 was a robust no frills war-winning design – easy to manufacture and reliable. Its sloping armour was innovative at the time and its wide tracks suited it to off-road warfare. Crucially it required little maintenance in comparison to German tanks, and its chassis was used as the basis for a range of assault guns, the SU-85, SU-100 and SU-122.
Anthony Tucker-Jones's photographic history of this exceptional armoured vehicle follows its story through the course of the war, from its combat debut against the Wehrmacht during Operation Barbarossa, through the Red Army's defeats and retreats of 1941 and 1942 to the tide-turning victories at Stalingrad and Kursk and on through the long, rapid Soviet advance across Ukraine and Byelorussia to Berlin.
As well as a range of rare archive photographs and photographs of a surviving example of the T-34, the book features specially commissioned colour illustrations.
Featured by
The Armor Modeling and Preservation Society
The narrative comes accompanied by 142 black and white photographs, 9 color and a collection of sheets with 20 profiles of some of the models with their respective designs of camouflage.
José Manuél Rico Cortés (Mister JM) - Miniaturas JM
First-line documentation for the tanks modeler.
Read the complete review here.
I feel the modeling enthusiast will greatly benefit from this text with its clear crisp photos as much as the general tank or military historian. There are some superb discussions of the Russian development on tactics and infantry support and eventually tank armies mid to late war operations and interesting work offered on the variants that were developed. The book has a great flow of written sections and is brilliantly matched with the art work and photo selections; which are as good as any existing study of the Soviet main tank. It is a must have for those who have or are planning to explore the Images of War Russian Front Campaign series, to which it greatly adds depth and content. I highly recommend it as a full set or stand-alone study of the venerable and legendary tank. A great read which will leave one hungry for more.
Richard Wade, Military Historian
This is a 'special' edition within the well-established Images of War series of photo essays. It broadly follows the series' standards, but contains more text than usual, together with an excellent photo collection and some coloured drawings. This is a very interesting and comprehensive book and covers the subject well. The illustrations are excellent and include many rare images. Highly recommended.
Firetrench
The written text is informative, well written...
IMPS USA - Reviewed by Andrew Birkbeck
... Overall, I would recommend this book to someone who wants a basic primer on the T-34 in Soviet WW2 service.
This concise book is about the most iconic tank for Red Army in World War 2 and beyond...
Military Archive Research - Dr Stuart C Blank
... This book is essentially a pictorial history of the design, development and usage of the T-34 and its derivatives...
There are numerous images of the T-34 many of which are period originals and rare. Also there are many pictures of surviving T-34s and the SU assault guns that were based on it,
In short, this is an excellent introductory book on the T-34. It is concise at about 140 pages and is full of excellent images. If you want an introduction to the T-34 then this is the book to buy as it gives excellent value for money.
Anthony Tucker-Jones’s photographic history of this exceptional armoured vehicle follows its story through the course of the war, from its combat debut against the Wehrmacht during Operation Barbarossa, through the Red Army’s defeats and retreats of 1941 and 1942 to the tide-turning victories at Stalingrad and Kursk and on through the long, rapid Soviet advance across Ukraine and Byelorussia to Berlin.
inSCALE
As with Pen & Swords other Images of War Special editions, there is a plethora of information for the modeller and armour enthusiasts’. Having a wide range of period black and white images that are well captioned and photographs of a surviving example of the T-34, I really don’t think you would go wrong with this book.
Recommended.
Well-informed captions and commentary throughout.
Military Modelling
About Anthony Tucker-Jones
Anthony Tucker-Jones, a former intelligence officer, is an author and commentator who specialises in military history, with more than 50 books to his name. His work has also been published in an array of magazines and online. He regularly appears on television and radio programmes commenting on current and historical military matters. His books include Armoured Warfare in the North African Campaign, The Battle for the Mediterranean, The Desert Air War, The Devil’s Bridge, Hitler’s Winter and Churchill Master and Commander.