Originally written in German by Mr. Albert Schick, this unit history covers the history of an unusual Panzer Division of the German Army in WW II. It describes its establishment shortly before the Polish Campaign and its combat record through the Polish 1939 and French 1940 campaigns. A second volume will explore the division's subsequent campaigns in Russia and North Africa.

This division participated in some of the most important battles of WW II including the crossing of the Meuse River at Sedan, the bloody battle at Stonne, and the capture of Calais. This first volume of the divisional history is a good mixture of command level descriptions of the movements and fighting, as well as personal small unit accounts.