World War II Database

When the European War began, German tank forces stunned the world with beautifully executed maneuvers that seized Poland by storm, overwhelmed the world-class French Army, and then crossed the vast Russian territories to knock on the doors of Moscow. In North Africa, Erwin Rommel's armor thrusts achieved initial success as the Allies were pushed all the way into Egypt. Even though German tank forces were not able to duplicate their early successes on the same scale, they still played critical roles in the remainder of the war, engaging in key tank battles such as the Battle of Kursk. German Panzers in WWII of Zenith Press' "Order of Battle" series is dedicated to the military structure of these tank forces.

Immediately, I recognize the value of this book as a quick reference. Each chapter of the book represents a major campaign where German armor played a significant role, and they each features the command structure down to the division level, the strength of each side, and maps noting troop deployment and movement. The entire book is in color, which adds clarity to the content, particularly the maps. As the book goes on, the author Chris Bishop also presents the evolution of German tank armies during WW2; he does an excellent job noting why the composition of armor forces changed over time.

The appendix section contains some absolute treasure. Particularly, the comprehensive list and illustration of divisional tactical insignias will be very useful when identifying uniforms and vehicles.

Well-written narratives accompany each chapter, providing context so that the order of battle, maps, etc. could be better understood. However, I feel that the text could only serve as a very light primer for each campaign. Often times I find weeks of fighting summed up in one simple paragraph. Given the subject matter, I expect but am not given details on the tactical play-by-play of the major engagements. The lack of this type of information is a little disappointing.

Overall, although I find myself wanting a little more than what the author provided, I still consider German Panzers in WWII an useful reference to keep handy.