88 mm FlaK 18/36/37/41 and PaK 43 1936-45 (New Vanguard) [Paperback]

John Norris (Author), Mike Fuller (Illustrator)

Book Description

Series: New Vanguard | Publication Date: January 25, 2002

The German 88 mm was by far the most famous and versatile artillery weapon of World War II. It was first used as an anti-aircraft weapon by the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War and saw further service in the German invasions of Poland and France, where it was first used in its anti-tank role. This role was particularly successful and the 88 became feared by tank crews from North Africa to Russia. Apart from these two main roles the 88 mm was used as the main weapon on late-war German tanks, as a self-propelled gun, and even as an aerial weapon. This book covers all these variants, explaining their design, development and operational use.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

The unrivalled illustrated reference on fighting vehicles, transport and artillery through the ages. Each volume is illustrated throughout, making these books uniquely accessible to history enthusiasts of all ages.

About the Author

John Norris was born and educated in Jersey, Channel Islands. On coming to England he joined the Grenadier Guards, serving for six years with the regiment. He has been writing for military journals for over 20 years and has written three books for Brasseys and one for Sutton Publishing. He curently writes for several magazines and serves as an expert tour guide for Midas tours and Experts in Travel Ltd.

Product Details

• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (January 25, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841763411
• ISBN-13: 978-1841763415
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 0.1 x 9.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,311,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Have these authors even SEEN one up close?, August 19, 2006

By 

Roy Chow (Troy, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 88 mm FlaK 18/36/37/41 and PaK 43 1936-45 (New Vanguard) (Paperback)

I'm assembling an article on how to correctly identify various models of the 8.8cm Flak guns so I've been accumulating various books. I usually don't get too worked up about inaccuracies in these and one can understand that some of the older books don't enjoy more recent research. Mis-captioning of period photos is not uncommon. However, while looking through the Osprey New Vanguard book on this subject published in 2002, the mistakes in this thing were just too egregious to bear!

The most glaring are the color plates where either the artist or the author lists various fittings of a Flak 18. Some gaffes: a) The book says that the fuse setter seat is the ground attack gunner's seat, b) the panoramic sight atop the flak gun, used for emplacing the gun, is listed as a azimuth and elevation device for moving targets, c) the ramming rod is listed as a "firing lever" but the worst is when the end of the shell rammer is listed as the eyepiece for the telescopic sight!

I wonder if the authors ever even have SEEN one of these in actuality. To say that the panoramic sight which sits 8 or 9 feet in the air, is used as a azimuth and elevation sighting device for moving targets is just outrageous. The seating misidentification makes me believe that the author and/or artist have not the first idea how the weapon was fired.

The very first color plate is mis-identified too! I mean, the author and artist chose the subject! Then they caption it wrongly??

VERY disappointing effort by the authors and Osprey! A waste of my money. Hmmm... now what was my eBay password again?

By the way: I tried to edit my Two star rating to one or zero but was unable to do so. It's THAT bad.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too basic and has errors, March 24, 2009

By 

Yoda (Hadera, Israel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 88 mm FlaK 18/36/37/41 and PaK 43 1936-45 (New Vanguard) (Paperback)

Lisa Chow, one of the Amazon reviewers of this book, points out the many errors regarding the captions and photos. Other deficiencies of the book involve a lack of discussion on tactics used by the weapon (especially in anti-tank role), strengths and weaknesses and the importance of crew quality and training.