Customer Reviews

German Light Panzers 1932-1942 (Vanguard)

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IN A NUTSHELL: THE MEN AND THEIR TACTICS RATHER THAN THEIR EQUIPMENT WERE THE REAL STARS OF THE 'PANZERWAFFE'

'German Light Panzers 1932-42' (New Vanguard), by Bryan Perrett, is a cut-above the usual 'Osprey Military' fare. It lucidly provides both interesting and insightful content through description, quotes and narrative, plus an ample array of photos, illustrations and diagrams.

THE OPENING PARAGRAPH SETS THE TONE:

From the first paragraph the tone is exemplified by this sentence, "In reality, the Panzerwaffe excelled only in technique, and was very badly equipped." This was not an indictment of the early Panzerwaffe, but instead, an appreciation of what they accomplished without a superiority in equipment either qualitatively or quantitatively.

In essence, the 'Tiger Tanks' that we all have come to associate with the Panzer forces did not exist at the time of the conquest of Poland, France or even the first year in Russia. What did exist, between 1932 and 1942, were a variety of mostly light tanks that toted 20mm cannons as their main armament with just 10-13mm of armor around a powerplant of 45-60 hp. These are the Panzer forces that filled the rank and file outfits as well as the elite forces, especially prior to the 2nd year in Russia when the Russian T34 essentially forced the Germans to create the awesome Tiger and Panther tanks, plus the myriad of armoured car, tank destroyer, self-propelled howitzer and anti-aircraft variants that followed as a response to the armored 'arms race' of the later war years.

EDITOR'S NOTE STATES: That this text is a revised edition of 'VANGUARD 33 - GERMAN LIGHT PANZERS 1932-1942', first published in 1983. They claim that the "text has been revised, new black and white photos and a detailed cutaway of PzKpfw II added".

BOTTOM LINE: I ENJOYED THIS SHORT READER

If you already own or have access to the 1983 edition you may NOT need this revised edition. On the other hand, this is a very compelling and concise read with excellent diagrams and a very interesting focus. The book's theme, centered on the smallness and lack of firepower of the early German Light tanks, postulates that the German Panzer forces overcame, and won many victories in spite of their equipment. They do represent the merits of the early Light Panzer equipment, but one clearly sees that the Panzers had to play catch up with virtually every other major power as a result of the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles.

This book was first published in 1983 as the Osprey's Vanguard Series No. 33 and this is only a revised edition. What was revised in this book was just a few more b/w photographs and a centrefold cutaway colour-plate of a PanzerKampfwagen II Ausf. F.

In my opinion, Osprey should also revise the other colour-plates in this book as there are all of very poor quality in term of drawing skill. No worth buying.