Germany's Panzer Arm: (Contributions in Military Studies) [Hardcover]

R. L. DiNardo (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0313301786 | ISBN-13: 978-0313301780 | Publication Date: October 30, 1997

No 20th century military organization has been as widely studied as the German army of World War II. Nevertheless, there are almost no truly integrated studies of the panzer or armor branch, dealing with the organizational, economic, personnel, doctrinal, and tactical factors that affected the panzer arm's performance. DiNardo fills that gap in this detailed examination of the panzer arm from Weimar through the end of World War II. Drawing upon German military documents as well as memoirs, battle reports, and other materials, DiNardo provides a new look at the rise and decline of one of the most important parts of Germany's military machine. Important insights can be gained by examining the nuts and bolts of the army's expansion and its absorption of two foreign armies. This complete analysis of the German panzer arm also provides a microcosmic view of Nazi Germany at war. As such the book is invaluable for all researchers involved with the study of World War II and Nazi Germany.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“DiNardo...offers valuable discussion of personnel policies, militray training, doctrine, and divisional organization. In a generally well--written account, he argues that while Germany's tank forces were excellent overall, they suffered from Germany's comparative lack of personnel familiar with automobiles and thus easily trained on tanks....the book is well worth reading by anyone interested in German military history.”–German Studies Review

“The author has succeeded in reaching his stated goal of an integrated study of Germany's Panzer forces. He has successfully joined in a succinct narrative his primary research and secondary literature....[T]he synthesis provided by this book will be of use both to scholars who are specialists in the history of the German Army, and to the readers of military history in general.”–The Journal of Military History

About the Author

R. L. DiNARDO is a Professor of History at Saint Peter's College and has taught at the Air War College.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Greenwood Press (October 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0313301786
• ISBN-13: 978-0313301780
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,143,750 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Integrated study., March 14, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Germany's Panzer Arm: (Contributions in Military Studies) (Hardcover)

Books have been published on Hitler's armored forces to the point of redundancy, but as DiNardo points out in his Introduction, many of the works have been either technical or pictorial and fail to integrate "organizational, economic, personnel. doctrinal, and technical factors that affected the panzer arm's performance".
The author pulls these elements together quite satisfactorily in this excellent little handbook, which discusses not only the expected aspects of policies, training, and organization, but also the all-important industrial production details, which bolster DiNardo's contention that the German forces were more nearly a nineteenth- than twentieth-century army; unsuited for modern warfare.
With charts, graphs, photos, good bibliography, and index, this work deserves a place on any World War II bookshelf, and may be considered essential for the panzer student.

(The "score" rating is an ineradicable feature of the page. This reviewer does not "score" books.)