Achtung - Panzer! (Cassell Military Classics)

I enjoy WWI and WWII history, especially the machinery that came from those wars. WWI, especially, was the first time the modern ways of the Industrial Revolution clashed with the previous century's way of conducting war. Since this title will be of interest mainly to those who share a similar interest I will spare everyone a detailed history lesson. I can sum it up by stating that the refinement of the machine gun, improvements in artillery, the introduction of gas attacks, the development of a military use for aircraft, and the huge human resources available to feed into the meat grinder produced a slaughter unimaginable at the time and still horrendous today. The conflict evolved into a stalemate that seemed to do little but demand more sacrifice on the part of all combatants and civilians caught up in it all. The need to breach fortified defenses and hold them led to the development of the tank. While slow, unreliable, cumbersome and unwieldy at first, once tactics learned by trial and error as well as bloody experience began to yield results, the tank was on its way to becoming a battlefield necessity.Even though the British and the French were the pioneers in the development, there were still many who doubted its value and wanted to abandon it just as aircraft had their detractors. A few had the vision to understand the potential of the tank and began to think of how it could be deployed to maximum effect. A few of these also had the courage to state that the old ways of war, especially with mounted cavalry, were obsolete. Heinz Guderian was one of these men and this book, originally published in 1937, is a translation of a thesis/report/history he wrote of the tank after some 15 years of study and just a few years before he was to put his thoughts into action. The contents are his words and ideas. As such I cannot criticize or argue with them because there would be no point in that. The book is well annotated because some of the material Guderian used in writing it was faulty. These errors and clarifications are corrected at the end of each chapter. To read it and then know what happened after when his ideas were put into play is an amazing historical perspective on tank warfare. If I have one complaint about the book it is that many of the maps are small and poorly reproduced. The smaller print is blurry and hard to read. Some maps have too much detail for their size and it is very hard to sort things out and relate them back to the text. They may be his original sketches and that's why they are that way, but to truly appreciate and follow the battles and deployments he refers to I found a couple books of WWI maps very helpful. The West Point Atlas of War: World War I edited by General Vincent J Esposito was outstanding and Martin Gilbert's Atlas of World War I less so, but still useful. There is a section of glossy plates with b&w pictures showing a variety of armored cars, tanks, and other combat images. This book would be of little use to the military modeler since there are no in depth discussions or descriptions of vehicles in it. Consider as well, that when it was written many of the more famous vehicles of WWII were not in production yet. But, for someone interested in tactics, the evolution of the same relating to armor, or just the history of the wars, I can't say enough about this book.

This book forms part of the thinking that gave rise to modern combined-arms warfare as we still know it today. Written by general guderian shortly before WW2, this theory was then put into practice (including by himself) with the german offensives against poland and france. Strangley this edition (1992) is the first time is was translated into english!The first half of the book is detailed description (almost too detailed and a bit tedious at times) of all the tank battles of WW1. After each battle is an analysis of what worked and what didnt.It then effectively goes into what we would now call a SWOT analysis - Strengths, Weaknesses, Oppotunities, Threats - to work out what is needed to exploit the strengths and cover the weaknesses of tanks as shown by the WW1 battles. The result? His conclusion is that tanks are best used en masse, in surprise attacks over suitable terrain to make use of their spped and firepower but with full support from mechanised infantry, artillery and tactical air support to cover their vulnerability against obstacles and lack of long range indirect fire capacity! As an ex-troop leader of an armoured recon regiment who wore the black beret myself, reading the book was a bit like doing refresher training!Last, the book goes into the organisational structure, tactics and doctrine that these forces should use to achieve the desired strategy of break through of the enemy front-line, so that mobile warfare can be carried deep into the enemies rear. The book even goes into what formations should be used, the depth and breadths of the attacks and the planning rates for the advances. What is most amazing is that the book was written before the war (which seems like giving away state secrets!) yet the allied forces didnt seem to have read it or taken heed of what was said and developed counter-measures!Maybe it was like that anecodote quoted about Napoleon? After his early great victories one of his aides, Henri Jomini, returned home to his native swizterland to write a book 'critique of the battles of the revolution' in 1806. Napoleon is said to have read the book in alarm and exclaimed "it teaches my whole system of warfare to my enemies" then he is supposed to have relaxed and said "it's alright, the old generals who command against me will never read it and the young men who do read it do not yet command' sure enough it was almost ten more years before he meet his Waterloo...If your are interested in the history of modern mobile warfare, the way war is still conducted today, then Achtung Panzer is a readable gem.regardsdavid

This is a very historical document which was first published in the late 1930s by what then was a fairly obscure officer in the German Wehrmacht, and who rose to become a General Officer and a leader in the development of modern tank warfare, both in the initial stages of WWII and later on the Russian front. Although he later fell out of favor with Hitler, his philosophy carried through to the end of the European war.What makes this book interesting is Guardian's description of the battles and subsequent events in WWI. Little was really known about the development and use of tanks on the Western Front until the late stages of 1917 and 1918. The most interesting of the books revelations is the fact that the Germans had few tanks to oppose the Allies caused by the lack of imagination and foresight of the German High Command coupled with the lack of steel in the manufacturing of tanks caused by the British naval blockade of German raw materials. What tanks the Germans did have were of British and French design captured or disabled during combat operations which were made serviceable.Those of you who find books of specific detailed military history will find this book very interesting especially when you consider that the theories spelled out in this book led to the development of the blitzkrieg tactics of WWII.

Classic text on armored warfare. Essential reading to understanding the ongoing and constant impact of technology on combat arms. Translation, paper quality and printing are adequate. My only complaint is the type size could be larger and the binding heavier.

'Achtung-Panzer' is a significant piece of military history.Written in 1937 by Heinz Guderian, a World War I veteran, member of the German General Staff, and later a General in WWII - the book explores the application of motorized warfare (largely unexplored at the time of its publication), and argues for the use of tanks, highly mobile mechanized infantry, aircraft and paratroopers in what would later be coined 'Blitzkrieg', otherwise known as 'combined-arms' warfare.The first half of the book explores the mistakes made by all of the belligerents of WWI, including trench warfare and the obsolesence of horse mounted cavalry in the face of advancements in artillery and the invention of the machine gun, which allowed even inferior numbers of less skilled combatants to easily repel a superior attacking force. Clearly something would have to give if subsequent conflicts were to avoid the wastage and stalemate encountered in the trench war, and that 'something' in Guderians opinion was the tank - the application of which he explores throughout the majority of the book.The book goes into incredible detail and explores such issues as the effect of the Treaty of Versailles on Germanys ability to develop mechanized forces as well as Guderians own beliefs as to the best applications for tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles. It is well researched as Guderian was a scholar who was fluent in both English and French and spent much of his time studying the works of British maneuver warfare theorists J. F. C. Fuller, Giffard Martel and B.H. Liddell Hart, whom are credited in this work. The fact that the ideas presented in the book clearly heavily influenced the military actions of Germany during the Second World War is testament to its significance.This is not a technical manual, and there is very little description or investigation into individual models of tanks themselves or the people who piloted them, however even though this was a theoretical work it avoids being 'stuffy' and is a surprisingly easy read. My only criticism is that most of the many maps included in the book lack detail or are difficult to read.

I'm too lazy to write a review. In conclusion great.

The definitive book on armoured warfare, engaging accounts of experience and expertise in theory and practice. Worth reading as a book regardless of whether you are in to military history or not

Magnificient book in which Gen.Guderian draws the conclusions from the 1st world war and prophetise the way war would be done in the next decades.His theories applied would win most of Germany's achievment in WWII.A must read for anybody interested in military history, but probably too technical for general history readers.

An excellent book on the origins of tank warfare reduced to a four star “good” rating by poor formatting. It appears that some of the photographs are missing.