Germany's Panther Tank the Quest for Combat Supremacy: Development - Modifications - Rare Variants - Characteristics - Combat Accounts (Schiffer Military/Aviation History)

Rating:
Summary: The Necessary Panther Companion
Review: In this work, Thomas Jentz traces the development of Germanys Panther tank using original WWII documents such as drawings and parts numbers. Every mark (Ausf.) and every detail change to the Panther is described. The development and production history takes up about 3/4 of the book, the rest is a short description of the operational characteristics of the Panther, a short combat history and a number of tables and diagrams with tehcnical details. This is THE Panther book. Back it up with Spielbergers more technical work and you have about all there is to know about the Panther.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent technical "ouvrage"
Review: This is an excellent book by a man who studied every little piece of information available on this vehicle for over 20 years. He climbed inside the thing many times and has been around it more than once. It is writen in a very technical language, so all of you non-mechanics and newbies out there, watch out! If there is one thing sorely lacking, it is a page of terminolgy. It would have helped a lot. Also, a more combat accounts would've been great. But overall, it is THE Panther book.

Rating:
Summary: This Panther Book is worth the price
Review: Thomas Jentz has recently completed two short but technically compressive books, called "Panzer Tracts," on the first two variants of the Panther tank (Ausf D and A) and additional tracts are in the works for the remaining variants. The new "Panzer Tracts" include as-built 1/10 and 1/35th scale drawings and new technical information which better highlights things like the differences between late Ausf Ds and early Ausf As. Some of the small technical details in the "Tracts" were not known in 1995 and so could not be included in Jentz's "Germany's Panther Tank the Quest for Combat Supremacy." However, "Germany's Panther Tank the Quest for Combat Supremacy" represents over 20 years of research on the Panther and will remain for some years the definitive single volume study of the Panther.