Anderson, Thomas The History of the Panzerwaffe. Volume 3: The Panzer Divisions

The first two volumes of the "History of the Panzerwaffe" have described how the Germans transformed armoured warfare from a lumbering and ponderous experiment in World War I into something that could decide the outcome of conflicts, and how the legendary Panzerwaffe overran Western Europe and reached the gates of Moscow to the east, before taking its place in the forefront of German defence from the D-Day landings to the valiant last stand in Berlin. This third volume focuses on the most important units in the Panzerwaffe, and some of the most famous units in the history of warfare: the Panzer Divisions. It details their pre-war origins and how they developed over the course of the war, covering all the specialized units and how they operated on the battlefield. The title is illustrated throughout with many rare and previously unpublished images and the text draws heavily on original German documents.

It was not least because of their Panzerwaffe that the Germans overran Western Europe in the early phase of the Second World War and stormed to the gates of Moscow, and the Panzerwaffe also played a central role in the defensive battles against the Allies on the Eastern and Western fronts in the later phase of the war. This third volume now focuses on the most important units of the Panzerwaffe: the armoured divisions. It describes their origins before the war and how they evolved as the war progressed, also covering all the specialised units and how they operated on the battlefield. The title is illustrated throughout with many rare and previously unpublished photographs and the text draws heavily on original German documents.