Thomas, Paul Images of War. Hitler's Light Tanks. Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives

Hitler's Wehrmacht led the way in armoured warfare as the successful blitzkriegs in Poland and North West Europe in 1940 so convincingly proved. The contribution of light tanks such as Panzers I, II and 35(t) was critical. As the war spread to the Balkans, North Africa and the invasion of Russia, German engineers worked tirelessly modifying existing light tanks and developing new models. The growing Soviet armoured threat, in particular, spawned tank destroyers such as the "Marder" III Panzerjäger, Sdkfz. 138/1 and 139. Anti-aircraft variants included the Flakpanzer 38(t) and the Sdkfz. 140/1 was a reconnaissance tank armed with a 20mm turret-mounted gun, developed from the Sdkfz. 22 armoured car, whereas the Aufklärungerspanzer 38(t) carried a 7,5cm gun in the support reconnaissance role. In the final stages of the war light tanks were phased out and the "Marder" and 38 (t) were up-gunned; the "Wespe" was adapted from the Panzer II chassis. This superbly illustrated book gives a comprehensive overview of the multitude of vehicles and variants that came into service. With the text and captions providing technical data, the images show this formidable array of fighting vehicles in action across the theatres of war.

This excellently illustrated book provides a comprehensive overview of the large number of light armoured fighting vehicles deployed and their numerous variants. With the text and captions containing technical data, the photos show this interesting range of fighting vehicles that were used in virtually all theatres of the European and North African theatre of war.