Panzer Aces

Rating:
Summary: Great True Stories from the Front!
Review: I had just finished "Infantry Aces" by the same author and I was looking for more of the same true stories. I ran across this book here on Amazon and I didnt put it down till it was finished! This book features names like Whittman, Ribbentrop, Ernst! Stories like this are unique, and full of emotion! This book also gives you a glimpse of how life was when the feared T-34 made its appearance on the battlefield and what was done to counter this beast. Can you imagine being on the crew of a PZK III when suddenly a Soviet Tank Army launches an attack in your sector! I can go on and on, but the best advice I have is to buy this book! A great price for stories that will put you in the action!

Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining and informative view of Panzer life
Review: I read this book first, afterwards i picked up Infantry Aces by Franz as well. This book while only having the story about a few panzer aces, 6 i think. Is very detailed from the start of their career and to the end. The stories of the battles on the eastern front are simply amazing, especially late in the war. The numbers or enemy tanks agnaist them and battle after battle are simply unbelievable! The story of each tankers life and experiences is something any history buff would like. Some people who like exciting fiction, will also like these true stories as they are amazing. I cant wait for panzer aces 2 to come out.

Rating:
Summary: I Hated this book...
Review: Ok, here it is...I simply could not stand reading this book.
Why? May be because I was looking for a story of how the Panzer troops earned their title of how the author describes them as "..the most feared soldiers in the world", and not a sugar-coated, romanticized tale of combat encounters.
I didn't even finish reading the darned thing. I wanted realism, I wanted specific details, I wanted technical aspects of the fighting and vehicles, and yes, I wanted blood and guts, because that is what war is about.
What I got instead is a breifly summorised essay on how the German troops rolled through France, and how they slapped the Russians around on the Eastern front. I simply did not bother reading any further.
The problem with this book, besides being a vaguely described piece of how glorious German troops simply oblitirated any opposition with their "brave, seasoned veterans" of Panzer crews, is that the author can not make up his mind as to weather he wanted to write a memoir, or a simply described piece of combat encounters. Everything is touched up very vaguely, the characters in the book, instead of being described as what they were (i.e. soldiers, or simply men), are written as "fearless", "no regard for personal life and safety" people, who are about as believable as the idea of Mickey Mouse driving a tank. Or may be, the whole essense of this book got lost in the translation, who knows. All I know is that I tried my best to get into it, but my efforts were spent on trying not to laugh to hard at cartoonish descriptions of what was supposed to be a serious piece of military history.
I would not recomend this book to any serious enthusiast of WWII history.
If I wanted to read a tale of one-sided, rose-padle covered war, I would read a Bible.
A total waist of money and time.