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Rating: 
Summary: Highly recommended for eastern front armour buffs
Review: Finally, a decent well-rounded book on the Soviet tanks of WW2. This book covers the history of the development, use in battle, and future impact of the major tank designs. Assault gun and tank destroyer variants of these tanks are also covered, which is a real bonus. There are many good pictures which I hadn't already seen myself. Captured and lend-lease tanks are also covered. In my opinion, this is the best book, to-date, on this subject. It is not an encyclopedia, like one of the books on German tanks that I have (which this book stands proudly alongside), but one must remember that the Soviets focussed on fewer designs and variants, thus avoiding many of the production, attririon, and maintenance problems that the Germans encountered with so much diversity.A few minor nitpicks: While the main data is included, I would have liked to see more tables detailing armour thicknesses, slope, etc. Also, a lot of information is provided on the major tanks and variants, but some of the lesser known tanks are either briefly, or not, covered. In summary, I heartily recommend this book to eastern front armour enthusiasts.
Rating:
Summary: A very good book but with some editorial mistakes
Review: This book provides a good overview of the development of Soviet tanks from the early 1920s to the end of World War II and beyond. It also provides a good explanation of the Soviet's strategic military aims after the Revolution and Civil War and the tactics that these aims would entail. The tank was central to these tactics and Soviet armor design has to be seen in that light. In other words this book is not just a list of the tanks and their statistics. The book also provides a detailed background to the design, manufacture and use of each major tank type. The T-34 and KV-1 are given the most coverage, as is only proper. The book also includes, but does not overemphasize, some of the odd prototypes and experimental vehicles that the Soviets developed. The book concludes with a discussion of the legacy of WWII Soviet armor and tactics down to the present day. The book is attractively laid out and there are many good pictures and line drawings. There are also a number of interesting tables in the back of the book. Unfortunately this is a very good book that is marred by numerous instances of lack of proof reading in the text and one badly mislabeled picture (an ISU 122 self propelled gun is labeled as a IS-2 tank on pg 26). I was able ignore these problems the first couple of times but it kept happening and became a bit annoying. Errors and all, I read the book all the way to the end and enjoyed it. The authors obviously know the subject and I learned some things I didn't know. Even with the errors I give it 4 stars. If the publisher would clean up the editorial mistakes in the next printing this would be 5 star book.
Rating:
Summary: A very good book but with some editorial mistakes
Review: This book provides a good overview of the development of Soviet tanks from the early 1920s to the end of World War II and beyond. It also provides a good explanation of the Soviet's strategic military aims after the Revolution and Civil War and the tactics that these aims would entail. The tank was central to these tactics and Soviet armor design has to be seen in that light. In other words this book is not just a list of the tanks and their statistics. The book also provides a detailed background to the design, manufacture and use of each major tank type. The T-34 and KV-1 are given the most coverage, as is only proper. The book also includes, but does not overemphasize, some of the odd prototypes and experimental vehicles that the Soviets developed. The book concludes with a discussion of the legacy of WWII Soviet armor and tactics down to the present day. The book is attractively laid out and there are many good pictures and line drawings. There are also a number of interesting tables in the back of the book. Unfortunately this is a very good book that is marred by numerous instances of lack of proof reading in the text and one badly mislabeled picture (an ISU 122 self propelled gun is labeled as a IS-2 tank on pg 26). I was able ignore these problems the first couple of times but it kept happening and became a bit annoying. Errors and all, I read the book all the way to the end and enjoyed it. The authors obviously know the subject and I learned some things I didn't know. Even with the errors I give it 4 stars. If the publisher would clean up the editorial mistakes in the next printing this would be 5 star book.
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