Books & DVD’s

WHY GERMANY NEARLY WON

There are plenty of books which postulate the opinion of ‘what if’ Germany had won the war, but this book is different. Firstly, the opinion of the title is based on solid research to present a sound argument. The facts and figures support the case and for anyone who enjoys learning about how much oil it took to keep armies in the field and how much food to feed them will find this book fascinating. The sheer scale of the industrialisation to fight WWII was incredible and losses were frightening. For example the Soviets built 98,300 tanks and SPGs between 1941 and 1945 and lost 96,500 in battle. The author reminds the reader how costly the air war was and how Germany was able to keep going for so long by adapting to the situation. This is a book which holds the attention and makes for an excellent reference work.

Author: Steven D. Mercatante.
Publisher: Casemate, tel. 01865 241249 www.casematepublishing.co.uk
ISBN: 9781612001630.
Price: £20.

GREAT WAR TANK MK IV

The British army was the first military force to deploy the tank on the battlefields of the First World War. Once committed to battle there was no going back and soon it was being copied by other armies. The Germans even used captured examples against the British but they never managed to master the concept. There were several main designs in the war and this book focuses on the Mk IV which is considered by many to be the most important type. The author was until recently the curator at the Bovington Tank Museum in Dorset and this work is a product of exhaustive research and an encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject. This work covers all major stages in the development of the tank along with its record of deployment and the units. All tank enthusiasts will want this on their bookshelves and never more so with the approach of the centenary of WWI.

Author: David Fletcher.
Publisher: Haynes Publishing tel.01963 442030.  www.haynes.co.uk
ISBN: 978057332424.
Price: £21.99.

THE SPADE AS MIGHTY AS THE SWORD.

We are all familiar with the wartime slogan ‘Dig for Victory’, but does anybody know who coined the phrase? This book provides the answer to that as well as answering many other questions about life on the Home Front. This aspect of domestic life in wartime Britain has never been more popular with re-enactors and the public at large than at the present time. In this very neat, compact volume the author presents the reader with a wealth of information and revealing facts. For example, beekeepers were allowed a sugar ration for their bees but it was dyed green to prevent it being sold on the black-market, but it led to a rather humorous side effect. There was the man whose allotment in Worthing was blown up by a V-1 rocket destroying his valuable potato crop but within hours he was back on his plot planting ‘winter greens’ to keep growing food. These and other stories are amusing and informative and keep the reader turning the pages of this nice little volume. Who coined the phrase ‘Dig for Victory’? Well, it turns out that it was a ‘…fiery left-wing leader writer for the London Evening Standard in September 1939 by the name of Michael Foot.’

Author: Daniel Smith.
Publisher: Aurum Publishing Group tel. 020 7284 9300 www.aurumpress.com
ISBN: 9781781310427.
Price: £8.99.

GREAT WAR TANK MK IV

The British army was the first military force to deploy the tank on the battlefields of the First World War. Once committed to battle there was no going back and soon it was being copied by other armies. The Germans even used captured examples against the British but they never managed to master the concept. There were several main designs in the war and this book focuses on the Mk IV which is considered by many to be the most important type. The author was until recently the curator at the Bovington Tank Museum in Dorset and this work is a product of exhaustive research and an encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject. This work covers all major stages in the development of the tank along with its record of deployment and the units. All tank enthusiasts will want this on their bookshelves and never more so with the approach of the centenary of WWI.

Author: David Fletcher.
Publisher: Haynes Publishing tel.01963 442030.  www.haynes.co.uk
ISBN: 978057332424.
Price: £21.99.

RED ARMY TANK COMMANDER

The author of this book was barely 17 years old when Germany attacked Russia in June 1941. He joined the Red Army and two years later after training he found himself the commander of a T-34 tank and about to take part in the greatest tank battle of all time at Kursk. This is his story as he saw it from a soldier’s perspective. He relates summary executions, the effects of anti-tank weapons and the aftermath of battle all in vivid detail. He writes about simple things such as food and also the way in which men reacted differently when in battle. The author saw a great deal of action as he fought across the Ukraine, Romania and Hungary before going into Austria. His unit met up with the Americans on the River Danube but even then there is an element of doubt in the air. After the war he remained in the army and in the 1970s served as an adviser to the Yemen Army. He finally retired in 1986 after an army career spanning 45 years it was only in 1995 he was made a Hero of the Russian Federation for his actions in WWII. This is a personal tale and his opinion of his various enemies will come as a surprise to many.

Author: Vasily Bryukhov
Distributor: Pen & Sword Books Ltd, tel. 01226 734555 www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
ISBN: 9781781590232
Price: £19.99.

AFRIKA KORPS 1941-1942 (DVD)

It was Hitler who personally ordered the raising of the Deutsche Afrika Korps (DAK) in January 1941 for deployment to North Africa to fight the British and Commonwealth armies. This first disc in a two-part documentary uses official German newsreel footage to show the unit from the time it first arrived in the region when it was a smart parade ground army being inspected by Rommel. This was for propaganda purposes and makes for fascinating viewing. The film takes in how German and Italian troops fought alongside one another and shows a full range of equipment, vehicles and weaponry. Basics necessities in war such as food, water and fuel are all taken into account - a part of the campaign not usually covered. The fighting is filmed and the German commentator gives praise to the British and Commonwealth armies as well as boosting up the German troops. This is a film from wartime archives for home archives and can be watched many times over.

Distributor: Pen & Sword Books Ltd, tel. 01226 734555 www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
ISBN: 5060247620534256.DVD
running time: 55 minutes.
Price: £9.99

AFRIKA KORPS 1942-1943 (DVD)

Military historians know the date when the Afrika Korps was created and this film, the second in a two-disc documentary, takes the story of this remarkable unit to the point of its surrender and the end of the campaign in North Africa. As with the first disc in the series this film uses original wartime German newsreel footage with English sub-titles and makes for a film that can be watched many times over. The film is part of the ‘Hitler’s War Machine’ series and for a unit which was so short-lived it holds a mystique which amazes historians. The Afrika Korps was the poor relation of the European German armies, receiving limited amount of supplies because they were sunk, and yet its achievements went beyond its size. It made use of captured British equipment and tied down British forces and American forces in its first experience of battle. This is a film which will compliment any library on WW II.

Distributor: Pen & Sword Books Ltd, tel. 01226 734555 www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
ISBN: 5060247620558.DVD running time: approx. 60 minutes.
Price: £9.99.

BALKANS, GREECE AND CRETE 1941 (DVD)

The value of books can be measured in the number of times one reads or refers to and in the case of DVDs the number of times it is watched. This is one of those films that the viewer will invariably find something new to see with every viewing. The campaign in the Balkans is an often overlooked aspect of WW II and this film shows the fighting between the German army and the British and Commonwealth forces in Greece and Crete. The original archive footage shows the intensity of the fighting and the weaponry in use including how the Luftwaffe was used to support the Wehrmacht’s armoured units. The campaign will be familiar to some historians but for others it will be an introduction and add to the understanding of how far the war spread in such remote regions as the Balkans.

Distributor: Pen & Sword Books Ltd, tel. 01226 734555 www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
ISBN: 5060247620541.DVD running time: approx. 60 minutes.
Price: £9.99.