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The Panther V In Combat - Guderian's Problem Child (Hitler's War Machine)
 
 
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The Panther V In Combat - Guderian's Problem Child (Hitler's War Machine) [Kindle Edition]

Bob Carruthers (Author)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews) |
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Product Description

Product Description

The Panther V evidenced a number of problems in combat, this was the proof of the rushed development programme was made obvious from the events at Kursk. However, despite its disappointing battlefield debut, the Panther is frequently hailed as the best all round tank of the war.

This fascinating study by Emmy award Winning Author and historian Bob Carruthers draws on a wide variety of combat reports and unique primary sources to weigh up the facts in order to produce the definitive single volume overview of a legendary fighting machine. Included are numerous examples of wartime combat reports from both allied and German sources, additionally there are a large selection of extracts from the Pantherfibel, the original crew training manual. This superb new release in eBook form is essential reading for anyone interested in tank warfare during World War II.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By AK TOP 500 REVIEWER
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This is the third Carruthers book I have read and while it shares some of the elements of the other two (Panzers At War 1939 - 1942 (Hitler's War Machine) and Panzers At War 1943 - 1945 (Hitler's War Machine)) such as the very high level overview, it seems sadly to be a much more rushed effort, which I find difficult to recommend for anyone.

Most of the material is from the Pantherfibel, the instructional manual for the troops operating it, which while made in a comic like style, is quite a useful source. Starting the book with a chapter on this, together with the description of the earlier Tigerfibel was a good move - it was certainly one of the better and more interesting parts, even if it had little to do with the vehicle itself.

Th other chapters go into the re-construction programme of the early prototypes, the further development process, the production, combat (which somehow only covers the Eastern Front), Combat in France (as a separate chapter), Combat in the Ardennes, and lastly building the Panther (covering mostly the same area as the production chapter but also for some reason goes into the design response of the British, Americans and Russians to the Panther and lastly the design characteristics and further versions).

While some of the issues from the Panzers At War 1939 - 1942 (Hitler's War Machine) and Panzers At War 1943 - 1945 (Hitler's War Machine) books, such as normal text font for the image captions and the manifold spelling errors have been corrected, it seems that others crept in as a result, which in the end are far worse. This includes the author making widely contradictory claims about the same subject only pages apart, inserting the same reports verbatim twice in different sections of the book, plenty of factual errors, general repetition, etc.

Apart from the section on the traning manuals, the only other one with something of a novelty value is the report on how some of the Panther's were camouflaged for the Ardenne Offensive to look like M10 tank destroyers.

Overall, this sadly looks far less like a labour of love, and much more as just a minimal effort attempt of capitalising on the name of the author and his Discovery Channel series on the topic. Even if your interest in the topic is casual, I would recommend this book avoided, as opposed to Panzers At War 1939 - 1942 (Hitler's War Machine) and Panzers At War 1943 - 1945 (Hitler's War Machine), which while not giving much to the more enthusiastic amateur military historians, still provide decent basic information for the beginner.
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Really good read! 20 Mar 2012
This was direct and to the point and gave me enough information to get excited and satisfy my history need ...
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:  3 reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Gears and Tears 4 May 2012
By Jason Francis - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase
The title aptly captures the essence of this volume on the Panther, as it was a problem child. This book isn't an action oriented, gory-details of combat and heroism of soldiers kind of volume but rather a technical and developmental take on the Panther tank the Germans fielded at the end of WW2 and it does a good job in that capacity. Basically the Panther was an over-engineered response to the Russian T-34, meant to outgun the Russian tank force while being armored and mobile enough for the attack. It was to be the main tank of the Germany Panzer Corps but failed in this capacity by being too complicated to build in large numbers and prone to breakdowns in the field compared to the robust Sherman and Russian tanks. It was a gas hog as well with a limited range, and many were lost due to fuel issues or abandoned because they couldn't be dragged back to the lines.

Even after it had teething problems resolved following a rushed development and deployment in 1943, which raised it's combat availability to 60% or so under good conditions from the horrible sub 30% around the Battle of Kursk it had a bad drive system which needed to be babied and proved to be its Achilles heel. With only 6000 produced, it pales in comparison to the Sherman and T-34 in numbers and yet it was a high-volume machine by German standards which just goes to show how inadequate and overmatched German industry was in scale and design philosophy. The author makes a great point by stating that the opportunity cost of this vehicle in terms of the simpler and more reliable, if somewhat less-deadly, Pz. IV was huge and probably a mistake.

One great thing about this volume is the discussion of the Pantherfibel, or training manual which I hadn't known about and is illustrated at many points in the book. This was a technical beast that had to be carefully handled by the crew, and by the end of the war crew training was too fast for proper instruction so the Germans tried to make up for it with better manuals that were like comic books to get complex ideas and tips across in a memorable and quick format to green crews. For the money it isn't the best all around Panther book but for what it was aiming at and for $4.00 bucks I'd recommend it.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
The Panther V in Combat - Guderian's Problem Child (Hitlers War MAchine) 1 May 2012
By Romanov - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase
Easy enough to read, technical details adequate for the uninitiated tankers.
Generally a well covered review of one of Germany's new tanks.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Good value for $3 27 April 2012
By jahg84 - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase
Generally good. Explanation of history, features, early reactions to the panter on the part of the allies.

Problems: Text has variable font size for no discernible reason.
Apart from a diagram of torsion bars and drive train no diagrams, all text description.
A lot of effort expended on why the sherman was generally just as good as the panther. Little explanation of why it enjoyed lopsided kill ratios.
Blasts interleaved road wheels without explaining why the germans used them. Some digging around the net reveals it leads to a considerably smoother ride as there are more points for suspension.
Lastly, I was hoping for a deeper analysis of its gun. Does its extreme length cause fume problems? Does it lead to vibrations upsetting its aim?

It has its shortcomings but worth $3
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