As an addict about all things armor, I could not resist this book. Walter Speilberger is the Man when it comes to German Armor books, he pioneered technical books on German armor back in the 1970's. One of his "students" Thomas Jentz has also published very good, detailed books on the Tiger 1 and Tiger 2. Both are published by Schiffer have high glossy paper and are of high quality. So, which is better? I now have all three and a recommendation...
Speilberger combines Tiger 1 and 2 and varients in one book, now listing at $37.00 -Jentz wrote seperate books, each about $35.00. As you might guess, some of the photos are identical. The photos in this book are smaller, but there are more of them and there are more of the Tiger 1 & 2 in the factory. They are dark. The line drawings are in most cases, identical, the same artist did them both, but again, in this book they are smaller. Neither has color photos, a drawback to the would be modeler. In this book, there is a chapter called "TigerFibel", an English translation of the German tanker's manual of how to maintain & operate the Tiger 1. It's humorous, written to the simplest common denominator....interesting how some things in tanking do not change. Tons of data, statistics, charts on all versions & varients of Tiger 1 and 2.
You could buy Speilbergers work and be perfectly content and save money. But I prefer Jentz's books - the photos are better, including many of the interior, there are more line drawings, cut- aways and technical narrative. Which you would expect since he uese two volumes to Speilberger's one. This book stands perfectly well on its own. Speilberger is the teacher, the mentor - which is why I was a little disappointed in this book. I do not recommend you buy all three, unless you are bitten by the armor bug and "have to have it".
