Heinz Guderian (1888–1954)

It is interesting reading a book about history, that is itself, history. Published just before the second world war, this exceptional book is Heinz Guderian's play book for armoured warfare.

He in the text he first of all goes into exact detail on a number of battles from the First World War. Not necessarily the famous one's but battles that slowly build up a picture of the First World War methods used by the then infant tank troops. Then, he takes us through the developments after the First World War, concentrating on how Britian, France and Russia adapted the armoured warfare concept. Finally, he states the way he believes the next war should be fought. That of using the tank as the primary weapon to achieve victory.

It is very prophetic reading through his proposals and seeing just how many were applied by the Panzer forces, almost to the letter. In turn, some of his predictions on how enemies would react are spot-on. It is no wonder, reading through this book, that the Germany tank forces and indeed military as a whole were so successful during the opening years of the Second World War.

For military buff's, this is a must read and exceptionally well translated. An excellent book.… (meer)