PANZER - The Armoured Force of the Third Reich by Cooper, Matthew & James Lucas

New York 1976, St Martin's, US First edition, hard bound in dust jacket, 7x10, VG/VG condition ( light foxing on some page margins - dj price clipped), 160 pages, well illustrated. -------------------------------------------This book presents a fresh interpretation of a controversial and fascinating subject. It is a comprehensive account of the reasons f'or the failure of the Third Reich's armoured force which, in the early years of the war, had won such remarkable victories in Poland, Flanders, France and the Soviet Union, humbling the world's most highly rated armies. Panzer illustrates how the theories of armoured warfare were applied in battle by taking four military operations as detailed examples: the lightning advance of Rommel's 7th Panzer Division across France in May 1940; the huge encirclement battle around Kiev in the summer and autumn of 1941 which resulted in the capture of over - 600,000 prisoners; the battle at Gazala in North Africa in 1942 which illustrates the cut and thrust of daring panzer tactics; and tank commander Michael Wittmann's brilliant individual action in the wooded,hilly country of Normandy in 1944. Also described are the ever-changing organization of the panzer divisions before and during the war; the development of armoured vehicles and their influence on the field of battle; and the personalities of the leaders and their men. The many photographs from private and official sources trace the history of German armoured fighting vehicles from the Mark I, armed only with machine guns, to the giant Tiger with its 88 mm gun.