Introduction

This book covering the Armour of Rommel’s Afrika Korps is part of a series of titles from Pen and Sword as part of their ‘Images at War’ series. These books cover the subject matter mostly in photographs and so offer a great visual reference for anyone interested in the subject matter regardless of the reason for that interest. For the modeller these books represent a horn of plenty when it comes to visual information.

Review

This offering from Pen and Sword is part of the ‘Images at War’ series. This series of books are soft backed offerings having a good card cover with a very good spine to the book that keeps the contents in good order. This book covering the Armour of Rommel’s Afrika Korps has been authored by Ian Baxter. The contents of this title are provided over 128 pages of good quality semi gloss paper.

The contents are presented in the following sections:
Chapter 1 – Desert Blitzkrieg, 1941
Chapter 2 – Attack and Retreat, 1942
Chapter 3 – Destruction in Tunisia, 1943

The dedicated text in this offering is minimal as that is not the purpose of these books, as they are not designed to be read in the truest sense of the word. There are a few pages of text that are well written and provide brief sections of information that guide the viewer on the contents of the book. The author has written a short piece at the start of each chapter as a guide to what each chapter covers and sets the scene if you wish. I am actually quite pleased with the introductions at the start of each chapter as they do add to the book rather than taking away.

The photographs in this offering are all period black and white offerings with very good captions that clearly explain who or what and where and when where possible. While the armour is the centre piece of this title the officers and Rommel get a fair amount of pictorial attention in the book. I like that the men that make the machines of war work get a fair amount of coverage as I find images of this type informative. A good number of the photographs published here have not been seen by me before and so great for making me pay attention.

The way the chapters are laid out in this title takes you on a visual journey from the Triumph in the early stages and ultimately to the end, this approach is shown to me from looking at the faces in the photographs from the start to finish. Most of the photographs are very clear with good focus with a couple of Rommel being a little off. Considering the photographs are 80 years old nearly I am not going to complain about the few that are off.

Conclusion

This offering from Pen and Sword as part of their ‘Images of War’ series is another great addition to that series. This book I feel can be best described as a visual history of the people and vehicles present at events that took place during the time the Germans were fighting in North Africa. These pictures are most of use to the modeller who likes to display their models on a diorama as this book offers a lot of visual reference possibilities in that respect. The cost alone of this title from Pen and Sword make it a must have for anyone with an interest in the Afrika Korps during World War Two.