T-34: Russian Armor

Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II / the Violent Century: Weapons Book #21

by Douglas Orgill

One of the many Ballentine WWII series, this volume deals with the infamous T 34 Russian tank

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction, Military Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

UK author, mostly of thrillers, from the early 1960s; of sf interest are his two novels with John R Gribbin.

Reviews

[Connor Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whilst it was written before the Russian archives opened, it is still relatively good. It acknowledges the bias of having majority German sources on the eastern front and mostly avoids the traps that comes with that. The best modern book on the T34 is definitely T34 shock by Francis Pullham so for a modern take on the subject I would definitely go and read that.

[George Kasnic · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wide-ranging book rich with maps and illustrations as is de riguer for this series. From the strategic use of the T34, it’s operational impact, and tactical dominance the author presents facts supporting its war changing impact. Technical specifications and their impact on the tanks’ performance, from the mobility offer by superior track width, to the lethality of the higher muzzle velocity of a longer tube, to the difficulty of firing on the move with a Christie chassis, to the advantage speed and range provide to planners, to the exponential impact on armor effectiveness of sloped armor. The author writes like a master of military history and this story of the best tank in the war, the one responsible for winning WWII lays out the reasons why.