Army of Steel: Tank Warfare 1939-45

by Nigel Cawthorne

'If the tanks succeed, then victory follows.'
-General Heinz Guderian, 1937

When Germany attacked Poland on 1 September 1939, nothing like it had ever been seen before. Heralded by the insidious whine of Stuka divebombers, seven divisions of Panzers rolled across the border supported by motorized infantry.

While tanks were punching gaping holes through Polish lines and racing on at speed towards Warsaw, fleeing refugees were machine-gunned mercilessly by the Luftwaffe and lines of communication were torn to ribbons as mayhem spread. This was Blitzkrieg (or 'lightning war'), the art of mechanized warfare.

After seeing the success of the British tanks in the First World War, the Germans decided that the future of warfare lay in the Panzerkampfwagen , the armoured fighting vehicle, later simply known as the Panzer.

Army of Tank Warfare 1939-45 explores the development of the Panzer concept, and the building and deployment of the Corps through the eyes of those who fought in it, and of those who fought against it. It tells the story of the singular breed of men who formed the spearhead of the world's most ruthless and efficient military machine, and how they ultimately came to be defeated.

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

320 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Nigel Cawthorne is an Anglo-American writer of fiction and non-fiction, and an editor. He has written more than 80 books on a wide range of subjects and has contributed to The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph Daily Mail and The New York Times. He has appeared on television and BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Many of Nigel Cawthorne's books are compilations of popular history, without footnotes, references or bibliographies. His own web site refers to a description of his home as a "book-writing factory" and says, "More than half my books were commissioned by publishers and packagers for a flat fee or for a for a reduced royalty".

One of his most notable works was Taking Back My Name, an autobiography of Ike Turner, with whom he spent a number of weeks working with him on, taking up residence in Turner's house. The book caused much controversy, resulting in court cases for three years following its release.

Cawthorne currently lives in Bloomsbury, London with his girlfriend and son, Colin (born 1982).

Reviews

[Adrian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many written mistakes and missing (important historical) information for me to warrant more than two stars for this book. This book seems to read more like a chronological timeline, rather than a straight-forward book, charting the development of tank warfare during the period 1939-1945.

I have read many superbly written books on tank warfare over the years, but unfortunately this is not one of them.

[S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cawthorne's method is to read a score of books on the subject and then dash out a book, citing no references, but generally conforming to proper Western standards of truthfulness. he isn't scamming anybody; it's just that he's not bothering to do the professional historian or professional non-fiction writer's thing about taking 2 years to put out a tome, and get all the references and fact-checking. nor does it appear, as matter of fact, that Cawthorne got an academic degree, let alone the PhD. the result here is a 1.99 book that is worth the price, but cannot be compared to the professional work done by historians or even graduate students. in short, this isn't much better than a very large wikipedia entry, and at times, it even drags

according to his own website, he's a figure of some minor repute at the British library, where he makes his informal workroom, checking out obscure books and taking notes, etc. apparently after he came out with an entire "sex life of XXXX" (the popes, the presidents, etc.) he then became known as that "guy who writes sex books."

the problem, of course, is that society mistreats authors. how can anybody complain about a $2 book? but see already he's a scandalous character. and after he dies, his books will continue to be available to human beings around the world.

see how the world steps on its creators!!!!

so, let's do thought exercise, o lurker.


here is cawthorne, with the nice british library background



and here is cawthorne, official goodreads profile pic

. so is this cawthorne?



or is this?



take a few moments to consider. i will deliberate put some superfluous paragraphing marks so as to not spoil.

1

2

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so okay

11

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if you're still reading, the answer is neither. the first is a US Army major who died in vietnam; the second is a serial killer. the point being made is only that google image search is a dangerous thing. it identified both as a young Cawthorne, based on the fact that he had written about both people.

I wrote this all out for you. because you are a lurker. why would you be reading my Goodreads reviews, unless you LURK MOAR?

yes, ahhahaha

it is healthy to lurk

it is normal to lurk

you are lurking and reading book reviews because making new internet "friendships" is tiring. oh god. by the time you hit 30, I think you just get really really tired of meeting a new personality, unless that personality is female and very comely. god

so instead, you luuurrrkkkkk.... it is healthy behaviour. do not be ashamed. consider yourself the ELITE of reading masters of aesthetic's extended babblefests on obscure books. you've found it! you're a miner!

(for the record, my degree was a bachelor in english literature, with about 80% of the work towards a concentration in classical literature also completed).... go tell the marines

o readaholic

you have borne with the mad review writer for some time and so i will reward you now with some pics of various korean girls





a topic largely on my mind as i sits in cafes and count my pennies.

hey, of the three girls listed, only the middle one is a celebrity. han ga eun

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Han-Ga...

a semi successful model. why semi-successful

real models don't create facebook pages; they have facebook pages created about them!

cough cough cough

anyway returns to original topic...

oppression of writers is two fold.

cawthorne is only paid for output, whereas engineers / bankers are paid whether they mentally check out for a year or not. i know lots of salaried office workers who don't work for months on end. see how society treats creatives!

second, cawthorne gets dismissed as that "sex-writer" although he's written far more historical works.

that is my screed against the anti-writers of the world

[Kym Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are looking for an in depth book filled with new and non generic information then this book is not for you. Although the book is filled with a German focus and covers all of the more trendy historical aspects of World War Two land warfare, it is still very well written and keeps you reading each page.

The book for me was a travel companion, one of those non fiction books which you can read while on the plane, train or stuck in a hotel room. I actually read this the weekend of a fight, which in itself is very much a hurry up and wait affair. Such books as this are ideal. Its martial content and non challenging flow was a pleasant time spender for me at that time as I waited for the weigh in to the fight itself.

Though I did not feel I 'learned' anything new in this book it did provide a nice balance between technical depictions of fighting vehicles and their deployment to the relationships and basic personalities of the more famous war fighters.

I would recommend this book to any one interested in learning about WW2 with a land war focus. For those already knowledgeable in the field this book may be a little shallow for you. All in all a pleasant little read.

66 %

[Adrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable, readable book and a good introduction to someone new to the topic. If this particular subject is old hat to you, you won't find much new in the book. But for someone just developing an interest in WWII armored combat and the development of Germany's Panzer forces, this book makes a good starting point. It is easily readable, which isn't always the case for military history, and that is an extremely important point for a survey type work like this.

Cawthorne zeros in on the two most prominent figures in the development of Germany's armored warfare doctrines, Guderian and Rommel; others are mentioned in passing, but these two are the stars of the show. The author does a good job of outlining the development of the Panzer forces and some of the difficulties Guderian experienced in getting them established. Overall the book does a good job tracing the arc of the Panzerwaffe from its establishment, to its peak, and finally its death.

[Robert Hepple · Rating 2 out of 5]

Published in 2003, 'Steel Fist - Tank Warfare 1939-45' sets out to tell the story of the development of tank warfare in WW2. After spending 40+ pages examining the invention and use of tanks in WW1, it gets on with this after a fashion. It reads as if much if it has been cribbed from Guderian's book 'Panzer Leader', as it is often from Guderian's perspective. This means that it repeats Guderian's errors, as well as giving a very biased perspective. This isn't a huge problem, but leaves you thinking that you would have been better off reading 'Panzer Leader' itself. The probable exception to this is chapter 7 entitled 'Soviet Superiority' which contains so many technical errors that I nearly gave up in disgust. Not surprisingly, Cawthorne does not provide references for any of his facts or statements, and it leaves you puzzling over how much is from other sources, how much is wild conjecture, and how much is sheer muddle over simple facts.

[Daniel Rex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting quick read, brisk "pulp non fiction" packaged as a book about Armored Warfare of WW2 but very focused and limited to "Panzers" or the German deployment and use of "tanks" after a brief introduction on how "tanks" began to be used as a weapon in WW I and ideas on their deployment during the interwar years.
As other reviewers have pointed out, this book seems to be about Heinz Guderian. And then it seems it flows with a similar narrative to Guderian's own book, "Panzer Leader".
Cawthorne is a prolific author. Known for his "Lives" series. Not a historian, but his look at German panzers in action bounces breezily about in a rush and gets there. He's done a book on Normandy too apparently. Yet basically he writes about anything that interests him after reading a lot about it. Basic book. Interesting in parts.

[Jared · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick summary of some of the key battles fought by Panzers in the Second World War. It ranges from operational to strategic level summaries and doesn't discuss panzer tactics much. The chapters after Barbarossa become briefer and shorter. It's an ok read and runs at a fast pace and is certainly an overview type book, not delving into the details too much.

[Carlos Vázquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I give it 4 stars because it’s the first book I ever read and remember it dearly. I was 9-10 years old so probably didn’t understand it completely. Anyway it was an amazing read for a kid who wanted to learn about tanks and WWII in a time youtube didn’t exist.

[Leisnic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining and informative enough, but for my liking a bit too much of "and them this happened and then that happened and then...".

[Recato · Rating 1 out of 5]

By no-fault of the author (not that it was that an interesting book), I am giving it a 1-star rating.

On page 225 the book turned into another book. It was like eating popcorne then changing to cheese.

The publishing company should be very ashamed of putting something like this out there.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick read about tank tactics of the allies and axis forces in WW2. Not a particularly in-depth read but covers just enough to see what life a ms a tanker was like.
I’ve read better books on the topic m, this would be a good beginners book on the topic.

[Aaron Mcqueen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad....but I expected more than a regurgitation of Panzer Leader.

[Joar Larsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Panzer!! Great..

[Daniel Headifen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok...but only ok. Some of the conclusions felt like they were from single sources only...or not well analysed sources. But other parts were very informative.

[Quinton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Introductory overview of early tank warfare.