# Recommend a good non-"weapons porn" book on tank warfare in WW2 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 15, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665 "2017-05-15T16:56:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/1 "2017-05-15T16:56:36Z")
Given the percentage of the internet (particularly the corner of the internet represented by the SBMB) dedicated to it (and the history channel back when it actually showed history) I am a having surprisingly hard time finding a good book giving an overview of the tank warfare in WW2. I am not after “weapons porn” (e.g. chapters dedicated to the precise difference between the gun rifling on the Mk1 Tiger and Mk2 Tiger). Some technical details are needed to cover the subject, but I am more interested in the development of the tactics involved in the lead up to WW2, and how the different combatant nations actually implemented them over the course of the war (and the actual people involved in them). Any suggestions? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/2 "2017-05-15T18:41:18Z")
How bout Guderians book [Panzer Leader by Heinz Guderian | Goodreads](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/254024.Panzer_Leader) ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/3 "2017-05-15T18:47:18Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > How bout Guderians book [Panzer Leader by Heinz Guderian | Goodreads](http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/254024.Panzer_Leader) Can’t help but feel he might be a teeny bit biased 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/4 "2017-05-15T20:04:07Z")
It’s very much “weapons porn,” but _Jane’s Guide to World War II Tanks and Vehicles_ is a convenient reference and has a little blurb for each weapons system, often including the circumstances that led to its development, and each chapter begins with a light summary of that country’s arms and history in the war. And you can read it online (I’ve not checked every page but this appears to be complete): > **[Janes-WorldWarIiTanksAndFightingVehicles-TheCompleteGuide.pdf](https://archive.org/details/Janes-WorldWarIiTanksAndFightingVehicles-TheCompleteGuide.pdf)** ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/5 "2017-05-15T20:29:32Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Can’t help but feel he might be a teeny bit biased 🙂 But who knew tanks and how to use them better? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/6 "2017-05-15T20:43:29Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > But who knew tanks and how to use them better? True, but I was hoping for a comparative, recent, history that would actually explain the development of tank tactics and equipment in the main combatant nations, and why (with the benefit of hindsight) the Germans Panzers were so dominant (I’ve heard lots of explanations one way or another, including “they weren’t all that good”). Something readable for the layman, rather than a technical textbook for a tank commander in training would b e plus. Also while it is I am sure a fascinating read, don’t really fancy sitting in a coffee shop reading a book by mass-murdering Nazi (he was no Himmler, but Guderian was clearly that) ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/7 "2017-05-15T21:20:39Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > True, but I was hoping for a comparative, recent, history that would actually explain the development of tank tactics and equipment in the main combatant nations, and why (with the benefit of hindsight) the Germans Panzers were so dominant (I’ve heard lots of explanations one way or another, including “they weren’t all that good”). Something readable for the layman, rather than a technical textbook for a tank commander in training would b e plus. > > Also while it is I am sure a fascinating read, don’t really fancy sitting in a coffee shop reading a book by mass-murdering Nazi (he was no Himmler, but Guderian was clearly that) Do you have a cite for your last claim? ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/8 "2017-05-15T21:32:22Z")
The Jewish Virtual Library listing on him makes no such claim but if there is evidence im willing to change my mind. > **[Heinz Guderian](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/heinz-guderian)** > > Encyclopedia of Jewish and Israeli history, politics and culture, with biographies, statistics, articles and documents on topics from anti-Semitism to Zionism. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2017, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/9 "2017-05-15T23:33:48Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Do you have a cite for your last claim? Troops under his orders carried out many many thousands of murders. > **[2nd Panzer Army](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_Panzer_Army)** > > The 2nd Panzer Army (German: 2. Panzerarmee) was a German armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 2nd Panzer Group on October 5, 1941. > Panzer Group Guderian (German: Panzergruppe Guderian) was formed on 5 June 1940 and named after its commander, general Heinz Guderian. In early June 1940, after reaching the English Channel following the breakthrough in the Ardennes, the Panzergruppe Guderian was formed from the XIX Army Corps, and thrust deep into France, cutting off the Maginot ... Mass murder of civilians (both directly and by starvation) was so ubiquitous on the Eastern Front that there is no way any of the generals commanding those troops could claim innocence. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/10 "2017-05-16T02:15:49Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Mass murder of civilians (both directly and by starvation) was so ubiquitous on the Eastern Front that there is no way any of the generals commanding those troops could claim innocence. Post-war Guderian _did_ in fact claim innocence in regards to the Commissar Order in particular ( and he was never tried at Nuremberg ). However I believe the consensus is that his claim was largely self-serving bullshit. Guderian was probably not quite a doctrinaire Nazi, but he does appear to have been highly ambitious and rather amoral. He definitely came down hard on the failed July plotters, demanding full compliance with Nazi ideology in the army. ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/11 "2017-05-16T03:28:58Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Troops under his orders carried out many many thousands of murders. > [2nd Panzer Army - Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2nd_Panzer_Army) > > Mass murder of civilians (both directly and by starvation) was so ubiquitous on the Eastern Front that there is no way any of the generals commanding those troops could claim innocence. Mass murder was ubiquitous just about everywhere. Think Tokyo and Dresden. If course that doesn’t excuse anything Guderian did or was done under his command. But why should it stop us from reading his books? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2017, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/12 "2017-07-29T23:34:56Z")
I ended up reading this book. Pretty good overview of how the Germans came up with the tank tactics they used in WW2: > **[Amazon.com: Hitler's Panzers: The Lightning Attacks that Revolutionized Warfare...](https://www.amazon.com/Hitlers-Panzers-Lightning-Attacks-Revolutionized-ebook/dp/B002TV079C)** > > Amazon.com: Hitler's Panzers: The Lightning Attacks that Revolutionized Warfare eBook : Showalter, Dennis: Books ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/13 "2017-07-30T00:50:56Z")
[http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/](http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/14 "2017-07-30T03:11:58Z")
[This is a good one](https://www.amazon.com/Panzer-Tactics-German-Small-Unit-Armor/dp/0811732444) about German armoured warfare. It gets down to nitty gritty details like how to keep proper formation on the march, proper formations on the attack, and how to counterattack when on the defense. You only get the German view, unfortunately. some books from the American point of view are: _Cutthroats: The Adventures of a Sherman Tank Driver in the Pacific_ by Robert C Dick 2006 _Death Traps_ by Belton Cooper 2007 ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2017, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-good-non-weapons-porn-book-on-tank-warfare-in-ww2/786665/15 "2017-07-30T04:22:33Z")
Maybe one of [these](https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=harry++yeide)? The author is a good friend of mine.