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When reading a book that involves a good amount of text, after a short time you are able to get a feel for the tone of the author and their feeling on a subject. This tone can have alter your mood toward the book, it's writers, and the topic it covers. In the case of this book, the tone is very conflicting for a variety of reasons.
As with many books covering the US tank program in World War II, the book opens with a brief history of the pre-war situation and the rush to design an effective tank. For good reason this also includes a fair amount of information on the M2 and M3 Medium tank series as well as some bits on the T-6 development model that resulted in the M4 Medium. A few more modern photos appear, but most of the numerous photographs of these early vehicles are period shots in a number of good angles and with excellent clarity of detail, some even in color!
In fact, the photographic reference in the book is some of the best I have ever seen compiled for those who like doing interior detail. Rather than just simple shots from the hatches, there are diagrams and photographs of many obscure areas of the tank. Wet Stowage and Dry Stowage hulls both get very good coverage with a number of color diagrams, photos of restored vehicles, and also a number of diagrams and photos from original operating and technical manuals.
External shots aren't quite as useful, but there are many excellent photos. Very few are given showing tanks in combat areas, most are either Stateside training photos or recent photos of restored and unrestored vehicles. Of the few that show Shermans in Europe... almost all show destroyed tanks. More on in a little bit.
Some of the large amount of text is very interesting and informative, giving exerpts on how to operate the transmission, main gun, and how the crew operated and interacted. This is all done quoting original crewmembers as well as official documents, showing the difference between how the US Army said to do something... and how it was actually done. This makes the book unique in many regards, as it's more of a narrative than a technical explanation of how the Sherman operated, though the technical aspects are well covered within that narrative.
However, the tone of the book begins to go sour at this point, as you will notice. You rapidly begin to get the feeling that the author considers the Sherman tank series to have been a failure in all regards. In fact, as you get into the core of the material presented, it gets to be even more obvious of an undertone. By the time I finished the book I was feeling angry and defensive, almost as if somebody was spreading terrible rumors about my family. It can all be summed up by the following quote "The success that the US Army Achieved with the M4 series of tanks in World War II was more due to American and Allied air superiority and artillery support than and distinguishing element of the tank's design".
Brace yourself for the liberal use of phrases such as "Steel Coffin", "Deathtrap" and many vaguely described reasons why the Sherman was a terrible tank. Constant reference is made to the poor off-road mobility and design flaw of the frontally mounted transmission, as well as the poor choice of engine for the initial M4 and M4A1 designs.
Interestingly, very little numerical data is given on this information. No solid numbers for height, power to weight ratio, or ground pressure are given. Only occasional reference to armor and gun performance are listed. I suspect that the authors drew heavily on the work of "Death Traps" by Belton Cooper. There is no denying that the German heavy tanks were better armed and armored than medium tanks. However, numerical comparisons provided by Onwar.com show a much different picture when comparing the M4 with other medium tanks of the same class such as the T-34 and later Panzer IV models.
The very last sections of the book do deal with the later updated Sherman designs, giving much more basic information regarding the 76mm wet stowage tanks than was given about the 75mm versions. However, even in this area the strong points of the Sherman are glossed over and much effort is given to discredit the 76mm armed versions as equally ineffective.
As an overall book, I am very mixed in my recommendations of it. On the one side it is a wonderful reference for interior details and there are many useful detail photos and diagrams of areas not usually seen in most reference books. The crew narratives are also unique and useful for those interested in the history as well as the measurements. However, the heavy handed opinion of the author is very depressing at times. The many images showing destroyed tanks, combined with the text, make you wonder if this is the same M4 Sherman we've all grown to love. It does make me hesitant to pick up any other books in this series.
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