Repairing the Panzers: V. 1: German Tank Maintenance in World War 2 Hardcover – January 1, 2010

This volume provides an unbelievable level of not only photographic coverage, but also textual discussion and analysis of the German motor vehicle repair and recovery system of the second world war. The book truly shows that logistics is the basis of all military success, and proper preparation and systematic deployment is vital to ongoing military operations.I was expecting a photo book with captions featuring well-known and tired photos from past books on German tanks. Instead, the book is loaded with previously unpublished photos and well written captions that are complimentary to the well researched and comprehensive examination of the German repair and recovery system for motor vehicles under combat conditions, from battlefield repairs to return to the Reich for total rebuild. I have collected and studied books on German Armor and vehicles for over twenty years, and this book really opened my eyes and mind to a relatively unknown aspect of the Wehrmacht's ability to remain in the field in the face of great loss of vehicles and numerical superiority of its enemy vehicles. I am very pleased with this book and will also buy volume two.

I haven't read it yet, only looked into it for a shorth while but I must say it is of the highest quality possible.The crystal clear photos are stunning. I do not believe it is a blurred one among the 290 large format photos, and most are unpublished. It is for me incredible how he manage to come up with photos of such a quality. This book is primarily based on primary source documents written during the war. There are sometimes veteran accounts and minutes of prisoner interrogations at the end of a chapter to merely serve what made an impression on them. The book focus on the maintenance, repair and recovery of Panzers, but as no Panzer unit was able to operate without wheeled vehichles, they are also covered in this book. You learn what really put Panzers out of action, how they were recovered from various predicaments and you will get an inside look at the battle that went on behind the front lines to keep every Panzer possible in fighting condition. If I could I would give the book six stars. It is that good. So grab a copy before it is too late.

Truthfully I found the text to be rather dry, BUT, it's the pictures that shine. I saw every German repair vehicle, with the exception of the Bergehetzer. Why it was excluded is beyond me, unless it was a very limited issue vehicle. Thes books are a MUST for any serious modeller. If these pictures can't inspire you to build something, anything, from their pages, then you are lost........! Trucks, cranes, recovery vehicles from halftracks to the fully tracked, tow bars, and trailers, and lots of large and small repair gear are shown, usually in very good detail. Various wrecked and under repair vehicles are shown, along with the recovery methods used, and a very strange cable and huge hook apparatus are detailed in a series of pictures. Don't forget to order the second in this series, too!

This is a good book. Necessary for anyone who wants to better understand the recovery efforts of the German Army in WW2. It falls short in the captioning for the pictures. The photographs are great but there are not enough of them. Especially shots of recovery operations/maintenance. The equipment used in recovery and repair gets inadequate treatment. While not on the level of works by Doyle and Jentz, Hunnicut, Archer and Auerbach Repairing the Panzers is still worth a look. The picture on the books cover is worth its price. I am looking forward to vol. 2.

I am a scale modeler and build mostly WW2 tanks. This book has some awesome photos that have not been published before. Very good detail and quality of the prints. All the photos are B&W though. I was hoping for a few color pictures. But the book is amazing, some of the battle damage photos took my breath away. I have not read the text yet, but even if you only get it for the photos, it's well worth it! Highly recommended. I have also ordered Volume 2 of this series.

A great addition to any collection of books for someone who is interested in military vehicle maintenance.I have had Vol 2 for some time now, but have only recently managed to get a bargain priced version of Vol 1.Postage took some time, but it was worth the wait.Both books are excellent quality - loads of photographs and interesting text/information throughout.

I think this is a great book.

A good follow up to Herr Friedli's 1st book "Die Panzer Instandsetzung der Wehrmacht". The plethora of new (to me) pictures are larger & it's in English.

Volume 1 of this very impressive series is a delight to read with a wealth of information and pictorial evidence, which this reader has never seen before. This book has real detail on WWII German armour and the great lengths the support staff and German army spent in recovery and field repair. I can only reiterate from my other review 'the photographs are real gems. What intrigues is the imaginative ways in which Germany tried both to maintain and hold on to its small tank force, if compared to the huge volumes of tanks produced by Russians and European Allies.In my opinion there no other books on this topic with this kind of photographic evidence and detail. Mr Friedli has produced a masterful compilation of the subject matter and his books are exceptional in all aspects.I am sure this book would be of benefit to the avid modellers as well as a History buff on the use of repairing Amour and its various issues of battle recovery, as well as, the recovery in the most extreme of conditions. I cannot recommend this title strongly enough and have thus rated a worthy 5 stars. `Just wanted to add that the much anticipated Volume 2 is now out and worthy follow up to volume 1.

lots of nice pics, good text, guy certainly seems to know his subject, wiish there was more info on the workshop vehicles, the German army definatly was not as well organised as R E M E but appear to kept their panzers in the field. nice touch unit organisation tables.I just think there are too many oics of tigers & not enough of workshop wagons.

extremely detailed analysis of the tank repair & maintenance structure, perhaps too detailed for me, coupled with lots of excellent sharp photos of tank repair and tanks in various states of disrepair. a quality book, very well produced.

A rally interesting insight into the 2nd echelon forces keeping those AFV's running.Excellent photography with 1st. class technical text.

A ideal gift for a model maker. Packed with information and good photos. Cant be beaten for the price.