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Pancho Villa: A Revolutionary Life
by Paco Ignacio Taibo IIA wild ride and revealing portrait of the controversial Pancho Villa, one of Mexico&’s most beloved (or loathed) heroes, that finally establishes the importance of his role in the triumph of the Mexican Revolution, by renowned writer Paco Ignacio Taibo II.The last biography of Pancho Villa was published 25 years ago, and this new edition has been translated into English for the first time. This biography marks a kind of reinvention of the legendary Mexican figure of Pancho Villa. It is a masterful reevaluation and heavily researched account of his life. This book makes a new claim, finally giving Pancho Villa his due as the decisive figure in the success of Mexican Revolution. Here he is less the colorful bandito and more the incorruptible conscience that not only won key battles, but also maintained the revolutionary vision and led the way in terms of class consciousness.Pancho Villa is a rollicking, sometimes hilariously comical, sometimes extremely violent, and always very personal portrait of the controversial Mexican historical figure Pancho Villa. Beloved crime writer Paco Ignacio Taibo II (a.k.a. PIT)—the prolific historian, biographer of Che Guevara and the founder of Mexican &“neopolicial&” fiction—brings his tremendous storytelling skills to an account of one of the Mexico&’s greatest legendary characters.With his vibrant narrative style, Taibo describes the adventures of Pancho Villa with incredible stories, the stuff of history and tragedy, backed up by tremendous research. Throughout, Taibo unveils secrets about the life of one of Mexico's most courageous and charismatic leaders. Includes period photographs that indelibly capture the rocky transition from the wild and agrarian past towards modern statehood.
Pandemic (An Agent Paul Richter Thriller)
by James BarringtonEliminate everyone who knows...Off the island of Crete an illicit diver finds a 30-year-old aircraft on the seabed. He recovers a steel case containing four sealed flasks from amongst the corpses still trapped inside. Within twelve hours he succumbs to a hideous death.Agency trouble-shooter Paul Richter is sent to investigate, but encounters far more questions than answers. Why has the CIA ordered the total destruction of the aircraft’s remnants? Why is a hit team roaming the island? Who is targeting members of the hit team itself? And why are retired agents back in America facing professional assassination?As Richter gets ever-closer to unravelling a decades-old secret, even he is unprepared for the sheer horror that awaits.James Barrington continues the Paul Richter series in this nail-biting techno-thriller for fans of Chris Ryan, David Baldacci and Robert Ludlum.
Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History
by Catharine ArnoldBefore AIDS or coronavirus, there was the Spanish Flu — Catharine Arnold's gripping narrative, Pandemic 1918, marks the 100th anniversary of an epidemic that altered world history. In January 1918, as World War I raged on, a new and terrifying virus began to spread across the globe. In three successive waves, from 1918 to 1919, influenza killed more than 50 million people. German soldiers termed it Blitzkatarrh, British soldiers referred to it as Flanders Grippe, but world-wide, the pandemic gained the notorious title of “Spanish Flu”. Nowhere on earth escaped: the United States recorded 550,000 deaths (five times its total military fatalities in the war) while European deaths totaled over two million. Amid the war, some governments suppressed news of the outbreak. Even as entire battalions were decimated, with both the Allies and the Germans suffering massive casualties, the details of many servicemen’s deaths were hidden to protect public morale. Meanwhile, civilian families were being struck down in their homes. The City of Philadelphia ran out of gravediggers and coffins, and mass burial trenches had to be excavated with steam shovels. Spanish Flu conjured up the specter of the Black Death of 1348 and the great plague of 1665, while the medical profession, shattered after five terrible years of conflict, lacked the resources to contain and defeat this new enemy. Through primary and archival sources, historian Catharine Arnold gives readers the first truly global account of the terrible epidemic.
Pandora’s Box: A History of the First World War
by Jörn LeonhardIn this monumental history of the First World War, Germany’s leading historian of the twentieth century’s first great catastrophe explains the war’s origins, course, and consequences. With an unrivaled combination of depth and global reach, Pandora’s Box reveals how profoundly the war shaped the world to come. Jörn Leonhard treats the clash of arms with a sure feel for grand strategy, the everyday tactics of dynamic movement and slow attrition, the race for ever more destructive technologies, and the grim experiences of frontline soldiers. But the war was much more than a military conflict, or an exclusively European one. Leonhard renders the perspectives of leaders, intellectuals, artists, and ordinary men and women on diverse home fronts as they grappled with the urgency of the moment and the rise of unprecedented political and social pressures. And he shows how the entire world came out of the war utterly changed. Postwar treaties and economic turbulence transformed geopolitics. Old empires disappeared or confronted harsh new constraints, while emerging countries struggled to find their place in an age of instability. At the same time, sparked and fueled by the shock and suffering of war, radical ideologies in Europe and around the globe swept away orders that had seemed permanent, to establish new relationships among elites, masses, and the state. Heralded on its publication in Germany as a masterpiece of historical narrative and analysis, Pandora’s Box makes clear just what dangers were released when the guns first fired in the summer of 1914.
Pandora’s Box: A History of the First World War
by Jörn LeonhardWinner of the Norman B. Tomlinson, Jr. Prize “The best large-scale synthesis in any language of what we currently know and understand about this multidimensional, cataclysmic conflict.” —Richard J. Evans, Times Literary Supplement In this monumental history of the First World War, Germany’s leading historian of the period offers a dramatic account of its origins, course, and consequences. Jörn Leonhard treats the clash of arms with a sure feel for grand strategy. He captures the slow attrition, the race for ever more destructive technologies, and the grim experiences of frontline soldiers. But the war was more than a military conflict and he also gives us the perspectives of leaders, intellectuals, artists, and ordinary men and women around the world as they grappled with the urgency of the moment and the rise of unprecedented political and social pressures. With an unrivaled combination of depth and global reach, Pandora’s Box reveals how profoundly the war shaped the world to come. “[An] epic and magnificent work—unquestionably, for me, the best single-volume history of the war I have ever read…It is the most formidable attempt to make the war to end all wars comprehensible as a whole.” —Simon Heffer, The Spectator “[A] great book on the Great War…Leonhard succeeds in being comprehensive without falling prey to the temptation of being encyclopedic. He writes fluently and judiciously.” —Adam Tooze, Die Zeit “Extremely readable, lucidly structured, focused, and dynamic…Leonhard’s analysis is enlivened by a sharp eye for concrete situations and an ear for the voices that best convey the meaning of change for the people and societies undergoing it.” —Christopher Clark, author of The Sleepwalkers
Panic on the Pacific: How America Prepared for the West Coast Invasion
by Bill YenneThe aftershocks of the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor were felt keenly all over America-the war in Europe had hit home. But nowhere was American life more immediately disrupted than on the West Coast, where people lived in certain fear of more Japanese attacks. From that day until the end of the war, a dizzying mix of battle preparedness and rampant paranoia swept the states. Japanese immigrants were herded into internment camps. Factories were camouflaged to look like small towns. The Rose Bowl was moved to North Carolina. Airport runways were so well hidden even American pilots couldn't find them. There was panic on the Pacific coast: the Japanese were coming.
Panther
by Mike GreenThe German Panther tank was almost certainly the most elegant design of WWII. It embodied a balance of firepower, armor protection, and mobility unmatched by any other tank of the period. Yet, it was not the war-winner it might have been. Author Mike Green examines the disparity between the potential of the Panther design and the actuality of the fielded Panther tank in his new book. Though many viewed the Panther as an engineering masterpiece and a technological breakthrough, the Panther failed to meet expectations on the battlefield, thereby crushing Hitler's dreams of world domination. Green explores the evolution--and devolution--of the Panther, providing keen insight and new reasons for its ultimate failure.
Panther German Army Medium Tank: Italian Front, 1944–1945 (TankCraft)
by Dennis OliverThe Allied invasions of Sicily and the Italian mainland had been met with tenacious resistance by the Germans but the defense consisted for the most part of armored units that were little different to those the British had faced in North Africa. But in early 1944, with the landings at Anzio and Nettuno and the attempt to bypass the German defensive line, the Wehrmacht’s high command began shipping heavier and more powerful tanks to the Southern Front including an increasing number Tigers and Panthers. The initial models of the latter had gone into combat for the first time in July 1943 and it was planned that every Panzer regiment would eventually contain a battalion of these impressive vehicles. Drawing on official documentation and unit histories Dennis Oliver investigates the formations that operated these deservedly famous vehicles and uses archive photos and extensively researched color illustrations to examine the markings, camouflage and technical aspects of the Pzkpfw V tanks that wee an integral part of the German defense of the Italian peninsula. A key section of his book displays available model kits and aftermarket products, complemented by a gallery of beautifully constructed and painted models in various scales. Technical details as well as modifications introduced during production and in the field are also examined, providing everything the modeler needs to recreate an accurate representation of these historic vehicles.
Panther Medium Tank 1942-45
by Jim Laurier Stephen HartThe Panzerkampfwagen V Panther is one of the best-known German tanks in existence and is considered one of the greatest tanks of World War II. When in June of 1941, Germany invaded Russia, Panzertruppe encountered KV series and T-34/76 tanks, far superior in firepower and armour protection to any Panzer in service at the time. It was therefore decided to design a new more powerful medium tank, which could be quickly put into production. This book details the result, the Medium Battle Tank, available for service in January 1943. Later models ensured that it became one of the most feared tanks of WWII.
Panther Medium Tank: German Army and Waffen SS Eastern Front Summer, 1943
by Dennis OliverIn July 1943 the German army launched what was to be its last major offensive on Soviet soil. Codenamed Operation Citadel, the attack had initially been scheduled to commence in May but was postponed by Hitler on a number of occasions to allow the divisions in the East to be reinforced and to ensure that the new Panther tanks could be deployed. In the fifth book on the Panther in this series Dennis Oliver examines the first vehicles that left the assembly plants to go into service against the Red Army as part of Operation Citadel and the units that arrived in the late summer and early autumn of 1943. In addition to archive photographs and painstakingly researched, exquisitely presented color illustrations, a large part of this book showcases available model kits and aftermarket products, complemented by a gallery of beautifully constructed and painted models in various scales. Technical details as well as modifications introduced during production and in the field are also examined, providing everything the modeller needs to recreate an accurate representation of the Panther tanks that fought in the East in 1943.
Panther Medium Tank: IV. SS-Panzerkorps Eastern Front, 1944 (TankCraft)
by Dennis OliverDuring the summer of 1944 a series of massive Soviet offensives threatened to destroy the entire German army on the Eastern Front. As the Wehrmacht scrambled to hold what ground it could many formations simply disappeared and the available armored units were used to plug the gaps in the front line. One of the most important elements of the defense was the newly raised IV.SS-Panzerkorps which contained the veteran Totenkopf and Wiking divisions. Although both were well equipped their real striking power lay in the battalion of Pzkpfw V Panther tanks with which each was outfitted, perhaps the most effective armored fighting vehicle produced by Germany during the Second World War. In Dennis Oliver's latest volume in the TankCraft series, he uses archive photos and extensively researched color illustrations to examine the Panther battalions of these famous units that fought to hold back the Soviet advance during the last months of 1944. A key section of his book displays available model kits and aftermarket products, complemented by a gallery of beautifully constructed and painted models in various scales. Technical details as well as modifications introduced during production and in the field are also examined providing everything the modeler needs to recreate an accurate representation of these historic tanks.
Panther Tanks: German Army and Waffen-SS, Defence of the West, 1945 (TankCraft)
by Dennis OliverA guide that blends the history behind the German World War II tank with resources for military vehicle modeling enthusiasts. In late 1944 and 1945, the Panther tank played an important role in Germany&’s desperate efforts to stem the Allied advance on the Western Front. The Panther, perhaps the best armored vehicle produced by Germany during the Second World War, was a key element in the Wehrmacht&’s defensive tactics, in rearguard actions and counterattacks, and it took a prominent part in the last German offensive of the war, in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. So it is an ideal subject for Dennis Oliver&’s latest volume in the TankCraft series. He uses archive photos and extensively researched color illustrations to examine the Panther tanks and units of the German army and Waffen-SS panzer battalions that struggled to resist the Allied onslaught. A key section of his book displays available model kits and aftermarket products, complemented by a gallery of beautifully constructed and painted models in various scales. Technical details as well as modifications introduced during production and in the field are also examined providing everything the modeler needs to recreate an accurate representation of these historic tanks. Praise for Panther Tanks &“A great book, especially for beginners and intermediate modelers, or those building their first Panther tank.&” —AMPS &“Technical details as well as modifications introduced during production and in the field are also examined providing everything the modeler needs to recreate an accurate representation of these historic tanks.&” —Military Vehicles
Panther Tanks: Germany Army and Waffen SS, Normandy Campaign 1944 (TankCraft)
by Dennis OliverHistory buffs, modelers, and wargamers will find &“authentic orders of battle and narratives of the actual situations these units faced in Normandy&” (Schopenhauer&’s Workshop). Central to the German strategy of dealing with an Allied landing in France was the availability of a strong, mobile armored reserve. In June 1944, as part of this force, the Army in the West was able to deploy over 300 Panther tanks, perhaps the best armored fighting vehicle produced by Germany during the Second World War. British and American tank crews found to their horror that the Panthers could often survive numerous hits while a single round from one of their 75mm guns was enough to destroy any enemy tank. In his third book in the TankCraft series, Dennis Oliver uses archive photographs and painstakingly researched, exquisitely presented color illustrations to examine the part these powerful tanks played in the Normandy battles and also the battalions that operated them. As with previous titles in the TankCraft series, a large part of this book showcases available model kits and aftermarket products and accessories, complemented by a gallery of skillfully constructed and painted models. &“As with other books in this series there are many excellent photographs and color drawings, with clear text providing all of the background information to the deployment and actions of the Panther in Normandy.&”—Firetrench &“Very much a modellers book but tied in so well with the details of the tank and the context of the history surrounding it. Good value and well worth adding to your reference shelf.&”—Military Model Scene
Panther vs Sherman: Battle of the Bulge 1944
by Steven J. Zaloga Howard GerrardZaloga offers a fascinating comparison of the combat performance of the two most important tanks involved in the crucial fighting of 1944, the Sherman and the Panther. Examining the design and development of both tanks, Zaloga notes the obvious superiority that the Panther had over the Sherman and how the highly engineered German tank was eventually beaten back, not necessarily by the improvements made to the Sherman, but rather by the superior numbers of tanks that the Allies were able to put into the field.Putting the reader into the heart of this battle between quality and quantity Zaloga examines the tactical intricacies of the battles between these two rivals. Using a compelling account of the ferocious fighting in the Ardennes region to explain the successes and failures of each tank he also highlights the fact that a tank can only be as good as its crew, weighing up the impact of low morale, high cost and mediocre crew training on the Panthers superiority. Packed with full-colour battlescenes, technical drawings, photographs, digital gunsight views, extracts from crew training manuals and real combat reports, this book brings to life the titanic battles between the Sherman and the Panther.
Panzer 38(t)
by Steven ZalogaPanzer 38(t) provides an in-depth look at one of most little known yet advanced tanks of its day, a Czech vehicle that would become one of Germany's armored workhorses during the early campaigns of World War II. The Munich Agreement in 1938 and the subsequent German annexation of the Czech provinces of Bohemia-Moravia in 1939 put Germany in control of the large Czech armament industry. Among the crown jewels of the industry was the new LT.38 light tank. A very modern design, the LT.38 was among the best tanks in the world at the time, and was just beginning to come into service at the time of the German occupation. Absorbed into the Wehrmacht as the PzKpfw 38(t), it was one of the few foreign designs to remain in production for German service. A handful saw combat in Poland in 1939, but the PzKpfw 38(t)'s main claim to fame was in the Battle of France in 1940 when three German divisions were equipped with the Czech tank, including Rommel's 7th Panzer Division. The PzKpfw 38(t) became one of the key weapons in the German invasion of Russia in the summer of 1941, and was widely used in the campaigns of 1941-42. With the advent of the Soviet T-34 tank, the days of the PzKpfw 38(t) as a battle tank were limited since it was too small to accommodate a larger gun in its turret. Nevertheless, it was rebuilt with larger anti-tank guns in open casemates, and so it had a second life as the basis for many German Panzerjager or tank destroyer designs. Besides the basic LT.38 design, a number of export derivatives were manufactured for a diverse range of customers including Iran and Peru. The PzKpfw 38(t) was also exported to a variety of Germany's allied armies including Hungary and Romania.
Panzer Ace: The Memoirs of an Iron Cross Panzer Commander from Barbarossa to Normandy
by Richard Freiherr von RosenA richly illustrated memoir by highly decorated Wehrmacht soldier—&“recommended to anyone with an interest in the Panzerwaffe in the Second World War&” (Recollections of WWII). After serving as a gunlayer on a Pz.Mk.III during Barbarossa, Richard Freiherr von Rosen led a Company of Tigers at Kursk. Later he led a company of King Tiger panzers at Normandy and in late 1944 commanded a battle group (12 King Tigers and a flak Company) against the Russians in Hungary in the rank of junior, later senior lieutenant (from November 1944, his final rank.) Only 489 of these King Tiger tanks were ever built. They were the most powerful heavy tanks to see service, and only one kind of shell could penetrate their armor at a reasonable distance. Every effort had to be made to retrieve any of them bogged down or otherwise immobilized, which led to many towing adventures. The author has a fine memory and eye for detail. Easy to read and not technical, his account adds substantially to the knowledge of how the German Panzer Arm operated in the Second World War. &“The author has a fine memory and eye for detail . . . It adds substantially to the knowledge of how the German Panzer Arm operated during the Second World War.&”—Military Vehicles Magazine &“The images accompany the story well. Richard Von Rosen, wounded several times and fighting a good part of the war on the eastern front, was certainly a lucky soldier, and we are also lucky to read these pages . . . highly recommend to all fans of memories of the Second World War.&”—Old Barbed Wire Blog
Panzer Aces III: German Tank Commanders in Combat in World War II (Stackpole Military History Series)
by Franz KurowskiAction-packed stories of legendary tank soldiers in some of the bloodiest engagements of World War II, from North Africa to the Eastern Front. With brash courage and finely honed skill, Germany&’s black-clad panzer troops blasted their way into the annals of military history as feared and fearless fighters. Leading from the turrets of Panthers, Tigers, and other lethal machines, these men spearheaded the Third Reich&’s offensives on the Eastern Front, in the West, and in Africa, turning T-34s and Shermans into burning wrecks and battling on even when all seemed lost. Franz Kurowski captures the essence of World War II tank combat: the rattling of tracks, the fire and smoke of rounds hitting home, the guts of the commanders who led from the front.
Panzer Commander
by Hans Von LuckA stunning look at World War II from the other side...From the turret of a German tank, Colonel Hans von Luck commanded Rommel's 7th and then 21st Panzer Division. El Alamein, Kasserine Pass, Poland, Belgium, Normandy on D-Day, the disastrous Russian front--von Luck fought there with some of the best soldiers in the world. German soldiers.Awarded the German Cross in Gold and the Knight's Cross, von Luck writes as an officer and a gentleman. Told with the vivid detail of an impassioned eyewitness, his rare and moving memoir has become a classic in the literature of World War II, a first-person chronicle of the glory--and the inevitable tragedy--of a superb soldier fighting Hitler's war.
Panzer Commander the Memoirs of Colonel Hans Von Luck
by Hans Von LuckVivid descriptions of the soldiers he fought against and their national characteristics-Poles, Frenchmen, the British, the Red Army, Americans-along with equally vivid descriptions of the terrain he fought in ... Marvelous vignettes about the people he encountered.
Panzer Commander: The Memoirs of Hans von Luck (Cassell Military Paperbacks Ser.)
by Hans von Luck&“This unique memoir tells the story of one of the field-grade officers whose martial skills sustained the Third Reich against a world in arms.&”—Library Journal Panzer Commander is one of the classic memoirs of the Second World War. A professional soldier, Hans von Luck joined the Panzerwaffe in its earliest days, where he served under Erwin Rommel, and went on to fight in the Blitzkrieg in Poland, France and the Soviet Union. He then served with the Afrika Korps in the Western Desert and tells of the sometimes chivalrous relationship with the British 8th Army. After the collapse in Africa, he returned to Europe and fought throughout the Normandy campaign and was responsible for the failure of the British breakout attempt, Operation Goodwood. He then took part in the final desperate battles on the Eastern Front. Captured by the Soviets at the end of the war, he was held for five years in a prison camp in the Caucasus. After the war, he formed friendships with those who had been his opponents during it, including Major John Howard, who had led the capture of Pegasus Bridge in Normandy. With a new preface by the author&’s widow, this unique and valuable account of one man&’s war and its aftermath is required reading for all those interested in the Second World War. &“One of the few books that MUST be part of any library . . . It is vivid and engaging. It paints the finest of verbal pictures and it does so without demonstrations of ego . . . it is one of the building blocks of knowledge that creates the palace of history.&”—Firetrench
Panzer Crewman 1939-45
by Gordon Williamson Velimir VuksicIn World War II (1939-1945), the Panzer crews spearheaded every major campaign or battle from the invasions of Poland and France to the last great counter-offensive in the Ardennes. Germany's Panzer crews fought on every front and along the way earned a formidable reputation for élan in attack and steadfastness in defence. This book charts the recruitment, training, service conditions and combat experience of a typical World War II German tank crewman, serving on various fronts - from the scorching heat of the Western Desert to the frozen tundra of the Eastern Front. It features many unpublished photographs from both private collectors and Panzer veterans themselves.
Panzer Destroyer: Memoirs of a Red Army Tank Commander
by Vasiliy KrysovIn this military memoir, a Soviet Red Army officer recounts his experience fighting against Nazi Germany along the Eastern Front in World War II. The day after Vasiliy Krysov finished school, on June 22, 1941, Germany attacked the Soviet Union and provoked a war of unparalleled extent and cruelty. For the next three years, as a tank commander, Krysov fought against the German panzers in some of the most intense and destructive armored engagements in history, including those at Stalingrad, Kursk, and Knigsberg. This is the remarkable story of his war. As the commander of a heavy tank, a self-propelled gun—a tank destroyer—and a T-34, he fought his way westward across Russia, the Ukraine, and Poland against a skillful and determined enemy that had previously never known defeat. Krysov repeatedly faced tough SS panzer divisions, like the SS Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler Panzer Division in the Bruilov-Fastov area in 1943, and the SS Das Wiking Panzer Division in Poland in 1944. Krysov was at Kursk and participated in a counterattack at Ponyri. The ruthlessness of this long and bitter campaign is vividly depicted in his narrative, as is the enormous scale and complexity of the fighting. Honestly, and with an extraordinary clarity of recall, he describes confrontations with German Tiger and Panther tanks and deadly anti-tank guns. He was wounded four times, his crewmen and his commanding officers were killed, but he was fated to survive and record his experience of combat. His memoirs give a compelling insight into the reality of tank warfare on the Eastern Front.
Panzer Divisions 1944-45
by Pier BattistelliThe period 1944-45 was one of change for the Panzer Divisions. In summer 1944 the new-type Panzer Division was introduced with a reduction in the number of tanks, a change that was mainly seen in North-West Europe. On the Eastern Front, where the bulk of the Panzer Divisions were still employed, the organizational changes were introduced only slowly, mainly during periods of rest and refit. In 1945 the division was again reorganized with a reduced strength to reflect the deteriorating German manufacturing capability and to incorporate news weapons such as the Panther (Mark V).This volume provides a detailed examination on the late-war changes to the German Army Panzer forces and the formation of new units, from the collapse on the Eastern Front, through operations on the Western Front in Normandy and the Ardennes, to the final battle for Berlin in 1945. The major organizational changes that took place in this intensive period are examined, together with the adaptation of German armored doctrine, tactics, and the command system. Details of unit histories and operations, illustrated in color maps, are also provided in this packed treatment.
Panzer Divisions of the Waffen-SS
by Rolf MichaelisA detailed history of all seven Waffen-SS panzer divisions in World War II: 1.SS-Panzer-Division "Lebstandarte Adolf Hitler"; 2.SS-Panzer-Division "Das Reich"; 3.SS-Panzer-Division "Totenkopf"; 5.SS-Panzer-Division "Wiking"; 9.SS-Panzer-Division "Hohenstaufen"; 10.SS-Panzer-Division "Frundsberg"; 12.SS-Panzer-Division "Hitlerjugend." Each unit is presented in detailed history from its formation, combat operations throughout the war, and final disposition at war's end. Rare images – most never before published, including soldbuchs and award documents – and personal veteran accounts are featured along with equipment, commanders, maps, and charts.
Panzer Divisions: The Blitzkrieg Years 1939-40
by Pier BattistelliAt the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Germany's armored forces - the Panzerwaffe - were still in their infancy. The restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles meant that German tank development had to be conducted in secret. Initial armor campaigns in Poland were not completely successful and changes were needed before the invasion of France.This book examines the organizational changes, developments in doctrine and tactics, and improved command and control that provided the basis for the spectacular success of the Panzer divisions in 1940. Although the Panzerwaffe was still largely inferior to its enemies in terms of both tank numbers and quality, it effectively adapted and developed those doctrines and principles of warfare that had shaped German fighting since the 19th century. Achieving tactical and operational surprise, the Panzer divisions succeeded in breaking through enemy defences in the Ardennes and enveloping a large number of hostile forces at Dunkirk. The legend of the Blitzkrieg was born.