German Artillery at War 1939-45 Vol. 2

Frank De Sisto returns with the second volume of his work on German artillery of WWII. It follows the same pattern achieved with his earlier book, and covers a wide spectrum of artillery pieces. Whereas the first volume incorporated organic divisional artillery pieces, this latest book concentrates on non-divisional weapons that were assigned to higher-level units.

The coverage commences with the smaller 2cm FlaK30 and finishes with heavyweights like the 21cm Mrs18. In between are a variety of other artillery pieces such as the 2cm Flakvierling 38, 8.8cm FlaK36 and 37, 10.5cm FlaK38 and 39, 7.5cm I.IG18, 15cm NbW41 rocket launcher and 10.5cm I.FH18. Antitank guns such as the 3.7cm PaK35 and 36 and 5cm PaK 40 also get good exposure, as do captured weapons that were quickly pressed into Wehrmacht service to swell the ranks. As can be seen from this list, the book has a depth of coverage that will impress readers, with each weapon system documented in black and white photos carefully selected from the Concord archives. These photos feature guns in action throughout the course of WWII and in all kinds of different theaters and environments. Each photo is accompanied by an in-depth caption that offers pertinent points to help the reader understand more about these artillery pieces. The author has prepared a concise introduction to each of the illustrated weapons, and because the focus of this book is non-divisional rocket, heavy, anti-aircraft and antitank artillery, there is no overlap with Volume 1.

In the center of the book are 16 high-quality color plates showing various artillery pieces in authentic battle colors. These profile and perspective drawings have been done by Laurent Lecocq, a name that will be familiar to readers. With a clear demarcation between the contents of the first and second volumes, this latest title from Concord will add to the knowledge of avid artillery buffs. Or for those readers simply seeking photographic inspiration, this book will do just that too!