The review calls the Panther one of the most overpraised tanks of the Second World War and uses the book's organization tables to make the case. Most formations shown contain many Panzer IVs and only a few Panthers, while the specialist Panther unit appears exceptional. Even a battalion reporting its full allocation of 96 Panthers had half of them in short- or long-term repair. The volume remains well written and well mapped, showing that a source can be useful even when its subject's popular mythology is rejected.
Notable Point · 3:00:27-3:07:09
Panther strength on paper concealed poor readiness
The Panther's reputation looks different when unit tables are compared with repair rates and the much larger number of Panzer IVs doing routine work.