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Japanese Tanks 1939-45 (New Vanguard) | 
 enlarge | Author: Steven Zaloga
Creator: Tony Bryan
Brand: Osprey Publishing Limited
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
Buy New: $11.60
You Save: $6.35 (35%)
New (11) Used (5) from $11.57
Avg. Customer Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 37121
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 48
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 7.1 x 0.3
ISBN: 1846030919
Dewey Decimal Number: 940
EAN: 9781846030918
ASIN: 1846030919
Publication Date: August 21, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: New book w/perfect interior; exterior has slight wear
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Product Description
Contrary to popular belief, the Japanese Army widely employed tanks within the Pacific theater of war. This title details their key role in the conquests of Singapore and Malaya, as well as their later use in Burma, Saipan, and the Philippines, including in the amphibious assault of Corregidor. Tank development succeeded against the odds, with the programme often neglected to pursue the higher priority of warship development. Their use in the most difficult of terrain is a testament to their ingenuity.
Steven J Zaloga's book offers a rare insight into a largely overlooked subject and is rich with photographs and artwork, providing a wonderful resource for the construction and design of these fascinating tanks.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
Great Book - just wish it was longer October 12, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Fast paced book summarises Japanese tank development from from 1918 thru 1945 in the first 22 pages. The last 10 summarize their use/tactics during WW2 in SW and Central Pacific, China, Burma, Philippines, and Manchuria. Filled with great photos makes you wish the book was several times larger. But the book does cover all major aspects of their developement and use. Includes photos of some experimental tanks including the Japanese equivalent of the Panther - well, it was meant to be equivalent.
Finally September 23, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
A book about Japanese tanks. It is the only one I have that I don't have to translate. Lots of photos, some nice color illustrations, and a cutaway of a type 95 light tank. (Though I wish it had been a type 97). The book gives a brief history of the development of the different tank models, and then a short history of their employment in the Pacific war. I felt there could have been a bit more of the early war and pre- war history of the Japanese tank actions. So few books on this topic are around that this one is in a class of its own.
A Neat Little Volume September 23, 2007
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
Armor expert Stephen J. Zaloga's Japanese Tanks 1939-45 is another fine addition to Osprey's New Vanguard series. As the other notes in the bibliography, there are not a lot of English-language sources on Japanese armor in the Second World War, so this volume fills a valuable niche in military history. Overall, this is a very good volume, that balances technical description with operational history fairly well, although clearly there are some "nice to have" items (such as an order of battle listing Japanese tank units, more data on guns/armor/penetration) that space did not permit.
The volume begins with about 10 pages focusing on pre-war tank development in Japan, starting with the rather clunky Type 89 tank in 1931. The first relatively modern tank the Japanese built, the Type 95 Ha Go light tank, appeared in 1936 and this type was encountered by U.S. forces during the Pacific War. In the next 10-page section, the author details Japanese tank development in the Second World War, culminating in the production of medium tanks by late in the war. As the author notes, the Japanese recognized the technical inferiority of their tanks after their defeat by the Soviets at Khalkin Gol in 1939 and vainly struggled to catch up with foreign medium tank designs. Instead, the Japanese Army was saddled for most of the Pacific War with tanks that were too lightly armed and armored to compete with Western tanks. Zaloga comments that at Peleliu in 1944, U.S. Marine Corps anti-tank guns blew the attacking Japanese Type 95 light tanks into so many fragments that the Marines were unsure after the battle how many enemy tanks had actually been destroyed -a telling indictment of the incompatibility of a weapon system on a modern battlefield. Although outside the scope of this volume, the author does not mention that the Imperial Japanese Army also had fairly obsolete artillery and infantry weapons as well.
In the final 9-page section the author goes over the operational history of Japanese tanks, campaign by campaign. This section is very good and lists units and numbers of tanks involved, as well as opposing Allied tank units. Throughout the volume, the B/W photos are quite good, most from NARA. The color plates by Peter Bull are also excellent, depicting most of the various Japanese tank models. The author also provides two charts on Japanese tank production. The only area that appears slighted in the technical description of Japanese tanks was in communications - there was no mention about internal communications (intercom?) or radio. Yet several of the B/W photos show old-style radio aerials on one or two tanks and clearly the battalion or regimental commanders must have had radio. Additionally, the volume really could have used a chart listing the major technical characteristics of the main Japanese tank models, since this was difficult to pull together in the text. Nevertheless, this volume is a nice addition to Second World War literature.
 Good for gamers September 15, 2007
Just started a Japanese Armoured force in 15mm for Flames of War this is a must have item for the model maker and historical gamer.
Great unit history's painting info and colour plates for painting
Cant wait to see more like this....Gordon Hollis NH
Finally something on Japanese tanks September 7, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This gets 5 stars primarily because it is the only one stop shop for info on Japanese tanks in the English language. The subject really deserves a full blown book, but if you need need to identify a tank the book gets the job done. The title is a bit misleading - it includes info not just on tanks from 1939-45, but starts with their use of WW1 era tanks as well as indiginous designs from the 20s. Amphibious as well as experimental tanks are also included. And it contains other valuable nuggets such as production dates and numbers, theatres employed and combat examples. Japanese tank cannon penetration figures would have been great to include, but when you are limited to 50 pages you can't have everything. Still, an invaluable reference for wargamers.
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