T-34 in Action (Stackpole Military History Series) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Artem Drabkin, Oleg Sheremet
Creators: Dmitri Kovalevich, Vladimir Karin, Bair Irincheev
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
Buy New: $10.24
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Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 433601
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 208
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 0.7
ISBN: 0811734838
Dewey Decimal Number: 940
EAN: 9780811734837
ASIN: 0811734838
Publication Date: May 10, 2008
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Product Description
This pioneering book offers a compelling inside view of armored warfare in World War II, from the perspective of the Soviet soldiers who went to war in the T-34, one of the most famous and effective tanks of the war. These first-person accounts evoke the shocking and bloody reality of combat, from terrifying confrontations with German panzers to the perils of close infantry support and bombardment from German artillery and aircraft.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
slightly missleading title November 28, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Actual Russian name of the book is "I fought in a T-34". So I guess I can see where frustration of "one-star" reviewer comes form. That being said it is a good counterweight to various "panzers aces".
 Not much here. June 12, 2007
0 out of 5 found this review helpful
By the title, one would expect this book to be about the T34 but, in truth, the tank recieves little attention. Most of what it has to say about the tank is told, helter skelter fashion, in the first chapter. It is an interesting read regarding the men who are telling their stories but one has to take it all with a grain of salt: A T34 shooting down an aircraft or the assertion that the British Valentine tank had a powerful gun are examples of the not-so-reliable stories given. As for a study of the T34, this book is almost useless. The title is deceptive.
 Good insights into theT-34 and the crews May 7, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you are into T-34s...buy this book first.
The editor/author has an introductory chapter that covers many of the technical changes in the T-34. Specific changes, like the quality of the vision blocks, the transmission or the radio. It's very interesting in that it gives connecting clues to the observations you might have seen from reading German tanker accounts.
The book then moves into the veterans telling their own accounts. They add their practical insights. Because of the early bad vision blocks, they had to ride with hatches open if they wanted to see anything, for instance. Some of the veterans get very specific on their training. How many seconds for a stop, fire and move excercise got them what grade, for instance. You are given details on how they reacted to combat situations. Lots of connecting info for a full picture of the technical limitations of the T-34 and the training limitations of the crews come together for the most interesting book I've read on these tanks and how they were used in combat on the tactical level.
An untold story at last, but maybe dubious in parts March 13, 2007
11 out of 13 found this review helpful
Having read several books about the Eastern Front from the point of view of German generals and soldiers, it was very interesting at last to get my hands on an account told from the Soviet point of view. This book is packed with detailed anecdotes, not only about tank actions, but also the whole experience of living through the dreadful "Great Patriotic War", especially as a Red Army soldier. Anyone familiar with the ways of the US, British, or German armies can immediately see the differences: less formal discipline, but seriously brutal command decisions. For instance, what British or German driver would yell at his tank commander, "God damn you, Lieutenant! Why did you fire? I didn't get to close my hatch! Now the gases have blinded me". Soviet tank commanders could be shot if they abandoned their tank, even if it was disabled. Officers took a very casual attitude to human life.
As other reviewers have noted, the interviews on which this book is based were obviously all with soldiers who survived - which automatically makes them very lucky. Tens of thousands of Soviet tankers burned in their T34s, largely because of inflexible tactics that sent them head-on against the dreaded German 88 mm cannon. Yet the T34, especially the T34-85 version, were excellent tanks in their way. I think it is wrong to discount stories of T34s that destroyed several German tanks - even Tigers - because this was perfectly feasible if they got a side or rear shot from close range. Indeed, in one famous incident a single T34-85 blew up three Royal Tigers and damaged others, when they drove past its concealed position in a corn field. (Ironically, sPzAbt.501's official records state that the Tigers ran into "massive anti-tank defences", which just goes to show how deceptive these things can be).
You have to think that it is strange for so much dialogue to be recalled word for word, after 50 or 60 years. Perhaps some of it really was burned into the men's brains, but confabulation is also a possibility. Whereas German, British and US accounts of the war are often confirmed by other sources, these stories mostly have to stand on their own. One example that struck me was Fadin's account of how two JS-2 tanks destroyed two Tigers, whereupon the other eight Tigers in the unit "decided to leave the battlefield" and "hid behind the monastery wall". That doesn't sound at all like the Tiger crews I have read about, which mowed down Soviet tanks by the dozen. With odds of eight against two - plus a faster rate of fire and better optics - you would think the Tigers would easily have avenged their comrades. The truth of the matter is that, in a fight between Tigers and JS-2s, any hits were likely to be fatal so it was mostly a matter of quick wits and tactics.
All in all, this is a very good book containing a wealth of fascinating details. You just need to read it with a slightly skeptical eye.
T-34 as the crews saw it. February 2, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
A good and ballanced view of how it was to fight in a T-34. Unbalanced in the sense that these people are the survivors. These people are really the lucky few and readers should bare that in mind. To escape from a hit tank again and again takes a lot of luck. Some off these people have done it several times.
It is also quite clear that the difference between the ranks are small in a drafted army like the Soviet one, even more so in war time.
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