The Panzerwrecks series is still going strong, and has now reached volume 26. In this book they return to the Ardennes with the second part of Battle of the Bulge. This time, Lee Archer is accompanied by battle expert Tim Haasler, co-author of the well-known Duel in the Mist series. Felipe Rodna repeats on the illustrations, masterfully recreating in colour some of the photos.
As usual in the series, the volume is bound in softcover and in landscape format, appropriate to make the most of the common orientation of the photos. There are 128 pages fully utilised for graphic content. On the back cover there is a brief introduction to the contents of the book, its authors and the origin of some of the photos.
The indexes of vehicles, places and units are printed on a separate page, both sides.
The book continues the features of previous editions, like showing almost exclusively German vehicles, either destroyed or abandoned. Also, whenever possible, several images of the same subject or location are shown, allowing details to be identified or the camouflage of vehicles to be seen more clearly.
Another common feature is the high quality of most of the photos. If a few are a little less sharp, they have been included for their special interest. The size of the photos is generally quite large, very often full page or two per page. In some cases there are up to four per page. There is no loss of quality in large photos. All photos, or a group if they are of the same vehicle, have captions with all the information that the authors have been able to obtain. In many cases, a QR code is also included which, when scanned with a mobile phone, leads to the map of the current location of the photo.
With regard to the contents of this volume, considering the importance of this operation for the German high command, it is normal that we find photos of their best combat vehicles. Among them are the Tiger I, Tiger Ausf B, Panther Ausf G or Jagdpanther. There are a number of photos of all of them in various locations in the area and in different states of destruction. Of particular note is the inclusion of six very clear photos of the interior of the turret of a Tiger II.
It is also noteworthy the inclusion of a full-page colour image of three destroyed Jagdpanthers. Despite being a well-known photo, here it is very well reproduced in size and quality.
There are numerous photos of Panzer IV, Sd.Kfz. 251, SWs and Stug III. Of the latter there is a special section devoted to several vehicles modified and painted to look like Americans. Also included is a report by Captain LM Darren regarding these vehicles as well as one of Felipe Rodna's illustrations.
We can see also photos of Jagdpanzer IV, Jagdpanzer 38(t), Wilberwind and MobelWagen, a captured M8, various versions of the Sd.Kfz. 250 and many more.
On the inside back cover is a short biography of Stefan de Meyer, a great researcher who passed away in 2016. Many photos in this volume come from his archive.
Conclusion
A fine collection of images from the Battle of The Bulge, featuring iconic German vehicles like the Tiger I and Tiger II, Jagdpanther and many others. Excellent photo reproduction in high quality paper, and even a full page color image included. The captions put the images in context and the inclusion of QR codes linking to maps is a plus. Definitively recommended as the rest of the series.