2024 the best man synopsis review

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'I thought Tank Men was a triumph ...it is a really fine piece of work' - Richard Holmes
'Some of the eye witness accounts Kershaw has collected for this comprehensive review of tank warfare have the power to chill the reader to the bone. This is warfare at the sharp end' --NOTTINGHAM EVENING POST
The First World War saw the birth of an extraordinary fighting machine that has fascinated three generations: the tank. In Tank Men, ex-soldier and military historian Robert Kershaw brings to life the grime, the grease and the fury of a tank battle through the voices of ordinary men and women who lived and fought in those fearsome machines. Drawing on vivid, newly researched personal testimony from the crucial battles of the First and Second World Wars, this is military history at its very best.

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00GVG07S2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Hodder & Stoughton (April 16, 2009)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 16, 2009
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1053 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 552 pages
Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Very well written, graphic and moving view of the tanker's experience
Review: This is a must-read for those who want to know what tank warfare was REALLY like for crewmen. It is a well balanced read, with many heart-rending descriptions of their experiences from tankers of all nations in WWI and WWII, through to (only slightly) more dispassionate analyses of the various machines, tactics, and their merits in battle.The question of training for battle is given close examination, and found greatly lacking in many respects. It is quite stunning how badly served these soldiers were. The ever-present fear of what might soon happen to them is wrenchingly well portrayed, and something I never want to experience, if I remain that lucky.The quick development of better and more fearsome guns and machines, on the part of Germans and Russians, is well described, together with the tragic (for their crewmen) slowness of Americans and British to keep pace with that. For instance I was astounded to learn that the Americans could have fielded the M-26 Pershing tank much earlier than they did in Europe. To see how decisive it could have been, Google video for "Cologne Panther"I do not know for the life of me how these men climbed into their tanks day after day, knowing what their chances were, and having seen the terrible fate of many of their friends who died before their eyes...."Konstantin bailed out - more accurately, the upper part of his body bailed out, the lower part remained in the tank.....He was still alive. He looked at me....."There are no photos or diagrams, but they are really not needed. The word pictures are more than enough. You would have to be made of stone to be unmoved by these tank crewmen's stories.

Reviewer: Freemind.Arcata
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Quite British
Review: Quite. Ironically, British tanks sucked. Good book, not a great read. The detail was superlative, research obviously done well, and the personal stories were excellent. Wish it had more of a cohesive structure knitting it all together, but then, it's not a novel, and maybe I'm too picky. In fact, Stephen King himself would have a hard time describing the horror these brave young men lived through or died in. Some of the battle conditions Mr. Kershaw describes in blunt prose rank amongst the most brutal carnage I've ever read through, including Mr. King.

Reviewer: Laura
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great stories
Review: Great book from a great series. Highly recommend

Reviewer: D. W.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Riveting and all too human in cost
Review: This book was revelatory and shocking. Learning how Allied troops were lied to concerning their tanks vs. those of the Germans and the trade of mass production instead of competitive and effective armor is highlighted in unimaginable human costs. The first person accounts of those who survived and those who didn't is touching. Highly recommended reading.

Reviewer: Wiley
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: An interesting history of tank warfare
Review: This is a very readable history of tank warfare from its inception in the First World War to its evolution through the Second. Accompanying the narrative is a description of the development of the tank technology by the major Axis and Allied powers. The Germans lead in the technological development whereas the Allies favored mass production over quality.The narrative is heavily interspersed with personal stories by the soldiers who survived the tank battles. While one does not truly get the sense of daily combat in a tank, there are plenty of nuggets interspersed to get a very good perception. The vignettes add to the readability and avoids a dry,dullreader experience.As a downside, there is scant attention paid to the American tankers and there is no mention of the use of tanks in the Pacific. The focus of the book is the use of tanks in Europe and Russia.

Reviewer: Lector
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: recommended, with caveats
Review: An excellent idea for a book, WWII tank combat as seen by the crewmen themselves. Unfortunately, parts of the book were evidently never proofread or edited, leading to some ridiculous mistakes.(Such as 'the battle of Kursk happened in 1934', the 'PanzerI fired a round the size of a candle'.)Sometimes the writer's confused clauses are so bad you can't figure out what he's trying to communicate.It's repetitive at times as well. I can't help wondering if this book was the product of some terrible scheduling conflict between the writer and the publisher, because it deserved to be more carefully produced. As the editing stands, you can't trust the book for any particular fact, but it's good for general description of conditions. A reader who already knows the subject can use his judgment and benefit from the depth of the first person accounts in the book, but this is not the most reliable introduction for the novice.One might quibble also that there is an overemphasis on the number of Panthers and Tigers faced by the allies in the second half of the war, and a relative underemphasis on the fight against German guns, mobile guns,tank destroyers and infantry, which was what they faced a great majority of the time.The book does not set out to cover any fighting with Japan or Finland in WWII, only the Western powers and the Soviets.Kershaw should be commended for the many excellent interviews with veterans which he conducted,an irreplaceable service to posterity and an act of respect, and for assembling excerpts from relevant memoirs.The book does convey forcefully, by gradual heaping up of evidence, that war is essentially a slaughterhouse of men, and that these tankers had to expose themselves to this slaughter daily.On a separate note, Kershaw's 'War Without Garlands' is an excellent book about the Eastern front, based also on veterans' testimony.

Reviewer: Blu
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: AN ADMIRABLE ACCOMPLISHMENT.
Review: Albeit, at times, repetitive, overall an extremely well-rounded comprehensive synopsis of the tank crews and the challenges confronted in WWII North Africa, Russia, Europe. (More accurately evaluated at 4.5 STARS.) Seamlessly woven eloquent dialogue of individual vignettes by British, American, German, Russian combat tankers, who all herald the superiority of the monstrous German Tigers and Panthers. As noted by one intrepid tanker: "... despite all of the suffering, admitted, 'I still look back on it as one of the best times of my life'" (p. 350). Life lived at the fullest. A riveting composition.

Reviewer: Max
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: This compelling book delves into the life (and death) of tank crews from all sides during WW2. The narrative is excellent and allows one to view the work, servicing and horrendous battles from the safety of one’s chair. There are few photos but they aren’t really needed. There are plenty of descriptions of what happens inside a tank when it gets hit - it can be very gruesome. The inside of a tank can very quickly become hotter than an oven - even without flames. That is why you can see tank crews bailing out with smouldering clothes. You have just one or 2 seconds to get out. If there is a fire the oxygen is quickly consumed. The nations covered are England, America, Germany, Russia and Italy. Many personal accounts with veterans.

Reviewer: Nelson Senft
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I found this to be the best book I have found to describe the experience of armoured warfare. The author combines personal experiences of tankers from various nations with descriptions of battles and developments of armor over the first half of the 20th century. Highly readable and recommended to those interested in the subject.

Reviewer: Malachi die Taube
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Schlicht und einfach das beste Buch über das Leben, Leiden und auch Sterben der Tankmänner in den beiden Weltkriegen. Es geht hier nicht vordringlich um “Mein Tank ist besser als Deiner” (wobei die Tanks auch verglichen werden), es geht nicht um die Einzelheiten von irgendwelchen Schlachten - es geht einfach um die Soldaten in den Tanks, und wie sie denn Krieg in diesen Stahlbüchsen erlebten.Es wird auch nicht verherrlicht, es gibt keine Heldengeschichten als solche ( wohl aber die Beschreibung sehr mutiger Taten) und jede SPÖ wird gleich behandelt, Gutes und Mangelhaftes aufgedeckt und erklärt.Und das ist sehr gut geschrieben und extrem lesenswert, wenn man sich den Thema von der Seite des Soldaten nähert.Unbedingt lesenswert.

Reviewer: José Manuel
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: No conocía este autor pero ahora lo tengo como uno de mis favoritos. La lectura se hace muy amena porque intercala, de una forma muy ágil, los testimonios de tanquistas que lucharon en los ejércitos aliados y alemán de la segunda guerra mundial. No se centra en grandes datos o en gestas heroicas sino que describe la angustia y los sentimientos de los hombres que lucharon y vivieron dentro de sus carros de combate. Cientos de testimonios que nos hacen reflexionar, a los que disfrutamos con la historia militar, sobre el drama de la guerra.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Very interesting book viewed from a perspective I have not read previously. It really describes tank life from a human point of view.