Tiger

The German Tiger I and Tiger II (known to the Allies as the ‘King Tiger’ or ‘Royal Tiger’) were the most famous and formidable heavy tanks of the Second World War. In their day, their awesome reputation inspired such apprehension among Allied soldiers that the weaknesses of these brilliant but flawed designs tended to be overlooked.

This first volume, of a three-volume set, covers the history, development and production history of the Tiger tank variants from the ideas conception to the end of Tiger I production. This includes details on the development series known as the D.W., VK 30.01(H), VK 30.01(P), VK 36.01(H), VK 45.01(P) as well as the Tiger I. All of this illustrated with scale drawings by Hilary L. Doyle, combined with drawings, sketches, and photographs depicting external modifications as well as internal views. Over thirty years of intensive research went into finding the original documents needed to create this history of the development, characteristics, and tactical capabilities of the Tiger. An exhaustive search was made for surviving records of the design/assembly firms (including Krupp, Henschel, Porsche, and Wegmann), the Heereswaffenamt, the Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen, the D656 series of manuals on the Tiger, and the war diaries with their supporting reports from German army units. This is supplemented by the authors collecting hundreds of photos and climbing over, under, around, and through nearly every surviving Tiger I.
Quality of this book: digital camera photos, missing: cover.

A gripping, multifaceted true account of the deadliest animal of all time and the hunter on its trail, equally comparable to Jaws as to Matthiessen's The Snow Leopard.