Panzer 38(t)

By Horst Scheibert
Schiffer Military History, 1997
ISBN 0-7643-0298-1
48 pages

Reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

With the recent release of the 1/72 Attack Hobby PzKpfw 38(t) kits, I've been looking high and low for any and all references on this Czech tank, and this is one book that turned up. Printed in the 11" x 8.5" size, this book does a fairly decent job of covering the history of the PzKpfw 38(t). While this book is in the same size format as the Squadron In Action series, it does not include any drawings and the only color is found on the front and back covers.

Inside, there are plenty of pictures showing the PzKpfw 38(t) from its beginnings to its end during WW2. The 38(t) chassis continued on after the Second World War, though, with Sweden using it for post-war tracked vehicles. These derivatives are not depicted, although most of the other WW2 derivatives are shown (such as the Hetzer). One downside to the book is that the captions do not identify the variants. This is a pity, as it forces you to another book to determine if you're looking at a PzKpfw 38(t) Ausf. C or Ausf. H.

While the picture captions aren't the best, at least the pictures are printed large (including some that fill the whole page, all the way to the edges) and are clear and sharp. There's plenty of interesting material in these pages, so if you're wanting to build up a PzKpfw 38(t), this would be a good place to find some neat markings.