WWII Tank Encyclopaedia in Color 1939-45

By Jean Restayn
Histoire & Collections, ©2007
ISBN 978-2-915239-47-8
Hardbound, 176 Pages

Reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

As an illustrator myself, I tend to be drawn to profile illustrations in the various reference books. So when this book came across the table, I found myself completely engrossed for quite a while. For those looking for historical photos or detailed operational histories, look elsewhere, as this is nothing but page after page of highly detailed color artwork. With over 500 illustrations, this represents an impressive catalog of the artist Jean Restayn’s work.

The book is divided up by nation and includes Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, United States, Finland, France, Commonwealth, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Poland, Rumania, Slovakia, and the Soviet Union. Understandably, some of these sections will have fewer illustrations than others. For instance, Finland gets only two pages, while Germany receives nearly seventy (indeed, it is the German tanks that have the largest section in this book, which is understandable given the illustrator’s previous works on the Tiger tank). While most of the subjects are side-on profile illustrations, there are a handful of perspective illustrations as well.

As for the illustrations themselves, not only are the individual tanks amply covered, but the artist has also gone to great lengths to provide interesting marking and camouflage differences as well. The result is an incredibly diverse collection that will provide the inspiration for many a modeler. Whether as a supplement to an existing armor reference library, or as an introduction to tanks, this book is well worth having. My thanks to Casemate Publishing for the review copy.