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Title: Jagdtiger: The Most Powerful Armoured Fighting Vehicle of World War II : Operational History (Schiffer Military History) by Andrew Devey, Andy Devey ISBN: 0-7643-0751-7 Publisher: Schiffer Publishing Pub. Date: 01 May, 1999 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $49.95

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Average Customer Rating: 2.5 (4 reviews)

Rating: 4
Summary: Jagdtiger in Combat
Comment: The Jagdtiger was Germany's heaviest operational armored fighting vehicle. Based on the chassis of the Tiger II (or "King Tiger"), it replaced the turret with a fixed fighting compartment carrying a massive 128 mm antitank gun. It was a technical failure, since operations showed that the drive train couldn't deal with the vehicle's vast weight, and over half the vehicles built had to be blown up after they broke down, bogged down, or simply ran out of gas. This is the second half of Andrew Devey's work on the Jagdtiger, and for the model builder or historian, it is the more useful of the two. Other reviewers have taken issue with technical errors present in Volume One, which covered the development of the machine. Volume Two is more promising, in that it details the operational history of the only two battalions to operate the Jagdtiger, the 653rd and the 512th, and Devey attempts to track as many of the 80+ machines built as surviving records allow. For an operational history of the just the 653rd, a better choice would be Karlheinz Munch's "Combat History of Schwere Panzerjager Abteilung 653," published by J.J. Fedorowicz in Canada. It has more detailed information, as well as more oversized photos with superior reproduction. But for the 512th, Devey's book is virtually the only source in English (Otto Carius' memoir, "Tigers in the Mud," has some info on one company of the 512th, which he commanded, but the companies operated independently of each other). While the book has its weaknesses, particularly in photo reproduction, it is still a breathtaking improvement on what was available just four years ago.

Rating: 3
Summary: Jagdtiger
Comment: This book will be welcomed by the armored vehicle enthusiasts who have tired of the hobby store pictorial books written for boys. There are quite a number of photographs and technical details which are not published in any other mass-marketed book.

It was however disappointing that after "20 years of exhaustive research" the author was still unable to improve upon his predecessors' description of the Tiger's steering mechanism as the following formidable paragraph illustrates.

"Steering was effected by imposing different speeds on the sun wheel of an epicyclic, whose annulus was positively driven by a bevel meshing with the main gearbox output bevel, and whose planet carrier carried the output flange to the final drive."

There is a schematic diagram of the steering unit which only adds to the confusion. Apparently the theory of operation is so difficult to comprehend much less explain, that every author has skirted it and hoped that the reader would not be the wiser.

Knowing all of this, I went ahead and ordered the book anyway. It does make excellent reading even though the scholarship could be improved.

Rating: 1
Summary: An issue with this book
Comment: I don't have the background to assess most of this book, but there's one item that falls into my area of knowledge and it's a problem.
This book, about the Jadgtiger, contains some material from manuals describing a different vehicle. Its source is not given.
The author has copied some wording and a full-page diagram from the British report on Tiger 1 tank. It describes an engine fan which was unique to Tiger I, therefore the material has nothing to do with Jagdtiger and does not belong in this book. The author really should understand that not all "tiger" series tanks had swappable components!
I'm particularly puzzled that he prints a photo of a small, small valve in the Jagdtiger and basically says "there's the fan I was talking about". They don't even look similar!