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. Anthony
Tucker-Jones, in this illustrated history, tells the story of their
conception and development and reconsiders their operational history,
and he dispels the legends and misunderstandings that have grown up
around them.
The Tigers were over-engineered, required raw materials that were in
short supply, were time-consuming to manufacture and difficult to
recover from the battlefield. Only around 1,300 of the Tiger I and fewer
than 500 of the Tiger II were produced, so they were never going to make
anything more than a local impact on the outcome of the fighting on the
Western and Eastern fronts. Yet the myth of the Tigers, with their 88mm
guns, thick amour and brutal profiles, has grown over time to the extent
that they are regarded as the deadliest tanks of the Second World War.
Anthony Tucker-Jones's expert account of these remarkable fighting
vehicles is accompanied by a series of color plates showing the main
variants of the designs and the common ancillary equipment and unit
markings. His book is an essential work of reference for enthusiasts.
