Afrikakorps : An Illustrated History

This is a superb pictorial of the German fighting forces in North Africa, 1941-1943. The book contains over 200 photos and covers all manner of operations, armament, vehicles, and personnel. It is also good-sized, about 11 by 8.25 inches, for its purpose. The book is not really an "illustrated history", however, as there is no general overview of the campaigns in this theatre or even any real discussion at all. There is only a brief statement (about half a page) about myths surrounding the Afrikakorps and a short discussion (a page and a half) on uniforms of the Wehrmacht in North Africa. The captions for the photos are also quite short, usually just a sentence or two. The photos are quite interesting as they show not just the usual depictions of tanks and other armored vehicles, but include a wide assortment of pictures of troops undergoing daily activies, including, training, resting, eating, usw. About a quarter of the book (27 pages) is a section on the Luftwaffe, including a three-page spread on ace fighter pilot Marseilles. (Oddly enough a two-page spread on the six-engine Me 323 (the largest plane of its kind at the time) appears elsewhere in the book.) The pictures are generally of excellent quality, often clearly depicting, e.g, divisional and other markings on vehicles, but there are also quite a few that are a bit grainy or murky and this tempted me to lower the book's rating. (The author does not disclose the source of the photos.) Overall, this is an excellent, general pictorial on the Wehrmacht in North Africa in World War II.