Hell on Wheels: The Men of the U.S. Armored Forces, 1918 to the Present
Greenhill Books, 72 pages, 1999, ISBN 1-85367-378-1, trade paperback, $12
GI Series

Once again, the presentation of the GI Series continues to supply us with wonderful photographs, excellent captions, and a brief 4-page text overview. Again, 16 color photos plus 92 black and white make up the bulk of the appeal.

The photos are wonderful, buy I find the book too ambitious, covering 80 years in under 80 pages. I would have liked to see more concentrated topics, for while trying to cover everything, the book fails to please anyone. I would have preferred separate booklets on WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and Modern/Desert Storm. Combining all into one dilutes the effectiveness.

Also, after seeing a wide variety of color combat photos of armor in Vietnam to Desert Storm in general magazines, the black and white photos of these eras leaves me a little flat. Guess I've been spoiled by TV.

In the WWII portion, I was amazed to see US armor draped with sandbags in an effort to thwart German guns. There's even one photo of tree trunks attached to the side of M5A1 Stuarts for protection and for use in mud to get better traction. Of course, it left me wanting more, but then, it was off to Korea...

Overall, a mixed grade. Individual photos are excellent, but I find the topic too spread out.

Sample Pages: Hell on Wheels

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