For the first time, translated Soviet archival documents, including more than 100 photos and illustrations, are used to present "the Russian view" of the legendary T-34 tank.

The Soviet T\-34 medium tank needs no introduction, being the most famous tank ever built especially as has seen service across the globe throughout the twentieth century’s most brutal wars. However, despite this fame, little has been written about its design changes. While most tank enthusiasts can differentiate between the ‘T\-34\/76’ and the ‘T\-34\-85’, identifying different factory production batches has proven more elusive. Until now. With nearly six hundred photographs, mostly taken by soldiers who both operated and fought against the T\-34, this book seeks to catalogue and contextualise even the subtlest details to create a true ‘T\-34 continuum’. The book begins with the antecedents of the T\-34, the ill\-fated BT ‘fast tank’ series and the influence of the traumatic Spanish Civil War before moving to an in\-depth look at the T\-34’s prototypes. After this, every factory production change is catalogued and contextualised, with never\-before\-seen photographs and stunning technical drawings. Furthermore, four battle stories are also integrated to explain the changing battle context when major production changes take place. The production story is completed with sections on the T\-34’s post\-war production (and modification) by Czechoslovakia, Poland, and the People’s Republic of China, as well as T\-34 variants.

When the German army launched Operation Barbarossa – the invasion of the Soviet Union – on June 22, 1941, it was expecting to face and easily defeat outdated and obsolete tanks and for the most part it did, but it also received a nasty shock when it came up against the T-34. With its powerful gun and sloped armour, the T-34 was more than a match for the best German tanks at that time and the Germans regarded it with awe. German Field Marshal von Kleist, who commanded the latter stages of Barbarossa, called it ‘the finest tank in the world’. Using original wartime documents author and historian Peter Samsonov, creator of the Tank Archives blog, explains how the Soviets came to develop what was arguably the war’s most revolutionary tank design.

This is the fourth title in our new Russian Armour series which has been designed to provide much needed authoritative information on the classic Soviet tank designs of the 20th century. The books are written by Russian experts and the research has been done in Russian archives. The series has already established itself as required reading for all those interested in the development of armored warfare over the past 100 years. The latest title examines in detail the T-34, one of the most famous and successful vehicles in the history of armored warfare. The T-34 was a Soviet medium tank produced from 1940 to 1958. It was widely regarded as the world's best tank when the Soviet Union entered the Second World War, and although its amour and armament were surpassed by later World War II tanks, it is credited as the war's most effective, efficient and influential design. First produced at the KhPZ factory in Kharkov, it was the mainstay of Soviet armored forces throughout World War II, and widely exported afterwards. At least 39 countries are known to have operated T-34s. It was the most-produced tank of the war, and the second most-produced tank of all time, after its successor, the T-54/55 series. The T-34 was still in service with twenty-seven countries as late as 1996. There are hundreds of surviving T-34s. Examples of the type are in the military collections and museums around the globe, and hundreds more serve as war memorials in Russian and former Eastern bloc countries. Aimed at the modeler, military historian and wargamer, we believe that the Russian Armour series provides authoritative information on the classic Soviet tank designs of the 20th century, to a level of detail probablynot previously available in the English language.

The Soviet T-34 was one of the finest tanks of the Second World War and the mainstay of Soviet armoured units throughout the war. Most nations underestimated the scale and quality of Soviet tank production before the Second World War and the Germans were no exception. They were certainly not prepared for the T-34, which they encountered during Operation Barbarossa (the German invasion of Russia) in 1941. Its combination of firepower, mobility, protection, and ruggedness led German Panzer General Paul von Kleist at the time to call it "The finest tank in the world." Another legendary Panzer tactician and general, Heinz Guderian, also confirmed the T-34's "vast superiority" over existing German armour of the period.

A fascinating study of the first modern war and its effect on American Culture.