Book Review M12 Gun Motor Carriage - David Doyle

Discussion in 'Books, Films, TV, Radio' started by von Poop, Feb 21, 2019.

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  1. von Poop

    von Poop Adaministrator Admin

    Images of war.
    M12 Gun Motor Carriage
    Rare photographs from wartime archives.

    16520.jpg

    David Doyle
    P&S
    9781526743527

    Quite tricky to review this book.
    I think most would be aware of the 'Images' series, and know roughly what to expect. Profusely illustrated quite nicely produced c.150 pages of exactly what it says on the cover.
    You buy them usually for very specific interests, and if genuinely into the given subject I imagine anyone would be satisfied with the content.

    If you plunged in expecting a detailed, or even rough, development or action history; you might be disappointed, but that isn't really what's being offered.
    Someone once said to me that the series competes with Osprey books, but not at all really. Osprey try to give you a potted history of a given machine, this gives you... Images. (Imagine! ) Lots of images.

    This one's by David Doyle, so not just images, but ones with detailed & authoritative captions.
    (Knows his stuff, Mr Doyle.
    Been around the block a few times: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/s//ref=mw_dp_a_s?ie=UTF8&i=books&k=David+Doyle )
    I suppose the success in such things is to inject little nuggets onto the captions that make you look a bit harder. Plenty of that here.

    I find the GMCs as a whole interesting, so I found the book interesting. M3 based effort to get a very heavy gun motorised & a little protected when in transit, only 100 made, and only a single survivor. Seem to have been largely stored until bunker-busting on the Siegfried line gave them their chance to shine. (Always wise in a world war to side with nations that can stockpile 100 massive SPGs 'just in case'.}
    You'll likely pick up stuff from those caption nuggets, and the range of photos is good, from factory/testing 'technical' shots to private 'in action' pics. It finishes off with multiple good colour images of that sole survivor.
    All the images throughout are clear & well-produced.

    It's really for nerds like me that find detailed close-ups of sprockets & fire extinguisher nozzles worthwhile, and, of course: modellers.
    If you're building an M12 model, I can't imagine you'll get better detail reference unless you clambered over one yourself.

    Would I buy it? Yeah, 'course I would.
    I like tracked things & big guns.
    Should you buy it? Ask yourself if you like tracked things &/or big guns...
    It's a successful title in the admittedly narrow world of this kind of book. Some of the P&S images series range a little more widely, but this one has pretty much every frame filled with some aspect of the machine itself.
    (I came away wanting to know more about the associated T14/M30 munitions/cargo carrier as it's only mentioned lightly, but being inspired to look things up is a good thing, and it's not called 'Images of T12 carriers', is it.)

    I did notice Mr Doyle has a previous & OOP M12 pics book:
    So if you have that already, you might want to inspect a physical copy to be certain of any crossover in images or information.

    Cheers again to Pen & Sword for the review copy

    ~A.
     
  2. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

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