M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer 1943-97 by Steven J. Zaloga

Presented in the standard New Vanguard format (48 pages, 8 pages of colour plates including a cutaway, and approximately 50 B&W photos), this book tells the story of the M18 and its variants (only one of which, the M39 AUV, saw service) in both US and foreign service. Spanning a 50 year period, the book begins with a brief review of the controversial US tank destroyer doctrine and ends with the amazing story of M18s in combat during the Balkan wars (complete with psychadelic camouflages and strange modifications, including the T-55/M18 hybrid). Some good first-hand accounts of the M18 in combat follow, as well as a technical description and assessment of the vehicle. Zaloga pulls no punches in the text, and concludes that the M18 was "a bitter disappointment" in service, although in fairness that is at least partly due to the seriously flawed requirements which led to the design.

Although not a modeller's reference the way that Squadron or Concord books are, there is plenty to recommend this book. The colour plates are excellent and illustrate a good variety of vehicles, while there are some new (at least to me) photos in the book (owners of Hunnicutt's magnificent Stuart tome, the old Tanks Illustrated and the more recent Concord titles on US tank destroyers will recognize many of the photos, however). A few of the 805th TD Battalion photos and the wonderful shot of an Italian M18 being offloaded onto an M19 tank transporter combo are particularly noteworthy, as is the shot of a Taiwanese M18 turret mounted on an M42 Duster chassis! For some reason, the M18 seems to have inspired its users to bizarre improvizations.

Flawed or not, I always liked the sleek lines of the M18 and have ambitious plans for a superdetailed Hellcat using the Academy and AFV Club kits along with lots of aftermarket and styrene. That is on hold until Steve's next book on the subject, an Osprey Modelling Manual on US Tank Destroyers, is released in the fall. I can hardly wait!