Category: Book Reviews

Tiger Tracks by Wolfgang Faust

Written in the late 1940s by a former Tiger tank driver, this book supposedly shocked the post-war German public in its depiction of the savagery of the fighting on the Eastern front. It tells the story of a Tiger company during a 3-day battle to defend a river crossing point and allow as much of the retreating German army to escape as possible.

The first thing to point out is that the book is remarkably vague about where and when all of this took place. There are no town or village names, we don’t know the name of the river and can only assume that the action takes place in Russia. But there are also hints that we are close to the border with Germany as Faust worries about the Red Army reaching the territory of the Reich. Hardly anyone is named apart from the crew of the Tiger tank that is the centre of the action.

We follow Faust’s tank and its crew through a series of delaying actions as they gradually make their way back to the river crossing and join the defences there. On the way we encounter Soviet infantry in concealed fox holes, partisans in the woods and increasingly powerful enemy armour. They initially face T34s, then T34/85s, and ramp up to IS tanks and various types of SU and ISU tank destroyers and assault guns. As the driver, Faust has to deal with the gradual degrading of the tank from continued minor damage, along with a shortage of fuel.

The book is quite short and is entirely from the viewpoint of the author, so we don’t see much other than the goings on inside the tank, and what Faust can see through his driver’s vision block (which has a minor storyline of its own), although it must be said that he does seem to have a remarkably good view from there. A crashed Luftwaffe pilot and a Soviet PoW are the only significant characters we meet beyond the crew (no-one else seems to live long enough!). It’s a fast-paced story, the tank is continuously in action so there’s little down time. And without giving too much away, there’s quite a shocking scene at the end of the book, which apparently caused much disquiet at the time of its original publication.

The description of the combat is remarkably graphic, with tanks exploding left, right and centre, and lots of severed limbs and heads. This is certainly different from other tanker memoirs that I’ve read – in those, most tanks break down or are incapacitated from minor damage such as broken tracks or jammed turret rings. In fact, it reads more like a Sven Hassell novel than a historical memoir. Or if you swapped the Tiger for an M2A4 blower tank, and turned the enemies from the Soviet army into the Lightning Division, then you could be reading one of David Drake’s Hammer’s Slammers stories. It really doesn’t read like a memoir.

So I looked a little deeper into the origin of Wolfgang Faust and his book. And, surprise, surprise, it may not all be quite true… I can’t get a definitive answer, but the consensus of various other reviews I’ve read seems to be that it is indeed a work of fiction. It may be based on historical events, but the claims about it being written and published in the 1940s seem dubious at best – if nothing else, the tone and style of the writing doesn’t feel like it’s from that time.

So by all means go ahead and give this book a go, but do so with this in mind. Consider it a story, not a historical document, and you’ll be treated to a fast moving, action filled tale. It has several encounters that could be turned into wargames scenarios, or even a linked mini-campaign.

Just for completeness, the version I reviewed was the audio book on Audible, which is unabridged.

Stout Hearts, The British and Canadians in Normandy 1944 by Ben Kite.

Review by Mark J

I have been a lover of books for as long as I can remember and very much love the fact that books really help me play better games on the tabletop. The research part of our hobby is one of my favourite parts. Learning about a battle, campaign and the men and women that fought brings the historical game narrative to the tabletop.

I’m always on the lookout for a good book that helps me create and run better games. Ben Kite’s Stout Hearts fits the bill perfectly. Easy to read, covering British and Canadian armed forces that fought to liberate France in 44. I’ve used this book to create an Op Bluecoat game at the club next year. Here’s my take on the book.

Stout Hearts is an impressive, deeply researched analysis of British and Canadian operations in Normandy, offering a refreshing counterbalance to long-standing myths about Allied performance. Ben Kite blends operational history with tactical detail, drawing heavily on primary sources to show how units fought on the ground. His writing is clear, measured, and avoids the polemics that so frustratingly often colour Normandy historiography.

Kite’s great strength is his ability to contextualise British and Canadian actions—explaining doctrine, logistics, training, and the battlefield environment—to illustrate why commanders made the choices they did. The book challenges the idea that the British and Canadians were slow or lacking aggression, showing instead a professional and adaptive army grappling with a formidable German defence and extremely difficult terrain.

While occasionally dense due to its technical depth, Stout Hearts is accessible and is packed with valuable insight for wargamers, military historians, and anyone interested in the Normandy campaign. One of the most balanced and authoritative studies of Allied performance in 1944 I’ve read in a long time.

If you want to view the book on Amazon you can find it here. The club earns a small referral if you purchase it which we put towards our website fees.