Introduction..

Quiron Ediciones is a small Spanish publishing house, who, in the last few years, have built up an excellent reputation for covering a wide variety of military subjects, in particular those related to the Spanish Civil War. This recent publication on the Panzer 1 fits perfectly within the compay remit, dealing, as it does, with a vehicle whose first 'baptism of fire' was in the brutal Spanish Civil war...

Quiron Ediciones new book...

Panzer I: El Inicio de Una Saga (Panzer 1 - the beginnings of a saga) is written by Lucas Molina Franco and consists of 64 pages in a slightly smaller than A4 format. The book is divided into five chapters:

Origins and development

The 'older brothers' - PzKfw 1 (ausf C & F)

The Command Vehicles - Kleiner Panzerbefehslwagen I, Ausf A & B

Special Versions of the Panzer 1 (Ausf A)

Special Versions of the Panzer 1 (Ausf B)

The book, and perhaps this is its strongest aspect is absolutely packed with photos and illustrations. The photos have ALL been digitally re-mastered with a crispness of definition and contrast which is frankly impressive. I have seen quite a number before in other publications, however quite a few are completely new... The color plates, (of which there are no less than 48) are some of the finest that I have seen. Particularly are has been taken in the accurate placement of unit markings and with this in mind, where applicable, front views are also provided.

The text, which is all in Spanish, is well written, concise and informative. Particularly well-done, is the introduction to the development of the vehicleand the notes on the various variants of the subject. Unfortunately, the fact that the book is written totally in Spanish, will put many people off. However, the real value for many modellers will be in the illustrative content. In my own library, I have an increasingly large number of Polish and Russian publications which I consider indispensable for their visual reference value. Quiron Ediciones really have to consider the international value of a book of this nature and at least, provide bilingual captions....

Two of the book's sections are particularly valuable for the modeller - the section on the 'Older Brothers' of the Pz I which covers in a number of images two of the later (1942) projects: the Ausf C & F. Both of these variants have many (superfical) similarities to the Pz II 'Luchs', particularly in the complex running gear. The other section, (which almost deserves a seperate volume) covers the fascinating subject of the Special variants of the Panzer I. Seven vehicles are covered from the well-documented Munitionsschleeper 'Laube' to the rare Panzer I Ausf A, 'Breda' of the Spanish Civil War.

This book is one of those invaluable 'additions' to a balanced library which, with other books will provide much inspiration for the many modelling projects which the Panzer lends itself to.

Conclusions

This book is a bargain. Twelve Euros for a book of this quality is frankly incredible. My only reservations are in the fact that the text is exclusively in Spanish. This will (sadly) put many potential purchasers off. However, that aside, the quality and value of the illustrations, more than compensates for this (minor) drawback. It can't be said that this is the definitive book on the Pz I, however it is a definite 'must-have' for anyone working on this most interesting of vehicles. The quality of reproduction is as good as I have seen anywhere and the author has demonstrated a great deal of imagination by choosing the subjects covered n the book. I will however say, that a second volume (or third?) would be a great asset, particularly dealing with the 'Special Purpose' vehicles and in paricular the Panzer I in the Spanish Civil War. In cases like this, it is difficult to find the superlatives necessary to do this superb publication justice...

VERY Highly Recommended

Further Details...

My example was purchased directly from the publishers, whose (bilingual) website, can be seen below:

Quiron Ediciones Website

Shortly, we will be publishing another feature in the Armor Resource Feature series, the subject of this latest 'instalment' will be the Panzer I and the many linked reviews which Armorama has published over the years....