Reviewed book is a 20th issue in a Model Detail Photo Monograph series from Polish Rossagraph company. The title of this book translated into English could be "Armored Warfare Museum of Polish Army Training Center in Poznan". The book is only available in Polish and is rather unusual item in the MDPM series, as it is actually not a monograph. It is basically a guide to the museum and according to first paragraph in a book it is addressed mainly to students of Army Training Center, who also occasionally work as museum docents.

The soft cover book is printed on high quality paper. This book is in a size common to all publications in MDPM series: 155 mm x 215 mm and contains 32 pages.

On first three pages we can read the history of museum, development of Polish armor and operations of Polish armored units during World War 2. What follows next is basically a catalogue of exhibits of Poznan museum. On each page we get one black and white photograph of the exhibit (no color pictures are included in the book, except the one on the cover) and very short description and history of the type with basic specifications listed. Featured vehicles are (order and descriptions as they appear in the book):

- light tank T-70
- Zil 111D limousine
- medium tank T-34 model 1943
- medium tank T-72
- medium tank T-34-85
- armored reconnaissance car BRDM-2
- armored reconnaissance car "FUG"
- medium tank T-54
- wheeled armored carrier SKOT 1A
- tracked armored carrier TOPAS
- light amphibious tank PT-76
- light self propelled gun ASU-85
- medium tank T-34-85MT "Rudy"
- heavy tank IS-3
- heavy tank IS-2
- heavy self propelled gun ISU-152
- heavy self propelled gun ISU-122
- medium self propelled gun SU-100
- light self propelled gun SU-76M
- medium self propelled gun SU-85
- wheeled armored carrier BTR-152
- recovery vehicle WPT-34
- medium tank T-55A
- wheeled armored carrier SKOT 2AP
- assault car from armored train
- wheeled armored carrier BTR-60-PB.

The order in which vehicles are listed in the book represents the order in which they stand in museum halls and exhibition areas.

At the end of the book we find a part of street map of Poznan with location of the museum shown. Also included on this page is short information that the museum is available to visitors only after telephone arrangement and this is the only text in the whole book, which is provided in both Polish and English languages. The phone number is of course given.

Usefulness of this book to modelers is very limited and for those who can't read Polish, it is basically none. The reference value of included b&w photos is rather minimal. This book can indeed be considered only a museum guide and as such cannot be recommended to anyone who does not plan a trip to Poznan. The reason why this book was released in "Model Detail Photo Monograph" series is beyond me...



Many thanks to Rossagraph for the review sample!

Rossagraph books are distributed in USA and Canada by AirConnection (www.airconnection.on.ca). For a list of other distributors and resellers contact Rossagraph at [email protected].