Editions du Barbotin

Trackstory No. 11 - Somua S35

by  Pascal Danjou

Reviewed By  Ben Guenther, IPMS# 20101

MSRP: €15.95 ($21.55) ISBN: 978-2-917661-08-6 Website: www.minitracks.fr Soft Cover, 7" x 9.75", 62 pages, 61 B&W photos, 12 pages of color profiles, bilingual French and English text The publishers of Minitracks, Century Tracks, Focus and Trackstory have just released the eleventh in the Trackstory series, this being on the French tank - Somua S35. Actually, the very first Trackstory volume was on this tank, but the publisher states that this is a completely new edition having been entirely re-written with new photos and color profiles, not having the earlier volume I'll have to take them at their word on this. This book is basically a history of the Somua S35, which the author holds in high regard…"The Somua S35 was the best French tank of 1940. It had 40mm armor and was armed with a formidable 47mm anti-tank gun, which allowed it to pierce most armor in use at the time. It was a tank built for speed, and no other German tank of the day could better it." Chapters 1 and 2 deals with the development of the S35 and S40. Chapters 3 and 4 looks at the use of the S35 during the Battle of France and afterwards in Tunisia. Chapter 5 shows how the Germans recovered and used the S35 as a training tank and as artillery trackers. Chapter 6 tells how a few remaining S35 tanks were used by the FFI during the Liberation in 1944. Anyone interested in French tanks or the early battles of WWII will find this a useful volume to have. While the pictures are on the small side, they are clear and hold a lot of details. The color profiles will also be most helpful for modelers. For the most part, the English translation wasn't bad; it just seemed to bog down in places. What I most liked about this work was how it expanded my knowledge of the S35 after the Battle of France and its many uses by the French and Germans. I can recommend this book and I want to thank IPMS/USA and Editions du Barbotin for the opportunity to review this book.