Heinz Guderian
- master of the Blitzkrieg & father of modern tank warfare
- commanded the German XIX Army Corps as it rampaged across Poland in 1939. Personally leading the devastating attack which traversed the Ardennes Forest & broke through French lines he was at the forefront of the race to the Channel coast. Only Hitlers personal command to halt prevented Guderians tanks & troops turning Dunkirk into an Allied bloodbath. Later commanding Panzergruppe 2 in Operation Barbarossa Guderians armoured spearhead took Smolensk after fierce fighting & was poised to launch the final assault on Moscow when he was ordered south to Kiev. In the battle that followed he helped encircle & capture over 600 000 Soviet troops after days of combat in the most terrible conditions. Panzer Leader" is a searing firsthand account of the most effective fighting force in modern history by the man who commanded it."