Fewer than 1,400 Tiger I tanks were ever built, yet the silhouette of this 57-ton machine could stop entire Allied armored columns in their tracks. It could also be completely immobilized by frozen mud. Drawing on post-war British firing trials, Henschel engineering blueprints, translated combat diaries, and logistical manifests, this episode separates the terrifying battlefield myths from the messy mechanical reality of Germany's most feared tank.

We start with the shock of encountering the Soviet T-34 and KV-1 in 1941, Hitler's demand for a 45-ton tank with the 8.8 cm gun ready for his birthday, and the design competition in which Ferdinand Porsche's innovative petrol-electric drive lost to Henschel over Germany's copper shortage. Then we examine the anatomy of the beast: a gun that hit a small target five times in a row from 1,200 yards, ...