“An “insightful and informative” overview of the role of tanks in combat from the First World War to the present day (Dennis Showalter, author of Armor and Blood). The story of the battlefield in the twentieth century was dominated by a handful of developments. Foremost of these was the introduction and refinement of tanks. In Tank Warfare, Jeremy Black, a recipient of the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize from the Society for Military History, offers a comprehensive global account of the history of tanks and armored warfare in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. First introduced onto the battlefield during World War I, tanks represented the reconciliation of firepower and mobility and immediately seized the imagination of commanders and commentators concerned about the constraints of ordinary infantry. The developments of technology and tactics in the interwar years were realized in the German blitzkrieg in World War II and beyond. Yet the account of armor on the battlefield is a tale of limitations and defeats as well as of potential and achievements. Tank Warfare examines the traditional narrative of armored warfare while at the same time challenging it, and Black suggests that tanks were no “silver bullet” on the battlefield. Instead, their success was based on their inclusion in the general mix of weaponry available to commanders and the context in which they were used. “An excellent overview of the subject.” —Alaric Searle, author of Armoured Warfare: A Military, Political and Global History

The first tank lumbered onto the battlefield in France during World War I. Less than 25 years later, its descendants were dashing across Europe as the spearhead of a new, mobile form of warfare. This illustrated history traces the development of tanks from 1914 prototypes to the high-tech vehicles used in the deserts of Iraq during the Gulf War. Accounts and analyses of major tank actions like the Blitzkrieg, Operation Barbarossa, the Battle of the Bulge, and the Arab-Israeli wars are interspersed with accounts of how military leaders like Rommel, Montgomery, and Patton utilized tanks and devised new battlefield tactics based on their capabilities. Also discussed are aborted experiments in armored warfare, the role of tanks during the Cold War, and possible designs and tactics of the future.

“For all the history buffs on warfare of the last century, Tanks is a perfect choice . . . packed with fascinating information” (San Francisco Book Review). This Casemate Short History—by the authors of Tanks in Hell: A Marine Corps Tank Company on Tarawa—provides an informative and entertaining introduction to this iconic weapon of the last hundred years. Tanks first ventured into battle on the Somme in 1916, and by the end of the war, countries were beginning to choose “heavy” or “light” tank designs to suit their preferred doctrine. Design then stagnated until World War II brought about rapid change. Tanks would prove integral to fighting in almost every theater; the Germans swept across Europe using tanks to spearhead their blitzkrieg method of war, until Soviet tanks proved more than their match and led to some epic tank battles on a huge scale. After World War II, tank designs became increasingly sophisticated and armor undertook a variety of roles in conflicts, with mixed results. American armor in Korea was soon forced into an infantry support role, which it reprised in Vietnam, while Soviet armor was defeated in guerrilla warfare in Afghanistan. However, tanks played a pivotal role in the American “shock and awe” doctrine in two wars in Iraq, and tanks remain a crucial weapons system on the battlefield. “Comprehensive despite its conciseness. For example, it addresses the employment of tanks in lesser-known conflicts such as the Indio-Pakistani and Sino-Vietnamese wars. The book provides context for contemporary tank operations and offers a perspective on the way ahead.” —Military Review

This is one of the most significant military books of the twentieth century. By an outstanding soldier of independent mind, it pushed forward the evolution of land warfare and was directly responsible for German armoured supremacy in the early years of the Second World War. Published in 1937, the result of 15 years of careful study since his days on the German General Staff in the First World War, Achtung Panzer! argues how vital the proper use of tanks and supporting armoured vehicles would be in the conduct of a future war. When that war came, just two years later, he proved it, leading his Panzers with distinction in the Polish, French and Russian campaigns. Panzer warfare had come of age, exactly as he had forecast.This first English translation of Heinz Guderian's classic book - used as a textbook by Panzer officers in the war - has an introduction and extensive background notes by the modern English historian Paul Harris.

Tank Warfare looks at the way that tanks changed warfare from their first introduction on the static Western Front of World War I, through the proving ground of World War II, where the tank became the queen of the battlefield, to its more dangerous position on the modern battlefield. Today, the tank is still a major asset but against it there has evolved a range of defensive antitank options - light infantry-borne antitank weapons, mines, attack helicopters, and tank-busting aircraft - that do much to dull its edge of invincibility.Each chapter in Tank Warfare examines carefully the evolution of tanks in the period, illustrating the seminal types, and looks at the changes to the threats against armor, assessing the improvement of the tank's physical and tactical defenses against such threats. It is intelligently written, cogent, and extremely well illustrated and it provides a much-needed discussion of a vital component of land warfare. Tim Ripley is a research associate at Lancaster University's Centre for Defence and International Security Studies (CDISS) in the United Kingdom. Over the past decade he has traveled extensively in the Middle East and Balkan region as a correspondent for Janes's Defence Weekly, Jane's Intelligence Review and Flight International.

The author of Case White: The Invasion of Poland delves into the strategy and weaponry of armored warfare during the early years of the Russo-German War. The German panzer armies that swept into the Soviet Union in 1941 were an undefeated force that had honed their skill in combined arms warfare to a fine edge. The Germans focused their panzers and tactical air support at points on the battlefield defined as Schwerpunkt—main effort—to smash through any defensive line and then advance to envelope their adversaries. Initially, these methods worked well in the early days of Operation Barbarossa and the tank forces of the Red Army suffered defeat after defeat. Although badly mauled in the opening battles, the Red Army’s tank forces did not succumb to the German armored onslaught and German planning and logistical deficiencies led to over-extension and failure in 1941. In the second year of the invasion, the Germans directed their Schwerpunkt toward the Volga and the Caucasus and again achieved some degree of success, but the Red Army had grown much stronger and by November 1942, the Soviets were able to turn the tables at Stalingrad. Robert Forczyk’s incisive study offers fresh insight into how the two most powerful mechanized armies of the Second World War developed their tactics and weaponry during the critical early years of the Russo-German War. He uses German, Russian and English sources to provide the first comprehensive overview and analysis of armored warfare from the German and Soviet perspectives. His analysis of the greatest tank war in history is compelling reading. Includes photos

A fascinating and detailed insight into tank warfare, from introduction during World War I to the war in Vietnam. After its introduction during the First World War, the tank revolutionised warfare, and proved to be a terrifying and efficient machine of war. Kenneth Macksey provides a study of the policy-makers and tank strategists, the technical and tactical development, as well as presenting the story of the tank on the battlefield the split-second decisions, the battle-weary crews and the endless mud in this fascinating and detailed account of tank warfare.

A battle by battle guide to the role of tanks in the First World War

"Following the bestselling success of Carlton's man-size Commando anthologies, here is a new pocket-format compilation of three classic comic-strip war stories printed the same size as the original Commando comics. Tank Attack! features a trio of explosive Brits-versus-Wehrmacht yarns that show the heroic British Tommy at his best. This action-packed but handily formatted collection of stories will thrill Commando fans of all ages."--Publisher's description.

From the evacuation of France in 1940 to the final dash to Hamburg in 1945, the 5th Royal Tank Regiment were on the front line throughout the Second World War. Theirs was a war that saw them serve in Africa as part of the Desert Rats, before returning to Europe for the Normandy landings. Wherever they went, the notoriety of the 'Filthy Fifth' grew - they revelled in their reputation for fighting by their own rules. The Tank War explains how Britain, having lost its advantage in tank warfare by 1939, regained ground through shifts in tactics and leadership methods, as well as the daring and bravery of the crews themselves. Overturning the received wisdom of much Second World War history, Mark Urban shows how the tank regiments' advances were the equal of the feats of the German Panzer divisions. Drawing on a wealth of new material, from interviews with surviving soldiers to rarely seen archive material, this is an unflinchingly honest, unsentimental and often brutal account of the 5th RTR's wartime experiences. Capturing the characters in the crews and exploring the strategy behind their success, The Tank War is not just the story of an battle hardened unit, but something more extraordinary: the triumph of ordinary men, against long odds, in the darkest of times.