Kategoria BISAC: History >> Military - Vehicles - General

This book charts the history of armoured warfare from the first use of the tank in 1916 right through to the 21st century, adopting military, political and global perspectives. Alaric Searle explores the origins of the tank, the part it played in the First World War and its contribution to the outcome of the war. He considers its role as a tool of propaganda, the military controversies of the interwar period and the employment of armoured forces in all the major theatres in the Second World War.

Since the First World War, major and medium-sized powers have invested heavily in...

In the mid-1960s, the Soviet Union unveiled the BMP-1, the first true "infantry fighting vehicle." A revolutionary design, the BMP marked a significant departure from the traditional "armored personnel carrier," sporting a lower silhouette and a higher-caliber armament than rival APCs. One of the most fearsome light-armored vehicles of its day, it caused great consternation on the other side of the Iron Curtain as the Americans scrambled to design a machine to rival the BMP. The result was the M2 Bradley; however, the American type seemed to be at an immediate disadvantage, with a higher...

The Red Army suffered such catastrophic losses of armor in the summer of 1941 that they begged Britain and the United States to send tanks. The first batches arrived in late 1941, just in time to take part in the defense of Moscow. The supplies of British tanks encompassed a very wide range of types including the Matilda, Churchill, and Valentine and even a few Tetrarch airborne tanks. American tanks included the M3 (Stuart) light tank and M3 (Lee) medium tank and the M4 Sherman tank, which became so common in 1944-45 that entire Soviet tank corps were equipped with the type. With these...

Building on the earlier volume dealing with British armor of the First World War, this is the second of a multi-volume history of British tanks by renowned British armor expert David Fletcher MBE.

This volume traces the story of the British use of the tank through the early years of World War II, when Britain relied on its own tanks built in the late 1930s, and those designed and built with limited resources in the opening years of the war. Plagued by unreliable vehicles and poorly thought-out doctrine, these were years of struggle against an opponent well versed in the arts of...

This book contains 2 separate stories. The first story begins with a factual account of a huge fundraising effort during World War 2. Residents of Arnold in Nottingham donated enough money to buy a warship for the Royal Navy. It follows the fortunes of the vessel on North Atlantic Convoy duties and tells many tales of bravery by the crew, some of whom were in their teens.

The second story describes the loving restoration of a small, ex-naval cutter into a floating holiday home. It goes on to relive the glory days of the boat when it took part in the evacuation of the Dunkirk beaches...

Great Britain had introduced the tank to the world during World War I, and maintained its lead in armoured warfare with the 'Experimental Mechanised Force' during the late 1920s, watched with interest by German advocates of Blitzkrieg. Despite these successes, the Experimental Mechanised Force was disbanded in the 1930s, making Britain relatively unprepared for World War II, both in terms of armoured doctrine and equipment.

This fully illustrated new study examines the men who crewed the tanks of Britain's armoured force during World War II, which was only four battalions large...

During the final battles on World War II's Western Front, the legendary German Tiger I heavy tank clashed with the brand-new M26 Pershing fielded by the United States. The Tiger I had earned a formidable reputation by the end of 1944, although its non-sloped armor and poor mobility meant it was being superseded by the Tiger II or "King Tiger." While the Tiger I had been in the front lines since 1942, the US Pershing first entered combat in late February 1945, and more than 20 Pershings would see action before war's end.

This book examines the dramatic Tiger/Pershing duel at Elsdorf...

The M113 is the most widely used and versatile armored vehicle in the world. Fielded in 1960 as a simple "battlefield taxi," over 80,000 M113s would see service with 50 nations around the world and 55 years later, many thousands are still in use. In additional to its original role of transporting troops across the battlefield, specialized versions perform a multitude of other functions including command and control, fire support, anti-tank and anti-aircraft defense, and casualty evacuation.

This new fully illustrated study examines the service record of the M113 from its initial...

The German Panther is one of the most famous, and greatest, tanks of World War II. Often considered the most elegant tank design of the war, it embodied a balance of firepower, armor protection, and mobility unmatched by any other tank of the period.

This new study by German armor expert Thomas Anderson draws upon original German archival material to tell the story of the birth of the Panther in response to the Soviet tanks encountered in 1941. He then analyzes its success on the battlefield and the many modifications and variants that also came into play.

Illustrated...

The Warsaw Pact's strategy called for rapid advances. Obstacles such as rivers and minefields could not be allowed to slow the combat units. Warsaw Pact combat engineers could rapidly build bridges, repair or recover broken-down vehicles, lay minefields, clear safe lanes through enemy minefields, and create field fortifications.

Although less flexible than their western counterparts, the combat engineers of the Warsaw Pact were an effective force. Key to this effectiveness was their specialised equipment. Simple, rugged, and provided in greater quantity than in the West, it was...

The German Panzerjager, or Panzerjagertruppe, was one of the most innovative fighting arms of World War II and its story has never properly been told. A few other books have focused on an element of the story--the Hetzer, Jagdpanzer, Jagdpanther--but this is the first time that the whole story of the development and organization of Nazi Germany's anti-tank force will have been covered, from its earliest origins in World War I, through its development in the interwar period, and its baptism of fire in the early days of World War II.

This is the first of two volumes that will trace...