Though with a sizeable tank corps, Britain entered WWII with a generally obscolescent force of tanks. Many were light tanks that were unable to handle the more powerful German armor. There were some larger and more robust tanks, but though well armored, they were woefully under-gunned.

Part of this problem arose from the British decision to classify larger tanks into two major roles. One was infantry support. These tanks, like the early Matilda, were well armored, but armed with but a 2 pdr gun (about 40mm). The other were the cruiser tanks. These were considerably faster than the infantry support versions, but with less armor and pretty much the same small main armament.

Throughout the war, the British paid catch-up, producing a rather wide variety of tanks, none of which were actually all that good in terms of a good balance between armor, armament, speed and reliability. In fact, many consider the best British tank to be a Sherman armed with their 76mm anti-tank gun. While more capable tanks were produced near the end of the war, they did not see more than a few months of service.

This book by Pat War covers the wide variety of British tanks that were developed or at least prototyped during WWII. The book is divided into several major sections. One is a brief history prior to WWII. This is followed by a section on light tanks, followed by a larger one on the Cruiser tank. Another equally large section covers the development of Infantry tanks. Heavy tanks are next and this is a rather small chapter as the Western allies did not put a lot of development into heavy tanks.

The next section is on American tanks in British service and here is where you will find information on the Lee, Grant and Sherman. The final section is on the different variants such as engineer tanks, flail tanks, flame thrower tanks and the like.

You will find a lot of well known names such as the Matilda, Churchill, Comet, Crusader, Valentine and all. Each variety carries a history of the different variants and what was changed from one version to the next. The book is full of great period photos as well as some drawings from tech manuals. You will also find images of currently restored vehicles and while those are useful in showing the different types, I would have preferred to have seen period photos. 

In all, it makes for an excellent book on the subject. It is well researched and does not bog one down with endless lists of specs as can frequently happen with books of this type. A great read and one I can easily recommend. 

February 2012

Review book courtesy of  Casemate Publishing, where you can order your copy of this and many other superb books.

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