Fletcher, D. British Battle Tanks. Volume 2: British-Made Tanks of World War II

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 armored warfare. It covers the development and use of the Matilda, Crusader, and Valentine tanks that pushed back the Axis in North Africa, the much-improved Churchill that fought with distinction from North Africa to Normandy, and the excellent Cromwell tank of 1944-45. It also looks at Britain's super-heavy tank projects, the TOG1 and TOG2, and the Tortoise heavy assault tank, designed to battle through the toughest of battlefield conditions, but never put into production.

Plagued by unreliable armoured vehicles and a poorly conceived operational doctrine, the early years of the Second World War were a real ordeal for British armoured forces. Despite a multitude of shortcomings, British armoured units fared quite well in the early years of the war against an opponent who had a clear advantage in this area of warfare.